18 years of parkrun

To celebrate our 18th birthday, we’re taking a look back through the first 18 years of parkrunning! 

 

The beginning

 

On Saturday 2 October 2004, 13 runners and five volunteers turned up to Bushy Park in Teddington, London, for a free, timed, 5k run, known then as the Bushy Park Time Trial.

 

Paul and Joanne Sinton-Hewitt, Duncan Gaskell, Simon Hedger and Robin Drummond made up the volunteer team that day, with pen and paper used to record all the results, and washers from the local hardware store acting as finish tokens.

 

 

Growth

 

Pre-pandemic, the number of parkrun locations was rapidly rising. Each week up to ten brand new parkruns were starting in communities around the world.

 

However, it initially took more than two years for the second parkrun event to launch.

 

Bushy Park Time Trial had become more and more popular among local runners. By the end of 2006 weekly attendances were reaching close to 300. The demand for a second event grew.

 

 

Eventually parkrun Founder Paul Sinton-Hewitt CBE agreed, and on Saturday 6 January 2007 the second event, the Wimbledon Common Time Trial, launched in nearby Wimbledon.

 

The success of event number two was a significant step forward, as it showed that the model could be replicated, and the cookie-cutter growth began.

 

By the end of 2007 there were seven events in total, with time trials spreading to Brighton, Leeds and Zimbabwe, and 24,972 walks, jogs and runs being recorded. The growth continued in 2008 with Scotland and Wales joining the family. The number of events completed by participants over the course of that year more than doubled to over 50,000.

 

And it was at this time that the organisation and events changed its name to become parkrun.

 

Staying true to principles

 

By this point, many entrepreneurs would have realised they were onto something, and the temptation to monetise the movement and cash-in would have been too much to resist. The Saturday morning experience was so special, surely people would pay to take part? Think of the millions that could be made as growth continued! But, sticking to his guns, parkrun Founder Paul was adamant that events should always stay true to his founding principles: free, weekly, for everyone, forever. Here is the poster advertising the first event.

 

 

Even before the very first event, the foundations for parkrun’s welcoming environment had been put in place, with the event advertised as being open to all runners.

 

 

With a commitment to fairness and equality of participation, both the first two finishers, and the final two finishers received prizes at that first event, a symbolic demonstration that participation rather than speed was seen as the most important aspect.

 

The five volunteers were also recognised for their help in the inaugural event, an illustration that participation through volunteering was always a key part of parkrun.

 

On parkrun’s tenth birthday, all 13 runners and five volunteers (now referred to as the parkrun pioneers) were awarded gold commemorative barcodes.

 

 

International expansion

 

By 2012, parkrun had gone truly global with the introduction of events in Australia, Denmark, Poland, South Africa and the USA. 90 new events started that year, and we fell agonisingly short of passing one million completed parkruns in a calendar year, ending 2012 with 992,308 completed walks, jogs and runs around the world.

 

The parkrun Ambassador Programme was created in 2013 providing a vital support network of highly engaged, energetic, dedicated volunteers who have since been integral to the growth and support of parkrun around the globe.

 

parkrun is now supported by over 600 ambassadors who help us with everything, from activating new events to social media and photography to technical support and translations.

 

junior parkrun

 

Having initially launched in 2010, another significant step in the parkrun journey was taken in 2013, with the wider UK roll-out of junior parkrun events for 4-14 year olds, taking place on Sunday mornings.  These 2k events have proven to be hugely successful at introducing children to the concepts of physical activity and volunteering from a young age, with parents and guardians also able to take part.

 

 

There are now more than 400 events across the UK, Ireland, and Australia.

 

Reaching those with most to gain

 

With a mission of creating a healthier, happier planet, in 2017 a significant health and wellbeing initiative was launched, with the introduction of the world’s first prison-based parkrun, at Her Majesty’s Prison (HMP) Haverigg in Cumbria.

 

The event was a huge success, with prisoners walking, jogging, running and volunteering, and was soon followed by parkrun events in several other custodial estates across the UK, Ireland and Australia.

