A FIVE per cent jump in economic spend in Pyramid Hill has been credited to the town’s Saturday morning parkrun that started in April.
Data released by Loddon Shire this week show the spend is up compared with 12 months ago.
Paul Carter, the publican and co-owner of the Victoria Hotel who also manages the Pyramid Hill Caravan Park, said the weekly run had been a  boost to the community and 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.”
“It’ll be interesting in the spring when the parkrunners and ag workers both turn up,” Mr Carter said.
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 later this month 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.
Dr Jason 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.