Although I’ve completed many running events/races in the past decade, I’d never heard of Parkruns until earlier this year (2024). Parkruns are running events (not really races) put on by volunteers in a variety of locations. These are usually held on Saturdays, and in parks (hence the name), and open to anyone (although they prefer that you register so that you can get official results). Started around twenty years ago in England, they proliferated in that country quickly.
Meanwhile, in Texas, there are three Parkruns. The closest one to where I live is a three hour drive.
The first time I heard of Parkruns was while watching some running videos on YouTube. One of these videos was about a professional runner’s first Parkrun, in Reading, UK. I’d been to Reading a couple of times, so that immediately piqued my interest. After watching the video, all of a sudden a series of Parkrun videos popped up as video selections (that’s YouTube for you: watch a few seconds of any video, and the next thing you know is that every third video listed is a variation of that theme). When an opportunity arose this summer where I’d be in England, and by coincidence, in Reading during a Saturday, I immediately thought, “What if I ran in that Parkrun?” Before my trip I registered online, which is a requirement, listing my home Parkrun as the one that was a three-hour drive away.
Friday, the day before the Parkrun. I walked the nearly two-mile path from my hotel to the start of the Reading Parkrun. The start takes place on a vast floodplain next to the River Thames. In the river kids swam and cavorted on paddle boards. People walked on the trail, and a vast number of geese occupied the greenspace that made up the starting area. Now that I knew the route to the start, I planned to jog there early the next day. The event begins at 9am. Unsure of what to expect, I started out from the hotel at 7:30. When I arrived at the starting area twenty minutes later, the vast field was empty. After a moment’s indecision, I decided to jog along what I thought would be the course.
At first, it was open grass, littered with goose crap. Then I found a narrow path trail, which after a while turned into a gravel trail. This trail ran next to the River Thames, with a side path or two branching off to the right. After a while I reached the Sonning locks. More than twenty years ago I had stayed at the Bull Inn, in Sonning (briefly famous for a one-time nearby resident actor now rich beyond belief), and on a morning run had approached the locks from the opposite direction. At the locks I turned around and jogged slowly back to the start. Once there, I saw some volunteers starting to assemble. The time was 8:30am, and a few other people started to show up. I remained at a distance, not sure of protocol. Another runner showed up, and we started chatting.
This other runner was originally from South Africa, and now resided in Reading. He told me that he was primarily a triathlete, and was planning to make this a training run. He talked me through the Parkrun process, and as the start time approached we walked over to the starting area. For first-timers there’s a brief orientation. Apparently there’s also a tradition to ask about “visitors” and where they’re from. I was hesitant to list my Texas origin, and when the assembled runners clapped as another person listed Glasgow as his home city, I decided to remain silent. He seemed excited to be the most distant visitor, and, as it was my first Parkrun, I didn’t want to stand out.
Everyone lined up for the start. My new friend had mentioned a goal of 28 minutes. I had no plan, and no idea of how I would run, as it was my first 5K in almost a year. Everyone lined up for the start. The wide line quickly funneled into the narrow trail. The course continued along the trail, then branched off to the right. It then looped twice, and returned to the start.
I hung back at the start, then slowly moved past some runners. After the first loop, I settled into a steady pace. I caught up with the former South African, then stayed slightly behind him as we started the second loop. With 1K to go, he realized I was there. I moved up next to him, and we chatted briefly as we covered the remaining distance. Unlike me, he had started fast and then slowed down. As we re-entered the grassy section toward the finish area, another runner drew alongside us. I encouraged him to keep going, and we finished one-two-three. Of the 239 runners I ended up in 75th place, with a time of 25 minutes and 46 seconds. This was several minutes off my 5K average, but I didn’t care. I was happy to finish my first Parkrun, and first real 5K in 10 years. I jogged the two miles back to the hotel feeling quite happy.
One week later, I found myself in Dublin, Ireland. I looked up Parkruns nearby, and found one almost the same distance away from the hotel as when I was in Reading. This was the Fairview Parkrun. Saturday morning I put on my (now stinky) running clothes and headed northeast through the streets of Dublin. A steady rain fell as I ran, and I wondered whether anyone would show up in the rain. I need not have worried, for as I reached the park the rain stopped. A trio of women in running clothes entered the park in front of me. I asked them if they knew the starting location. They asked the same of me, so I assumed we all were first timers—-visitors. In England the Parkruns start at 9am. In Dublin they all start at 9:30am. The trio of women decided this was too late for them, and turned around. Meanwhile, I found a volunteer putting out orange cones for the race course, and learned from her the location of the start. As I was early, I walked slowly to that area.
While waiting for the start, I chatted with another Norwegian. He was far younger, so I didn’t think I’d see him again (as expected, he finished nearly five minutes faster than me). There were fewer runners at the Fairview Parkrun than at Reading; many veteran runners apparently show up less than ten minutes before the starting time. The starting area was between two trees on a narrow path, so having fewer runners was a good thing. I wasn’t the most distant visitor; there was someone from Australia, and a couple from South Africa. The course entailed three loops though part of the park, with one slight incline, as well as a section on grass. Again, I had no plan, as was I just there for the experience.
We started off quickly, as the first section was slightly downhill. The rain hadn’t turned the grassy section into too slick of a surface, but I tried to keep to a slow and steady pace. To my shock, as we reached the first mile, I found my pace nearly 30 seconds faster than expected. The second mile proved slower, as I paid the price of the fast start. Each mile was slower than the last, which isn’t ideal if you want to try to have a negative split. On the last loop, my mind kept telling me stop, to walk, to quit, but I kept on running, gasping for air. In the end, I finished almost a minute faster than my Reading Parkrun, which I did not anticipate. I think the fact that most of it was on a paved path vs. grass and gravel made a difference. Also, I started faster in Fairview, perhaps due to the initial downhill portion. Although the end result was three minutes slower than my best 5K time, I didn’t consider this as a race. It was an event, an experience. After the race ended, I had slightly less than an hour to make it to an appointment that morning, so I immediately started to jog back to the hotel so that I could shower and change and get to that appointment.
Parkruns are great. I so wish there was one in my city, instead of the closest one being in Houston, almost a three hour drive away. I have no idea if I’ll ever make it back to another Parkrun. Instead, I guess that I need to enter some more 5K races, and pay the $40 or more for that privilege. To have the opportunity to show up on a Saturday and run a 5K with other runners is invaluable for any runner. It’s amazing that Parkuns are free, put on by volunteers, and actually provide results. Thanks again to all the volunteers in Reading and Fairview (and everywhere else). I so wish I could run those courses again, and wonder when I’ll ever be able to run Parkrun #3.
