The Scottish government has clarified its position on outdoor gatherings – to the delight of the country’s runners.

Last week runABC Scotland reported that the latest round of restrictions put in place to halt the spread of coronavirus – an outdoor limit of 500 participants/spectators and 200 indoors – was likely to affect larger events. 

It has now been clarified that the 500 person limit – which came into force on Boxing Day – applies only to spectators and not competitors.

There is now no limit on the participants able to take part in an event over the period of restrictions, which is scheduled to end on Sunday, 16 January.

The news came too late for some indoor track events, including the GAA Miler Meet and Scottish 3000m Championships, but should give runners more confidence that any events they have entered in the next few weeks will go ahead. 

Scotland’s parkruns should certainly be safe. Even before the clarification from the Scottish government, parkrun UK announced that both 5K and junior events scheduled to take place over the next month should continue. 

parkrun UK stated: “Currently all our parkrun events in Scotland are seeing attendance below [the 500 limit] and, with outdoor contact sports permitted to remain open, we believe that our COVID Framework reduces close contacts sufficiently that we comply with the guidelines.” 

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