Parkrun

Parkrun logo

Parkrun (styled as parkrun) is the name given to a collection of five-kilometre running events that take place every Saturday morning in several countries. All are free to take part in and require runners to register online in advance for a unique athlete number and to print their own identification barcode for use when taking part.[1][2][3] Runners' results in each event are processed and uploaded online after the run by volunteers. Each registered runner has an individual page cataloguing the details of each event in which they have participated. Junior Parkrun (styled as junior parkrun) is a spin-off event which provides a 2 km run for children aged 4–14 weekly on a Sunday morning.

History

Founded by Paul Sinton-Hewitt in 2004, the idea of Parkrun grew from the initial Bushy Parkrun event (originally called Bushy Park Time Trial) into a small collection of events called the UK Time Trials and then into Parkrun (2010). Events now take place every week in Australia, Denmark, Ireland, New Zealand, Poland, Russia, South Africa, the United Kingdom, Singapore, the Czech Republic,[4] the United States, Italy and France. Parkruns have previously been operated in Zimbabwe and Iceland. There was also formerly a Parkrun at Camp Bastion in Afghanistan, which was operated by Parkrun UK. Sinton-Hewitt was presented the Runner's World 'Heroes of Running' award for philanthropy for his work with Parkrun in 2009 and became a CBE in the Queen's birthday honours 2014 for 'services to grass roots sports participation'.[5]

Global participation first exceeded 10,000 in April 2011 and 20,000 in August 2012. Neither participation nor event numbers show any sign of slowing with global participation first exceeding 30,000 in April 2013 (225 events), 40,000 in August 2013 (282 events), 50,000 in November 2013 (317 events), 60,000 in January 2014 (340 events), 70,000 in April 2014 (386 events), and more than 100,000 by April 2016 (more than 730 events).[6][7]

Just over 332,000 individuals did their first run with Parkrun in 2013, taking the total number of individuals who have ever run with Parkrun to 663,900. Just over 1.95 million runs were recorded in 2013 taking the total number of runs since it started in 2004 to 3.92 million runs. Making all this possible were the contributions of 42,800 unique volunteers who volunteered in excess of 180,000 times across 362 events or locations while delivering 14,015 events during the year. 153 new events were added in 2013. In May 2014 the 1,000,000 registrant mark was passed.

By 24 December 2015, there were over two million registered Parkrunners globally, together having done over 12.5 million runs, with one million instances of volunteering.[7]

Volunteers

Each Parkrun event is run entirely by volunteers. To assist the volunteers, Parkrun HQ provides the necessary equipment and there are several different volunteer roles at each Parkrun event.[8] Every event has a 'volunteer' page, with the same basic information about how to get involved as a volunteer, as well as crediting those who have made the effort in the most recent week.[9] The Parkrun website credits those who volunteer each week as "the heart" of Parkrun, and integral to its not-for-profit status.[10] It also provides a useful range of responses to commonly asked questions about volunteering, with information on each of the different roles, in its FAQ section.[11] It is recommended that runners volunteer three times over the course of a year to help their local Parkrun function sustainably.[12]

Events

The first event was held in Bushy Park in 2004. It was 2007 before expanding beyond one event. 2009 saw the first international event in Denmark. By March 2014 there were 371 Parkrun events taking place worldwide. Two years after that, in March 2016, there were over 840 parks. A list of international Parkrun websites is available from the countries link on the Parkrun site.

As of 13 April 2016, Parkrun has 850[13] 5k event parks and 92 [14] Junior event parks in the following countries:

Country Parks Events Cite
United Kingdom United Kingdom 393 61,167 [15] [lower-alpha 1]
Australia Australia 160 14,983 [16]
South Africa South Africa 75 6,595 [17]
Ireland Republic of Ireland 48 3,099 [18]
Poland Poland 31 2,819 [19] [lower-alpha 2]
Russia Russia 20 1.293 [20]
New Zealand New Zealand 11 1,197 [21]
Denmark Denmark 6 1,976 [22]
United States United States 5 534 [23]
France France 3 61 [24]
Italy Italy 1 44 [25]
Singapore Singapore 1 93 [26]
Jersey Jersey 1 28 [15] [27]
Guernsey Guernsey 1 4 [15] [28]
Country Junior event parks
United Kingdom United Kingdom 90[14][lower-alpha 3]
Ireland Republic of Ireland 2 [14]

  1. ↑ As the list of UK events currently also includes those for Jersey and Guernsey, the total for the UK has been reduced accordingly.
  2. ↑ Includes Cieszyn Parkrun which is run partly in the Czech Republic
  3. ↑ As the list of Junior events currently also includes those for Ireland, the total for the UK has been reduced accordingly.

