March of the vegan runners

Vegan Runners dominate parkrun

Whether you’re a regular participant or have encountered dozens of runners in your local park on your Saturday morning jaunt, you’ve probably heard of parkrun. Every morning runners of all abilities come together in parks across the UK for a communal 5 km run (although walking, jogging and hobbling are all acceptable!). For some it’s a race and others just a chance to exercise with fellow runners. And if you’ve ever been to a Parkrun, you’ll probably be very familiar with the black and green colours of the Vegan Runners vest. 

The Vegan Runners club promotes a healthy, performance-enhancing, cruelty-free lifestyle to runners and encourages vegans to take up running. The organisation was co-founded by vegan ultramarathoner, and founder of Tower Hill Stables Animal Sanctuary, Fiona Oakes in 2004. Ever since then the group has gone from strength to strength, and in January 2023 it became the largest running club in Parkrun with 4352 runners taking part in events across the UK. This number is still growing and as of March 2023 there were 4571 vegan runners taking part in Parkrun. 

Club Secretary Lina Ambruleviciute commented: “Being the largest club sends a very strong message not only to Parkrun but to the whole world and society”.

It’s great to see thousands of people showing that a vegan diet is great fuel for an active lifestyle. What better advertisement for the health benefits of a plant-based diet than to see a group of green and black vests whizzing through parks across the UK every Saturday morning?!