Another new event has entered the Scottish parkrun scene with runners on the Kintyre peninsula now catered for at the Crinan Canal by Lochgilphead. The course starts at the canal basin and is a flat out-and-back course which provides views looking out towards Duntrune Castle.

The inaugural event was staged on 31 August with 83 runners taking part in the scenic event. Speaking after the 5K, organisers commented: "What a fantastic day for our inaugural Crinan Canal parkrun. Our amazing team of volunteers did an awesome job of setting up, managing, encouraging, recording and clearing down. We couldn’t have been more lucky with the weather and hopefully convinced some visitors that it’s always like this here! Here’s to many more to come."

As a new event, organisers are cautious about encouraging too many so called 'parkrun tourists' but despite that you can be assured a warm welcome will always be extended: "Whilst we would never ask anyone not to come, we simply ask that you appreciate this is all new to us, and if you were planning on travelling from afar, you would consider doing this at a later date so that we can find our feet. That being said, we would absolutely welcome anyone who did come. Looking forward to seeing you all at some point in the near future."

The event's most recent run report was scribed by David Main-Reade and has some great advice for those who are travelling to the 5K: "I would recommend heading over to the Crinan Coffee Shop for some post parkrun breakfast! Some other pointers - get there reasonably early as parking is tight, or park at Polly’s Coffee Stop and have a warm up run to the start (or cycle), I’d also recommend (for those facing a drive back home and wanting a shower) going to MACPool Activity Hub, the pool looked lovely and wasn’t that busy."

If you'd like to know more, visit the Crinan Canal parkrun website.

Image: Crinan Canal parkrun/Gavin Brown