DESPITE muddy conditions the Forest Of Dean Park Run continues to grow in popularity with fields of 50+ every Saturday morning for the 5km run.

Park Runs began in 2004 with a mere 13 runners at Bushy Park, London. There are now 158 locations in the UK that host weekly runs for 238,318 participants.

All of the runs in England start at 9am on Saturday mornings.

The Forest of Dean Park Run began in April 2010 and since then 1,247 runners have completed the course.

This week, Marcus Bennetto and Alan Robertson were presented with shirts to mark their 50th runs, while ex-Berry Hill rugby player Ian Hoare joined the 100 club, along with Mark Matthews, David Jones and Angela Bowkett.

Sweatshop give a new pair of running shoes to the runner of the month. The December winner was Anna Freeman.