The parkrun juggernaut

Firstly, I have to start by saying sorry for a lack of posts over the last few months. I hope that there is still someone out there interested enough to read this....

My excuse is that when summer really sets in, I fully focus on outdoor things (including running of course) and I don't seem to find the time to blog (rubbish excuse?). With the Autumn rain now set-in it seems (at least it will be cooler for running!), I'm sure I will find more time to keep the parkrun stats coming again. I'm not a fair-weather runner - honestly!

So, back to the plot....

The parkrun juggernaut just keeps building speed, gaining momentum, growing and growing.

Whilst I have taken my blogging hiatus, parkrun has smashed through some impressive figures, not least:

Number of runners each week
- Over 40,000 parkrunners* took part on a single parkrunday* (* when are these words going to make it into the Dictionary I wonder?).
- The 40,000 mark was first broken on 3rd August, when 40,476 runners took part.
- Amazingly, the 40,000 runner mark, that record and each subsequent record, has been broken again on 3 of the 4 parkrundays since that weekend.
- The current record stands at 44,349, set last weekend. When I was last blogging regularly, the 40,000 runner mark was tantalisingly close for weeks on end and now in just a few short weeks, the 45,000 mark could be broken imminently. Incredible!

Total number of runs
- About 3 or 4 weeks ago, the total combined number of runs for all parkrunners broke through the 3,000,000 mark.
- With that, unsurprisingly, the total combined distance run reached the 15,000,000km mark. This is a big number, so to give some perspective, this is just over 374 laps of the earth at the equator - that would be a long, hard, hot run on your own! At average parkunner pace that would take a little over 160 years, with no breaks!
- Current runner numbers mean that we are already well on the way to 16 million kilometres, just 3 weeks later!

Number of events
- Last weekend the total number of parkrun events that have taken place passed 24,000.

Number of different parkrun events
- This is a nice little stat that I have just come across....Last weekend, Paul Freyne became the first person to have run at 150 different parkrun locations, running at the inaugural Maldon Prom parkrun event. Interestingly, Paul has run 44 inaugural parkrun events (this is also a record) and has *only* run 194 parkruns in total. Quite a high tourism ratio. Paul is surely the ultimate parkrun tourist!

And we also have a couple of significant figures approaching:

Number of different parkrunners
- Worldwide to-date, 399,659 different runners have run and completed at least one parkrun.
- If we don't break through the 400,000 different runners mark this weekend then I will be forced to go out to the hat shop and buy a hat just so that it can be mine to eat!

Number of locations
- So far 295 different locations have held a parkrun.
- With 4 new parkrun events starting this weekend we should reach 299.
- Presumably we will only have 1 more week to wait to break the 300 parkrun events mark.


I think that is probably enough parkrun stats for now. Happy parkunning everyone!

Killerton's first centurion

Good number again this morning at Killerton parkrun... and most important, Maggie Hunt was the first of our number to hit the 100 run milestone. A lovely lady and a happy time in one of the most stunning places in Devon... well done to all the volunteer crew this morning too.

Fancy a trip to Killerton in Devon?

Another fantastic turnout this week with 235 runners, boosted by 65 first timers and representatives of 26 different athletics clubs including many parkrun tourists taking in the beauty of the Killerton parkrun route in the sunshine, run entirely on the National Trust grounds.

It was the 4th week in a row with over 200 runners and the car park is filling up, and although there is capacity for more cars in the overflow car park, parkrunners are reminded, if possible, "to arrive by foot, by pedal-power or by public transport if you can - your efforts help to reduce our impact on the park and the planet." If you need to travel by car, please consider sharing with other runners.

Well done to the 41 runners who recorded personal best times this week and congratulations to Sophie Clough who completed her 10th run to qualify for a junior T-shirt. There are also a number of Killerton parkrunners who are approaching 100 runs at Killerton and we expect to see our first home parkrunner reach this landmark very soon.