Every Saturday morning, hundreds of people across the world make their way down to their local parks to participate in parkrun. This is a free, weekly, timed 5k run in parks and fields in hundreds of locations. In fact, parkrun currently have 568 locations, with 1,795,605 runners already registered. If you’re interested in running, whether you be young or old, experienced or not, parkrun is open to everyone, so why not give it a try?
Parkrun began in 2004 at a single location in Bushy Park, in the UK, founded by Paul Sinton-Hewitt, but took nearly two years to expand. However, since then thousands of people have joined the community and even become event managers, running their own parkrun in their local area with the support of the parkrun organisation.
Parkrun’s twitter page is very informative, giving you frequent updates on big parkrun events, such as parkrun weddings, or milestones such as their 15-year anniversary. Parkrun is also very beneficial: it can help mental illness, weight loss and fitness. It can introduce you to new friends, reduce stress and improve your health, as well as much more.
Most importantly however, parkrun is free and open to everyone of all ages and all abilities. Whether you be young, old, in a wheelchair, pushing a buggy, deaf or blind, parkrun can be for you, as there are always people willing to support you. So why not get involved now and head down to your local parkrun, or maybe even start your own. Visit www.parkrun.org.uk for more.
