What have parkruns done for me?

Well there’s the fitness. I used to be an unfit, overweight, couch potato. But a free 5km timed race round my local park at 9am every Saturday morning is doing wonders for my health. I not only feel good, I’m getting quicker despite getting older, and it’s all recorded on the parkrun website. And there are all the new friends. With a couple of hundred regulars turning up each week you soon get to know a lot of them and they’re a really friendly bunch. And you can win stuff courtesy of the sponsors – like the running shoes I got from Sweatshop for being a parkrunner of the month. And you get a snazzy exclusive Adidas parkrun t-shirt when you’ve done a few runs and I’m now the proud owner of a red 50 t-shirt and a black 100 t-shirt and jacket. And sometimes Lucozade turn up with free samples for everyone to rehydrate and aid recovery. And it’s all free. I just had to register on the web, print off my barcode and turn up.

Well apart from the fitness, the wonderful new friends, the community, the running shoes, the exclusive t-shirts, the nutrition, and the perfect start to every weekend, what have parkruns done for me?!