A Run in the Park – Behind the Event Helping Thousands of New Joggers Hit the Ground Running
People of all ages, genders and athletic abilities are turning to a new hobby in search of fitness and friendship - a jog in their local park.
Last Sunday, a world record 56,640 finishers crossed the line having completed all 42 kilometres of the 2025 London Marathon. For most of those runners, whether chasing a world record or skipping round dressed as Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz, the prestigious race was the culmination of a fitness journey.
A journey that might well have started in their local park.
Just 24 hours before the marathon in the capital got underway, roughly four times as many runners took part in a more relaxed event – Parkrun. Ever since 2004, when Parkrun started with 13 participants in London’s Bushy park, an ever-increasing number of runners have gathered at 9am on Saturday mornings to run five kilometres around their local green space.
In the last two decades, this has evolved into more than 1,300 free weekly Parkruns in the UK, with almost a quarter of a million participants completing either the 5km distance, or the 2km junior course.
In Oxford, where Parkruns are hosted by Cutteslowe and the University Parks, 1,202 runners, joggers and walkers successfully completed 5km last Saturday. The median time was just over 28 minutes, roughly the same amount of time it took London Marathon winner Sabastian Sawe to complete the first 10km of his race.
For Paul Grimsdale, a runner with more than a decade of experience participating and volunteering at Parkruns, the Saturday morning event is playing a key role in bringing potential marathon-runners to the sport.
“I would say that from walking and cycling around Oxford numbers of runners and joggers have certainly risen over the years – and Parkrun has helped encourage this”, he explained.
“More people run, means more Parkruns, means more people are running, and then more Parkruns to accommodate the increased numbers.” It’s a virtuous circle.
For many of these new runners, a 5km jog is just the start. According to fitness-tracker app Strava’s 2024 Year in Sport, the staggering 59% increase in group fitness has been accompanied by 9% more runners completing marathons compared to 2023.
In Paul’s experience, this can lead to performance benefits. “Having someone to either chase, or try and keep ahead certainly helps make me go faster”, he said. “You can see how this helps boost participants times.”
Not only do group workouts last an average of 40% longer than individual ones, but they come with more encouragement and accountability.
In addition to local fitness groups, Parkrun has also created a nation-wide community of runners who travel around the country to complete challenges and make new connections.
Fi, Co-Event Director at University Parks Parkrun, has noticed the effect of this parkrun community on attendances in Oxford.
“We get a huge range of runners from all over the world”, she explained, “Whether that be running clubs, for example, we recently had a local running group, Headington Road Runners, headline our parkrun, or a bus load of parkrunner tourists. We have certainly seen an increase in popularity”.
For some dedicated parkrunners, the University Parks has become a vital stop on their tour around the UK, as they aim to complete the ‘Parkrun alphabet’ – finishing a Parkrun starting with each letter from A to Z.
“As the letter U is rare, we get a lot of tourists who come and visit us as groups”, said Fi, “and then often get to enjoy a beautiful weekend in Oxford afterwards”.
You’ll Never Run Alone
Group running events like Parkrun are not all about the clock. According to Strava, for roughly half of people seeking out running clubs, social connection is the driving factor.
Oxford’s first Parkrun, which takes place in Cutteslowe park, started in 2011 with fewer than 50 runners. It now has almost 500 participants each week, despite competing with the new University Parks event, which was established in 2022 to accommodate the post-pandemic wave of casual runners. For Paul, who has watched this development firsthand, building a sense of community is key.
“My home Parkrun, when I started in 2012, had around 60-80 runners. But now we don’t often get less than 400 and fairly regularly over 500”, he said. “Word of mouth has, I think, contributed to this – i.e. friends and family being more likely to come along.”
Many of these people coming along are lacing up their running shoes for the first time. A study from 2013 found that more than a quarter of those who registered for Parkrun considered themselves ‘non-runners’. Within this group were demographics you may not usually associate with running: more than half were middle-aged or older, just under 50% were overweight and 6.1% had a limiting disability.
These ‘non-runners’ are also the people most likely to report health benefits, and showed the greatest improvement in performance as time went on.
This trend is also something Paul had noticed. “Over the years the tail of the field has grown as lots of people who probably wouldn’t take part in a mass run are very much happier to do so”, he said.
“I am sure knowing there will always be a [dedicated volunteer] tail walker behind you, so essentially you will never be last, encourages slower runners/walkers to come along.”
When injury strikes, having an established community can help stricken runners stay involved with their sport.
“Sadly I have had plenty experience of injury over the years”, explained Paul, “and being involved in volunteering has certainly meant that I have been able to remain very much involved throughout the fairly lengthy periods of not being able to run.”
However, there is one thing that causes running groups to stop and take a breather: hot weather.
Over the summer months, Oxford Parkruns see an average weekly drop of more than 200 finishers compared to the peak times during the winter and spring. Perhaps surprisingly, cold, dark British winters are the most popular times for runners to put on their shorts and head out for a few laps around the park.
“We also see a nice spike in participants around the new year”, explained Fi, “in fact, on our Christmas day parkrun, which is a ‘special event’, we had 643 runners join us!
“When I was a child growing up on Christmas day, if my parents suggested at 9 am we were going for a run rather than sitting, eating chocolate, I would have protested- yet we had so many wonderful people joining us of all ages and backgrounds”.
Friendships that go the distance
For many running club participants, the social connection doesn’t stop once you cross the finish line. A post-workout trip to the café can be just as important as the run itself.
“If you are walking down the street at 10 am on a Saturday, you will see most cafes are often packed with parkrunners enjoying a post-run treat”, said Fi.
“Whilst the number of those to attend the café fluctuates every week, we always get a good squad of people who religiously come along”.
Strava’s data for 2024 showed that 58% of people said that they had made a friend through fitness class, a trend that was particularly pronounced among Gen-Z, two thirds of whom have made friends though group workouts.
For some, social connections forged at group fitness classes went beyond just friendship. Among Gen-Z athletes logging group workouts on Strava, one in five revealed that they had been on a date with somebody they met during a workout.
With young people continuing to make healthier choices around alcohol, running clubs are stepping in to fill the void left by traditional meeting places like nightclubs, which have halved in number since 2013. Early Saturday mornings are becoming the new late Friday nights.
As Fi explains, meeting like-minded people is a central part of the appeal.
“It's not all about the running aspect, it's all about being outdoors, enjoying the fresh air, and being surrounded by people who understand.”
If you’re interested in lacing up your running shoes for the first time, there are resources including Couch to 5k, apps like Runna, or your local Parkrun.