Spoiled for Choice in North America

In Britain, where parkrun started 13 years ago, one apparently does not have to travel more than 20 miles from any point in the isle to reach a parkrun. This is not quite yet the case in North America, where, for instance, if you happen to live in McAllen, Texas, you would face a 1289 mile drive to your nearest “local” run. But the month of June is about to start fixing that. No less than six new parkruns start in North America: three in the US – Deep Run, in Richmond, Virginia, started June 3^rd, Heritage Harbor, in Ottawa, Illinois, starts June 10, and Leakin Park, Baltimore, Maryland, June 24^th – and an additional three in Canada – in Whistler, British Columbia, Montreal, Quebec, and Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario – taking the total of events in North America to 21. For now. This is up from just  five just a year ago.

Curious about the distance to your nearest event? Thinking about introducing a parkrun in your international travels? There’s an app for that! Some keen – and geeky – parkrun tourism enthusiast designed a web-based interactive map that will indicate the nearest event to you on any point of the globe, and help you tick off runs from your bucket list: the parkrun tourist tool.

McAllen, Texas will still have to wait – or drive – a little longer, until a local team rises to the challenge and chooses to start a parkrun in the Lone Star state. Watch this space!