Sunderland parkruns get the go-ahead from city council to start on Saturday, June 26

Parkrun takes place every Saturday at the Silksworth Sports Complex.

Organisers of the mass participation exercise event, which stages hundreds of runs across the UK, have said they hope to welcome amateur athletes back on Saturday, June 26.

And barring any further restrictions or changes to coronavirus guidance, Sunderland’s events at Silksworth and Herrington Country Park are due to be among those reopening.

A spokesman for Sunderland City Council said: “Parkrun has permission to restart in Sunderland.

A parkrun takes place every Saturday at the Silksworth Sports Complex.

“We look forward to hearing more and continuing to work with organisers when new national Parkrun dates are confirmed.”

Bosses behind the event, which is staged across more than 20 countries, had hoped races would be able to resume in the UK next week, on June 5, but national Parkrun chiefs decided this would not be viable.

However they now claim they are ‘increasingly optimistic’ they will be in a position to get going once more from June 26.

Nick Pearson, Parkrun Global CEO said: “We are incredibly grateful to all of the landowners who have granted events permission to return so far, and for the groundswell of support for Parkrun over recent days.

“Although it is disappointing not to be able to return on June 5, we are still optimistic that we can return Parkrun events to nearly 600 communities across England very soon.

“We will do everything we can to ensure events restart on June 26.”

A final decision on whether events will restart on Saturday, June 26, is expected to be confirmed by Friday, June 11.

Permission had previously been secured for more than 250 Parkruns to go ahead across England on June 5.

But it was felt this would not provide the ‘critical mass’ needed to ensure everyone wanting to take part is able to without overwhelming the most popular venues.

Parkrun has blamed the three-week delay to restarting events nationally on ‘unnecessary red tape and lengthy internal bureaucracy’.

Despite this, other running events have resumed across the North East, while the Great North Run is slated to return on September 12.

Visit www.parkrun.org.uk to find out more about courses in Sunderland.

Cyclist who died after early hours collision on A19 named as his inquest is open...

Support your Echo and become a subscriber today. Enjoy unlimited access to local news, the latest on SAFC and new puzzles every day. With a digital subscription, you can see fewer ads, enjoy faster load times, and get access to exclusive newsletters and content. Click here to subscribe.