When I was recently in London, I learned just how inclusive and friendly parkruns are. They are great for everyone; fast runners, slower runners, runners with dogs, runners with babies, solo runners, runners with friends, runners training for races, runners wanting to make new friends and run/walkers…. Parkrun is inclusive of everyone!

Parkrun themselves says that “Parkrun is a free, community event where you can walk, jog, run, volunteer or spectate. Parkrun is 5k and takes place every Saturday morning. Junior parkrun is 2k, dedicated to 4-14 year olds and their families, every Sunday morning. Parkrun is positive, welcoming and inclusive, there is no time limit and no one finishes last. Everyone is welcome to come along.”

I’d wanted to try out a park run in the UK for ages. They started after I emigrated to the US, so I’d missed out on them and wanted to see what all the hype was about. My sister has run many of them, and often taken her kids to run too, and her pictures always looked really fun.  After searching online, my husband and I picked the Parkrun nearest to our AirBnB which was in Hampstead Heath to join.

Before you attend a Parkrun, it’s really important that you sign up and get your barcode as it’s this barcode that will help you and the volunteers record your 5k time. It’s really easy to register (it takes about 5 minutes) and then you can take a copy of your barcode on your phone, so you don’t need to remember to physically take it and run with it. No one needs to be dealing with a soggy bit of paper after a race!

All park runs start at 9am, so my husband and I headed out a little early to ensure that we’d make it on time. We were a little concerned about the course as we knew it would be hilly, but we also expected that it might be really muddy too. If it looked too slippery, we’d already decided not to risk injury and not do the whole run, but we were really hoping it would be ok.

When we got to Hampstead Heath, the race organiser was reading out the instructions through a tannoy and congratulating people on landmark runs as well as those who had traveled from afar. Some people had come from as far away as Canada and France! Everyone was clapping, and he was sharing jokes and reminders to share the path with everyone, including the pups! After that, we all filed off to the start of the run where I could see just how well supported this event was. The sea of people in brightly coloured running clothes went on for as far as I could see down the path.

The start of the run was downhill and a little muddy so I had to be extra careful not to slip. I ran near to the side of the path which seemed a little less squishy. After a few minutes, the path became dryer and evened out. It also wound down and up rolling hills, past volunteers carefully marking the course and cheering, before we all encountered a steep hill up towards the top of Parliament Hill! Thankfully, this is where my training in DC finally paid off and I managed to maintain my pace!

Hampstead Heath Parkrun covers two loops of a 1.5 mile course, and then at the end arrives through a little shute where you collect your bar code and join the masses of people cheering everyone else on. The course is really pretty in winter, and I can imagine that it’s even more lovely in the spring and summer.  Next time we’re in London, I’d love to run it again.

At the end of the run, you take your little bar code which you are given in the shute and give it to a volunteer who scans both it and the barcode on your phone. It is the combination of these two which will enable you to receive your time, once it’s posted online later that day.

At the end of the run, I met two really welcoming ladies. One of them had traveled from Brighton on the south coast. We exchanged travel stories and took photos for each other by the Parkrun sign. I also met another lady who gave me the instructions for the end and what to do with the bar code. In general I noticed that the runners were really friendly. From the conversations I overheard, many people had made friends at the run and enjoyed catching up with each other and their adventures each week. Some of the runners also headed to a local coffee shop. My husband joined them, but before I could get cold, I headed out to add 7 more miles to my run so that I could make it my long run of the week.

If your’re considering doing a Parkrun but are feeling a little intimidated, I’d suggest you just go for it. I can promise that you won’t be last, and no one will think you’re slow. If you have a buggy or a dog, there will be plenty of people like you, and if you’re looking for connection, you’ll definitely find it here. If you’re just not feeling brave enough, which is completely understandable, I’d encourage you to turn up for the run and cheer the runners at the end. That will give you a great chance to meet some people and ask questions, see the course for yourself, and feel motivated to join them in the actual run another week. You could also offer to volunteer and support the run if you think it might take you a little while to build up to 5k, as this will help you become part of the community.  When I’m next in the UK I’ll definitely be doing another Parkrun, and now that I’m back in the US, I’m going to see if there’s one here, near to where I live, as I know they are growing in number over here.

I’m curious. Have you run any Parkruns? Which ones would you recommend?