Why not?

Katie Bell always thought her mum and brother looked like they were having a great time at parkrun. So, when they encouraged her to go along for the very first time, she thought why not?

It’s now given her the confidence to try new things, and always sets her up for the weekend. Here’s her story.

Every week I’ve been trying to get along to a parkrun event. I’m only on nine so far, but they’ve all been so welcoming and everyone always encourages me to do well.

I even entered a 5k race this year, and there’s no way I would have done that without the confidence parkrun has given me.

I’m 24, and I think most people my age are still in bed at this time, but I’m out there setting myself up for a great weekend.

My mum and brother had been doing parkrun for about a year, and it was them who encouraged me to do it. They always looked like they were having such a good time so I thought, why not!

What I love about parkrun is that it’s just not about time. Everyone is there just having fun. It doesn’t matter if you walk, jog, run, volunteer, come and cheer people on, anything you want, it’s there for everyone.

I remember one parkrun I was on the way round the course, I think it was my second parkrun, there was a little girl and her mum in front of me, we were both struggling a bit and we swapped some words of encouragement then cheered each other on to the end. They got me through the last bit, and I like to think I helped them too.

parkrun has made me want to run further and faster. I also now love planning my weekends around them, and trying to do them everywhere I go.

Katie Bell