It’s a new year. Grab your friends, family, colleagues and neighbours and start with parkrun. Insight shows us that one of the most powerful tools for encouraging people along to a parkrun is word of mouth. So, this new year, why not help a friend get started on their parkrun journey. Here are…
Have you ever wondered who has completed the most parkruns, or who has the most volunteer credits? You’re about to meet Darren Wood and Nicki Clark! Some might be surprised to learn that neither parkrunner was at the first ever parkrun event back in 2004. But ever since Darren and Nicki started, they have…
Worried about volunteering alone? Not sure how to sign up? Not sure if you have time? All of these concerns were highlighted in recent research into volunteering at parkrun. We take you through eight volunteering myths to remind you that everyone, no matter age, ability or background, is welcome to volunteer at parkrun. …
Broken Hill Racecourse parkrun in outback Australia is more than 300 kilometres from its closest parkrun. Maria Kelly, who has volunteered as a course marshal 58 times, explains why spending her Saturday mornings cheering parkrunners through the desert, while being surrounded by native wildlife is a highlight of her week. I’m a 54-year-old woman…
Trigger warning: content which discusses ectopic pregnancy There’s no need to do the 5k at parkrun. Lois Rowland was a parkrun volunteer for more than ten years before eventually deciding to have a go at the 5k, following an ectopic pregnancy. Having now completed 50 parkruns, she tells us her story. My husband…
Kyla Park first started volunteering at Chester parkrun as part of her Duke of Edinburgh award. Since then she has volunteered over 100 times and been the youngest Run Director ever at the Chester event. One Saturday morning my family and I took our dogs for a walk and saw lots of people walking,…
Ruth Cochran was asked to help out at the trial event for the Pontypridd parkrun. Nine years later she is still there and would admit to being just a little hooked! I had never heard of parkrun until some lovely people decided to bring it to Pontypridd. They asked my running club if we could…
Dee Brooks loves being a tail walker. You get to volunteer and complete 5k all in one go! I attended my first parkrun because my Dad was a parkrunner and on that occasion the event he was going to was short of volunteers so I put my name down to join in. It…
The Virtual Volunteer app has revolutionised timekeeping and barcode scanning at parkrun. The first country to be entirely app only was Germany, five years ago. And now, post pandemic, the rest of the parkrun world has followed. Here’s why we love the app. In 2017, Germany became the first country to launch…
Did you know children can volunteer at parkrun too? More than 85,000 of those aged 4-14 already have! Every week we welcome tens of thousands of children to parkrun events all over the world as walkers, joggers, runners and volunteers, at both 5k parkruns and the 2k junior series. Over the past…
