I'm continuing my reminiscing of previous parkrun adventures. If you're a lover of parkrun, a fan of volunteering or simply just curious what this post is about, you're invited to join me as I walk down memory lane.
[Before we dive in, in case you've never heard of it "parkrun" is a set of free, weekly, timed community event for walkers and runners that is run by volunteers every single Saturday -- Covid notwithstanding -- in 23 countries around the world. And yes, it's spelt as all one word, all lowercase 馃槈]
This post was originally shared on another social media channel and refers to my experience on Saturday 3rd February, 2018.
Voluntouring (i.e. volunteering at a parkrun that is away from home) is fast becoming my "thing". As a strong runner, I can run anywhere, anytime I like, but parkrun gives me the option to do so much more than just run another sub 30 min 5km. I think I've ticked so many of my own running goals, it now rarely excites me to chase times.
Today I was at Galston parkrun. I'm more than half way through my "tour" of Sydney as I run/walk towards my goal of joining the Raefarer Club (an achievement signified by running or walking at every single parkrun in Sydney). I had an awesome conversation with Phill, the husband of today's Run Director Karen Mathie, who joined me as Tail Walker as we braved the rain showers, the puddles and called out to many of the runners as they overtook us on subsequent laps.
Later we were joined by his daughter who encouraged us to race her up the hills as we picked up the last of the cones and signage around this hilly, pretty course. It felt like such a blessing.
If you haven't volunteered before, I highly recommend it. And if you haven't volunTOURed before (volunteering at a parkrun that's not your listed home parkrun), then I can also highly recommend that. Just make sure you pick a job where you don't need to know much beforehand, like Tail Walking!
If you haven't taken the opportunity to hang out at the post-run cafe with the volunteers and hear their parkrun and other adventuring stories, it's a pretty fabulous way to learn about the local area and meet even more new people.
Some people are using parkrun to transform their lives through learning to run and using it to get fit. I think that is wonderful. Transformation is freakin' hard work and I applaud you.
But some of us are already strong runners. We've ticked the boxes, done the races and chased the times so we need a different challenge. If that's you, please look at the other wonderful things that parkrun local communities and the movement at large can add to your life. It may surprise you.
Thanks, Galston parkrun. It was a pleasure to visit you today.
(Photo credit: an anonymous parkrun volunteer)
