One of my favourite things about parkrun is how you can do it with family and friends. This morning, my sister, visiting from Folkestone, joined us at Burgess parkrun and it made my day!
The last time we’d all done parkrun together was my birthday in 2023 at her local event in Folkestone, she had secured a personal best that day. The magic of being together worked again with her recording another personal best, go sis!
Life can be busy and meeting up with people can be logistical slog. But parkrun is a standing engagement, same time, same place. This has enabled us to maintain relationships through attendance, bypassing the whole, ‘my calendar is busy next week what about the following week’ wheel. With cheery park cafes and lots of liminal space. Parkrun can be such an antidote to busy lives, too much screen time and lack of human contact and connection.
I was looking at studies on the benefits of human contact however I’ve decided to make the point about the wellness benefits of parkrun by sharing what happened at Bushy parkrun today. On the 5k app, attending Bushy is a challenge known as ‘where it all started’ but often referred to as ‘the pilgrimage’. When I went there in 2018 the sense of deep gratitude was palpable in the air with people travelling to attend from all around the country and the world. Bushy regularly attracts 1,500 people but today, although the official results aren’t up yet, it’s said there were over 6,000 people, you can see the start by clicking here. This is the biggest parkrun attendance in history. As the Run Director say’s in the video, it’s not about how fast you are, it’s about the wellness benefits that come from attending a free event outside with others. Saturday at Bushy must rank as a monumental day for parkrun and British running.
September is going to be BIG!
With September approaching I wanted to remind everyone about the upcoming 2024 Southwark Slam!
The Southwark Slam is completing all four of the parkruns in the London Borough of Southwark in the month of September. Since it’s inception people have done the running, walking and volunteer Southwark Slam.
This year it will commence on Saturday 07/09/24 with Southwark parkrun which happens to be their parkrun birthday. The second Saturday, 14/09/24 will be at Peckham Rye parkrun. The third Saturday, 21/09/24, will be at Dulwich parkrun. The fourth and final Saturday, 28/09/24, will be at Burgess parkrun
Complete all 4 events and become a Southwark Slammer!
The Southwark Slam is a fantastic opportunity for some parkrun tourism and to experience the incredible diversity of the Borough. Each event has cafe’s for tea/coffee and food and the chance for some great parkrun ‘chat’. Let me know if you’re coming to one, two, three or all four events, it would be great to see you all.
Happy running and happy Slamming!
What an inspirational post and video of Bushy Park Park Run. Truly wonderful. Thanks for sharing.