- The most complete guide to parkrun ever published, with fun and helpful information for runners, volunteers and organisers- Highly relevant to 9 million runners around the world 2,200 parkruns have been set up in 23 countries around the world- Features how to improve your parkrun times, written by a qualified running coach (and keen parkrunner)

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

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