More and more families are lacing up for the Roma Parkrun

Roma Parkrun encourages all walks of life to get down and race against the clock.

PARK RUN: Stuart and Carol Coonan lacing up for their weekly Saturday morning park run. Picture: James Liveris

EIGHT-year-old Stuart may be the fastest Coonan family member when it comes to the Roma Parkrun, but his mother refuses to say if other family members come close.

The Coonan family is among many who lace up every Saturday morning and head to the Big Rig Park to race against the clock over 5km.

Although it's known as 'parkrun', mum Carol Coonan assured it is not the only option to complete the track.

"You can run, jog, walk or shuffle and more importantly it's just a great way to spend time with your family,” Mrs Coonan said.

"We've been doing the parkrun as a family for the last 12 months.

"Stewart is the fastest, his PB is 25 minutes for the 5km. "We started because it was a group of like-minded people and it's a beautiful way to start the weekend exercising, getting fit, keeping healthy and socialising - the parkrun really covers all sorts of aspects.”

Mrs Coonan said the parkrun had become a family tradition to spend some quality time together.

"I encourage anyone to come out, it's a very relaxed and friendly atmosphere, everyone is supportive of each other, no one comes last and you just do your best,” she said. Roma Parkrun event director Roxanne Wichlacz said the year had started off strongly, seeing a mix of husbands and wives, grandparents, kids, prams and even tourists.

"There have been a lot of families getting down and running together,” Mrs Wichlacz said. "We have seen an increase in numbers, plus 50 sometimes, but usually we see around 35 participants come down every Saturday.

"It doesn't matter what age or fitness level you are, just come down and have a great start to your weekend.” The Roma Parkrun is a free event, participants meet next to the Big Rig carpark every Saturday at 6.50am for a 7am start.