Parkrun is back following a 70-week absence – forced by the pandemic - and is providing clear evidence of the value of the volunteer.

An event, which began in south west London in 2004, has become a global health and well-being phenomenon.

It has some 4.5million participants signed up in the UK and more than 7.5m around the world with many celebrity supporters and participants from Lord Sebastian Coe to Olympians such as Sir Mo Farah and Jo Pavey.

Its future was in serious doubt during lockdown, yet thousands of volunteers who organised and managed the popular 5k runs at 9am every Saturday kept it alive.

Throughout lockdown they encouraged people to maintain their fitness and log their 5k times on the organisation's website with its 'not parkrun' initiative. The Parkrun website

The (not)Parkrun initiative

Now that the free 5k runs are back, once more hundreds have been lacing up their training shoes at the events across Richmond Borough. There is the largest at Bushy Park, where the event was founded on a blustery October morning in 2004, plus Richmond Park, Old Deer Park, Crane Park and Kingston.

A useful map of local Parkrun locations

Added to those are shorter 2k junior parkrun events in Moormead Park and at Bushy, which take place on Sunday mornings. These are for youngsters aged 4-14 and it is important to check their websites for the schedules.

Moormead Juniors Parkrun

Bushy Park Juniors Parkrun

None of these events would be possible without teams of volunteers, who are described as the 'real heroes' by the charity which manages the events. Each of the parkrun home pages offers a link on how to volunteer.

Generally, they are parkrun participants themselves who give up a few Saturdays each year to ensure the events go ahead successfully.

A volunteer could be organising the finish funnel, operating the timer, or scanning the runners' barcodes using the simple Virtual Volunteer app.

Event organisers generally try to start people out on a general marshalling type job, so they get to understand how the event operates.

The recent return of parkrun at Richmond was a joyous occasion despite the rain with its mix of enthusiastic adults, children, dogs, buggies, and even a pair of newlyweds all tracking through the mud to the starting line supported by a rousing speech from Run Director (RD) organiser Andy Caie.

Mr Caie and his fellow parkrun volunteer organisers - Francesca Creasy, Michael Glazebrook, David Pennell and Ally Pickard – were recently given a 'Community Heroes' award by Richmond Borough Council for 'outstanding sporting achievement'.

Mr Caie was suggested by a regular parkrun participant for his integral role in organising (not)parkrun in the Richmond area which promoted both physical health through activity and mental health through the opportunity for community involvement it provided.

'(not)Parkrun' was a scheme run by parkrun while in person events were suspended under lockdown rules that consisted of individuals uploading the dates and times of their own 5k runs.

Participants could upload a maximum of one activity a day with an individual's fastest time each week added to a weekly country-wide results table.

This was a wildly successful scheme both locally and across the UK with over 718 participating locations, 2,396,528 runners and 35,338,609 recorded finishes.

This popularity has led (not)parkrun to extend its lifetime beyond the restrictions of lockdown and is now run concurrently with regular parkrun events to promote further running opportunities and provide a service for runners unable to attend the Saturday event.

Asked about the event's return to the parks, Mr Caie said: "It's great to have it back …. the smiles on everyone's faces as they crossed the line was really good, there was great community spirit with everyone back which we enjoyed.

"There are Parkruns that do struggle for volunteers, so if you are a regular runner now is the time to volunteer."

Nationally, the number of participants in parkrun is down by 10-15per cent since the events return in England. While older people have returned in strong numbers, there has been a drop off among younger adults.

Organisers believe that a number of people have simply fallen out of the habit or find other ways to spend their Saturday mornings.

This pattern has been mirrored in south west London. In Richmond, for example, there were around 450 regulars before the pandemic, while the figure has been around 300 since its return.

Here's a survey to let us know how you feel about Parkrun being back!

Parkrun has been described as 'one of the greatest public health initiatives of the 21st century' and its organisers are keen to rebuild its profile and the number of participants back to pre-pandemic levels.

Participation is free and it is easy to register via this link -

Register for Parkrun Here!