Matt Thistlethwaite (Kingsford Smith, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

I wish to congratulate the wonderful volunteers and runners who've taken part in the Kamay parkrun over the past 12 months. It celebrated its first anniversary on 25 November. 'Kamay' is the Bidjigal word for Botany Bay, and the Kamay parkrun takes place on the picturesque shores of Botany Bay in my electorate.

A global movement of runners, parkrun was established in 2004, when 13 runners got together on a blustery day in Bushy Park, Teddington, in the UK. It's grown to a global phenomenon, and there are now over half a million parkrunners worldwide. It came to Australia in 2011, and there are now 261 parkruns throughout Australia, with people getting together on a Saturday morning to run five kilometres.

It's been a year of achievement for the Kamay parkrun team, notching up a number of significant milestones. In the past 12 months, they've hosted 52 running events, with 3,314 people taking part, covering 17,620 kilometres all up. There've been 1,275 adult women finishers, 1,449 adult men finishers, 300 children and the odd dog.

It couldn't have taken place without the efforts of volunteers. In particular, to Emma Trehy and Alan Harris, thank you for your support. Thank you to all those that have participated in parkrun over the course of the last 12 months. There's nothing better than getting down there on a Saturday morning on the shores of Botany Bay.

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