Ripon Runners won over by Ireland's stunning Bere Island parkrun
With so many members of Ripon Runners enjoying the much-loved local Fountains Abbey 5km parkrun every Saturday morning, the club couldn’t resist the urge to visit Bere Island in County Cork this summer – to take part in what is regarded alongside ‘FAbbey’ as one of the most beautiful parkruns in the world.
The Irish trip, part of a busy calendar of Ripon Runners social events, is in response to the huge growth in popularity of the free, volunteer-led parkruns which take place every weekend around the globe.
As a result, back in 2022 the club began their own regular series of parkrun outings, starting with Hamsterley Forest in County Durham, and growing to encompass events in Edinburgh, Dublin and Gdansk in Poland.
For the Bere Island event, 27 club members variously travelled by plane, car and ferry to the remote island, which lies at the entrance to the Bantry Bay and has a tiny population of just over 200 people.
“We quickly realised that Bere Island is more than just a parkrun – it’s a community event,” explained John Skinner of Ripon Runners.
“It was the first time that we’d all got a ferry to a parkrun, and the locals had kindly arranged a convoy of minibuses to take us to the start of the course. The event has a fantastic band of volunteers, and there was calmness, friendliness and a relaxed mood throughout.”
Fortunately, having been preceded by a week of wind and rain, the day of the event itself was blessed with perfect sunny weather.
“The course itself is one lap, which without doubt can be called ‘undulating and challenging’,” commented Skinner.
“Mind you, it’s not every day that you get to run alongside the Atlantic Ocean in conditions like that. Every corner produced a ‘wow’ moment, and an opportunity for another beautiful photo.”
Making the most of their weekend in such an idyllic part of the world, club members made time to visit Dursey and Garnish Islands, Glengarriff, and even a local Buddhist Temple – while also squeezing in a social run on the Sunday morning.
Skinner added: “In the true spirit of parkrun….there is no winner! In glorious weather there can be nowhere better than Bere Island, but Fountains has a uniquely beautiful aura on even the most wet and miserable day – so let’s call it an honourable draw.
"We’d really like to thank the entire Bere Island parkrun team for making us so welcome, and hosting an event that undoubtedly embodies the true community spirit of parkrun. We’d thoroughly recommend it to everyone.”
To find out more, visit www.riponrunners.org.uk