'We did a parkrun on our wedding day. Everyone thought we were mad'

On one of the hottest Saturdays of the year hundreds of parkrunners gathered at the Wye Bridge Section of the old Severn Bridge for the weekly parkrun. For many it was their usual Saturday morning 5k but for one couple it was how they were choosing to begin their wedding day. When careers consultant Rob Pickup first met primary school teacher Kate Webster in 2021 he was told in no uncertain terms there was one important condition of their relationship - he had to come to parkrun. Rob, who was living in Bath at the time, wasn't a runner and was unsure what all the fuss was about. However, he wasn't going to sit back and wait for Kate to come home every Saturday so he bit the bullet. For the biggest stories in Wales first sign up to our daily newsletter here . He said: "At the beginning I didn't like running. I was volunteering and I just thought I didn't get these people celebrating milestones or having done an alphabet. Yet here I am 109 parkruns later trying to figure out how I can squeeze in a trip to Germany to do a V because it's the closest one to where I was based in the army." Five years later, and with Rob now fully onboard with the parkrun hype, the pair thought running their home parkrun hours before their wedding was the only logical way to spend the morning. On Saturday, May 23, on a day which saw Severn Bridge parkrun's biggest ever turnout, the pair donned some wedding gear and headed over from Newport to run in Chepstow where Kate grew up. Joined by family, friends, and members of the wedding party, the couple were the centre of attention as 535 people took on the Chepstow route. Rob, originally from Cornwall, recalls the conversation they had early on in their relationship. He said: "She turned around and said: 'On a Saturday morning I do this thing called parkrun, you've got two options - you either come with me or you can go home.'" He decided to go along and volunteer and then started running it. They've now both done over a hundred and said it's a huge part of their lives. "When we were getting married we were thinking about whether we were going to do parkrun in the morning and she was like 'yeah of course'. "We run most Saturdays somewhere, I thought it would be cool to do parkrun when we got married but I wasn't sure Kate would be up for it because it takes a while to get ready for a wedding but she wanted to do it. "We didn't anticipate the reaction we would get, it was very overwhelming! A couple of my groomsmen ran it and some people going to the wedding ran their first ever parkrun. "One of the run directors did a speech about us getting married before and then everyone formed a tunnel for us to run through at the start. "That's why I love parkrun, it's that community aspect. When I started dating Kate and I moved to Chepstow I already had a few people I knew because I knew them from parkrun." After the 5k was over, Rob and Kate remained the centre of attention with people trying to shower the happy couple in sparkling wine and lots of people wanted to speak to them and get pictures. Kate left to go back to Newport and have her hair and makeup done while Rob went to his normal post-parkrun cafe, Nellie's. "My groomsmen and their partners came along with me and we went for breakfast. We had breakfast and then went and got ready. "Everybody thought we were mad and couldn't believe we were doing it but it's us, it's what we do and it's memorable." After ditching the running trainers and lycra, the couple reunited at the altar of St Mary's Catholic Church in Chepstow at 3pm for their ceremony. Several parkrun regulars also came to the ceremony and returned again for the evening do. Rob was keen to recommend it to anyone else considering the unusual start to their nuptials. "It's memorable, for us it was just us. If it's a big part of your life and you can make it work logistically then why not. If it's something you do and enjoy then why sacrifice it." Since he caught the parkrun bug the couple have also embarked on their fair share of parkrun tourism having incorporated new courses into various holidays in the UK and abroad. They are now only a handful of letters away from completing their 'parkrun alphabet'. Through Johnson's Tours they've also been on organised trips away designed for people in south Wales to tick off more events. Rob said: "We went on an extreme trip in March. We left on the Friday night, drove to Holland to do a Z and then drove back to Wales and got back at about 4am on Sunday morning." However, out of all the ones he's done he still believes Severn Bridge is the best, crediting the phenomenal views and the sun-stained skies during the winter. Another personal fave was also Mount Edgcumbe in Cornwall. "You get beautiful views over Plymouth Sands and you have to get a little ferry across to it," he said. The pair are now off to Cornwall for their minimoon where they will of course be running parkrun. This time they are looking forward to soaking in the sites of the Eden Project.