We offer weekly, 5km, timed free runs open to all ages and abilities
parkrun started in 2004 with just 13 runners in Bushy Park, Teddington. Since then, the Bushy parkrun has become a well established running event; open to all runners who happen to be near Teddington on Saturday morning. When we started Bushy, this was the only regular, weekly 5km timed running event in the UK. All our events are run every Saturday of the year and some even boast a special event on both Christmas and New Years Day.
In 2007, Wimbledon Common parkrun was developed to respond to the demand from the runners and on the same principles as Bushy parkrun. This was quickly followed by Banstead Woods which paved the way for the others to follow.
When Paul first set out to create Bushy parkrun, his aim was to make it simple for anyone to take part whenever it suited them. He hoped that runners would want to compete against themselves and not necessarily against the other participants. Right from the start, this was to be a community project where the runners would always run for free. Paul expected to see approximately 20 club athletes turn up every week to complete. He never expected it to grow into the brand that it is now.
parkruns are community events with strong loyalty from runners and volunteers. We help local volunteers set up events throughout the world using the 'parkrun-in-a-box' concept.
Every event is growing and there is strong demand for more. parkrun is sponsored by adidas, GSK Lucozade, The London Marathon and Sweatshop in the UK who make it possible for these events to be free.
Bushy Park parkrun won the Runners World Best Small Event in 2007 and parkrun founder Paul Sinton-Hewitt won a Runners World Heroes award in 2009.
parkrun offers a unique proposition to runners
- A non-commercial, free, feel-good, community event
- Runners sign up on the website once in their life… then just turn up and run at any event in their country
- Results are emailed the same day and posted on the website with historical results and stats including age group records and age-graded performances (for those getting older!)
- There are clubs and prizes to encourage participation a 50 Club for runners who've reached 50 runs, a 100 Club, and a Junior under-19 10 Club runners who've reached these milestones receive a free running t-shirt one runner per event receives the Sweatshop Monthly Prize – a free pair of trainers
- there's an annual points prize at each event to encourage attendance
- We keep in touch with runners through an emailed weekly newsletter and the website
- And provide extra services free of charge free race photos, race reports, links to local clubs and races, and other news on the website
- Lucozade sports scientists visit one event per month to provide advice and samples
parkrun offers free, weekly events with low barriers to participation - so drives participation in sport, and helps running & athletics attract participants in competition against other sports such as football, rugby, cricket, cycling, swimming, etc. With people attracted to increasingly popular activities such as adventure racing, urban racing, bmx, surfing, etc, it’s essential that athletics offers events that are easy to take part in and fun.
A sample of runners' quotes:
"A great weekly community event for runners, spectators & volunteers, love it."
"The people are lovely. I have made some lovely friends. The encouragement is fantastic. I had never run before, I started it with a walk then half jogged it and now I can run all the way round (though not that fast). I also won best athlete for July. I have never been called an athlete before, it made me realise just how much I was enjoying the Leeds parkrun."
"Great organisation - perfect distance and good time of day. Gets the weekend off to a perfect start while the rest of the family are still in bed!"
"The friendly atmosphere amongst runners and organisers, the kindness of volunteers to help out, the website is excellent to track your progress and the fact that it's helping to get people to lead a healthier life. Also where else can you get all this for free?"
"I love the way it embraces and celebrates all levels of ability. They are free, no fuss and well organised."
Read about parkrun in the press