Healthy, with plenty of other benefits
Published on 07 August 2025
Back in January 2024, Jason Deller had a conversation in Washington DC which, little known to him at the time, was about to change things in a tiny Loddon Shire town which is most famous for a mound that that town takes its name from.
No, it wasn’t a high-powered political meeting, but a conference – and that conversation has led to an unlikely but wonderful success story.
While there Dr Deller, a resident of Pyramid Hill, met a fellow attendee from Melbourne and they got chatting about home.
“He spoke to me about parkrun, what it was and the benefits and he joked ‘you should do one for Pyramid Hill’,” Dr Deller said.
“I knew the track around the hill was perfect (with spectacular views) and it met all the requirements.
“That was the genesis of the idea. I spoke to parkrun (Australia) and they were very supportive.
“We worked out the course would be three laps, did a risk assessment and spoke with Loddon Shire Council about what we needed to do to make sure they were happy about the track being used for this purpose.
“(Healthy Loddon Campaspe Health Broker) Kate Lawrence was incredibly supportive to get us up and running, seeing the benefit of providing funding to support a free, regular physical activity for the community.
“The only issue I had to come to terms with was making sure we had enough volunteers as volunteer fatigue is a real thing, but we’ve had a great core of volunteers.”
It took about 12 months to come to fruition but since the first event in April 2025, which attracted 73 runners from near and far, the Pyramid Hill Golf Trail parkrun has been a spectacular success story.
There have been hundreds of entrants since that first run, and statistics show that more than 60 per cent have come from out of the region, including as far afield as England, France and New Zealand.
Which has been a great boost to an area home to about 600 people – including local business.
Spendmapp data for the area shows at least a 5 per cent increase in economic activity on the previous year.
Janine Worth is the owner of the Coffee Bank coffee shop in Pyramid Hill, a business she bought about 12 months ago.
“It’s been a very good thing for the town and business,” she said.
“With parkrun we always get some people from out of town in for their coffee and breakfast after the parkrun and the volunteers call in as well.
“I’ve had to put on more staff on a Saturday morning and it certainly has made our business busier.”
Ms Worth said she expected the 21st parkrun to “be a big one”, a far cry from what she expected a few months ago.
“I don’t even think I had heard of parkrun before they had meetings here to get it running and didn’t know what effect it would have on my business,” she said.
“Being in Pyramid Hill where there is a coffee shop and a café I thought it should benefit it us somewhat.
“Jason Deller said it would be good for the business and he certainly wasn’t wrong about that.
“He’s a great man and we’re very appreciative of the work he did to get the parkrun set up.”
But it’s not just on a Saturday morning that the benefits come to local businesses.
Paul Carter is the publican and co-owner of the Victoria Hotel and also manages the Pyramid Hill Caravan Park.
Apart from the boost to the community, he has also seen the boost to business.
“We see (the tourists) before the event in people that decide to stay here the Friday night,” Mr Carter said.
“They stay here (the pub) or the caravan park, have a meal and a drink and the next morning they go off to the parkrun and then Janine benefits, and you can’t move in there sometimes afterwards.
“During winter we’re pretty quiet on the (agriculture) side of things so there’s not many workers staying here and this fills up a bit of a void as well.”
Which will be a pleasing problem to have as the weather warms up.
“It’ll be interesting in the spring when the parkrunners and ag workers both turn up,” Mr Carter said.
Dr Deller, the run director, said the number of parkrunners was “unreal” and some stayed on to visit other parts of Loddon Shire and the wider region in general.
“That’s really good and completely unexpected,” he said.
“Paul and Janine would really notice that. We know people are coming to town and enjoying the town and would never have come to Pyramid Hill if not for the parkrun – they tell us ‘we didn’t know where this place was’.
“For a small community it’s been really a joyful experience – even in winter when it’s been really cold and we know in summer there’ll be more people.
“Everyone that goes to the event is happy and smiling so socially it’s really good.
“We know the health benefits of parkrun but in many ways that’s not the biggest benefit – it’s the social benefit of interacting in a community environment, and they’re all ages too, from 5-6-7 year-olds to people in their 70s.
“It’s not just 30-40 year-olds, it’s a huge range of age groups. There are also runners whose whole holidays are based on parkrun because they’ll know they’ll meet people there – it’s quite a subculture.
“It’s been really good for the town and it’s not going anywhere – it’s here to stay.”
The Pyramid Hill Golf Trail parkrun takes place every Saturday from 8am. For more information please visit https://www.parkrun.com.au/pyramidhillgolftrail/.
The 21st parkrun is scheduled to take place on Saturday, 23 August.
Caption: Victoria Hotel publican and Pyramid Hill Caravan Park manager Paul Carter sees the benefits each week of the parkrun to the town.