A celebratory NHS 75 parkrun in Nye Bevan’s hometown saw nearly 300 parkrunners, special guests, NHS staff and others descend on Parc Bryn Bach, Tredegar this past weekend (Saturday, July 8).
Blaenau Gwent MP Nick Smith helped add a special NHS 75 flourish to his local regular parkrun event, inviting local schools and GP surgery staff to take part to mark the 75^th anniversary of the foundation of the NHS.
The parkrun also saw the award-winning Ebbw Vale Brass band playing the runners in, a graduation ceremony for the latest Couch to 5K cohort and a special appearance by Shadow Leader of the House Thangam Debbonaire MP who called the start of the run before also taking part in the scenic 5K around the lake.
Earlier in the week Mr Smith, a keen parkrunner and also Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for parkrun, put together an NHS75 run which saw 23 Parliamentarians take part in a 4K run around St James’ Park in Westminster.
Mr Smith said: “Parkrun is a fantastic, free public health initiative which helps improve physical and mental well-being. What better way to mark the NHS 75^th anniversary than holding an event here in the birthplace of our national health service and its founder Nye Bevan.
“It was a brilliant morning with a real celebratory atmosphere, despite the wet weather. I’m delighted that around 295 runners took part, double our usual number. There were lots of familiar faces but also loads of new ones too, from NHS staff running in their scrubs, to parents pushing prams, with visitors from as far away as Birmingham and London.
“Having the brilliant Ebbw Vale Brass band give us a musical boost as we ran along was great, thanks to them for coming along and thanks to Thangam for getting the race started and joining in.
“As ever I want to give an extra thank you to race director Lee Aherne and all the volunteers that make our brilliant Parc Bryn Bach parkrun possible every single weekend.”

PHOTOS CREDITED TO: Adrian Markey