parkrun: A Journey

Where do you normally spend 9am on a Saturday morning? Up until three years ago I'd have said slouched on the couch not doing much. But then came parkrun.

For those unfamiliar with the parkrun concept it's a free 5k timed run (not a race) held every Saturday morning at locations around the world. All you need is your registration barcode and the will to run.

This weekend I celebrate my third year of parkrunning; I’ve completed one hundred and twenty-two runs at twenty-two different 5k events my quickest time being 18:43 at Heaton Park and my slowest 42:22 at Oldham, but this is just half my parkrun story.

A slightly larger me at one of my first runs.

Going to parkrun week after week has help turn me from a fourteen and a half stone couch potato into a ten and a bit stone runner. It’s become the cornerstone of my running, I can tell you how many Saturday’s I’ve not been at a parkrun since I did my first (five if you were interested) fit or injured going to parkun is what I do on a Saturday morning.

parkrun has changed me in many ways and not just my weight. I now do things I'd never have thought I could do: stand up in front of two hundred people and give a run brief? Not three years ago but now I wouldn't bat an eyelid, just a normal Saturday morning now. But it's not just what I do that parkrun has changed its who I am and how I act. These days I'm a lot happier and lot more chilled out in my attitude to life.

How has parkrun done this? Well it hasn't. It's not the weekly 5k run that has helped change me it's the people I've met  that have done that. Over the years I've had the privilege to meet some amazing people. parkrunners come from all walks of life and have many different backgrounds but where you come from or how you got into parkrun doesn't matter. I've met some crazy people, some very serious people but most of all people who are so supportive of what you are doing no matter how long it takes you to complete a 5k run. People are the cornerstone of parkrun. It might take me twenty minutes to complete a run but I'll normally be in the cafe a couple of hours later chatting away with people over a breakfast and a brew.

Pushing Abigail round Oldham parkrun
while pacing with Royton Road Runners.

I’ve also got more involved in the organisation of parkrun. When I was first approached by Bev the event director of Oldham parkrun to become a run director and be responsible for a week's run including doing a run brief in front of all those runners I was scared stiff. I didn’t have the confidence to stand up there and talk to all those people or coordinate a group of volunteers to make sure the event went smoothly. With the help and support of all those great parkrunners I got there. I even know how the stopwatches work now! Now, two years after my first run directing event I’m event director of Stamford Park parkun and have a team of run directors to be responsible for. Explaining how parkrun works to first timers chatting to visiting runners and doing run briefs are just something I do now. Big change from three years ago.

The concept of parkrun might not be been created to give people more confidence, boost their self esteem but it has.

If you’ve never tired parkrun you don’t know what you are missing. It’s a lot more than a weekly 5k run!