In praise of parkrun

[ArthurJG]

Hope this isn’t too far off topic but I thought it was a really well argued, well written article making important points about running as a participation sport.

independent.co.uk/sport/gen...

[AlMorr Ambassador Graduate10]

Good article in The Independent, it will be a bad day If local authorities make the organisation that run park runs have to pay.

[MutleyShuffle Graduate10]

Nice article - thanks for bringing it to our attention 😊

[Bazza1234 Graduate10]

Thanks for that article. Here in Australia parkrun has boomed!! With only a population of 25 million we have now ( I think - I have lost count) over 250 parkrun events. I have 6 in my local Council area alone - and about 50 within one hours drive of where I live. I believe this has led to a boom in people participating in "official" running races and joining other running clubs and associated clubs like Triathlon clubs and the majority of them are people like me , who would never ever have dreamed that one day he would be doing this!!!!

[ArthurJG Graduate10 in reply to Bazza1234]

Yep that would be our experience here too I think. There are two guys who set out on 1 January to do all 33 parkruns in Scotland this year. They've now done 36 and have six more to go because there have been nine new ones. As it happens I have family in Australia who are involved in parkrun as well.

[Dexy5 Graduate10]

Thanks for bringing this to our attention Arthur. The Guardian wrote a piece about the founder of parkrun last month too. Great publicity for a great weekly event. Weekends wouldn’t be same without it for me now.

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[ArthurJG Graduate10 in reply to Dexy5]

Indeed. But I really think the importance of this article is about more than parkrun. The point about how we've been conned into thinking of sport as someting we pay to watch rather than something we do ourselves, for example. And the growing tendency to elitism in the funding of sport as well. Parkrun says: run as best you can, if you can't run then walk, it's all good. Government funding says: you don't get an Olympic medal, you don't matter, you lose your funding and the people who support your sport lose their jobs. I know which I prefer

[Equi-geek Graduate10]

Well written! I would never had got into running. I would probably never have had the confidence to enter the Great South next month without Park Run as a stepping stone and confidence booster. In May, C25k was a last-ditch effort of a desperate, obese, nearly-50 year old with high blood pressure, eating and depression/anxiety issues, a heart condition, and osteoarthritis in the hip that wouldn’t be allowed any more painkilling injections. 20lb lighter, a hell of a lot fitter and less of a risk to the NHS or government coffers than I have been for the last 20 years. Park Run has been a big part of that - made me believe I could run, and it didn’t matter what I looked like or whether I ‘won’. My niece was in London 2012 Team GB with all that pressure and responsibility. They didn’t medal. The funding was dropped. She retired, along with almost all the others, to get a paying job. Now, no team. And the sport is once again lacklustre for grassroots participants in GB because there is no way they can compete with the professionals from other countries - even if they make it to the top of the sport in the U.K. 😔 Crazy.

[Oldfloss Administrator Graduate10]

Thanks for this

[Burstcouch]

I love my parkrun and the people from all walks of life, abilities and disabilities who take part. Makes getting up on a Saturday so much easier.

[Empem Graduate10]

Having never done one (yet) I love the idea that PR should be considered a " genuinely disruptive force".