Britain celebrates 20 years of Parkrun as 3.4 million runners cross the finish line

Founder Paul Sinton-Hewitt was injured and unemployed when he set up the first run in 2004 at Bushy Park in Teddington, London, seeking a way to better socialise with his friends.

Two decades after a successful first event with 13 runners and five volunteers, 10 million people are now signed up to more than 2,500 weekly events spanning 23 countries worldwide.

The UK hosts 834 weekly events and is closing in on its 300,000th Parkrun with 3.4 million crossing the finish line thanks to 460,000 volunteers.

Scotland’s green spaces play host to 72 park runs, the first of which was brought about by Richard Leyton in Glasgow’s Pollok Park in 2008.

Visiting friends in London, Richard was invited along to Bushy Parkrun where he was impressed by the simplicity of the format.

Seeing that there was nothing of its kind near his home in Glasgow, he got the ball rolling on bringing Parkrun to Scotland.

He says: “The first event was in December 2008 and I think at the time we had about 44 runners and seven or eight volunteers.”

The cold and dark mornings were a barrier to retention in the winter months, but Richard says Pollok Park Run “rapidly grew to around 700 runners” in the spring.

Looking back at what Parkrun Scotland has become in 16 years, he said: “It’s fantastic to see so many events right across Scotland because at the time, just having one felt like a big thing.

“Seeing it grow gradually was great - Edinburgh was the next big event, then Strathclyde Park and it just kept growing.”

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The ethos dating back to the original Parkrun - a healthy way to socialise with friends - was also baked into Richard’s vision for Scotland’s first weekly event.

“One of the reasons Parkrun starts at 9.30am in Scotland,” explains Richard, “is because when the event was starting I was concerned about how you build a community.

“I decided to start at 9.30am, not least because it’s still dark in Scotland in the winter months, but the Burrell [Collection Museum] here opens at 10am.

“If we’d have started at 9am people would finish their event and then they’d probably have gone home, but by starting a little bit later it meant that people could form friendships and get to know each other a little bit better.”

Regular runner and volunteer Annette McKirdy has benefited greatly from the social aspect of Parkrun in Scotland.

Attending a 5K event with her sister one bright spring morning, she recalls thinking she recognised one of the other runners at the finish line.

The following week Annette approached the familiar face and sure enough it was Catherine Ullaney, an old friend who she hadn’t seen for 50 years, when they shared a class in primary school.

“That’s when our friendship started,” says Annette, “she said to come for coffee at the Burrell and we caught up - it was very good seeing her again.”

Renewing their friendship, bonds were created between their friendship groups and now a sizeable cohort of senior runners enjoy regular meet-ups to take part in 5Ks around the country.

Annette now runs and volunteers with Bridget Cox, who reunited with Catherine before connecting with Annette.

Bridget explains that their group of three continued to grow, and their time together takes them far and wide: “We meet up on a Thursday morning and go away at weekends once a month, we’ve been as far as Italy and up to Shetland and Orkney.

“I wouldn’t necessarily be going out running on a Thursday morning or at 9.30am on a Saturday by myself but because I’m meeting up with pals, it gets me out and motivated and you feel so much better afterwards.”

The Parkrun 5K owes much of its success to a straightforward formula with mass appeal: a simple format; free entry; a barcode system for time tracking; and open to all.

With 834 events nationwide happening every Saturday morning, accessible, free and friendly local fitness is available to everyone should they wish to seek it out.