The junior Parkrun in Ipswich celebrated its first birthday last Sunday with a special event.

Youngsters aged four to 14 still turned up to run in Christchurch Park, but this time donned the outfits of their favourite superhero or cartoon character.

The run is a weekly event which is sister to the Saturday morning Parkrun, but specifically designed to get younger children and teens out exercising.

Organiser Rory Marriott said it was the best attended run since the start, with 158 people taking part.

“We do have some children who have done more than 40 (of 48) of the events,” Mr Marriott explained. “We have had in total 697 different people who have taken part over the first year.

“Hopefully we’ll see it continue to grow both in terms of the numbers that take part each week and also the number of different people who take part.

“More and more people are talking about it when they go to school.”

Mr Marriott said being a regular event, over 2km at 9am every Sunday, and having no pressure attached to it was why children enjoyed the junior Parkrun so much.

“It is all about them being active,” he added. “It’s a gentle introduction to the world of exercise.”

For more information visit www.parkrun.org.uk/ipswich-juniors.