Parkrunners bond on the fun event taking over the world

I LOVED the fact that 400 people ran on The Queens Domain at 9am on Saturday.

They were all at the launch of the Queens Domain parkrun.

Parkrun is a 5km running event held around the world on Saturday morning on a local course. It is free and open to everybody. Parkrun is held around the world with the same basic format and local variations. Once you have registered you can run in any parkrun around Australia or around the world.

There is a lot to love about parkruns. I love the way

Alan Carlton

everybody does the same thing. And everybody is different. Everybody runs or walks 5km. And everybody is a different shape or size and wearing different shorts, shirts and shoes. Everybody has a different story about why they were there. About what they are trying to achieve. What obstacles they had to overcome.

There were people who had had hip replacements, medical problems, mental health problems, intellectual handicaps. People were there who were losing weight, stopping smoking or ceasing some drug habit. Every possible handicap that had to be overcome existed. And every story was unique. What they shared was an ambition to run or walk 5km. And in every case the significance of successfully finishing 5km varied. I love the way there is no prize for coming first. All the competition is personal.

My aim was to improve my physical, emotional and social health. My running time is a guide to how I’m doing. My running time is only of interest to me.

Some people have the aim of reaching certain milestones. Special shirts are given to people who run 50, 100, 250 or 500 runs.

I love the way parkruns improve the health of the local community. Not just physical health but also the social and emotional health. I love the social side. At the parkrun I met people I know. The other people I plan on getting to know as we share our runs.

I love the way it has become a part of tourism. Parkruns have become are a part of our travels. We have done parkruns in England and South Africa. The parkruns in South Africa taught us more about South Africa than seeing a rhino or hippo.

We met some of the locals, with similar interests, and experienced the local way they managed park runs. Parkruns are similar around the world.

The same recognisable procedures with local variations. As in Tasmania your result will be put up on the cloud hours after the run. You can then view all your times and so can others.

Parkrun tourism also involves welcoming visitors to our parkruns. A lot of tourists to Tasmania make going to one of our local parkruns a part of their Tasmanian holiday.

I love the way every parkrun I have done I have done with a member of my family. Either wife, child, grandchild, brother-in-law, son-in-law or else. In South Africa I met relatives I hadn’t

seen for years. We celebrated by going for a parkrun together. Us men bonded via sweat. The women bonded by the drink afterwards.

I love the way parkrun is free. No fiddling around looking for a few dollars.

You pay in two ways. Everybody is expected or encouraged to volunteer occasionally. When you do volunteer it gives you a different view of the event which better helps you understand it. When not volunteering it helps you become a more considerate runner.

The second way you pay is with sponsors for the event. They sponsor the event in exchange for the opportunity to tell you about what they sell. A reasonable deal.

I love the way parkrun makes the best of modern technology. When you register you are given an individual bar code which you have to print out. This barcode is scanned when you finish. Your result is then uploaded. You can see your result and compare it to your previous runs, other runners around the world, and other runners of the same age.

Parkrun uses this technology without being a slave to it. The run is more important than the technology. How did parkrun begin? Parkruns began in London in 2004. They have spread throughout England and the world. The first parkrun in Australia was on the Gold Coast in 2011. There are now about 270 parkruns and 400,000 parkrunners in Australia. There are about 1300 parkruns globally and about 3 million parkrunners globally. It is impossible to give exact figures because new parkruns and parkrunners are being added continually.

In 2017 the most popular parkrun countries were the United Kingdom 484, Australia 261, South Africa (including Swaziland and Namibia) 114, Ireland 72, Poland 51, Russia 31, New Zealand 18, United States 15, Canada 12, France 8, Denmark 7, Italy 6, Germany 6 and Sweden 5. The numbers are already out of date. Alan Carlton is a former dentist living in Hobart. He has children and grandchildren and in his retirement enjoys running, playing tennis and swimming.