4,000 in for a 5k stretch as inmates go on the (park) run
PRISONERS have got the parkrun bug. More than 4,000 criminals at 21 jails have joined Britain’s Saturday morning joggers to run five kilometres round their prison yards and fields to get fit.
Each inmate, from killers to shoplifters, has been assessed by officials for any risk they might attempt to escape, before being allowed to join parkrun, the 9am Saturday morning institution beloved of thousands since the first was held in Bushy Park, London, 15 years ago.
All the 4,000 convicted parkrunners have so far been restricted to running within the prison estate, some having to run round the limited space wearing 19 rubber bands which they discard after each of the 19 laps to ensure they remember to run the requisite 5k (3.1 miles).
Parkrun has been so successful since the first was held in November 2017 at HMP Haverigg in Cumbria that the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has commissioned an independent evaluation to investigate how its health benefits could be extended across the prison estate.
Professor Rosie Meek, a criminal psychologist at Royal Holloway University London, who is conducting the study, said prisoners tended to have poor cardiovascular fitness with women inmates the most vulnerable to ill health and obesity.
As well as the potential health benefits, she said parkrun inspired a bond between prisoners and officers that could curb violence.
“Prisons are very violent and if you can improve these relationships, you can improve all sorts of outcomes,” she said. Her study is investigating whether it could combat reoffending rates by, for example, helping prisoners reintegrate into their local communities through parkrun.
Paul, who took part in the first parkrun at HMP Haverigg and has since been released, said: “When you come out of prison, getting back on your feet is hard, especially financially. So having something free, and regular, was amazing.”
Professor Meek said the next step could be to integrate parkruns into Release on Temporary Licence (RoTL) where inmates spend short periods back in the community.
This has been trialled at Feltham Young Offenders Institution, one of the most violent youth jails in the UK, where parkrun was introduced amid fears the youths risked rickets due to the lack of sun from being locked up 22 hours a day.
So far parkruns have also been restricted to Category B to D prisons due to the escape risk from holding a parkrun in a category A jail every 9am on a Saturday.
“Typically you would not say you are going to be definitely outside at 9am on a Saturday in case someone wanted to hire a helicopter and swoop in,” said Professor Meek.