Junior Parkrun events

By May 2013 there were four 2km junior events, held once a month. In 2014, Parkrun UK relaunched the junior Parkrun series in the United Kingdom. These events are weekly, free, 2km running events taking place in pleasant parkland. Junior Parkrun is open to runners from age 4 to 14.

Conflicts with local authorities

In September 2011, Cardiff City Council suspended the Parkrun after complaints that the pathway was completely blocked by runners, thus creating safety issues. The event was re-instated following further discussion with the council.[29]

Due to their policy of keeping their runs free to enter, Parkrun have refused to start events if the local council charges the organisers or runners.[30] In April 2016, Stoke Gifford Parish Council voted to charge runners a fee to participate in the local Parkrun, to fund path maintenance.[31] Though discussions between the council and the organisers are continuing, the 2016 event was cancelled.[32]

Technology

Parkrun makes extensive use of electronic timing and barcode technology to generate the results of each event. When registering with Parkrun, runners print out a personal barcode which encodes their unique athlete number. As runners cross the finish line, their time is recorded electronically by a volunteer using a stopwatch that can export data to a computer. The runner is also handed a barcoded tag which tells them their finish position. Runners then take the tag to a second volunteer who scans the runner's personal barcode and scans the barcode on their finish tag. This allows a computer system to record the finish position and identity of each runner.

The finish times and athlete numbers (with their finish position) are uploaded to a server which automatically generates the results tables and statistics on the Parkrun web site. The use of the unique runner number allows the web site to collate historical data including personal bests, overall performance, total number of runs and to calculate the number of points earned.[33]

Parkrun clubs

There are five different clubs to which a runner registered with Parkrun can belong: the '10 club' for runners aged 17 or below who have completed 10 or more runs, and the '50 club', '100 club', '250 club' and '500 club' for anyone who has completed that number of runs. Anyone in the world entering a 'club' is given a T-shirt with a number on the back to represent the club they are in. So far, the cost of the T-shirts has been funded by sponsors and the T-shirts are free of charge to runners.

The T-shirts are colour coded: 10 (White); 50 (Red); 100 (Black); 250 (Green, although an older variant was gold & black) and 500 (Blue). There is also a shirt (purple) for those that have been a volunteer 25 times or more.

As of 14 April 2016 there are 556 runners in the '250 club'.[34]

The global record holder is Darren Wood, with 554 runs in total.[35]

Statistics

As of 13 April 2016, combined world wide statistics for all events:[13]

Sponsors

Each Parkrun territory has its own sponsors. Sponsors may differ by country.

Global partners

Parkrun Australia

Sponsored by:[40]

Parkrun Ireland

Sponsored by:[41]

Parkrun New Zealand

Sponsored by:[42]

Parkrun Poland

Sponsored by:[43]

Parkrun Russia

Sponsored by:[44]

Parkrun South Africa

Sponsored by:[45]

Supported by:

Parkrun United Kingdom

Sponsored by:[46]

Supported by:

Parkrun UK also received a grant covering 2011-2012 from the Mayor of London's Sports Participation Fund.

Previous sponsors and supporters in the UK have been:[47]

