I would like to thank everyone who has either added a comment to the Northern Echo website or who has emailed me to show their support for parkrun, given the recent call to boycott us. I am so gratified for the comments and personal testimonies that you have provided.

I believe that the article does not necessarily represent the views of either the Low Fell Running Club or those of the governing body, but are simply Mr Elder’s personal opinions, to which he is perfectly entitled.

This debate could easily have been avoided if the basic facts had been checked before the article was published. Never mind, many parkrunners have eloquently conveyed the ethos of parkrun and removed any questions about our value.

For the avoidance of doubt and to clarify an issue picked up from the various forums, parkrun is committed to providing as many free 5K events across the UK as possible, thereby introducing many previous non-runners to our sport and growing the local running communities in the process. parkrun will not change this winning formula by including any distances greater that 5K. 5K is the perfect distance for these free events that takes place every Saturday, run by volunteers.

I am firmly in support of paid races and even more in support of clubs. I would be bitterly disappointed if any clubs and especially Low Fell Running Club were put in a bad light because of this episode. Please do not react by boycotting Low Fell Running Club or their events.

Once again, thanks to everyone who has reacted so positively to this issue.