Until two years ago I had never heard of a Parkrun. Then my granddaughter Leonie suggested I accompany her “for a run”. I was 81. It sounded a bit far-fetched but I went anyway. And I got hooked. Last July the family celebrated my 50th run, the 60th anniversary of my marriage to Judith and my 83rd birthday at the Beacon Parkrun. What a morning!

The Parkruns nearest to Barrow are at Dishley, the Beacon and Watermead. All over the country, and indeed the world, people gather on a Saturday morning at 9.00 sharp to run (or walk) 5 km on a Parkrun course.

Parkrun was founded on 2 October 2004 at Bushey Park in London. By October 2018 over five million runners were registered worldwide, now over 10 million.

Events take place at a range of general locations including parks, stately homes, forests, rivers, lakes, reservoirs, beaches, promenades, prisons and nature reserves. Runners can travel to, and complete, any Parkrun other than those on closed sites, such as prisons and military bases. Parkruns take place every Saturday morning at more than 2,000 locations in 23 countries across five continents (but not France, due to bureaucracy, or Russia).

Anyone can take part, for free, including walkers as well as runners. Participants include parents with their children, pensioners, people with their dogs, wheelchair users, people pushing prams, and club and casual runners, although not all courses are suitable for all participants. Beginner runners, older adults and overweight people are common. Visually-impaired runners and walkers are also able to participate, with the aid of trained guides. A Parkrun milestone T-shirt is offered for purchase to volunteers and runners who have participated in a specific number of runs or events.

There is no formal procedure before the run, participants are asked to arrive shortly before the start time and wait near the starting line. A run director will make announcements giving safety instructions and community news before beginning the run. Participants run or walk the course and are directed by marshals along the correct route to the finish line. As each runner enters the finish funnel, a volunteer records their finishing place and time. The results are uploaded to the Parkrun website, which also generates a number of statistics. The results include finishing position; finish time; whether a personal best time has been achieved; the total number of runs completed by an individual; their age grade result and their position in relation to other age group runners. Parkruns are not competitions (although there is a definite feeling of competition!).

Each Parkrun event is staffed entirely by volunteers who are integral to its not-for-profit status. There is a minimum of bureaucracy (which doesn’t seem to suit France, oddly) but the structure achieves a very well managed event. It has now spilled over to Junior Parkruns that provide a two kilometres event for children aged four to 14, held on Sunday mornings.

Barrow Runners (BR) are, of course, well represented in the local Parkruns. One member, Rob Phillips was Run Director – in overall charge - of the original Bushey Park Parkrun for five years from 2009, by which time there were over 100 events. Some BR members ‘collect’ Parkrun venues to complete the alphabet. Mark Sadler is on his second alphabet and recently visited Den Haag for Zuider Park for Z! I attended a recent run when about 25 new members of BR were running their very first Parkrun having been trained over several weeks by their BR coach for ‘Couch to 5K’, Rob Phillips. There was a well-deserved celebration at the end. Caroline Abrahams told me about her experiences: she had attempted to do a bit of running on her own by walking a distance then running for 10 seconds and repeating this pattern. But she had injured herself by week two and gave up. A bit later, seeing a BR Facebook post for a new Couch to 5K group training and wishing to start an activity that brought new friends, she joined. They started with a walk/jog for 30 seconds jog/walk/jog/walk/jog etc. and gradually built-up jogging times. So motivated were the group that they went out three times a week for nine weeks before they finally conquered their first Parkrun. And they won’t have stopped there – believe me! And of course, there are also plenty of Barrow Parkrunners who aren’t BR members.

The Parkrun movement is a wonderful example of an organisation conceived by runners and set up by runners for runners with minimal fuss and maximum effect.

I thank heaven for all the volunteers.

David Rodgers