28 Jan 2026
A year after the grounds of Oaklands College’s Smallford campus became the third parkrun location in St Albans, organisers, volunteers and participants celebrated the anniversary.
More than 250 runners, walkers and volunteers took park in the first 5K parkrun at the start of 2025, and the free community event has continued every Saturday since.
Over the course of the year, 4,907 participants have crossed the finish line a total of 7,416 times, with the most regular runners including Paul Kitchener, Sylwia Ludwin, Jody Velsula, Anne Marie Eckford and Jochen Hoffman.
Patrick Hayes has crossed the finish line first 13 times followed by Kim Dixon on five occasions.
The core team of seven who came together to start the run a year ago have volunteered a staggering 178 times between them with Lee Wood attending 39 out of 48 events.
All photos by John Andrews.
