How many churches can boast a congregation of 669 people? Is 09:00 on a Saturday the new 10:00 on a Sunday?
Inclusive, free, community based, run by volunteers, welcome to all; qualities that both the Church and the Park Run possess. So why are so many people setting their alarm on a Saturday Morning to run at Bromley’s Norman Park, Park Run?
Their numbers are impressive: 113,066 events, 10,439 total runners, 5 years and 291 days worth of runs and a total distance of 565,330km. Park run boasts ‘an opportunity for all the local community, male or female, young or old, to come together,’. Their fastest is 2 minutes short of the world record and their oldest is 86. Get used to seeing pensioners, children, groups of friends, parkrun addicts (who wear T-shirts testifying to their 50th, 100th or 250th event) and even parents pushing buggies, all come together with one thing in common: running.
The idea has spiralled from 13 runners in Bushy Park in south-west London 11 years ago, to a community of more than two million people in 11 countries today. Anyone can enter for free: parkruns rely on funding from commercial sponsors and the goodwill of volunteers to operate. Each runner receives their own personal barcode which is used to record times, which you can then access on their website, a few hours later.
Bromley is one of the most popular runs; other events are being set up within the borough to help cope with the cohort of people at Norman Park. This community is clearly dedicated: their Christmas Day ‘service’ attracted well over 400 runners. So is Park Run the new Church?
