parkrun is the name given to a collection of 5 km running

Running

Running is a means of terrestrial locomotion allowing humans and other animals to move rapidly on foot. It is simply defined in athletics terms as a gait in which at regular points during the running cycle both feet are off the ground...

 events that take place every week in several different countries. They are free to take part in and require runners to register on-line for a unique athlete number and to print their own identification barcode before taking part.
parkrun juniors is a spin off event which provides a 2 km race for juniors, once per month.
Bushy parkrun was the first to be held; it started in October 2004.

History

Founded by Paul Sinton-Hewitt in 2004, the idea of parkrun grew from the initial Bushy parkrun event (originally called Bushy Park Time Trial) into a small collection of events called the UK Time Trials and then into parkrun. Sinton-Hewitt was presented the Runners World 'Heroes of Running' award for philanthropy for his work with parkrun in 2009.

Volunteers

Each parkrun event is run entirely by volunteers who give their time freely to set up each event, time the runners, process the results and clear away afterwards. To assist the volunteers, parkrun HQ provides the volunteers with computer equipment, timing devices, barcode readers, signs and the web hosting of the results.

Sponsors

parkrun is sponsored by:

• Adidas
  Adidas
  Adidas AG is a German sports apparel manufacturer and parent company of the Adidas Group, which consists of the Reebok sportswear company, TaylorMade-Adidas golf company , and Rockport...
  
  , a sports clothing manufacturer.
• Sweatshop, a chain of running clothing shops.
• Lucozade Sport, a sports drink manufacturer.

parkrun is supported by:

• London Marathon
  London Marathon
  The London Marathon is one of the biggest running events in the world, and one of the five top world marathons that make up the World Marathon Majors competition, which has a $1 million prize purse. It has been held each spring in London since 1981. The race is currently sponsored by Virgin Money,...
  
  , The London Marathon.
• Three, mobile phone company.
• aql, mobile internet data network provider.
• Lloyds Pharmacy, a chain of pharmacy stores.

parkrun is also receiving a grant covering 2011-2012 from the London Mayor - Sports Participation Fund.

Previous sponsors and supports have been:

• Nike
  Nike, Inc.
  Nike, Inc. is a major publicly traded sportswear and equipment supplier based in the United States. The company is headquartered near Beaverton, Oregon, which is part of the Portland metropolitan area...
  
  , a sports clothing manufacturer, who sponsored parkrun for three years.

Statistics

As of 19 September 2011, combined statistics for all events:

• Number of events: 6,343
• Average number of runs per athlete: 7
• Number of clubs: 1,513
• Number of runners: 114,693
• Average runs per event: 125.9
• Number of runs: 798,597
• Total Distance: 3,992,985 Km
• Total Run Time: 39Yrs, 262Days, 13Hrs, 5Mins, 4Secs
• Female record holder: Gladys Chemweno (16:11, 08 May 10)
• Male record holder: Craig Mottram
  Craig Mottram
  Craig Mottram is an Australian long distance and middle distance runner.-Biography:Born on 18 June 1980 in Frankston, Victoria, Mottram specialises in the 5000 m event. He attended the prestigious Geelong Grammar School. At 6 feet 2 inches he is unusually tall for a distance runner.Amongst...
  
   (14:00, 10 Jun 06)

Technology

parkrun makes extensive use of electronic timing and barcode

Barcode

A barcode is an optical machine-readable representation of data, which shows data about the object to which it attaches. Originally barcodes represented data by varying the widths and spacings of parallel lines, and may be referred to as linear or 1 dimensional . Later they evolved into rectangles,...

 technology to generate the results of each event. When registering with parkrun, runners print out a personal barcode which encodes their unique athlete number. As runners cross the finish line, their time is recorded electronically using a stopwatch that can export data to a computer. The runner is also handed a tag which tells them their finish position. Runners then take the tag to a race official who scans the runner's personal barcode and scans a barcode on their finish tag. This allows a computer system to record the finish time and unique athlete number for each runner.

The finish times and athlete numbers are uploaded to a server which automatically generates the results tables and statistics on the parkrun web site. The use of the unique runner number allows the web site to collate historical data including personal bests, overall performance, total number of runs and to calculate the number of points earned.

Events

The first event was held in Bushy park in 2004. By October 2011 there were 100 parkrun events taking place with events in Afghanistan

Afghanistan

Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...

, Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

, Denmark

Denmark

Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

, Iceland

Iceland

Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...

, Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...

, Poland

Poland

Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

, Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

, South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

 and Wales

Wales

Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

.

Juniors Events

The 2 km juniors events, held once per month.
By October 2011 there were two juniors events, one at Bushy Park and one in the Forest of Dean.