parkrun

I first heard about parkrun when I was doing the 12wbt.  People spoke of this amazing running group and how much they loved getting out on a weekly basis to run 5km at New Farm Park.  I never made it there, as I felt it was too far to travel and too hard to work around the kids' Saturday morning swimming lessons.  I heard whispers about a group starting up in Sandgate and longed to see it come to my doorstep.

So last September, I saw a post on Facebook calling for any volunteers to be involved in a parkrun at Sandgate.  I emailed Tim, who oversees parkrun Australia, and he suggested I be the one to start it up.  I instantly thought of a thousand excuses, including "my kids are only 1 and 2, how could I possibly do it?" and "how could I fit it into my schedule between family, work & exercise?" and "I'm not even a serious runner!"  Of course, none of these were really valid, so after talking it over with my husband (Dean), we decided to take it on as a team.

Sandgate parkrun launched on November 24, 2012.  We had an outstanding turnout, largely thanks to a  front-page write-up in the local paper.

Here are some of our key stats from the first 8 weeks:
Average number of runners per week: 93.4
Biggest Attendance: 127 (that was just this morning - fantastic turnout!)
Average run time: 00:29:18
Number of runners: 331
Number of runs: 747
Total distance ran: 3,735km
Total hours ran: 365
Number of PBs: 204

We just love parkrun.  It brings together people of all ages and abilities to run and/or walk together in our local community.  It's free, which makes it accessible to everyone.  We see an amazing community spirit on show every week.  I get such a buzz from seeing 100 people up bright & early on a Saturday morning to improve their health and wellbeing, and interact with others who have the same mindset.

Now that we're up and running, Dean & I take it in turns each week to be Event Director, or to do the 5km run with the kids in the pram.  We really get the best of both worlds!

parkrun is the perfect way to measure your own ability and progress, and to be part of a community of runners.  There are now parkruns all over South East Queensland, Australia and the UK.  For more information and all the details, check out www.parkrun.com.au.  Come and join in the fun!

And here's a great video (made by Dean) of our Sandgate parkrun course, from the view of the pram!