Milestone moment for Parkrun volunteer

A woman who regularly gives up her Saturdays, Christmases and New Years' mornings has reached a milestone, by volunteering at 500 Parkruns.

Yvonne Turner volunteers and is the current event director for the Land's End and Penrose Parkruns in Cornwall, and is set to be involved with her 500th on Saturday.

Turner, 63, who lives in Sennen, said her first ever Parkrun was at Hackney Marshes in 2010 and she had since volunteered at 70 different locations across the UK.

Parkrun, a charity, offers free events every Saturday morning around the world and is a chance for runners to complete 5km (3.1 mile) routes, and is run by volunteers.

Turner, who worked as an accountant, said: "My first ever Parkrun was at Hackney Marshes in 2010 and there was 27 runners there. Now they've got around 400 to 500 every week."

Turner was also a Games Maker for the London Olympics in 2012.

She set up the Penrose Parkrun in 2015 and Lands End in 2019 where there are a minimum of 12 volunteers who help sort the course, hand out and scan the finish tokens and marshal "no matter the weather".

"It's not just me. I've got a team of volunteers around me who are there every week," she added.

She said: "If you don't have volunteers, you don't have events and that's the truth in any sort of field."

Throughout the year, Turner said between 20 to 190 people attended the events every week, and at its Easter event this year, Lands End recorded its highest number with 229 participants.

"The course at Land's End is purely or mainly on the cycle track and it's out and back twice and it finishes in their little model village," Turner said.

Turner said people could run or walk the route, adding it was a "lovely course when it's not raining or foggy".

Although Turner said she can no longer run due to issues with her knees, she has no plans to stop volunteering.

The charity itself is celebrating a milestone on Saturday as it marks the one millionth event worldwide.

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