Parkrun organisers have announced its 5k running events will finally return from June 26 – however, questions remain as to whether this includes Twickenham, Richmond and Teddington.

The community fitness phenomenon has won permission to return from more than 500 landowners across England, after more than a year of cancelled runs due to Covid-19.

Further details are to be announced on Monday following Boris Johnson's announcement on whether the final lockdown restrictions will be removed on June 21 as promised.

The Royal Parks has indicated that if the lockdown does not end on June 21, it may not allow parkrun to start on June 26.

Similarly, Richmond Borough Council has yet to commit to allowing parkruns to be re-start in Old Deer Park and Crane Park on June 26.

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Both of the area's Lib-Dem MPs, Sarah Olney and Munira Wilson, have backed the early return of parkrun, however the borough council has held back.

Boris Johnson and the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan are also supporting the re-start, regardless of whether the final lockdown restrictions are extended beyond June 21.

Announcing the return, parkrun organisers said: "We are delighted to announce that more than 500 events have full landowner permission to return, which means we now have enough permissions to confirm a restart date for 5k parkrun in England on Saturday 26 June.

"This is subject to the Government communication on Monday 14 June, after which we will make a further statement confirming our position.

"There is now a strong consensus from landowners and public health officials, right across the country, that the return of parkrun – a free-to-access public health initiative – is vital as we look to improve our physical and mental health in the wake of the Coronavirus pandemic."

It added: "In order to make our decision as to whether or not we could reopen parkrun across England, without excessive pressure being placed on individual events, we took into account many different factors, such as size of events, proximity of events to others, ease of travel between events, the number of participants registered to events, and average and maximum attendances.

"Following a careful review of the information available, we now have a high degree of confidence that, when events do return, they will be safe, enjoyable, and accessible for all those who wish to take part in social, outdoor, physical activity, with their local community."

South west London is the home of parkrun, which has become a global phenomenon. It was founded by Paul Sinton-Hewitt at Bushy Park in October 2004 and now now attracts more than 200,000 regular participants around the world.

Parkrun said: "For the remainder of events where we don't yet have permission in place, we remain committed to doing everything we can to work with local event teams and landowners to see if we can secure the permission needed for their return.

"We know that, on Monday, the Prime Minister will be confirming the details and timing of Step 4, and that his announcement may have a material impact on our ability to reopen on 26 June.

"However, we are celebrating today, as we now know that parkrun will return in England before too long, and we cannot wait to see the magic of parkrun enjoyed by hundreds of thousands of participants every week, very soon."

The Royal Parks told Nub News: "We have agreed that Parkrun can return to the parks on June 26 subject to lockdown being lifted on June 21."

Richmond Council Leader Gareth Roberts told ITV London there are concerns about overcrowding.

He said: "If neighbouring boroughs don't open theirs it is very easy for people to come from Hounslow, Kingston, Ealing, Brent to come to Richmond.

"A little bit of caution now means parkrun will be able to open that much quicker. We are keeping it under review."

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