10 years of parkrun

This week, I celebrate 10 years of parkrun. Over the years, parkrun has become my absolute favourite thing to do.

On 23rd May 2015, my daughter and I ran our very first parkrun. Although I was already a runner, it was my daughter’s idea to do it. Her best friend had been running it for a few weeks and she wanted to give it a go. My daughter was 9 at the time. Parkrun rules state under 11s must be within arm’s reach of an adult. So we ran that first parkrun together in 38:12.

We enjoyed it, but I didn’t know I would become obsessed with it. I would never have guessed I would still be running it 10 years later. I wouldn’t have even guessed I would ever run it on my own.

Our next parkrun was two weeks later. The next one was four weeks after that, when I ran on my own for the first time. I ran my first solo parkrun in 25:08, then got that down to 24:20 the next time I ran on my own.

In July 2015, my husband joined us at parkrun. Then in September, my sons joined us too – they were aged 11 and 14. I ran 19 parkruns in 2015, including my first ever Christmas Day parkrun. I’m proud to say that I’ve never missed a Christmas Day parkrun!

I started running much more regularly in 2016 and got my PB down to 23:23. My kids dipped in and out, but I was still running a good proportion of my parkruns with my daughter. Sometimes my husband ran with her and sometimes her friend’s parents ran with her. I completed 37 parkruns in 2016, reaching my 50th parkrun milestone in November.

My eldest used parkrun as the physical element of his D of E Bronze in 2016, but then he mainly gave up after that. He would make the occasional appearance and ran a few parkruns in 2024, but didn’t reach his 50 milestone until 2025.

In 2016, my parents, sister and brother-in-law all started parkrun. My niece and nephew were still too young to take part (you have to be 4), but did a handful of parkruns before it stopped for Covid in 2020. My mum stopped almost immediately, but made a return in 2021.

In 2017, I had a flurry of PBs. I literally had them for five consecutive weeks, then five weeks later I got the PB which was my home parkrun PB until very recently – 22:23. I ran 45 parkruns in 2017 and reached my 100 milestone in December. My daughter turned 11 in 2017, which meant she no longer needed to run with us. She wasn’t taking part as often as I was, but she still turned up fairly regularly and it was nice that she could just run on her own.

I did my first ever parkrun tourism in 2017 – when I went to another local parkrun because ours was cancelled due ice. Parkrun tourism is when you run at an event other than your usual (home) parkrun. Some people are obsessed with it and do it every week, usually to complete various challenges. Some people never do it. We’ve always tended to do it when we need to be somewhere other than the local park at 9am on Saturday. We refuse to miss parkrun, so we run somewhere else. In recent years, we’ve started doing it more often for fun.

In 2018, I ran 44 parkruns. I was also starting to volunteer a bit more – particularly if I had a race the following day. My husband reached his 100 milestone in 2018. We did our first (and still only) parkrun abroad in 2018 at Amager Faelled in Copenhagen, which is the earliest parkrun established abroad which is still going. My best time for the year was 22:49. In 2018, I was also first lady at a parkrun for the first time – at Gloucester North. Although I’ve been second lady at our home parkrun a few times, I know I will never get first as it is a very busy event.

In 2019, I didn’t miss a single parkrun. I ran or walked at 54 and volunteered at the other one (I also volunteered a few more times, combining it with running). Back in those days, you could do a double parkrun on New Year’s Day – one at one venue at 9am, then one at another venue at 10:30am. This was stopped after Covid, although New Year’s Day parkruns still take place at 9am. In 2019, my daughter and dad both reached their 100 milestones. My younger son was always the family member who ran least often, as he was playing football and rugby every weekend. But in 2019 he fractured his pelvis and used parkrun as part of his rehab. He reached his 50th parkrun milestone in 2019. My best time in 2019 was 23:12.

2020 was a short parkrun year, of course. The final parkrun before lockdown took place on 14th March. I managed to complete 13 parkruns in 2020. My best time was 23:09 and I sneaked in another first lady – at Sandwell Valley.

When parkrun stopped for Covid, we started doing our own 5k family runs at 9am on Saturday. This became more of an official thing three months later, when parkrun (not)parkrun was introduced, so you could record your time online. It didn’t count towards your parkrun milestones though. Parkrun was off for 70 whole weeks and I didn’t miss a single (not)parkrun – either informally or officially. Somehow, without the crowds, I managed to get my time below 22 minutes – with a (not)parkrun PB of 21:49.

Parkrun finally returned in July 2021 and we were all very happy to have it back. At this point, my mum, niece and nephew all started running regularly. I ran 20 parkruns in 2021 and my best time of the year was 23:08.

I ran 47 times in 2022 and finally reached my 250th parkrun milestone. My best time of the year was 23:09 (my best times were very consistent for a few years!) and I snatched another first lady result right at the end of the year – at Tewkesbury.

In 2023, I finally made it to Severn Bridge parkrun, which instantly became my favourite. The first time I went there, I ran 22:15 – a PB at last after six years! I went back later in the year and smashed that with a 21:52. I also went to Bushy Park in London – where parkrun started in 2004 – as a 50th birthday treat. I ran 51 times in 2023. I reached my 25th volunteer milestone and my husband reached his 250th parkrun.

In 2024, I got a new PB – 21:18 at Marine Parade (Weston-super-Mare), which I replicated four weeks later at Severn Bridge. I was first lady three times – at Marine Parade, Newent and Mallards Pike. I ran 51 times and reached my 50th volunteer milestone. Also in 2024, my dad reached his 250th parkrun milestone on the same day as my mum ran her 100th parkrun.

In  2025, I finally beat my PB for my home parkrun. I got 22:05 one week, then followed it with 21:58 the following week! So far, in 2025 I’ve run or walked parkrun 20 times and volunteered 10 times.

In total, over the last 10 years, I’ve run 401 parkruns at 39 different venues and volunteered 67 times (on some of those occasions doing two or even three different jobs).

After 10 years of parkrun for me (and slightly less for the rest of the family) – the full list of milestones (with some people being pretty close to their next milestone) is:

• 250 parkruns – me, husband, dad
• 100 parkruns – daughter, mum, sister, brother-in-law, nephew, niece
• 50 parkruns – both sons
• 50th volunteering – me, husband
• 25th volunteering – my sister (she’s so close to her 50!)

I expect to reach my 100th volunteering milestone before I reach my 500th parkrun milestone, which I am already very excited about and will hopefully hit in summer 2027!

I have loved my 10 years of parkrun and look forward to many more.