THE PARKRUNNERS
While many of us might grab a bit of a Christmas lie-in, Andy and Emma Wingate are up with the larks, dressed in festive costumes – “I’m thinking this year I’ll be a shepherd” – and ready to meet others at a 5k Parkrun near Richmond, London, at 8.30am.
“Back in 2009, we had perhaps 300 on the first Christmas Day run in Bushy Park,” says Andy Wingate, who has been joining in Parkruns since they kicked off nationwide in 2004. “Every year it gets crazier and crazier and last year more than 2,000 people joined in, from kids to 80-plusyear-olds. Just about all of them wearing fancy dress. It’s proper madness.
“My wife, Emma, has no family near, we don’t have kids and my brother is divorced, so Christmas can be a bit… small. But on the Parkrun we see 2,000 smiling faces. After the run everyone chats – all wishing each other merry Christmas, shaking hands, chatting about their plans and sharing out mulled wine and mince pies. You meet a load of good people: it’s one of the highlights of my year.
“I don’t want to go overboard, but it’s almost like church; a throwback to how communities used to be, especially in
London, where you sometimes barely know your neighbours.”
Wingate, from New Malden, has to drive a short way to Bushy Park for the run. “Last year, we were heading to the run and I was squashed behind the wheel dressed as Santa. We pulled up at some traffic lights and the car next to me was being driven by a large elf. We just looked over and exchanged a glance.”
Gentle 5km Parkruns – Wingate dubs them “a celebration of mediocrity” – happen at 9am every Saturday in parks around the UK. Find if yours is doing a Christmas or New Year run at parkrun.org.uk.