Moors Valley parkrun

23/10/2026

Moors Valley Country Park and Forest will reopen as normal from 8am on Saturday 24 October 2026.

Updated: 23/10/2026 - 2pm

Following today's weather, our rangers will be carrying out site inspections and some areas may be temporarily closed while any storm-related damage is made safe. Please follow any on-site signage and staff guidance during your visit 🍃

For the latest information regarding the Halloween Illuminated Trail, please visit: https://www.forestryengland.uk/moors-valley/halloween/latest-updates

In the event of a trail cancellation, all ticket holders will be contacted directly by their ticketing provider. This will be actioned by 2pm to allow for travel considerations 🎃

23/10/2026

Happy parkrun eve, on this blustery autumnal night!

The Rangers at Moors Valley Country Park and Forest have been superstars and confirmed that the park will be open from 8am tomorrow morning.

Which means we're still planning to go ahead with our parkrun event, subject to a successful course check etc. We've been advised there is a lot of debris around, so please be careful when you are on the course.

Additionally, the first loop of the car park will be inaccessible (red line on the map). This unfortunately means the disabled parking spaces will be unavailable and all cars will need to be parked in the second & subsequent car parks (green ticks on the map). Please follow all signs and DO NOT drive down the wrong way or ignore a ranger's instruction.
There have been reports of inconsiderate behaviour with some of our drivers so we would kindly ask everyone to leave a little extra time in the morning, so that we can all get to the briefing (and toilets) on time. Thank you for your understanding.

Should we need to cancel, we'll notify everyone via as many methods as possible, so please keep an eye on the socials. No news is good news!

See you in the morning 🌳💨🍂🌪🏃🏃‍♀️🏃‍♂️🧡

19/10/2026

🧡💚 Moors Valley parkrun #480 💚🧡

🍂 A warm, fresh autumnal morning set the scene for brilliant parkrun and parkwalking conditions, as 577 participants joined us for event #480 on Saturday 17 October. We welcomed 84 first-timers, including 12 people taking their very first parkrun steps. We hope you loved it and will be back for more!

Milestone magic!

There were plenty of reasons to celebrate, with some fantastic milestones reached:

💜 Neil Stone celebrated his 10th volunteer milestone.
👏 William Silk completed his 10th parkrun.
🎉 A huge 13 participants joined the 25-club, including Mark Christison, Charlotte Fieldhouse and Tom Martin.
❤️ Eight runners reached their 50th parkrun, including Daniel Bird, Matt Downes and Andy Shawyer.
🖤 Fred Chaston hit the impressive 100-parkrun milestone.
💚 Eric Pearson, Gordon Way and Jackie Eggleton celebrated 250 parkruns. What an achievement!
🧡 Gary Davis reached the fantastic 300 milestone.
🎈 And a big cheer for Anne Stevens, celebrating 150 parkruns!

Personal bests galore!

An incredible 61 PBs were recorded — proof that autumn legs can still fly! A massive well done to everyone who smashed their personal targets.

💜 Volunteers: the real heroes!

Our event simply wouldn't happen without our wonderful hi-vis heroes. A massive thank you to every volunteer who gave their time, energy and encouragement.

Whether you ran, jogged, walked, volunteered or cheered from the sidelines, thank you for being part of our parkrun family.

Same time, same place, more milestones to make. See you next Saturday! 💚🧡

10/10/2026

There was an autumnal chill to this morning at Moors Valley, but this didn't deter 499 participants to complete our course, supported by 47 wonderful volunteers. A huge thank you to everyone who ran, jogged, walked, volunteered or cheered. You all helped make it another wonderful Saturday morning!

We had a rather unexpected visitor this week in the shape of a boomerang B14, which made its way to our course before being handed over from Rachael Hawken to Richard Sedgley. You never quite know what might turn up at parkrun! https://www.facebook.com/share/p/18KPDeX2WL/

We were delighted to welcome visitors from New Zealand, Scunthorpe, Weymouth and Colchester. We hope you enjoyed your Moors Valley experience and felt at home on our beautiful forest course.

There was plenty to celebrate, too! Congratulations to Zoe McPherson on her 25th volunteer milestone and Jane Lane on reaching an amazing 150 volunteers - all as a marshal!! Happy 77th birthday to Shirley, belated birthday wishes to Paul, whose birthday was yesterday, and a big Moors Valley welcome to Damon, who completed his very first parkrun. So many lovely reasons to celebrate, and we're delighted you shared them with us!

Our Run Director Mark completed the briefing, with Fun Director Bobby getting everyone underway before our fantastic volunteers headed to the finish area. We had a swan-free morning this time, with just a few ducks keeping an eye on all the hard work, happy faces and fabulous finishes. They seemed quite content to leave us to it!

The weather is definitely beginning to turn, with a little chill in the air now. Autumnal vibes are certainly on their way, and we're already looking forward to our Halloween parkrun at the end of the month. We wonder what treats and spooky surprises might be in store🎃👻

Thank you to our 47 volunteers for making it all happen, and well done to all 499 participants. We hope you left with a smile and look forward to welcoming you back next Saturday!
If you'd like to volunteer next week, the future roster can be found here: https://www.parkrun.org.uk/moorsvalley/futureroster/
Please email [email protected] with your barcode and we'll add you to the roster🧡🙏🙋🦺

04/10/2026

Brian’s family have asked us to share an update with the Moors Valley parkrun community regarding his funeral arrangements.

The funeral service will be held at St Michael & All Angels Church in Verwood on Thursday 15th October 2026 at 12:30pm.

Immediately following the church service, there will be a private family committal at Verwood Cemetery, followed by a wake at Crane Valley Golf Club.

