RUNNERS were out in force to take part in a milestone event.

Around 800 amateur athletes pounded the paths of Southampton Common for International parkrun Day.

It’s the 14th year of the free runs – which take place in 20 countries around the world every week.

But in Southampton today’s event also marked ten years of running.

Organiser Gareth Jones said: “We’ve added up the times of all the runs in Southampton parkrun and at the end of the today’s event the total running time adds up to ten years. Internationally the organisers have also registered their fifth millionth runner.”

Event director John Grant added: “We do it for the community. We’ve been doing it for eight years. We started at Lakeside in Eastleigh. In Southampton we started five years ago with 200 runners and now we regularly have 800-1,000 runners every week. It’s about community and volunteering, and you get to meet lots of amazing people. But it’s also about health and fitness, mental health and just to keep running.