HAVING recently shone the spotlight on Colchester’s Castle Park parkrun, it seems only right to lace up our running shoes and focus on two more north Essex events - those at Highwoods and Clacton.

The Highwoods event is relatively new and started on March 2, 2019.

The course, a hilly, cross-country one, takes in the beautiful surroundings of Highwoods Country Park and, on average, 120 people run or walk the 5km course.

It was recently the fourth anniversary of the first Clacton parkrun, which took place on October 15, 2016.

There were 156 participants, running along the seafront towards the pier. The course has changed slightly since those early days but still consists of three seafront loops.