Parkrun phenomenon celebrates 20 incredible years

LONDON : When 6,204 people took part in the 1,000th parkrun in London's Bushy last month it was 6,191 more than set off in the inaugural event in 2004 and similar record turnouts are expected all over the world on Oct. 5 when the phenomenon marks its 20th birthday.

From those modest beginnings in the south-west of the capital, parkrun has grown at a scarcely believable rate, while largely retaining its most basic elements.

It is a free to enter 5km run that takes place every Saturday morning (there are also 2km junior parkruns on Sundays)and organised entirely by volunteers.

Everyone finishing is given a token with a barcode that, along with their personal barcode, is scanned after the run with the results emailed to the runners later in the day.

Fundamental to parkrun's ethos is that it is not aimed primarily at fast runners, though they are welcome and embrace it, but at the wider community, especially those who have not had physical exercise as part of their lives for a long time.

So, alongside enthusiasts vying to be "first finisher" (nobody is allowed to win), are runners of every size, shape and age, with dogs and buggies also welcome.

It is a matter of pride for parkrun that its average finishing time gets slower every year - an indication of more "less sporty" people getting involved, and each run has a "tail walker" to accompany the last runner, however long they take.

To say that it has proved popular might be the greatest understatement in the history of sport and public health.

FIRST EVENT

The original event for 13 friends was launched by Paul Sinton-Hewitt, who was inspired by the regular time trials he used to run in South Africa and was awarded a CBE 10 years ago for his services to grassroots sport and public