Overview

The Ideal Guide to parkrun 'A brilliant emotive book which spreads the joy and love of parkrun' Dame Kelly Holmes Perfect for any parkrunner, or wannabe parkrunner, this concise and joyful book reveals how a Saturday 5km run in the park has become a global phenomenon. The Ultimate Guide to parkrun (always with a lower case p!) covers how parkrun started, how it is staged every week, how to get involved as a runner, walker, or volunteer – and even how to start your own run. Written by a running writer and qualified athletics coach, this celebratory book goes behind the scenes to tell the heartwarming human stories behind parkrun. But it also brims with practical information, with training plans for different types of runners so that you can (if you wish to) improve your own finishing time. Published to coincide with the 20th anniversary of the founding of the mass participation event in Autumn 2024, the book delves into parkrun’s origins as the brainchild of Paul Sinton-Hewitt, an unemployed man in London. Just 13 runners competed in the first Bushy Park Time Trial on 2 October 2004. Now parkrun has more than 9 million registered runners at more than 2,200 parks in 23 countries, with the most popular countries being the UK, Australia, and South Africa. The book features all aspects of parkrun, including how public-spirited volunteers put on the event, sustainably and for free, every week, and fun boxes such as the most interesting courses around the world, from Poland to the Falkland Islands. If you want to know more about parkrun tourism, how to complete the A-Z Alphabet challenge, and other parkrun milestones, this book is for you. It also includes lists of the five fastest and five slowest parkruns in the UK as well as the top 10 parkruns in the UK and the top 10 parkruns in the world. It also delves into junior parkrun and other less well-known facets of the world's most popular community running event. In short, this is the ideal present for anyone looking for a parkrun book, parkrun merchandise or parkrun gift. Whether you are starting your parkrun journey, about to complete your 100th or 200th parkrun milestone, you will have plenty to discover in this comprehensive guide. It is the perfect parkrun present, for yourself and others! 'With 224 fact-packed pages, beautifully illustrated with 150 photographs, this is not just any guide to parkrun as it says on the cover – it is the ultimate guide to parkrun. As a former sub-20-minute participant with 171 runs and 111 volunteer credits, I thought I knew everything about the Saturday morning 5K ritual. However, having read Lucy Waterlow’s brilliant book, my eyes have been opened.' – Alan Newman, Run ABC Scotland 'Several years ago, I read a book about parkrun and that was dry and technical, that is not how I know parkrun; it is wonderful and joyous. I am pleased to say my fears were unfounded. Lucy Waterlow, the author, is a professional writer, a keen runner and a massive fan of parkrun. Lucy understands parkrun and the unique place it has in the running community, both in the UK and throughout the world.' Edward,  Trail Running Man About the Author Lucy Waterlow is a journalist, ghostwriter and author who has contributed to national newspapers and specialist publications such as Runner’s World and Women’s Running. She is a keen amateur runner and a qualified England Athletics coach in running fitness. She is co-author of Nell McAndrew's Guide To Running and Run Mummy Run: Inspiring Women to be Fit, Healthy and Happy. She loves parkrun and regularly takes part in her local parkrun. She has drawn up training plans in the book for completing a 5k below 30 minutes, 25 minutes and 20 minutes.

Full Product Details

Author:   Lucy Waterlow
Publisher:   Canbury Press
Imprint:   Canbury
Dimensions:   Width: 21.20cm , Height: 1.60cm , Length: 13.30cm
Weight:   0.330kg
ISBN:  

9781914487361

ISBN 10:   1914487362
Pages:   224
Publication Date:   26 September 2024
Audience:   General/trade ,  General
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In Print  
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Table of Contents

Introduction 7 Chapter One: How it Started... and How it is Going 11 Small Beginnings | From Time Trial to parkrun | ‘We Were There From the Start!’ | The All Important Barcode | The Results Decoded | What is Age grading? | It’s a Run, Not a Race, or Is It? | Milestone Moments | The parkrun Way | Cafe Culture | (Not) parkrun | Not Everyone’s a Fan | Doing it for the kids | Brand Partners | parkrun as a Charity Chapter Two: Meet the parkrunners 41 The Front Runners | The Keep Fitters | The Dog Runners | The Buggy Runners | The Family Runners | The Milestone Markers | The Participants with Disabilities | The First Timers | The Walkers Chapter Three: The High-vis Heroes 71 Benefits of Volunteering | ‘Why We Volunteer’ | What Volunteer Roles Are There? | Ambassador Roles Chapter Four: A Day in the Life of a parkrun 93 Chapter Five: Why You Should parkrun for Your Health and Well-being 103 Physical Health Benefits | Mental Health Benefits | ‘parkrun Saved Us’ | parkrun on Prescription | parkrun Versus Cancer | Community Impact | Benefits for Children Chapter Six: parkrun Around the World 119 Australia | Austria | Canada | Denmark | Eswatini | Finland | France | Germany | Ireland | Italy | Japan | Malaysia | Namibia | Netherlands | New Zealand | Norway | Poland | Singapore | South Africa | Sweden | USA | Ten of the Best Global parkrun for Tourists’ Bucket Lists | ‘Why We Love Being Global parkrun Tourists’ Chapter Seven: Training, Destination and Challenge Inspiration 159 If You Feel the Need for Speed | Top Tips to Get Faster | The Fastest parkrun Courses in the UK | The Slowest parkrun Courses in the UK | parkrun Challenges | There’s an App for That | Popular parkrun Challenges List | UK parkrun Bucket List: 10 of the Best parkruns in the UK Chapter Eight: The Future 189 parkrun’s Five Year Plan | Potential New parkrun Places | Who Isn’t parkrunning and Why? | Removing ‘Off-putting’ Stats | Discouraging parkrun Tourism? | The Future of Results Chapter Nine: How to Set Up Your Own parkrun 203 Course Considerations | ‘How We Set Up Thriving parkruns’ Further Reading 209 Thanks 211 Epilogue 213

Reviews

'This great book shows how parkrun brings people and communities together, and will help spread the word about how special parkrun is.' – Nell McAndrew, model, TV presenter and runner

'This great book shows how parkrun brings people and communities together, and will help spread the word about how special parkrun is.' – Nell McAndrew, model, TV presenter and runner 'A brilliant emotive book which spreads the joy and love of parkrun' – Dame Kelly Holmes

Author Information

Lucy Waterlow is a journalist, ghostwriter and author who has contributed to numerous titles including The Sunday Telegraph, Daily Mail, Women’s Running, and Runner’s World. She is the co-author of Nell McAndrew's Guide To Running (published by Bloomsbury) and Run Mummy Run: Inspiring Women to be Fit, Healthy and Happy (published by Summersdale). Lucy is also the ghostwriter of accomplished ultra runner Mimi Anderson's two memoirs: Beyond Impossible: From Reluctant Runner to Guinness World Record Holder, and Limitless: An Ultrarunner’s Story of Pain, Perseverance and the Pursuit of Success (both published by Summersdale). Mum-of-two Lucy loves to run and race on the roads, track and cross country after taking up the sport as a child, inspired by her marathon-mad dad and elite athlete sister. She regularly joins in parkrun and competes for her local running club, St Albans Striders. With a marathon PB of 3.06 and half PB of 83.43, Lucy is currently training to try and break three hours for the marathon. She is passionate about getting others to discover the joy of running and in 2022 qualified as an England Athletics coach in running fitness. She’s employed as a one-to-one coach for RunningJo, and volunteers to lead group sessions at her running club. Follow Lucy on Instagram @runningfeatlucy

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