I keep seeing people talk about wristbands and registering with a website to get your time. Can someone explain if there is something you need to do in advance or do you just turn up on the morning?
Also, someone showed me all the times of the people who ran our local park run to try and encourage me but I was horrified to see the slowest person ran it in 38 minutes. Is this normal? Even if I could do 5k at my pace it would be about 50 mins 😂😂
Just type in to internet 'register for parkrun ' then it takes you through the process step by step. Then once you are registered you will get an email which you will get your barcodes to print off. If it's your first parkrun turn up a little bit early for your first introduction.
You can then get your barcode put on a wristband if you want for a cost of 13.99 the proceeds help keep parkrun up and running. Hope this helps 😊
There you go... all the info is there
x
Please don’t be put off by the time. Everyone is really supportive and encouraging, and the time is secondary to the feeling of absolute elation when you finish your first. You may also have stumbled across an anomalous week. I was absolutely last in my first park run (no tail runner because there were only about 25 runners) and my parkrun time hasn’t improved but sometimes I’m back ten minutes before the last person. A much younger woman than me was delighted to get a time of 39’57’’ because she’d finally broken 40 minutes. And she wasn’t the last to finish.
I think the parkrun ethos is to celebrate people’s effort for turning up.
I din’t know where you live, but there may be posters on here who run your local parkrun and you could arrange to meet for some moral support. Otherwise you have plenty of virtual running buddies on here.
You’re a runner, after all. X
Register, and they'll send you a bar-code that you can print off... take that bar-code to Parkrun. When you finish your run, someone will give you a 'token', take that token to a person who is sat at a table and had your token to them and your bar-code. That's it. That must be a small Parkrun if the slowest is 38 minutes, plenty of people at my parkrun finish at around 55 minutes. You won't be last because they have volunteers called tail runners, who make sure you're not left behind and give you support.
Oh, and it's a good idea to have a plastic wallet/case for your paper bar-code, because if it gets wet with sweat or rain, it won't work. 😁 Good luck, you'll love it.
Good advice from Clubberlang and Oldfloss, if you do run at a parkrun without a barcode, they do allow you, however when you see the result, only your position in the run is shown, everything else is blank with the word 'unknown' that happened at the parkrun I was at this morning, the winner was 'unknown' despite running sub 20 minutes, I only know that as the person who was second ran around 20 minutes.
Definitely register and give it a go, I did my first one today which included my final run of week 9! I hadn't run more than 30 mins before so was quite worried but everyone was so so supportive, it was really a wonderful atmosphere. My time was just under 44 mins, as I'm quite an old geezer, but there were about 5 after me, some were walking/running. Have a go, you will feel great afterwards!
Hi Cath, I am a parkrun veteran, I have run 155 of them. I am slow. Although my PB from 4 years ago is 37 minutes, following injury I rarely finish now in less than 42 minutes and am often 45 or 46. I have never been last. Parkrun (in the UK) have volunteer tail walkers whose job is to come last). No matter how slow or fast you are, you will be welcome. Parkrun has lots of run/walkers, as well as runners.
Register on the site and print off your barcode, take it with you. It will be scanned along with your finish token to give you a placing and finishing time. If you enjoy it, invest in the small amount of money for a card sized hard barcode. They don’t get soggy, and they scan easily,,
Wow, 155 Park runs, that's amazing. Thank you for your advice. I think I will look for a different, bigger park run with a whole variety of times rather than the local one which seems to be a more elite group! I am nowhere near 5k yet and currently using a treadmill so am going to finish the programme (just about to start week 8) then start transitioning to outdoor running and hopefully increase the distance so I can run the 5k. I have just registered and ordered the credit card size bar code so am determined to follow it up and enter, probably in September.
Sometimes the small ones can be better to start with than the big ones, as they are a bit less impersonal and easier to make connections at. It’s worth looking at the results history for a few weeks as volume of participants and achievement are weather dependent. The most important thing is a course you are comfortable with - surface (tarmac or grass or trail) and whether it’s flat or ‘undulating’.
1. Register with Parkrun
2. Print your barcode (needs to be on paper, not a mobile)
3. Turn up for Parkrun on a Saturday morning and let the Run Director/Volunteers know you are new, they should include you on the first timers briefing.
4. Have a great time!
I’m on my 11th Parkrun now and it’s highly addictive. I’ve done first timer’s briefings too and I tell them “you can walk, run, jog, power walk, whatever you want, take it easy and enjoy!”
Junior park runs rock! 
Any afternoon Park runs? 
How do you work out your route? 🏃🏻♀️🤔
Park runs have hills!
Do the runs get longer?
