Goulburn parkrun makes long-awaited return to action

The happiness in co-course director Jamie Miles' voice was palpable when he spoke to the Post about the club's return, which was attended by 46 participants.

"It went really well, it was just great to get back and great to see the people from the community again," Miles said.

"We had a great bunch of people come out."

Though the club had received the go-ahead from parkrun Australia, the recent spate of consistent rain left Miles still unsure of whether or not Saturday's event would go ahead.

"Over the last month or so, I think the track's been flooded two out of the four Saturdays just from the sheer amount of rain we've had," he said.

"So that was down to a knife's edge, and even on Friday afternoon we made sure to walk the track just in case the most recent downpour had not abated. But it had, and that was great."

Of the 46 who took part, eight were newcomers to the event and two set personal bests.

Though the total number of runners and walkers was less than Goulburn parkrun welcomes on average, Miles knew that a diminished turnout was likely given the proximity to Christmas.

"It was a bit of a smaller group for sure, but at the same time we understood that it was literally a week before Christmas and people had started to shut down for the end of the year and go away," he said.

"But we were really happy with the people who came, it was great to see the old crew again, and we'll keep open however big or small the crowd is."

To that end, Goulburn parkrun will hold events on Christmas Day and New Year's Day, which it has not traditionally done in the past.

"We don't always do Christmas Day, but since we haven't run for so long it's nice to get back in the swing of things and we thought 'Hey, why not?'" Miles said.

"Everyone seems keen and we've got bodies who can help run the events ... especially for people who've gone away early or even tourists who might be around Goulburn and want to come down for a run. So we'll keep it open as often as we can, especially if more rain is on the way."

After Saturday's event, Goulburn parkrun made sure to thank the volunteers who were there on the day and ensured it went ahead:

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