FOUR years of hard work came to fruition for the team behind Cirencester parkrun, which was held for the first time at the Royal Agricultural University (RAU).

The town created a little bit of history as it became the 500th parkrun in the UK on February 3.

The event was held after four years of efforts to find a suitable venue, but thanks to the work of volunteers and support from the RAU and the Bathurst Estate, the run came together successfully.

A total of 208 runners braved rain and soggy ground in a celebration of fitness and community spirit, with the team of volunteers working from the early hours to ensure the first event went off smoothly.

Parkrun is open to all and involves free, weekly, 5km timed runs. The Cirencester event is supported by seed funding from town supporters, which helps buy items such as timing equipment.

The team is led by Event Directors Nicky Whelan and Sara Jeapes and the first event Run Director was Simon King.

Simon said: “We were delighted to see so many runners take part We’d like to thank all of them, as well as our volunteers, the RAU and its staff for all their support.

“We are only able to run the event thanks to seed funding provided by the town’s running clubs and other supporters. Thanks to everyone who contributed.”

Nicky added: “So many people have worked incredibly hard to make this a reality. We’d like to thank them, and to everyone that came to support us today. We welcome everyone to come along and walk, jog, run or volunteer.”

Cirencester parkrun takes place every Saturday at 9am. Visit parkrun.org.uk/cirencester