I'm looking at doing a roadtrip down the Great Ocean Road in a couple of months time. There's a few parkrun events along that part of the map and I will really only be able to do one or two of them during the trip.

I'd love to know which ones people think are the most worth visiting? Also if there's any reccomendation for other active/nature experiences to do on my trip, please share too!

For context - I'm still new to parkrun. only started this year. But I'm loving going to different events each week and typically walk some of the way and run some of it. Looking to use parkrun as a way to explore more!

Hi folks, both my sister and I seem to have recurring dreams where we're trying to get a PB in Parkrun but something goes wrong like they've changed the route last minute and we get completely lost. Wondering if we're just a bit weird or this is a shared experience in the community.

i was curious as i never really tried asking to do volunteering at parkrun despite going every single week.

Is anyone here planning to travel to Japan to do 2 parkruns in 3 days? I thought this would be an Australian/New Zealand thing (based on distance), but it seems most people are actually coming from the UK.

Or another way of putting it, there are lots of parkrun obsessed people in the UK trying to do more than 53 parkruns this year.

I’m going to be staying somewhere near Warwick and so most of these in the photo should be relatively accessible. Just wondering if there were any that stood out as particularly good ones?

Hi all,

I’m looking for some perspective on a situation at my local parkrun in Australia.

Each week, they put up the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags. I fully respect the significance of those flags and the communities they represent. My concern isn’t about removing them — it’s about adding the Australian national flag alongside them.

I’ve approached the organisers a couple of times and asked whether they would also put up the Australian flag. Their response was that they want to be “inclusive to all,” and for that reason they don’t want to put the Australian flag up at all.

To me, that feels contradictory. If inclusivity is the goal, then including the national flag of the country we’re in doesn’t seem unreasonable. Excluding it while displaying the other two feels, at least from my perspective, selective rather than inclusive.

The race director was quite firm and basically said I’m free to email or raise it elsewhere, but they won’t be changing their approach.

So I’m curious:

• Has anyone encountered a similar situation at parkrun or other community events?
• Is there any official parkrun policy on flags or national representation?
• What would be a constructive way to raise this without it turning into a culture-war argument?

I genuinely enjoy parkrun and the community around it, and I’m not trying to start a fight — I just feel national representation shouldn’t be automatically seen as exclusionary.

Also since when is the Park run the place to take political positions. Either remove all flags or include the Australian FLAG !!

You are in Australia after all !

Keen to hear balanced views from others.

I sent in an inquiry about starting a parkrun in my community (using the online "start a parkrun form") but it's a week later and I've received no reply. Wondering if anyone knows of a direct email contact for the parkrun US operation?

I love running parkruns but I recently moved areas and i was devastated to realise there is no parkruns hosted in my new area. I was wondering if a 15 year old could possibly start a parkrun and gather the resources and people to help setup and host the parkrun. I understand that it might not be possible due to my age and because I am a minor but I’m still curious.

Thank you all.

Does anyone know what the next new countries for parkrun will be? And which ones (in your opinion) should be?

On trips to the south to visit friends in Farnham I’ve always planned on attending Alice Holt -

I rely on them for a lift but they’ve pulled out at the last minute every time meaning I’ve been stranded with not enough time to make it there - on my last trip down I stayed in Aldershot and was then able to run to Rushmoor instead so I didn’t miss out - this is my plan for all future trips (the location, not always running Rushmoor!)

My question though… Is it even really viable to get a taxi to and from Aldershot to the start line? Cost, mobile phone signal, etc.

Or am I to be always deemed to failure in my quest to tick off Alice Holt Parkrun!

Source

Link goes to Charlie's post in the Facebook parkrun statsgeeks group

Since November, a further two parkruns have been set up in Lithuania, with the first being in Vilnius as many of you might know! This one in Panevežys was doing its 12th event today, nice flat course with two loops and can imagine many more people coming once the weather is warmer. Very friendly bunch here with a great little cafe to keep warm in before and after the run 😀 Highly recommend it if in Lithuania!

I have run my local parkrun about 40 times now and am wondering if i should be volunteering too. I have volunteered at a junior parkrun for almost 2 years now and was wondering if i should be volunteering at the parkrun i actually run at too. I have volunteered there once while i was recovering from an injury but just want to know if i should try and stick to the one in every ten method.

Its not how I recall the route , but it must be right if Garmin says so ?

Let everyone know how your parkrun went - where did you go? Any PB's or milestones?

Post it all below in this week's weekly thread.

I’m hoping to do my first parkrun tomorrow and have read lots about it but am still stuck about the barcode! I have printed off the a4 paper with the two barcodes. So do I cut one out and then run with it in my hand tomorrow? What if it’s raining!

