World running movement marks its second birthday in Naas next month.

Naas parkrun will celebrate it's 2nd anniversary in March.

It was set up by a dedicated group of volunteers including John Finn, Ciara Shortall, Gerry Halton, Katherine Stapleton, Niamh Kirwan and Eimear Hennessy who freely give up their Saturdays mornings all year round to stage the event in conjunction with Kildare Sports Partnership and Naas Racecourse.

Naas parkrun is indebted to the management of Naas Racecourse who generously provide their fantastic facilities free of charge each week.

parkrun began in 2004 when Paul-Sinton-Hewitt started the first ever run in Bushy Park, London.

Over the last 11 years, it has grown from 13 people to over 100,000 people getting out each Saturday morning to run and meet up at a Parkrun somewhere around the world.

If you would like to get out and get active, Naas and Newbridge Athletic Clubs both have "Couch to 5km" training sessions taking place at the moment.

Naas Athletic Club groups meet at the Leisure Centre on the Caragh Road at 10am on Tuesday and Thursday mornings, while Newbridge AC's sessions take place on Wednesday and Friday evenings.

More details are on both clubs websites.

Mary Carolan, a mother of 4 children, is the Naas Parkrun ambassador and will be delighted to welcome anybody following the Operation Transformation "Couch to 5km" plan, to parkrun every Saturday at Naas race course at 9.30am.

Mary herself only started running again last Easter, after joining the Fit for Life training group in Newbridge AC.

She completed her first parkrun in Naas in July and has been a regular at parkrun every Saturday morning since.

She highly recommends parkrun for anybody seeking to become more active.

She said: “The beauty of parkrun is that it is a run, not a race. You are only competing against yourself and the watch!

"You will meet a lovely crowd of people and it is a free, fun and friendly event."

"Log onto www.parkrun.ie to register for free, and print off your barcode."