January 14, 2025
Wondai parkrun celebrated its eighth birthday on Saturday, but the community event was a bit more “eventful” than organisers had originally planned.
The weekly run was on shaky ground the day before after the vicious storms the previous Thursday night dropped four large gum trees onto the rail trail course.
A few intrepid local volunteers mapped and mowed a short bypass around the fallen trees and cleared other debris so the event could go ahead.
And, fortunately, the weather stayed fine on Saturday morning.
Eighty runners and walkers took part in the birthday event which was followed by a celebration of cakes.
It was also Event Director Ros Heit’s 250th run, which was celebrated as part of the event.
Cr Heit was the driving force behind bringing parkrun to the South Burnett region.
The initial event was in Wondai but there are now weekly parkruns in Proston, Nanango and Blackbutt attracting an average of 200 participants each week across the South Burnett.
“Parkrun is a marvellous institution and is beneficial for participants physical, mental and social wellbeing, each event also benefits local businesses as many participants stay in the town and share coffees and breakfasts after the run,” Cr Heit said.
Brisbane Valley parkrun at Blackbutt is celebrating their second birthday this Saturday (January 18) and the Railway Park parkrun in Proston will be marking their fourth birthday later this year.
All the parkrun groups are free to join. All you need to do is register (once) online at parkrun.com.au and bring the printed barcode to any parkrun event.
