HUNDREDS of runners and walkers woke up bright and early for the return of parkrun in Romsey.

On Saturday, November 19 some 369 people were at Ganger Farm for the first event since the lockdown forced the closure of the Mountbatten Parkrun.

The runners were blessed with a sunny autumn morning, and all enjoyed the 5k course around the playing fields at the new facility.

The first runner to finish was Matt Bennett from Romsey who returned a time of 17:40, with Katie Horton the first woman to finish in a time of 21:26

The successful launch event was the result of a lot of work from event directors Sue and Mike Sleath.

It was delayed waiting for the Ganger Farm pavilion to be finished and open, but this now provides a great base for a Romsey parkrun.

Parkrun is a free weekly timed 5k run, welcoming runners and walkers of all abilities.

There will be a parkrun at Ganger Farm every Saturday at 9am. If you’d like to join a future run just register at parkrun.com and turn up.

Parkrun relies on volunteers to function each week, and anyone who’d like to volunteer should contact the team via gangerfarm@parkrun.com.

Full details of the event can be found on the event website – just search for Ganger Farm parkrun.