A worldwide movement that started in the UK has been quietly happening every week in Timmins for a couple years now.
Gillies Lake Parkrun — like similar events in 43 other Canadian locations – meets every Saturday morning at 9:00, outside the Mattagami Region Conservation Authority building. The group then goes on what event co-director Jérémie Lamothe calls a fun, easygoing five-kilometre walk or run, with a focus on community and health.
The first local event was in late spring, 2019.
“Of course, things shut down during the pandemic,” Lamothe remarks, “but we reopened as soon as we could. Time flew. We’re at our 50th event, which is quite incredible.”
Lamothe notes that once around the Gillies trail is 2.3 km.
“We start at the very edge of the field, and then we do a little bit of an ‘L’ through the field and then merge into the trail,” he explains, along with how the route is topped up to 5K. “We do two laps, merge back into the field and then finish where we started.”
You can find out what getting involved with Parkrun entails on its website. Here’s the full conversation with Jérémie Lamothe.