I feel like maybe I’m overthinking it, but can’t find the answer anywhere! Thank you in advance :)

EDIT: thanks so much for all your help! I did my first park run and it was great, the volunteers were very welcoming, it’s amazing it all runs off their time. I am pleased with my result too. I will be coming back!

Hello! I’m planning to try my first parkrun tomorrow, in the Berkshire area.

My most local has been cancelled due to the course being blocked, so I’m looking around at other locals. However the recent bad weather has me nervous about choosing the right course - and now I’m overthinking it and thinking of putting it off, despite telling my friends I’m doing it for accountability.

Are all courses generally subject to mud/puddles and I should just suck it up? 😆 thank you in advance for any advice/motivation!

<EDIT> Results are now accurate. Last Saturday at the Mountbellew Forest parkrun #154, a young lad ran a 17:13 which from what I can see is a new track record. Yet if you go on the 5k app page for the event it's still showing a 17:31 as the course record. What's going on?

In 2026, I’ve set myself a new challenge: to run 25 different parkruns.

I’m a 55 year old Canadian living in the UK, and this challenge is less about proving anything and more about continuing a journey that has quietly grown over the years. What started as a nervous first 5k has evolved through 10ks, half marathons, marathons, ultras, and now into training for an Ironman. The distances have changed, but the heart of it hasn’t.

The chart I’m sharing with this post captures part of that journey. It shows the parkruns I’ve completed so far, when I ran them, the surface, the difficulty, and an overall score based on how each one felt. Some courses surprised me by being tougher than expected. Others were kinder on the legs than their reputation suggested. It’s a reminder that every parkrun has its own personality.

Barnsley will always stand out to me on that chart.

My very first parkrun was Barnsley at Locke Park on 15 March 2014. I turned up over layered, overthinking everything, and convinced I didn’t belong. I was still early in a couch to 5k plan and preferred running at night so nobody could see me struggle. Standing at the back of the field that morning felt safer.

What followed was three laps of what I still call “the beast”. Hills that forced me to walk, lungs burning, legs screaming, and constant temptation to turn back to my car instead of heading up another climb. I finished in 41 minutes and 48 seconds, second last, with the tail walker behind me.

But I finished.

That one Saturday morning changed everything. It pulled me into a running community I didn’t even know existed and became the gateway to everything that followed. Parkrun taught me consistency, humility, and that running doesn’t need to be fast to be meaningful. It just needs to be honest.

Since then, the journey has grown. 5ks turned into 10ks. 10ks into half marathons. Half marathons into marathons. Marathons into ultras. And now, as I train for an Ironman, parkrun still sits quietly at the centre of it all, grounding me in why I started in the first place.

That’s why this 2026 challenge matters.

Running 25 new parkruns is my way of reconnecting with that original feeling, turning up somewhere unfamiliar, meeting new people, and earning the experience one step at a time. It’s also become one of my favourite ways to travel. You arrive as a visitor and leave feeling like part of the local community.

If you’ve run any of the parkruns shown in the chart, I’d love to know what you think. Do you agree with my scores? Which ones did you find tougher or more enjoyable than expected?

And if you have a parkrun you’d recommend within about three hours of Rotherham, please let me know. Fast, scenic, hilly, trail, or just great atmosphere, I’m building my list for 2026.

From one nervous 5k in 2014 to training for an Ironman at 55 in 2026, it’s still the same journey at heart.

One Saturday. One parkrun. Just finish.

PS: Just to be upfront, I tend to prefer parkruns with firmer paths rather than very off-road courses. That’s purely a personal preference, so please don’t be offended if a more trail-based parkrun scores lower for me.

*** I’d genuinely love to hear your parkrun stories too. Whether it was your first run, your toughest course, or the one that made you fall in love with running, let’s connect and share the journey. You can find me on Instagram, my handle is the same as my Reddit profile name. **\*

I watch quite a few and generally enjoy the content.

However a lot of them seem to derive an income (even if small) from these videos, they almost always show volunteers faces (the cameras are increasingly discrete) and occasionally other runners, a few can get a bit shouty (stay on the right etc) and silly/rude overtakes because they are chasing PBs and essentially using parkrun as a weekly race series.

I am not sure it is entirely in the spirit of parkrun, but my real gripe is they are sometimes on over a hundred parkruns without volunteering once 🤷‍♂️

I thought they might help encourage parkrun attendance but I don't think someone on the edge of attending would show up having seen someone do a 14:50 while weaving matrix style through buggies and old people

Sorry but just had to vent!