I love Parkrun. These are semi-organized events held on Saturdays in a park, supported by volunteers. Register once, get a barcode, and show up to any Parkrun location in the world to participate. Here you can either run or walk, track your time, or ignore it. My closest Parkrun is over three hours away, so rather than a long drive early a Saturday morning, if ever I’m in an area on a Saturday with a Parkrun, I show up and run, just for fun.

Danehy Parkrun takes place in Cambridge, Massachusetts. This was just my fourth Parkrun, and weirdly, the first one in the USA. My first Parkrun was in Reading, UK; the second in Dublin, Ireland; and the third in Bergen, Norway. I didn’t plan it that way – I just happened to be in those locations on a Saturday, and found a nearby Parkrun. At this rate it might be a decade before I reach the first milestone of 10 events.

I’ve been close to my “home” Parkrun twice. The first time I was running a half-marathon the following day and found it impossible to leave my hotel due to closed roads. The second time, I had no idea I was just a few minutes away until after the fact, as I drove past the park a mere five minutes from the hotel. I could not believe that I’d failed to bring running gear or even realize how close I was to that location. Since then, whenever I visit a place, I immediately look to see if there is a nearby Parkrun. In the USA, apparently, these are far less popular than in England or elsewhere.

As I was staying in Somerville over a weekend, I found that the Danehy Parkrun only was less than a mile away from my bed and breakfast. Naturally, I packed some running gear, and even though I made it to my room the night prior no earlier than 12:30am, or “zero dark thirty” in military parlance, I was buzzed to run another Parkrun. Number “four” is not an anniversary run, but it still held meaning to me as the first Parkrun on American soil. Early Saturday morning, I donned my running gear and followed the directions on my phone to walk over to the start area in Danehy park, around one mile away.

I was one of the first to arrive in the park. I’ve noticed that it seems to be the rule more than the exception that most people show up mere minutes prior to the start. After the briefing for first timers, where the course was outlined, the start saw close to a hundred runners head out on the narrow tarmac path. A slight incline gave way to a relatively flat course, which then wound itself around the edges of the park. It was a three-loop course, each loop slightly less than a mile long. As I was still recovering from a back injury a few months ago, I held back until I found what I thought was a comfortable pace. I passed a few people the first two miles, and then my pace faltered. Clearly I was not yet in 5k shape. In the last half mile four runners eased past me, with more on my heels as I made it up the steep hill to the finish. My time was nothing to boast about, but still acceptable based on my current fitness level. If I make it back to that Somerville/Cambridge, I’ll be sure to show up again. Then again, it’s also tempting to look for other Parkruns in and around Boston, because variety is more fun than going for a PB on familiar ground.

So, if you’re lucky enough to live near a Parkrun, I envy you. All my training sessions are solo, and it’s so nice to run with other people in an event that’s not a race, yet also not just a group run. And, as always, a great thank you to the volunteers to make those weekly runs possible.