A ONE-MAN campaign to set up a successful running community in his home town is continuing to go from strength to strength.

Karl Cadman, 48, from Rayleigh, brought people together to start a parkrun in Hockley Woods in 2013.

The parkrun, which takes place at 9am every Saturday, has now become so popular, there are 170 people joining each weekly event.

In September 2013, Karl began working on the idea of a south Essex parkrun event.

He used the London 2012 legacy charity, Join In, to recruit volunteers to help make his parkrun a success.

His network of volunteers have helped to grow the weekly event and are actively involved within the running community themselves.

These events, weekly 5km timed runs, take place in pleasant parkland surroundings and the organisers encourage people of every ability to take part – from juniors and those taking their first steps in running, to experienced runners and even Olympians.

Karl, who has been awarded a Rochford District Council Citizen of the Year award for his efforts, said: “I started my own parkrun because local parkruns were doing very well, but there wasn’t one in our area.”

He said he likes to volunteer because he enjoys inspiring people to get active.

Discussing how he used Join In to recruit volunteers, he said: “I set up a provisional webpage for the parkrun a few months before we went live and had quite a few responses.

“We need eight marshals on the course and ten people at the finish funnel.

“We average 170 runners each week.

“By its very nature, the event is organic, and last week’s marshal list was made up entirely of new volunteers from the parkrun community.

“We expect to increase our numbers significantly as more people find out about us.

“What could be better than getting some exercise, for free, in the idyllic surroundings of Hockley Woods?”

Parkrun also takes place in Southend and Basildon.