Black Combe Parkrun is a

Parkrun Parkrun (stylised as parkrun) is a collection of 5K run, events for runners, walkers and volunteers that take place every Saturday morning at more than 2,000 locations in 23 countries across five continents. Parkrun was founded by Paul Sinto ...

that takes place every Saturday morning at 9 am inside HMP Haverigg,

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders the Scottish council areas of Dumfries and Galloway and Scottish Borders to the north, Northumberland and County Durham to the east, North Yorkshire to the south-east, Lancash ...

, England. The event was the first Parkrun to take place within the grounds of a prison.

The course

The course is named after the

Black Combe Black Combe is a fell in the south-west corner of the Lake District National Park, England, just from the Irish Sea. It lies near the west coast of Cumbria in the district of Cumberland and more specifically, in the ancient district of Millom ...

hill which can be seen from the course. The course takes place within the closed grounds of the prison and is seven laps of the prison's sport ground. The course is not readily accessible to the public but participation can be granted with special permission.

The prison

HM Prison Haverigg is a Category D men's open

prison A prison, also known as a jail, gaol, penitentiary, detention center, correction center, correctional facility, or remand center, is a facility where Prisoner, people are Imprisonment, imprisoned under the authority of the State (polity), state ...

, located in the village of

Haverigg Haverigg is a village on the south-west coast of Cumbria, England, historically part of the county of Cumberland. In 2001 it had a population of 1,791 in 548 households, increasing in 2011 to a population of 1,849 in 549 Households. The name H ...

, near

Millom Millom is a town and civil parish on the north shore of the estuary of the River Duddon in southernmost Cumberland, Cumbria, England. It is situated just outside the Lake District National Park, about north of Barrow-in-Furness ( by road) and ...

in Cumbria, England. Haverigg Prison is operated by

His Majesty's Prison Service His Majesty's Prison Service (HMPS) is a part of HM Prison and Probation Service (formerly the National Offender Management Service), which is the part of His Majesty's Government charged with managing most of the prisons within England and ...

, and is part of the HMP North Lancashire and Cumbria Estate (along with HMP Lancaster Castle and HMP Lancaster Farms). Haverigg Prison is built on the site of an old RAF airfield training centre, and was opened in 1967. While some of the prison's workshops and offices are housed in buildings from that era, most of HMP Haverigg has been extensively modernised over the years.

Effect on rehabilitation

Parkrun’s head of health and wellbeing, Chrissie Wellington, said "although there is no one silver bullet that can be deployed in the battle to prevent offending and re-offending behaviour, we feel that parkrun can be a unifying force for good in the desistance from crime and changing lives for the better." Rosie Meek, author of ''Sport in Prison'', said "Prisons are extraordinary, often violent and grim places, and for many the opportunity to visit the prison gym, take part in sport and generally let off some steam is a critical aspect of coping with

incarceration Imprisonment or incarceration is the restraint of a person's liberty for any cause whatsoever, whether by authority of the government, or by a person acting without such authority. In the latter case it is considered " false imprisonment". Impri ...

." HMP Haverigg’s medical facility has become an official "Parkrun Practice" whereby the medical staff can prescribe physical activity rather than a traditional prescription and refer patients to the Parkrun organising team.

External links

References

{{reflist Parkrun Penal system in England Sport in Cumbria 2017 establishments in England