Volunteers across the board, whatever their role, are fundamental to the long-term success of parkrun. They are the social glue that holds everything together and are one of the factors that make parkrun so special. On parkrun’s 19th anniversary we’d like to celebrate these wonderful people. Since the first event in 2004, we have significantly…
Simon Tobin is a full-time doctor and regularly speaks with hundreds of people throughout the week, but he has a fear of talking in public and can stammer when he gets nervous. Volunteering at parkrun helped him get used to talking to groups of people, and even gave him the opportunity and confidence to take part in…
After going to her first parkrun in 2015 with her grandchildren, Marion Wilding found a welcoming community. She writes how her parkrun journey has taken her to places she never thought she would go to. I initially heard about parkrun as my friends were talking about it and I thought it was a wonderful…
Summer is officially here! With high temperatures ahead of us, we’ve put together our five top tips to help you parkrun in the sun. 1. Dress for the weather As temperatures begin to rise, you need to make sure you don’t overheat whilst walking, jogging, running or volunteering. It’s best to wear light,…
The parkrun mission is to improve the health and wellbeing of as many people as possible, no matter who they are, no matter where they live. We want to make it as easy as possible to deliver parkrun events every weekend. Investing in and enhancing event support systems means we are able to keep…
All around the world, we’ve seen over 28,000 unique volunteers in the parkwalker role and they’ve parkwalked over 52,000 times! We speak to one of the parkwalkers, Cathy Hannon, about why she chooses to volunteer in her favourite role every Saturday morning. Cathy’s chronic condition means that parkwalking is the best option for her, she relishes the…
This week we’re looking back on 10 years of the parkrun Ambassador Programme. Ambassador roles enable more people to get involved with parkrun, share their knowledge, and support their communities health and happiness. Find out how it all started, what the Ambassadors do and what we have achieved together. Firstly, what…
Matthew Akpan’s superpower, Asperger’s Syndrome, has seen him become an esteemed parkrunner and complete some brilliant challenges for charity in memory of his father. I’ve been running since the age of 13 years old, when I started at my running club in 2002. Since my first parkrun in 2008, I’ve completed over 330 parkruns at…
Izzy has anxiety and often finds going out and about on her own scary and difficult. She has been a parkrunner since 2014 and finds her local parkrun community offers her a safe space where she feels comfortable and not judged. My first parkrun was in 2014. My mum had been a few times and…
If volunteering for the first time at parkrun is one of your New Year’s resolutions but you’re not sure what to expect, read our five tips for volunteering to see why we love it so much! 1) Take someone with you From our volunteering research, we know that some people who are volunteering for…
