PLANS for a town's first parkrun are beginning to take shape.

Organisers and volunteers hope to launch the weekly 5km timed running or walking event at Ford Park, in Ulverston, in mid-June.

Suzanne Pender, chair of the Ford Park Trustees, is hoping to establish a route that is fun and accessible for everyone in the town.

She said: "The route won't be up Hoad or too challenging because it needs to be inclusive for everyone. That is what we are all about.

"We want people to be able to come along and walk it if they don't want to run, so that everyone feels able to compete.

"We're still deciding and some of the options still need permission, but we're considering everything."

Organisers of the event will set out to measure the proposed route next week and plans continue to take shape.

Mrs Pender said: "Everything is going ahead as planned.

"At the moment we are gathering different opinions on the route, but we will probably end up with two, so we have one for the summer and one for when it gets wetter in winter.

"We're consulting on the main route and we're going to measure one possibility on Monday."

Since being announced earlier this year, plans to establish Ulverston's first parkrun have been met with a great wave of public support.

Mrs Pender said: "The next stage is to train the core team and part of that will involve going to Barrow and shadowing their parkrun team for a weekend.

"We had an open meeting a couple of weeks ago and about 30 people were interested in supporting us and helping out, so there's been a great level of community support.

"We're still open for more volunteers to come forward and help out if they can too."

Ford Park Trustees say the venue is perfect for a parkrun, and it would serve as a great boost to the health of the local community.

The organisers also say the move will be good for tourism, as parkrun enthusiasts like to travel to different venues around the UK and around the world, and look for the nearest parkrun when on holiday.

Mrs Pender said: "The chef in our cafe is adjusting his opening hours to be open early on Saturdays so it is open before and after the run.

"We want people to be able to come with their families and have somewhere nice and warm to watch and wait.

"We want to make it a nice family event."

Ulverston BID will be covering the start up costs of £3,000 needed to host a parkrun.

There are already popular parkrun events held in Barrow, at Fell Foot and in Millom.

All parkruns in England are held at 9am on a Saturday.