parkrun celebrates Pride at Invercargill

CHROMA, the LGBTQIA+ Initiative for Southland, was proud to collaborate with their local parkrun in Waihopai (Invercargill) as part of Murihiku’s first Pride Week. CHROMA’s secretary Beth Duffill-Brookes tells us more.

This was a fantastic way to start Pride Week, with a beautiful spring day in Queens Park. The CHROMA team met with the parkrun volunteers in the morning to mark a rainbow start/finish area, and were excited to see the team dressed in their rainbows for the occasion.

Some of the standout outfits included a rainbow ribbon cloak, rainbow tutus, rainbow unicorn headbands and colourful shirts and hats. I personally was very excited to wear rainbow wings and express my inner Elton John!

It was awesome to see a young person break their parkrun personal best, hear about a regular reaching their 100 milestone, and seeing everyone walking, running, volunteering and chatting throughout the event.

We loved the music at the marshalling stations, and had fantastic conversations with some of the participants. The diversity of parkrunners was beautiful to see.

CHROMA is truly grateful for the collaboration and support from parkrun and the wider Invercargill community.

For us, Pride is about acknowledging our past, celebrating our present, and looking forward to the future. We are a diverse and resilient community which is only made stronger by our connections to our allies and wider community.

Thanks Invercargill parkrun for celebrating with us this Pride Week and building connections within the Murihiku community!

Beth Duffill-Brookes (she/her), secretary for CHROMA