Christchurch City Council approved the use of a 5km course for the Broad Park Parkrun on a one-year trial period.
Parkrun is an international organisation that runs free, timed 5km runs in 20 countries. The events take place at 8am on Saturday mornings in parks and open spaces.
New Zealand has 34 such events with Hagley Park currently hosting the only Parkrun in the city each weekend.
One of the organisers, Hayden Zervos, is hopeful the new event will help grow running in east Christchurch and support community health and well-being.
"I personally see Parkrun as a very positive thing.
"It's free, accessible and inclusive. I've been doing Parkrun for six or seven years and have seen a lot of people during this time who have significantly improved as runners.
"Being able to run and socialise with like-minded people is one of the best things about it and it has definitely helped me socially and to meet many other runners."
The new course will start from the Broad Park car park near Waimairi Beach and follow a route mapped out along tracks inside the forest.
Regional parks manager Kay Holder said organisers had identified a need for a second location in the east and approached the council about a suitable site.
"We felt Bottle Lake would be well suited for such an event as there is a lot of surrounding space for other park users and the Broad Park area provides good access to parking," Holder said.
"Having this one-year trial period will help us and the organisers establish if this will be a suitable permanent location for this event."
Funding towards a defibrillator for the new event was provided by the Waitai Coastal-Burwood Community Board and the city council.
