Coronavirus: 'Strava art' keeps parkrunners motivated

Runners have been creating virtual animal shapes as they try to keep motivation levels up in the absence of their weekly parkrun.

Chelmsford Central parkrun challenged participants to create shapes using the exercise and route-sharing app Strava.

About a dozen people have shared their routes, including outlines of a shark, turtle and dog.

Samantha Chambers, who has done more than 100 parkruns, said it had helped "refocus" her running during lockdown.

The parkrun regular said it had taken some forward planning before she headed out for runs.

"You end up staring at a map for some time thinking, 'can I make a shape out of that?'," she said.

Mother-of-four Ms Chambers added: "I've found running quite difficult during this time, not having that motivation.

"Once a week, every Saturday morning, I was going down to parkrun, and I really love going because of the whole community feel, it's just lovely and I really miss it so when they set this challenge, it gave me something to refocus my running on."

Chelmsford Central parkrun would normally have 800 people take part each week and is regularly in the top 10 in the UK for attendance.

Organisers do not know when parkruns will return but Chelmsford Central's event director Gerry McGovern said it was hoped the "Strava art" challenge would help keep its runners going until they resume.

"It's just trying to keep people motivated and it's quite imaginative and good fun," he said.

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