The Dunedin Parkrun was paused at the start of the Delta outbreak, when outdoor gatherings were limited to 100 people under pandemic rules.
With those rules now out of the way, throngs of smiling faces gathered in the Dunedin Botanic Garden before the 9am start in fine autumn weather.
Event director Tania Hollis said it was lovely to line up and await the call to "ready, set, go" again.
"People were just really happy to get back to it after being away for so long," she said.
She ran most of the way in the first Parkrun since the Dunedin run was paused in August, but stopped to help someone who "had a bit of a tumble" and so she did not complete the course this first time back.
There were many familiar faces and quite a lot of new ones who did finish, she said.
It was a higher-than-expected turnout, but the number of runners was "about back to normal numbers", Ms Hollis said.
Dunedin Parkrun run director Paul McElhone, one of five Dunedin run directors, said this weekend’s run felt like "a step back to normal".
Mr McElhone said 173 people finished the run, or walk, on Saturday in a range of times from under 20 minutes to over an hour.
"It was nice to see the sun when everybody came back," he said.
"It’s just another little step on the way back to normal.
"It was a nice day and I think there was a bit of pent-up demand for people who want to do things, because so many events have been cancelled," he said.
Parkruns are free and are hosted in 27 countries around the world.
There are 36 Parkrun routes run around New Zealand.
