How soon after graduation to parkrun?

[SuzukiLisa]

Hey, just planning ahead and thought I would ask. There is a new parkrun starting in my town on 29th of June. I will have just completed week 8 by then so could I try the parkrun on the 29th or should I leave it until I have properly graduated? Any advice would be most appreciated

[Cazvs Graduate]

You should go for it It's fine to walk some of it, there are people at my local parkrun that walk the whole thing. It's a great atmosphere and very encouraging to beginners. Also quite addictive

[wilmacgh Graduate]

As the adverts for a certain brand say - just do it! I'm sure they will be glad to have as many along as possible. The whole ethos of Parkruns is friendly participation and it doesn't matter how long you take or if you have to walk a bit. However I reckon by week 8 you'll be in fine form.

If you are worried about it why not try the route at some point. I'm always happier if I know where the hills are and have some staging points in my head along the route to get a feel for how I'm doing.

[BettyJane Graduate]

I did my first Parkrun in week 7. I'd heard about Parkruns and wanted to go along and see what it was all about and enjoyed the experience. A couple of weeks later I did my graduation run at Parkrun.

[PamJK Graduate]

I did my first Parkrun before I graduated. I think I was in Week 8 or 9, it was very close to the end. I managed to keep going for the whole 5K, passing others who were walking. I just kept thinking of Laura saying "you can do this. Just don't stop" and I didn't.

Go for it and enjoy

[Hidden]

I did my first and only parkrun (note to self must get to another) on W9R1, it was fantastic, the only reason I haven't been back is that I like my weekend runs to be a bit longer and are generally on a Friday and Sunday. Go for it!

[ohno50]

I did my first on w6r3, I did slightly over the 25 minutes running so ran 28, then gave myself a 3 minute walk break and a very slow jog to finish in 34.08. The course was only 4.85km though.

I'm going to try to keep to the parkruns though because it regulates my weekly runs, ie I have to run on a thursday to get a rest day before saturday.

I would really recommend starting towards the end of the plan rather than waiting.

[tyoung45]

Cant recommend parkrun highly enough.... I have done 4 now and the crowd there are great..... time is gradually improving too..... T

[Oldgirl Graduate]

Its a once in a lifetime chance, you just have to do it, it will never happen again and 10 years down the line you will be able to say proudly "I did the first ever"