This time last year I was at Amsterdam Bos parkrun, which is a fantastic event that I’d highly recommend: a very welcoming core team hosts their event in this stunning park/wood, you can read about my trip here; Amsterdamse Bos parkrun
Completing an event in the Netherlands meant I was one country closer to joining the much-converted parkrun ‘World Traveller Club’ which is achieved once a person has completed a parkrun in at least 4 separate countries. You can see all the countries that have parkrun events by clicking here; Parkrun countries directory
There is a dedicated Facebook group for like-minded parkrun World Travellers to share feedback on travelling to other countries including where to stay, things to do and closest airports. It’s a great resource and another dimension to this extraordinary parkrun experience.
The Facebook group can be particularly helpful as each country can designate two ‘special days’ on which to hold parkruns which might not be Saturdays. In the UK the designated ‘special days’ are Christmas Day and New Year's Day. However in the USA one of their ‘special days’ is Thanksgiving and in Canada it’s Canada Day. A full list of these ‘special events’ can be found here; Parkrun Special Days
This means the total amount of parkruns that can be completed in one calendar year is currently 64!
After completing my 5k today, I ventured to the Sour Leaf Cafe where the core team processes the day’s results. I saw two people in Watford Joggers tops and asked if they’d been to Burgess parkrun that morning and whether they’d enjoyed it, which they had.
Clearly travelling from Watford to Burgess meant they were tourists however our conversation evolved and I realised they were members of the exclusive parkrun World Traveler Club!
They shared that last year they’d travelled to Denmark and completed the Faelledparkrun on Monday 05/06/23 (which was then a Danish special day). They’d then popped over to Sweden to complete the Vaxjosjon parkrun on Tuesday 06/06/23 (which was then the Swedish special day). They then went to Norway and completed the Ekebergsletta parkrun on Saturday 10/06/23, with the UK already under their belts this meant they achieved the World Traveller Club badge in one week, amazing!
With up-to-date passports and a camper van, they proceeded to do the Zulderpark parkrun on Saturday in the Netherlands and then drove to Germany to complete the Aachener Weiher parkrun on Tuesday (their special day).
It was wonderful to hear about their trips with the event in Sweden sounds like a must-visit destination.
Inspired by their tales of adventure I’m committed to making it to Finland this year. Their special day is Ascension Day on Thursday 04/05/23 meaning if I stay through to Saturday I’ll be able to do two different events in Finland in one week.
I returned to my table for a fantastic brunch with two other members of the World Traveller Club, Shveta and Kristy. Between them, they’ve travelled to 13 different countries but more on that another week.
Happy running and happy touring, be that London parkruns, domestically or worldwide!
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