New parkrun event in Rokeby

by Bonnie Collings
A new parkrun event is set to start in Rokeby at the end of the month.
Organised by members of Baw Baw Runners, Terri Wilks and Paul Howells, the new five kilometre event will be held at the Rokeby to Neerim trail on Saturdays at 8am and is free to attend.
Terri said the idea to start a parkrun in Rokeby was developed as a way of taking some strain off the popular Warragul parkrun and to provide another opportunity to participate in parkrun locally.
"We saw a need because Warragul's parkrun is getting very big," Terri explained. "Warragul's numbers are about 200 plus now, it's quite a lot for the organisers and it's strain on the park."
"Warragul is quite supportive because they're so popular and have such high numbers, this event might take some of the load."
Rokeby was selected as the location for the new event after Terri and Paul went for a run on the Rokeby to Neerim trail.
"I was just running with one of my friends from Baw Baw Runners, Paul Howells at the end of last year and we thought, wouldn't this be a great place for a parkrun?" Terri said.
"By the time we got back to the start of the trail, I messaged the (Warragul) parkrun organiser Lea Naismith to ask if she could help and give us some advice."
Participants will complete the five kilometre track in two two-and-a-half kilometre legs. The track is accessible for all ages and abilities and dogs are also welcome.
"We'll meet at the top, where the rotunda is, and then we'll walk down to the start of the trail where there's a flat bit, that's where we'll all start," Terri said. "It's two and a half kilometres out and two and a half kilometres back and there's a marshal out there so you definitely can't run to Neerim South!"
While the word run is in the event's name, Terri said parkrun was about much more than running.
"It's about inclusivity in the community and health and fitness," she said.
"It's about people volunteering, sometimes people come and they won't even participate in the event, but they just want to be part of the community. There's park walkers now too."
If running isn't your thing, Terri said there were plenty of different volunteer roles that people could fill to get their community fix.
"There's timekeeping, tail walking, barcode scanning, marshalling, course checking, a photographer position," she said. "Volunteering is really simple, we just go and talk to you on the day and there's always people around that have done parkrun before."
"There's something for everyone and we'd never turn anyone away, (it's) the more the merrier."
The official start date of the Rokeby parkrun is yet to be announced. Check next week's Gazette for more information.