POLICE officers joined parkrunners on the start line for a ‘Cops and Robbers’ themed chase to highlight the importance of wellbeing in the community.

Eight officers from the North Dorset policing team ran the 5km course of Blandford parkrun in full kit whilst ‘chasing’ comedy robbers complete with stripy outfits, masks, and swag bags.

Volunteer run director PCSO Luke Goddard organised the event alongside his wife, and fellow officer Charli.

He said: “We’ve been doing parkruns for what will be three years at the end of the summer and have been joking about doing a run in full uniform for a long time.

“Seven of the local Blanford-based officers are regular parkrunners, and when they are unable to run due to shifts or other commitments they are often in attendance in uniform to say ‘hi’ and engage with the local community.

“Many parkrunners often jokingly ask “Are you running in that today then?”, referring to the full uniform, which gave us the idea.”

Luke and Charli started running back in 2014 and say the parkrun has transformed their lives to such an extent that they took on the London Marathon in April.

Luke said: “We became great friends with so many fellow runners and it transformed our lives completely – something neither of us expected.

“Wanting to do my bit, I signed up to volunteer and soon became one of the run directors.”

Having bandied the idea around the station, it was decided that running as a force would be a different and positive way to engage with the community.

Representing the police team alongside Luke and Charli were Sergeant James Dimmack, Constable Rob Hammond, Constable Gavin Newbury, Constable Dave Mullins, Inspector Danny Thompson and Chief Inspector Rob Chalkley.

Luke said that it was a fun and eye-opening event and highlighted the importance of running for all.

He added that parkruns were a free and fun way to get fit while making friends and were suitable for people of all ages and abilities.

He said: “Dorset Police are very aware of the importance of health and wellbeing in order to keep staff fit and able to do their work.

“To be able to give people an idea of what it is like to not only carry, but also run in full uniform, was an eye-opener for many and running in thick black trousers is not the easiest.”

The event promoted a record turnout for the Blandford parkrun with 286 runners coming out for the morning - one hundred more than usual.

After the run, the officers trained the 14 parkrun volunteers on how to use the new community defibrillator to know how to assist someone in a cardiac arrest and give basic life support.