Te Anau joins the parkrun world this weekend as the first 5km event is held on the Lake2Lake Trail.

Every Saturday morning, in more than 2000 locations across 23 countries, runners and walkers get the weekend off to the best start by completing the 5km distance.

Lake2Lake trail parkrun will be the 37th parkrun in New Zealand.

"It's not going to be the fastest parkrun in the country but it is probably the most scenic," says event director Sagar Khemani.

"And, it's important to remember, it is not a race.

"The 5km is timed but you can run, jog, walk, walk the dog, push a pram, or just come and spectate or volunteer.

"It's much more about coming together, a social activity where people can make connections, start the weekend right and be part of something."

The relaxed approach has seen participation in parkruns soar since the first event in Bushy park, Teddington, UK, in 2004.

Parkrun is free but people need to register online and bring a scannable copy of the barcode they are given.

That means they get a record of their time and participation and can be used at any parkrun event around the world.

"There's actually parkrun tourism, with people travelling to tick off parkruns in all these different wonderful locations, and we hope it will attract people to Te Anau.

"With the barcode people can also get into the nitty gritty of it, if they like, see exactly what times they done at each parkrun, how many locations, how many countries, how they're performing compared to others in their age group."

Parkruns are now in Invercargill, Gore and Queenstown, and keen runners from those events are likely to head down to Te Anau on Saturday.

"I've even heard on the grapevine we might get a crew down from Upper Hutt," Sagar says.

He hopes more than 100 people will turn out on Saturday, as there's a decent running scene in Te Anau, with the Lake Hydro Half Marathon event and, of course, the Kepler Challenge.

"That's probably the most sought-after race in the country, it sells out in about five minutes.

"And we've got a good athletics club here, which really punches above its weight for the size of the town and club. There are a lot of runners in Te Anau."

Sagar, who runs marathons and ultra marathons, has set up the parkrun with fellow event director Dwight Grieve.

Event directors Dwight Grieve and Sagar Kemani

"We've had amazing support from the community already, in terms of finding volunteers and getting things organised. We want this to be a cool thing for the town, a really positive space, that brings people together."

The aim is to be as inclusive as possible, with 5km the perfect distance to provide a challenge for runners to go quickly, or for anyone who just wants to get out for a nice walk on a Saturday morning.

The first Lake2Lake Trail parkrun is this Saturday, 9am. It will be held every Saturday from now, going forward, at 9am winter, and 8am once the clocks go forward on 25 September.

There's already a good running scene in Te Anau and they're keen on parkrun

Details - check out the website here: https://www.parkrun.co.nz/lake2laketrail/

Lake2Lake Cycle Trail, Kepler Track car park, Control Gates Te Anau, 202 Golf Course Rd, Te Anau, 9600. See course page for more details.

Please register before you first come along. Only ever register with parkrun once and don't forget to bring a scannable copy of your barcode (request a reminder). If you forget it, you won't get a time.

It is entirely organised by volunteers - email [email protected] to help.