TAREE parkrun's celebrates its fourth anniversary on Saturday and the event's popularity shows no sign of waning.
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Lime green will be the preferred colour for runners in tomorrow's birthday 5km, the run to start and finish in Endeavour Place, near Manning River Rowing Club from 8am.
Margie Lewis and Janelle Jefferies were responsible for bringing parkrun to Taree in 2015 - although Margie concedes they weren't sure how it would be received.
But the success in Taree was the catalyst for parkruns to start later in Port Macquarie and Forster.
The number of weekly starters continues to grow and since 2015 Taree parkrun has received 2382 registrations.
"We average 125 starters a week now,'' Margie said.
"Last Saturday, for instance, we had a lot of regulars away competing in other events, but we still got more than 130 there.''
Only those who complete the two loops of the 5km run get a time registered and count as starters. However, there's always a strong number - mainly young mums with their kids, some pushing strollers - who walk or walk/run one lap. That's encouraged.
Parkrun's free and that's obviously an attraction. But Margie says the inclusive nature of parkrun is its biggest asset. Starters complete one or two laps as best they can. There's no pressure.
It's also been the motivation for some parkrunners to try longer distance events.
"I've had people come to me and say that parkrun proved they could run five kilometres,'' Margie said,
"Now they're running marathons.''
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There's also an offshoot group, the Taree Plodders. Members run a 10km course every second Sunday, finishing at 8am in time for breakfast. Numbers here have grown steadily.
"Plodders started in Port Macquarie but we're now bigger than them,'' Margie said.
Margie said numbers did drop in Taree parkrun's first two winters.
"We were getting down to 50,'' she said.
But that's since been arrested, with the numbers remaining constant in the cooler months.
Parkrun works because of volunteers and each week 10 are needed to ensure the run goes ahead. While there's the occasional hiccup, Margie said there's usually not too many problems filling the roster. Parkrun welcomed its newest run director, Lyndon Woodrow, earlier this month.
Since May 2015 there have been 211 parkruns in Taree. Not one has been lost to wet weather. There's now an alternate course that comes into play when the foreshore hosts major events including the January rowing regatta, Taree Tastefest and the Easter Classic powerboats.
Margie said there are newcomers every week. She's confident this trend will continue well into the future.