In Bushy Park, Teddington, an affluent suburb near London, a group of 13 mates decided to go for a run at their local park. The distance chosen was 5km, challenging enough but short enough for most to be able to achieve.
That was in 2004. Fast-forward to 2018, and the fifth million parkrunner signed up, with places across the globe providing places for the phenomenon to occur.
Next year will be the 20th anniversary of parkrun, and locally in Mackay, parkruns happen weekly on a Saturday morning at the Botanic Gardens. It’s a place where serious runners will challenge each other to better their personal bests, but the popularity of the event sees elderly walkers, mums and dads pushing prams and a variety of age, size and ethnicity turn up to get their weekly sweat on.
Milestones such as 50 and 100 parkruns are recognised and results are available online for people to track their progress.
In Mackay, 249 runners took part in a New Year’s Eve run, complete with a refreshing shower of rain and a refreshing Zooper Dooper at the finish. It’s a great way to get moving, so why not challenge yourself to a parkrun this Movement Month?
Mackay’s New Year’s Eve parkrun. Photo credit: Mackay parkrun Facebook