Parkrun more fun than mowing my lawn

Idon’t know how it happened. It just did. But before I could realise what I had got myself into, I had dusted off my old takkies, laced them up and I was running.

Not running away from anyone or anything, but making my way through the veld, over bridges and down a rocky decline with hundreds of other “part-time runners” on a Saturday morning for 5km at a parkrun at Alberts Farm – my first parkrun and probably my first attempt at completing that distance since I was at school 20 years ago.

My effort wasn’t pretty, having walked a lot more than I had run. I was out of breathe, my joints ached and after my 10-year-old daughter, and countless others raced to the finish line ahead of me, my ego was bruised. I have made peace that I’m never going to run a half-marathon or do the Ironman. It’s baby steps for me, and thousands of other people who seek a way to get fit.

But despite the travails, the parkrun bug bit that day. And bit in a big way.

This weekend the 13th anniversary of the first parkrun plays out at Bushy Park in the London Borough of Richmond-upon-Thames in the United Kingdom. On October 2, 2004 13 runners took part in the inaugural Bushy Park time trial and the global phenomenon of parkrun was born. Nowadays there’s a global community of 2.5 million. Nine-time Comrades Marathon winner Bruce Fordyce brought parkruns to South Africa, starting at Delta Park in 2011. Now there’s over 40 000 runners on any given Saturday across over

Trevor Stevens

100 venues in South Africa, from Pongola to Hoedspruit ... from Malmesbury to Kathu.

So what makes running 5 000 metres with mostly strangers on an uneven surface every week appealing?

It brings people together. It’s free. It’s for people of all ages. You don’t have to belong to a running club, and there’s no cut-off time. You start at 8am, and you can make a dash for the line in an attempt to achieve a personal best or take a leisurely walk with your friends or pets.

As Karen Weir, who ran in the first Bushy Park event in 2004 says: “It doesn’t matter when or where your parkrun journey began, or even if it’s yet to start. The best journeys aren’t those that simply involve travelling from A to B – they’re the ones where the people you meet, the friendships you forge, the experiences you have and the milestones you achieve along the way become the memories that stand out the most.

“That’s what parkrun has been for me,” said Weir, who first met her husband there and ran with him on the morning of their wedding day in 2008.

It’s stories like those that get you up on a cold winter’s morning to kick-start your weekend. It’s the thought of crossing the finish line for a personal best, or finishing 5km without walking that drives you.

A recent international study revealed that “people who exercise five days a week for 30 minutes significantly reduce their risk of dying early and of developing heart disease”. After tracking 130 000 people in 17 countries, both rich and poor, the study found that whether it’s going to the gym, walking to work, or tackling household chores like laundry or gardening, being physically active extends life and reduces illness.

I’d much rather run for 30 minutes than do the gardening this weekend.

I’ll certainly be lining up at Roodepoort or Delta this morning with the dodgy hamstring taped up. Happy running – or walking – to all.