With events like Parkrun due to return to England in the near future and race organisers starting to hold events again, are we ready to return to running events is a question that many people will be asking.

Parkrun commissioned a rapid review of the evidence by Canterbury Christ Church University surrounding Covid-19 transmission in outdoor settings. 

This found that although there is a risk of COVID being transmitted there are very few examples of outdoor transmission in everyday life. However, this risk does increase when social distancing is not in place, particularly for an extended duration. There are other risk factors in place for mass gatherings, such as communal travelling, overnight accommodation and congregation of entrants in bars or cafes.

With the recent announcement by the U.K. government that social gatherings will be restricted to groups of 6 people, it remains to be seen if the occurrence of these Running Events will be affected by the news, or if further precautions can be put in place to enable them to go ahead safely. Currently, Sport England has specifically exempted some sports from the guidelines regarding gatherings.

In other areas of the globe, the pandemic is still at different levels of severity. In many locations though, organisers are trying to return to Running events in a safe and socially distanced manner.

While not necessarily suggested specifically within the review, measures can be taken to reduce the risk of transmission. 

• Entrant numbers can be limited.
• Starts can be staggered to reduce the number of people in one place at the same time. However, there is still likely to be a number of people running in groups, particularly in the middle of the field.
• Running in a mask, particularly at the start, finish, or any refreshment points where there are likely to be more people in a smaller area.

Many people are eager to do up those laces and start pounding those trails again. Many feel the mental benefits outweigh the physical risks.

Meanwhile, others will be more wary, with hundreds of people gathering in one place.

Well, the simple answer is it’s a matter of personal choice. Even if the events take place it is down to you as the runner to decide if you feel comfortable and ready to return to running events.

I am definitely sitting firmly in the wary bracket. Until now, the only events I have attended are the parkrun near me where there are regularly 175-300 runners. 

2020 was due to be the year where I started to take part in some longer running events, which were due to be held in the early lockdown period. These were both postponed twice/and or cancelled. The replacement event for one is fast approaching. Even before the rule of 6 announcement, I was feeling wary about taking part, almost to the point of maybe being relieved if it does have to be cancelled. We are currently waiting to hear if there are due to be any changes to this event.

Having run around our local forest throughout lockdown and beyond, I find it is often hard to keep a distance from other runners, walkers, cyclists and horseriders when passing. This will be made even harder when you are surrounded by other runners of differing speeds.

At the time of writing this, we do not really know what the immediate future holds in terms of the return to running events. We are keeping an eye on the high profile organisations such as Parkrun to see how they decide to proceed. Although not completely ruled out, Parkrun have said it is less likely that it will restart in late October. There is of course a difference between Parkrun and race organisers who are run as businesses. These are often smaller businesses who rely on the revenue from race entries to survive.

Long term I am sure things will return to normality. Here in England socially distanced events are taking place, but with cases on an exponential growth once more, this can not sensibly continue without more controls in place.

Some parts of the globe seem to have not been able to control the spread of COVID, yet still, they carry on with events.

In terms of a personal choice of being ready to return to running events, this is purely an individual decision. Are you tired of COVID and ready to get back to the new normal or would you prefer to sit on the sidelines and see how things unfold?

We will keep this updated as new information is available.