THE Eden Project features in a new book that ranks the best parkruns in the country.

Author Lucy Waterlow, who has penned The Ultimate Guide to parkrun (Canbury Press, £20), places the Eden Project at number four in the list of top runs.

Fountains Abbey in North Yorkshire, a world heritage site, comes first, followed by Bushy Park in West London in second and then the Severn parkrun in Monmouthshire, Wales, which has sweeping views over the Severn estuary.

Lucy says of the Eden Project run: “Parkrunners get free entry (at the time of the event only) to one of the UK’s top tourist attractions, a collection of plants from around the world, which celebrates the natural world.

“Parkrunners pass by the famous giant biomes as they zig-zag around the venue and then have stunning views of them as they climb hills and loop back down again.

“Despite the undulating path and twists and turns, the average time is 29:40 for the 314 finishers on average, many of whom combined their run with a holiday in Cornwall.”

Since its launch in Bushy Park on October 2, 2004, parkrun has become a global phenomenon. The free weekly 5km runs take place on Saturday mornings.