Came in near the back last week after a rough few months of not running and the volunteers who stayed until the very end were still cheering like it was the front of the field. Something about that hit differently than it would have done at the start when I was faster. Anyone else had a moment at parkrun that reminded them why they started in the first place?

Absolutely lovely toasty warm day at Catford Parkrun.

Great energy from the volunteers and participants, a lovely spot if you want a quieter but energetic parkrun within London.

I have a video for South Norwood coming up shortly, my favourite (biased as it's my local). And likely heading to Orpington this coming weekend.

Is it just me or are the colours they picked for the attendance grid really counterintuitive.

They just don't mean anything. Red when you miss out is okay but black for volunteering, cyan for a run and orange for doing both?

Surely we need orange for a run, magenta for volunteering and maybe blue, green or cyan for a both morning.

(I did day "minor" annoyance)

As lovely and down to earth as you'd probably expect

This is something I'd never really thought about until today, I'm not the fastest parkrunner (my PB is 24 minutes) however I love the spirit of Parkrun and want everyone to leave with a smile on their face.

Last week I was running and it was quite a hilly course. I was running up one incline and I could hear the guy next to me breathing quite heavily, so I basically said "keep going mate" to help. Later in the race I overlook two women approaching a hill and essentially said "thank you guys keep going!" Both times, nothing back.

Then today (new course) there was a Dad running with his daughter that looked about 10, she was running at a great pace and I only overtook her on around 4km, so I shout "keep going, amazing running!" again, nothing.

I don't want this to sound like I'm expecting some praise back for motivating people, that's genuinely not it. I'm worried if my intentions are perhaps a no-no and potentially condescending. Does anyone on here aim to motivate other runners mid-race? I make a point of thanking every marshal I go past, and stick around at the finish line to clap people as they finish. I might stick to this going forward if I'm perhaps misjudging the etiquette 😊...

You know who you are, you run uphill, chatting casually, cruising past the old steam train puffing and wheezing his pathetically slow way up. Have some sensitivity, pretend you’re a little bit short of breathe, please. It’s not clever, not funny.
Actually to be serious, had a great run at Queens park Glasgow, it’s not as hard as Dunedin NZ.

Do many people experience incorrectly measured courses, have started at a new parkrun Brickfields, Dublin and have done it twice and both times it clocked in at 5.15km. Was disappointed the first time as I was pacing myself to a 5k pb which I hit on my watch but still had a 150m left to the finish line.

Anyone had any course that was even more out of sync or any one that was super short, more of a curiosity than a complaint.

I was bored and had some ideas about how you could (in my opinion) improve challenges within the parkrun app. I was curious to hear other peoples opinions on these:

1. Hide All Challenges Except for Volunteer Ratio after you hit 100 parkruns unless your volunter ratio is >1% - Essentially once you hit 100 parkruns you must maintain a volunteer ratio of 1% to see the challenges in the app. This is to encourage people to make sure they contribute.

2. Volunteer ratio - Bronze 1%, Silver 2.5%, Gold 5%.

3. Compass Club - Local language inclussion. For example, Oosterhout (Oost is East in Dutch) should count towards compass club.

4. Replace Single/Double-Ton with "Loyalty" and make it tiered like milestones, 25, 50, 100 etc.

5. Make explorer tiered and remove tourist

6. World tourist and jetsetter, combine into one and make tiered - 5 countries bronze, 10 countries silver, a

20 countries gold.

1. Festive double to be festive year - Replace with any two special events in the same yea.

So in summary, point 1 is to encourage volunteering, 3 and 7 are to make it more internationally friendly, all the others are to retain challenge metrics but simplify 7 challenges into 3 tiered ones.

Thoughs?

Bit of a daft one. I'm in Norwich and usually ride about 5 km to parkrun, run the 5k, then wobble home again with cold hands. On paper it's only a short ride, but my legs don't always agree, especially if there's a headwind across the open bits. For those who cycle to parkrun, do you treat the ride as warm-up, extra training or just transport? i keep telling myself it's just transport, then wonder why my first km feels like treacle.

Bit like when a normal commute feels shorter on a different route, I always seem to run more evenly at a tourist parkrun than at my usual London one. Home course has me checking splits and thinking about sub-4 marathon pace, while somewhere new makes me settle in, look up a bit and stop trying to force it.

managed my first parkrun back this morning, 6 months postpartum, with the buggy. It was very slow and involved one sock being thrown out at about 3k, so not exactly a textbook return.

Still, it felt lovely to be there again. i stayed near the back, thanked the marshals and tried not to take out anyone's ankles on the corners.

For people who regularly run parkrun with a buggy, what little things make it less faffy? Starting position, overtaking, snacks, timing feeds, all the glamorous stuff. I'm not chasing a time, just trying to make Saturday mornings feel a bit more normal again.

Is there a good way of looking at height profiles of different parkruns. These are Dunedin NZ and Queen’s Park Glasgow.

Good morning!

I’ve done a parkrun this morning and already got the email through with my results. However, nothing is showing on the parkrun app for today.

Also when I click on any course I get an error message saying ‘somethings not quite right, please try again soon.’

Is anyone else getting this error and knows of any fixes on the way? I’ve checked for updates for the app but none are showing.

Thanks!

It seems like I’m the only person that doesn’t understand this challenge, as I can’t find a full explanation of it. The description on the app says “Attend 30, 40 or 50 or more parkruns in one calendar year”.  From the “or” I would assume that you only need to do one of those amounts during a year. However, I did 30 last year and it shows 33% complete. So if you need to do 50, shouldn’t it just say “Attend 50 or more parkruns in one calendar year”? Can you get it if you attend 30 for 3 years in a row? If it shows 33% complete just to give some recognition for 30, surely there should be 3 different challenges for 30, 40 and 50 attendances and to avoid confusion. 

Hey folks!
I’m visiting Cape Town this week, and would love to know peoples opinions on the most iconic / memorable / must do Parkrun of the city ☺️

https://essex.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_9WuF5YwGOhlSNEy

Hi everyone! 👋

I’m a Doctorate in Clinical Psychology student at the University of Essex, and I’m looking for participants for my research exploring exercise and mental wellbeing in young adults.

If you’re a regular parkrunner, there’s a good chance you’ll be eligible if you’ve been taking part in structured exercise at least once a week over the last month (for example, running clubs, training plans, fitness apps, or regular exercise classes). This includes those who walk their parkruns!

You may be eligible if you:
✅ Live in the UK
✅ Are aged 18–30
✅ Have taken part in structured exercise at least once a week (minimum 4 sessions in the last month)

I’m researching how different ways of exercising (in-person, online, or a mix of both) relate to body image, loneliness, anxiety, and wellbeing.

📝 Takes around 5-10 minutes
🔒 Completely anonymous
🎁 Optional entry into a £50 Amazon voucher prize draw

I've seen people wear costumes, bring cake, ring a PB bell or just turn up like any other Saturday. How did you celebrate your milestone, if at all?

Has anyone recently gone to the parkrun from Málaga? How did you get there? Did you go the evening before to reduce the stress of getting there on time? What was your border crossing experience like?

TIA ☺️