 

There are now over 30 parkruns taking place on custodial estates every week.

 

 

Also in 2017, the optional ‘tail runner’ volunteer role became mandatory for all events in the UK, and was renamed ‘tail walker’ in a further step to publicly show our commitment to embracing walkers and welcoming those who worried they would be too slow, or feared they would finish last.

 

As we developed a better understanding of the barriers that faced some people, preventing them from participating at parkrun events, we recognised that language is tremendously important. It is the job of the tail walker to always finish last, so no walker, jogger or runner ever needs to worry about that at parkrun.

 

 

By this point parkrun was established in many countries including Sweden, Norway, Finland and Germany, and in an effort to evolve, reduce the operational barriers to launching new events, and embrace new technology, the Virtual Volunteer app was successfully rolled-out, enabling volunteers to both time, and scan barcodes using their mobile phones.

 

 

 

Breaking new ground

 

In 2018 health and wellbeing continued to be key in the strategic direction of parkrun, and following the success of the prison-based parkrun initiative, the first parkrun launched in a young offenders institution (YOI) at HMP YOI Wetherby.

 

In another ground-breaking move, to promote social prescribing and lifestyle medicine, parkrun joined forces with the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) to launch the parkrun practice initiative, which saw parkrun events partner up with their local GP practice to encourage doctors and healthcare professionals to prescribe parkrun to patients and staff in order to improve health and wellbeing.

 

The parkrun practice initiative continues to be a huge success, with numerous inspirational case studies and in excess of 1,250 parkrun practices part of the scheme, equating to more than 10% of all GP surgeries in the UK.

 

 

34% of healthcare professionals who have prescribed parkrun recommended volunteering to their patients, as well as walking, jogging or running, an indication that volunteering is valued by healthcare professionals.

 

Independent survey findings

 

On our 15th anniversary (October 2019) we published the findings of our first-ever health and wellbeing survey. Over 60,000 UK parkrunners completed the survey, making it one of the biggest ever independent studies into physical activity.

 

 

The results confirmed our belief that participating at parkrun is fundamentally good for our physical and mental health. But it also revealed that the biggest benefits were experienced by those who volunteered in addition to walking and running. An incredible 84% of volunteers said parkrun improved their happiness.

 

 

January 2020 saw huge attendance records worldwide, with more than 400,000 people walking, jogging, running and volunteering across a single weekend.

 

2020 also saw Netherlands become the 22nd country to join the parkrun family.

Shortly after parkrun launched in the Netherlands, the world was hit by the global pandemic and events were paused right around the globe.

 

In a commitment to continuing to make the world happier and healthier, despite the lack of physical events, a number of initiatives were launched. There was the School of parkrun, parktoberfest, The parkrun Resolution, and our very first walking plan Strive for Five.

 

 

We also introduced (not)parkrun to enable parkrunners to log their own 5k, anywhere, anytime, on any route they liked.

 

All events across the world have now reopened since the pandemic, reuniting communities and slowly jumping the numbers back up to what they were pre-pandemic.

 

2022

 

Over the years we’ve celebrated our average finish time getting slower, showing that parkrun has increasingly broken down barriers to participation and welcomed more and more people for whom physical activity was not previously the norm. In 2005, the average finish time for completing a parkrun was 22:17. Now in 2022, the average finish time is over 30 minutes!

 

We have introduced the new milestone clubs so that they are equal for both volunteering and walking/running, which further supports our view that all participation is equal whether walking, running, or volunteering. At the start of the year, Russ Jefferys took over as CEO, and then in March, we celebrated International Women’s Day, welcoming nearly 100,000 women and girls to #IWDparkrun.

 

 

Now with events in 2,200 locations around the world and 18 years of parkrunning, we have grown from 13 participants to more than seven million registered parkrunners.

 

With our #parkwalk campaign beginning this weekend, the number of registered parkrunners is only going to increase. Join us for the month of October and beyond and invite friends, family, neighbours and colleagues along to your local parkrun for a #parkwalk.

 

Together, we are creating a healthier, happier planet.

 

#loveparkrun