Details can be found here: https://www.oharafunerals.co.uk/funeral-notices/funeral-details/?tribute=brian-long-1948-2026

The parkrun community would be welcome to join Brian's family to celebrate his life and share memories of him.

Instead of flowers, the family have asked anyone wishing to do so, makes a donation to parkrun in Brian’s memory. When making a donation, please split your donation between parkrun and specifically our Moors Valley parkrun.

Our Moors Valley parkrun link can be found on our About Us page: https://www.parkrun.org.uk/moorsvalley/aboutus/
Scroll down to the purple donation link "donate to this event" which will take you to a paypal donation page. All funds received will go directly back into supporting our event, with a particular focus on keeping our equipment and kit in good condition.

The parkrun donation page can be found here: https://donate.parkrun.com/

🙏🧡

Moors Valley parkrun is a FREE weekly 5k event for participants of all standards, which takes place every Saturday at 9:00am in Moors Valley Country Park and Forest, Horton road, Ashley Heath, Nr. Ringwood, Dorset, BH24 2ET.

04/10/2026

What a lovely morning we had at Moors Valley for event #478 and parkrun's 22nd birthday! Tutus were plentiful & colourful, on both volunteers and participants alike.

It was fantastic to see so many milestones being celebrated this week. Now that the new official parkrun milestones are available, we’re able to give even more shout-outs to our amazing participants, and we absolutely love it.

We also had a very special birthday celebration among our four-legged parkrunners, with one of our regular parkrun dogs celebrating his 6th birthday. And, of course, Monty was as springy and excited as ever!

We welcomed visitors from Horsham, Milton Keynes, Swanage and Warwick, as well as all of our wonderful regulars. Thank you for choosing to spend your Saturday morning with us, and we hope you enjoyed your visit.

A huge thank you, as always, to our incredible volunteers. We really, truly couldn’t do it without you. Whether you were marshalling, scanning, timing, sorting tokens, tail walking or helping behind the scenes, you all played an important part in making sure everyone could enjoy a safe and happy parkrun. We hope you had as much fun as we did.

Looking ahead to next Saturday, the Run Bournemouth event is taking place, so if you’re tapering and would like to give your legs a well-earned rest but still want your parkrun fix, why not volunteer?

We’re a community event and simply can’t go ahead without our wonderful supporters. So if you’re able to help next Saturday, please be one of them.

Email [email protected] along with your parkrun barcode number to let us know you’d like to volunteer.

Whether you’re a regular volunteer or have never volunteered before, there’s a role for everyone, and we’d love to have you on the team.

See you next Saturday!

01/10/2026

Saturday 3rd October volunteer plea!

Can anyone help complete our course check & event day set up on Saturday please? ** role filled 🙌 **

We also could do with some volunteers on the funnel and barcode scanning; anyone with a finish time of under 25 mins could run first and then be an awesome hi-vis hero!🦺

Please email us at [email protected] including your parkrun number so we can add you to the roster 🙏🏼

Thanks in advance!🧡

30/09/2026

This weekend, as parkrun turns 22, we want to celebrate with a sea of tutus!
We’re encouraging you to invite two friends along to help us celebrate parkrun’s 22nd birthday.

Also our roster could do with some tutu wearing volunteers, so please get in touch with your parkrun barcode number to [email protected] and come & join the celebrations!🙏🧡🎉

27/09/2026

💚 Moors Valley parkrun #477 💚

Today’s Moors Valley parkrun was a pacing event, with our wonderful pacers helping chase those PBs.

We welcomed 620 finishers, including 88 first-timers, and it was fantastic to see so many people out enjoying the course, supporting one another and making the most of the pacing opportunities.

But today was also a particularly poignant morning for our Moors Valley community, as we gathered together to remember and celebrate the life of Brian Long.

Before the Run Director's briefing, we took a few moments to reflect on Brian and some of his impressive parkrun statistics, before coming together for a minute's applause to celebrate his life and everything he brought to our community. Brian was there at our very first Moors Valley parkrun in November 2015 and went on to complete 357 of his 430 parkruns with us.

Many of us will remember Brian for his chalked line at the 4km marker, his stopwatch in hand, his encouragement to runners as they passed, and of course his absolute love of parkrun statistics!

It felt very fitting that, on a morning all about people helping each other to achieve their goals, we were able to remember someone who spent so much time encouraging others.

A huge thank you to every single volunteer who made today possible. From course setup and scanning to marshalling, timing, tokens and everything in between, your time and enthusiasm are what make Moors Valley parkrun happen every Saturday.

And a very special thank you to all of our pacers. Your commitment to hitting those target times, and the encouragement you gave to the runners around you, clearly made a difference with 80 PBs achieved. ⏱️

Congratulations to everyone who ran, walked, jogged, paced, volunteered or supported today.

And, as always, thank you for being part of the Moors Valley parkrun community. 💚

Run well, remember Brian, and see you next Saturday.

23/09/2026

It is with great sadness that we share the news that our fellow parkrunner, Brian Long, passed away on Sunday after a brave battle with cancer.

Brian was a much-loved member of the Moors Valley parkrun community. He attended our inaugural event in November 2015 and then went on to complete 357 events out of his 430 parkruns with us.

This coming Saturday, we will mark his passing during the briefing before the start of parkrun to celebrate Brian. His family wanted to let you know, as parkrun and the community around it, meant a great deal to Brian. Thank you for the part you played in his life.
Details of his funeral will be shared in due course.

Our thoughts are with Brian’s wife Julie, family, and friends at this difficult time. He will be greatly missed, but never forgotten.