250 Parkruns Later
Reflections on nine years of parkrunning
“Saturday used to just be Saturday, now it's parkrun day. The question is not whether or not to do a parkrun, but which one to go to and how long it is going to take to get there.”
I got talking to Iain Hall, the man who spoke these words, as we sheltered from the rain, having just run 5km in three hilly laps of Queen’s Park in Glasgow.
Iain had come from Middlesbrough to take part—a mere three and a half hour drive—and was notable amongst the participants for having a rare, blue, 500 parkrun T-shirt. Once you do 50 parkruns you can send off for a red T-shirt, you can get a black one at 100, and a dark green one at 250. I had never seen a 500 one before.
All things being well—barring storms, ice, or illness—by the time you read this I will have ran my 250th parkrun.
For those who haven't been initiated into the joys of Parkrun, you may be wondering what kind of madness this is to be up early on a Saturday, enduring cold, wet February mornings, to run around a park. Why do millions of people around the country do it?
"It's a great way to kick-start Saturday"
So wrote David Barnett, my guest on episode two of my podcast, when he alerted me to parkrun’s existence back in 2011.
Parkrun takes place every Saturday morning at 9:00 (9:30 in Scotland to account for the darker winters). It is early, but not too early, and you feel an incredible sense of wellbeing. Afterwards, you can go for coffee or head to the leisure centre for a long sauna before getting on with the rest of your day.
Parkrun brings people together
Running is generally a solitary activity, which is fine most of the time: it's nice to move through space without worrying about teamwork or equipment. Once a week, though, it is fun to see other people and run with the tribe. Founded in 2004 at Bushey Park in London, Parkrun was a way for Paul Sinton-Hewitt to continue spending time with running friends when he was injured and suffering from depression. We need opportunities to come together as our communities and parkrun provides this.
Parkrun is a secular religion
Britain is an overwhelmingly atheistical country. Church on Sunday morning has been replaced by touchscreens and consumerism. However, most of what was appealing to people about religion wasn't the connection to the divine, but the social life and the rituals. Parkrun provides this. As Karen Weir says in Aditya Chakrabortty's Guardian piece:
“The idea of the community has broken down. People don’t go to church any more. But here, you come together with a load of people – and you feel embedded in the local area.”
Like all things that become crazily popular, you need evangelists. Parkrun seemingly has lots of people who enjoy talking about it and getting other people involved.
Parkrun is free
Parkrun is free and very welcoming. All you need to do to get a time for your 5k is to register for a barcode, print it off, and come down on a Saturday morning. All the expense and bureaucracy of the average running race is replaced with a spirit of volunteering and commmunity.
Parkrun is healthy
Humans have been running for a long time and wouldn't have survived very long outside the tropics if we couldn't run the megafauna of prehistory to exhaustion. Our bodies are designed to run, yet our lifestyles are sedentary.
5k is short enough to avoid most injuries and long enough to provide a challenge. Even those people who walk the course generally finish in about 45 minutes, so it is not a massive time commitment, and the the 'couch to 5k' app gives a way in for even the unhealthiest person.
Parkrun tourism encourages you to explore the world
If the life of adventure is calling, then parkrun is for you. I've taken part in 30 different parkruns from Polkemmet to Paris. I will often get up early, travel by train halfway across the country and then cycle to the start line. Once the run is over, I get to explore a place I would never ordinarily visit.
Parkrunners are ingenious at gamification in order to encourage exploration, such as the unofficial Pirate challenge of running seven parkruns whose name begins with C (seven seas) and one beginning with R (aaarrrr).
Check out David Barnett's Great British Parkrun Journeys for a comedic take on such matters:
It is competitive ... if you want it to be
I ran my first parkrun in 21 minutes 51 seconds on the 16th March 2013. I loved that there were people around me who were slightly faster than me, but who I could strain to keep up with and maybe even overtake. My personal best, 19m 21s (achieved on 22 December 2018) feels miraculous now and was only achieved by having faster runners ahead of me. Not everyone is as competitive as me and often the amateur fun runners won't even do a sprint finish. No one minds, though, and everyone is welcome.
Suffering is optional
“Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional"
Haruki Murakami
Of the nine parkruns in Greater Glasgow, Queen's Park is the hardest. It consists of three laps of the park with three long hill climbs and one steep downhill. I sometimes feel like I'm a character in an Escher painting, a physical impossibility made real.
I don't suffer in parkrun, not anymore. However much my legs scream in agony or my lungs tighten, I am reminded that it will soon be over and, having done it, I will feel great.
Today, Saturday 26th of Februray, should see me do my 250th parkrun at Queen’s Park. I am a long way from Iain Hall’s 500+, but I am very happy to have reached this milestone. It feels like an achievement, even though all I had to do was turn up every week. My shin splints are still playing up and I gave blood last week, so it won't be a fast one, but I still love the parkrun ethos, the people I've met, and the thrill of the chase.
Now listen to my chat with the Great British Parkrunner himself, David Barnett:
Here’s a video from my 250th event: