JINDABYNE parkrun organisers need the community’s help to keep the popular event afloat as they call for more local volunteers.

The free, fun and friendly weekly five-kilometre community event is run completely by volunteers every Saturday at 8am, meeting in Banjo Paterson Park.

Jindabyne parkrun volunteer co-ordinator, Erin Lee, said volunteering for the event is easy, all roles are accessible and there is no experience necessary.

“You haven’t had to have participated in previous events, or ever volunteered before, just show up and the other friendly volunteers will show you what to do, anyone can do it,” Erin said.

“We have a good core group of local volunteers, but we would like to see more. The more volunteers the less frequently each person has to volunteer so we would like to see more locals onboard.”

A minimum of seven volunteers is needed each Saturday to hold the event. If the minimum volunteers can’t be sourced the event doesn’t run, which has not happened for the Jindabyne parkrun event just yet.

Volunteer positions includes run director, timekeeper, two marshals, a finish token person, barcode scanner and a tail walker.

Some roles can be taken by under 18s, while some require adults.

Established in 2018, Jindabyne parkrun has overcome every hurdle including the break over Covid-19 and having to move the course from the lake foreshore to Jindabyne Sport and Rec due to flooding.

Moving back to its original course along the foreshore in November 2023, the event is popular to not only the locals but also visitors to the town.

Erin said Jindabyne parkrun attracts a lot of visitors and due to the added 'alphabet challenge', many participants travel specifically for the Saturday Jindabyne parkrun event.

“The challenge requires parkrun participants to complete a parkrun event in towns/cities starting with each letter of the alphabet and we get a lot of people attend to tick off the letter ‘J’,” Erin said.

“Sometimes we do have visitors to the area come along and volunteer for us but primarily our volunteers are our locals.”

Since its establishment in Jindabyne, parkrun has run almost every week, however Erin is finding it increasingly difficult to fill the full seven positions needed as she continues to reach out to community members for more help.

Erin said there are a handful of people consistently volunteering their Saturday mornings for this popular event, but they need more help to allow them to participate themselves.

“Volunteering for this event is a great way to meet people, it is very little pressure, and everyone is very encouraging and helpful,” Erin said.

“It gives you a sense of community because you’re with like-minded people who want to help.

“And not to mention the beautiful location in which the event is held every Saturday morning is an added bonus.”

Reaching her 200th volunteer day on New Year’s Day for parkrun, Erin is the volunteer with the highest number of volunteer credits for the event and the occasion was celebrated for her hard work and commitment by fellow volunteers and participants on January 1.

The first and only Jindabyne parkrun volunteer to reach the milestone, director of Jindabyne parkrun, Rosalie Brooke, organised volunteers to wear purple t-shirts (Erin’s favourite colour) with #ERIN200 on the back as a surprise to celebrate the achievement.

"Jindabyne parkrun has a wonderful community of volunteers and the heart and drive behind it all really is the wonderful Erin Lee,” Rosalie said.

“To be there with her for her 200th volunteer was amazing and a testament to the giving nature of not only her but all our volunteers. It is so important to celebrate these amazing people and their milestones."

The only parkrun event in the region is calling upon the community to help volunteer, if interested contact Jindabyne parkrun via Facebook, email jindabyne@parkrun.com or visit www.parkrun.com.au/jindabyne