Parkrun has been a phenomenon for some 20 years now, and every Saturday morning when I scroll Strava, I see where fellow DVO members have been running. Will it be Australia (Markeaton) or the girl with the long hair (Shipley)?
It’s always nice to bump into other Club members. Ex-member Andis Ozols is a parkrun tourist who has run in many counries, as has our Treasurer, Helen, who says “I’ve done 51 runs, over 14 years, at 22 different park run locations in 5 different countries 🇬🇧 🇮🇪 🇮🇹 🇯🇵🇳🇴 Oh and I have 17 letters towards my alphabet challenge! 😂” Parkrun Tourists are basically anyone non-local who is running, either because they are collecting parkruns, or just on holiday in the area (and pretending they aren’t collecting Parkruns).
Our top current-member parkrunners are David Vincent on 261 parkruns (over 100 at Shipley Park), followed by David Pettit with 221 parkruns, in 86 different locations. Imogen is on an impressive 212 parkruns, but she gets to run junior and adults races!
Like orienteering, Parkrun lends itself to all sorts of metrics, such as percentage performance in age group, best times, average times etc. DVO’s Murray White has done 115 parkruns at 25 different locations. 30x volunteering at Poolsbrook, including being Race Director twice. Nice that volunteering is also measured and recognised!
It’s always fun picking up a parkrun overseas. Jane did one in Adelaide and saw a sign that said ‘look up for the koala’ 🐨!
You can keep track of your ever growing list of parkruns with a free app called Running Achievements (Apple or Android; thanks to Helen for the recommendation), or if you’re a luddite like me, you can desgn your own parkrun alphabet Christmas or birthday card. I noticed I can tick off “D” because the original parkrun in Derby was at Darley Park, but moved to Markeaton in 2014. Apparently there is no X, so only 25 letters to collect!
I have just downloaded the Running Achievements app, which has come up with suggestions for completing my alphabet – so see you at Zulderpark, The Hague, for Z!
We have a Friday evening dilemma, living on the cusp of Markeaton and Black Rocks. Markeaton is 2 clockwise laps, punctuated by “Cardiac Hill” half way round, so not a course for a PB. If you want a quick time, try a flattish course such as Black Rocks, West Park (Long Eaton), Alvaston Park (Derby).
There are even parkruns in prisons, but the inmates must maintain good behaviour to be allowed to compete. Hermen Dange, founder of Made Running described his first parkrun, which was while he was in prison for drug dealing. It was 11 laps of a football pitch, and he was sure he would win, being the youngest runner. After lap 6 he was starting to struggle, but was encouraged by an older participant to keep going. Made Running’s message “No One Gets Left Behind” was born that day (source: BBC Radio 4’s Café Hope, 9/2/26 listen here).
See you at 8:45 on a Saturday morning soon!
Postscript: RoastMyStrava
While talking parkrun, apps and Strava, have you ever tried RoastMyStrava? It generates a caustic AI commentary from your Strava photos and metrics that is quite entertaining. For instance, here’s part of my Harlaxton Blue course ‘roast’: “Looking at that map photo, it’s clear the only thing more crumpled than the paper was your sense of direction at the start. You spent 49 minutes playing hide-and-seek with checkpoints while your heart rate sat at a chill 133 bpm—were you orienteering or taking a scenic Sunday stroll through South Kesteven?”