References

  1. ↑ "TimeOut – Bushy Park Time Trial". Retrieved 21 April 2008.
  2. ↑ 2008 Reuters' article about Parkrun
  3. ↑ 2010 Reuters' article about Parkrun
  4. ↑ Cieszyn parkrun is run partly in Poland and partly in the Czech Republic "Parkrun Poland". Retrieved 15 August 2015.
  5. ↑ Runners World – Heroes of Running
  6. ↑ Parkrun historical chart
  7. 1 2 Christmas Wishes - parkrun news
  8. ↑ Example from Durham parkun http://www.parkrun.org.uk/durham/news/2013/03/12/volunteer-roles/
  9. ↑ Bushy Parkrun volunteer information http://www.parkrun.org.uk/bushy/volunteer/
  10. ↑ Parkrun volunteer information
  11. ↑ "Volunteering: All you need to know about volunteering at parkrun events". Parkrun. Retrieved 27 September 2015.
  12. ↑ "parkrun www.parkrun.org.uk". baRUNNER. 7 Dec 2013. Retrieved 27 Sep 2015.
  13. 1 2 "Welcome to parkrun". Parkrun. Retrieved 13 April 2016.
  14. 1 2 3 "Junior Parkrun". Parkrun. Retrieved 13 Apr 2016.
  15. 1 2 3 "Parkrun UK". Parkrun. Retrieved 13 Apr 2016.
  16. ↑ "Parkrun Australia". Parkrun. Retrieved 13 Apr 2016.
  17. ↑ "Parkrun South Africa". Parkrun. Retrieved 13 Apr 2016.
  18. ↑ "Parkrun Ireland". Parkrun. Retrieved 13 Apr 2016.
  19. ↑ "Parkrun Poland". Parkrun. Retrieved 13 Apr 2016.
  20. ↑ "Parkrun Russia". Parkrun. Retrieved 13 Apr 2016.
  21. ↑ "Parkrun New Zealand". Parkrun. Retrieved 13 Apr 2016.
  22. ↑ "Parkrun Denmark". Parkrun. Retrieved 13 Apr 2016.
  23. ↑ "Parkrun USA". Parkrun. Retrieved 13 Apr 2016.
  24. ↑ "Parkrun France". Parkrun. Retrieved 13 Apr 2016.
  25. ↑ "Parkrun Italy". Parkrun. Retrieved 13 Apr 2016.
  26. ↑ "Parkrun Singapore". Parkrun. Retrieved 13 Apr 2016.
  27. ↑ "Jersey parkrun - Weekly Free 5km Timed Run". Retrieved 13 Apr 2016.
  28. ↑ "Guernsey parkrun - Weekly Free 5km Timed Run". Retrieved 13 Apr 2016.
  29. ↑ "Weekly park running race banned by council on safety grounds". WalesOnline. 21 March 2013. Retrieved 27 September 2015.
  30. ↑ "How Parkrun became became a global phenomenon". The Independent. 28 December 2015. Retrieved 13 April 2016.
  31. ↑ "Council votes to charge Parkrun for Little Stoke event". Retrieved 13 April 2016.
  32. ↑ "Minister backs free Parkrun after Stoke Gifford furore". BBC News. 21 April 2016. Retrieved 27 April 2016.
  33. ↑ "Parkrun FAQ". Retrieved 29 May 2012.
  34. ↑ "Parkrun 250 Club". Parkrun. Retrieved 14 Apr 2016.
  35. ↑ "Parkrun 500 Club". Parkrun. Retrieved 14 Apr 2016.
  36. ↑ "St Albans parkrun # 81 - 27/07/2013". Parkrun UK.
  37. ↑ "Bushy parkrun # 422 - 11/08/2012". Parkrun UK.
  38. ↑ "Dulwich parkrun # 124 - 23/08/2014". Parkrun UK.
  39. ↑ "Dulwich parkrun # 209 - 19/03/2016". Parkrun UK.
  40. ↑ "Parkrun Australia Sponsors and Supporters". Retrieved 18 Oct 2015.
  41. ↑ "Parkrun Ireland Sponsors and Supporters". Retrieved 18 Oct 2015.
  42. ↑ "Parkrun New Zealand Sponsors and Supporters". Retrieved 18 Oct 2015.
  43. ↑ "Parkrun Poland Sponsors and Supporters". Retrieved 18 Oct 2015.
  44. ↑ "Parkrun Russia Sponsors and Supporters". Retrieved 18 Oct 2015.
  45. ↑ "Parkrun South Africa Sponsors and Supporters". Retrieved 18 Oct 2015.
  46. ↑ "Parkrun UK Sponsors and Supporters". Retrieved 18 Oct 2015.
  47. ↑ "Parkrun News". Retrieved 23 June 2011.

Further reading

External links

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