Chapter 85 : I love Parkrun

I loved the fact that 400 people ran on The Queens Domain at 9:00 a.m. on Saturday morning.

They were all at the launch of the Queens Domain Parkrun.   

Parkrun is a 5 kay running event held around the world on Saturday morning on a local course. It is free and open to everybody.  Park Run is held around the world with the same basic format and local variations. Once you have registered you can run in any Parkrun around Australia or around the world. 

There is a lot to love about Parkruns. I love the way everybody does the same thing.  And everybody is different.  Everybody runs or walks 5 kays.  And everybody is a different shape or size and wearing different shorts, shirts and shoes. Everybody has a different story about why they were there. About what they are trying to achieve. What obstacles they had to overcome.  There were people there who had had hip replacements, medical problems, mental health problems, intellectual handicaps. People were there who were losing weight, stopping smoking or ceasing some drug habit.  Every possible handicap that had to be overcome existed.  And every story was unique. What they shared was an ambition to run or walk 5 kays. And in every case the significance of successfully finishing 5 kays varied.

With Parkruns I love the way there is no prize for coming first. All the competition is personal. My aim was to improve my physical, emotional and social health.  My running time is a guide to how I’m doing. My running time is only of interest to me.

Some people have the aim of reaching certain milestones. Special shirts are given to people who run 50,100,250 or 500 runs.

I love the way Parkruns improve the health of the local community. Not just physical health. Also the social and emotional health of the local community.  I love the social side to Parkrun. At the Parkrun I met people I know. The other people I plan on getting to know as we share our runs.

I love the way it has become a part of tourism. Parkruns have become are a part of our travels. We have done Parkruns in England and South Africa. The Parkruns in South Africa taught us more about South Africa than seeing a rhino or hippo. We met some of the locals, with similar interests, and experienced the local way they managed park runs.  Park Runs are similar around the world. The same recognizable procedures with local variations.  As in Tasmania your result will be put up the clouds hours after the run. You can then view all your times and so can others.

Parkrun tourism also involves welcoming visitors to our Parkruns. A lot of tourists to Tasmania make going to one of our local Parkruns a part of their Tasmanian holiday.

I love the way I have done every Parkrun with a member of my family. Either wife, child, grandchild, brother-in-law, son-in-law or else. In South Africa I met relatives I hadn’t seen for years. We celebrated by going for a park run together.  Us men bonded via sweat. The women bonded by the drink afterwards.

I love the way Parkrun is free. No fiddling around looking for a few dollars. You pay in two ways. Everybody is expected or encouraged to volunteer occasionally. When you do volunteer it gives you a different view of the event which better helps you understand it. When not volunteering it helps you become a more considerate runner.

The second way you pay is with sponsors for the event. They sponsor the event in exchange for the opportunity to tell you about what they sell. A reasonable deal. 

I love the way Parkrun makes the best of modern technology. When you register you are given an individual bar code which you have to print out. This bar code is scanned when you finish. Your result in then uploaded. You can see your result and compare it to your previous runs, other runners around the world, and other runner of the same age.  Parkrun uses this technology without being a slave to it. The run is more important than the technology.

How did Parkrun begin?

The history of Parkruns is that they began in London in 2004. They have spread throughout England and around the world. The first Parkrun in Australia was on the Gold Coast in 2011.  There are now about 270 Parkruns in Australia and 400,000 Parkrunners in Australia.  There are about 1,300 Parkruns globally and about 3,000,000 Parkrunners globally. It is impossible to give exact figures because new Parkruns and Parkrunners are being added continuously.

In 2017 the most popular Parkrun countries were the United Kingdom 484, Australia 261, South Africa (including Swaziland and Namibia) 114, Ireland 72, Poland 51, Russia 31, New Zealand 18, United States 15, Canada 12,France 8,Denmark 7, Italy 6, Germany 6,Sweden 5.  The numbers give you some idea of which countries have taken quicker to Park Run and are all now out of date. 

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