20 REASONS TO DO PARKRUN
By Michael Bissett
On October 2nd 2004 13 people stood at the start line in Bushy park, just outside London and took part in the first Bush Time Trial. This quickly evolved into parkrun. Now 20 years later there are 1,282 (and counting) parkruns around the world. But why should you take part?
For me if parkrun didn’t exist I probably wouldn’t be running. Back in 2010 I was looking for something new to do and found the parkrun website, discovered there was a 5km run at Cramond. I didn’t take part straight away, instead I went down to Cramond during the week and tried running the 5km just to make sure I could get round. August 14th 2010 I took the plunge and went. I had to walk for a little bit (between the tree island and the benches on the way back) but I got round, and I was hooked into the world of parkrun.
Now fast forward 14 years and I should be completing my 600th parkrun later this year. I have run in rain, snow, heat, wind (especially) at Cramond. Parkrun has also taken me to so many different places. I have run at Bushy parkrun, the original, which was an amazing experience with over a thousand runners. I have also run at a parkrun in France with only 21 runners which was equally amazing. Just before Lockdown in 2020 I had the opportunity to run at the first Amsterdam parkrun right next to the Olympic stadium. It all closed the following week – so I was one of the fastest ever Amsterdam parkrunners for nearly 2 years!
One of the best parts of parkrun have been the people I have met and ran with over the years. I have run with fellow WERC members Jenni Owens and Claire Gilchrist. Jenni is a fellow member of the 500 club and Claire has run parkrun in over 50 different locations and is closing in on the 500.
Jenni celebrates her 500th parkrun at Vogrie, myself at Greenock and Claire completing her 50th different parkrun.
I can’t imagine Saturdays without parkrun, it is one of my most favourite times of the week. Still not convinced. Have a look below and I’ll try and explain why you should give parkrun a go.
Here are 20 reasons why parkrun should be part of your Saturday.……..
You can run it every week. As long as you are in the park by 9.30am on Saturday (9am in the majority of the rest of the world) you can take part. All you need is your barcode and you are set to go. Not sure how to get a barcode – follow this link https://www.parkrun.org.uk/register/
Everyone can take part of any age. When you get to the start line you will see people of all ages, all experiences, all waiting for the same thing – the chance to run on a Saturday morning.
It’s a good way to measure your progress. When you complete parkrun you are given a token. Take the token to one of the scanners and get it scanned along with your barcode and later in the day you will get a text and an email telling you your time. As you complete more parkruns you will be able to compare your runs over times and over venues.
You have a choice of parkrun in Edinburgh. Currently there are four in the city. The closest to WERC is Oriam parkrun at Heriot Watt University. A hilly and trail-based course. The original Edinburgh parkrun is … Edinburgh at Cramond which is tarmac and very flat but beware of the windy conditions! Portobello is a three-lap course all on tarmac and finally Holyrood parkrun is an iconic run around Holyrood park. Yes, there is a bit of a “climb” but there is also a rather nice downhill.
Other WERC members take part in parkrun every week. There are 22 members of WERC who have run at least 1 parkrun and a couple who have run over 500 each! There is a good chance that you will bump into a fellow club member when parkrunning.
You never know who you will be running with. A parkrun is an inclusive affair, and all sorts take part. This will range from people running a 5km for the first time in their lives to Olympians. Former World 1500m champions Jake Wightman and Josh Kerr have both run Edinburgh parkrun. The world’s fastest parkrun was run at Edinburgh by Olympian Andrew Butchart.
You can run parkrun almost anywhere in the UK. Most major cities have them. Edinburgh has four, Glasgow has more than that, London has even more! This map shows you the options you have. Want have a closer look – use the link https://www.parkrun.org.uk/events/events/#geo=4.19/54.96/0.41
You can also run parkrun all over the world! As you can see from the map above there are parkruns dotted around Europe with Poland, Netherlands, Germany, Sweden and Italy being just some of the European countries that have at least one parkrun. New countries are about to be added to the list with Lithuania, Switzerland and Portual coming in the near future. But parkrun is not just limited to Europe – it is big in Australia, New Zeland and South Africa. You will also find a parkrun or 2 in the USA, Canada and Malaysia.
All parkruns are different. They don’t all take place in parks! Some take place in forests, proms, around lakes, there’s even one in an industrial estate! Also parkrun can be run on tarmac, trail and even sand. Some are flat, others are less so. Each parkrun has its own personality.
You won’t come last. We all go out and try our hardest each week. Each week there is a tail walker, and it is there job to be the final finisher. Tail walkers will also encourage everyone who is taking part.
Participation is rewarded. When you are at parkun you will see many 25,50, 100, 250 and 500 t-shirts. These have been earned by runners who have completed the set numbers of run. After completing the set number you can buy a milestone t-shirt.
You’ll become part of the parkrun community. When you return each week you will spot familiar faces at the start and during the run. Who knows you may find some new running buddies.
You’ll build up some friendly rivalries. As you go more often you will start to recognise faces and while you are running you will notice some familiar people around you. Each week you will have the chance to run with them/against them.
It’s a good excuse for a bit of tourism. Want to get away for the day on a Saturday morning. Go to another town/city that has a parkrun – you get to run somewhere different and you get to see more of Scotland, the UK or even the world!
There are different challenges. Over the last 20 years many challenges have sprung up around parkun. There’s the alphabeteer challenge – to run a parkrun starting with every letter of the alphabet. There are currently no parkuns beginning with X. The letter Q is fairly rare but there is one in Glasgow. Currently to grab yourself the letter Z you would have to travel to Poland or to the Netherlands. There are many other challenges on the 5k app. (Just google it to find it!)
Volunteering is fun too. Each week parkrun relies on volunteers to make it happen. There is a core team who run the event but need marshals, time keepers, bar code scanners to help the event run smoothly. All the jobs are easy and it is another great way to meet the parkrun community.
You get rewarded for volunteering too. Just as there are milestone t-shirts for running there are the same t-shirts for volunteering too. In 2024 the first person in the world achieved their 1000 volunteering milestone!
What else would you do on a Saturday. Saturday is parkrun day.
You might just enjoy it.
You will be part of a legacy that started in Bushy park with 13 people that millions now take part in. What’s not to love!