Health and broader community benefit of parkrun-An exploratory qualitative study

'My parkrun friends.' A qualitative study of social experiences of men at parkrun in Ireland

Social support is a well-established determinant of mental wellbeing. Community initiatives, which combine a purposeful activity with social connection, may be appropriate to promote the mental wellbeing of middle-aged men in Ireland-a group at risk of poor mental wellbeing due to social isolation. parkrun offers free, weekly, 5km run or walk events in 22 countries. This study aims to explore the social experience of parkrun participation for middle-aged men in Ireland and considers how social connections made at parkrun relate to mental wellbeing. Online semi-structured interviews were conducted in 2022/23 with 39 men aged 45-64 years, who run, walk or volunteer at parkrun in Ireland, recruited purposively in rural and urban communities. Men with a range of parkrun experience gave interviews lasting a mean of 32 minutes. Interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim. Reflexive thematic analysis resulted in three themes and ten subthemes. The men described parkrun as offering a welcoming and supportive environment (Theme 1). Men at parkrun could choose the level of social connections, building strong or weak social ties to provide social support and improve mental wellbeing (Theme 2). Social engagement with parkrun evolved following repeated participation (Theme 3). The results suggest that parkrun is a suitable community initiative for middle-aged men at risk of poor mental wellbeing due to social isolation. Social connections were developed after repeated participation in parkrun and these connections improved subjective mental wellbeing. The findings from this study could be used to design new initiatives for mental health promotion.

The importance of family support to engage and retain girls in male dominated action sports. A qualitative study of young people's perspectives

ISSUE ADDRESSED

Social support is positively correlated with physical activity (PA), especially amongst girls, but is underexplored in male-dominated action sports (e.g., mountain biking, skateboarding and surfing). This study explored family level social support needs and experiences of girls and boys in three action sports.

METHOD

Aspiring, current or former Australian adolescent (12-18 years; girls n = 25; boys n = 17) mountain bikers, skateboarders and/or surfers were individually interviewed (telephone/Skype) in 2018/2020. A socio-ecological framework guided the semi-structured interview schedule. Audio-recordings were transcribed verbatim and data analysed thematically using a constant comparative approach.

RESULTS

Family level social support was highly influential in young people's participation in action sports, with its absence a common reason for no or discontinued engagement amongst girls. Parents and siblings were the main social support providers with extended family (e.g., grandparents, aunts/uncles, cousins) also notable. Participation (current/past/co-) was the main social support type followed by emotional (e.g., encouragement), instrumental (e.g., transport, equipment/funding) and informational (e.g., coaching) support. Girls were inspired/encouraged by brothers but boys were not inspired/encouraged by sisters; boys and girls co-participated with both parents but co-participating and being inspired by fathers was most common, especially amongst girls; fathers were more commonly the main transport provider if they co-participated with their child; fathers mostly provided initial coaching; only boys were taught equipment maintenance by parents.

CONCLUSIONS AND SO WHAT

Sport-related organisations/groups have numerous opportunities to improve girls' representation in action sports by fostering family level social support through various means. Intervention strategies should be tailored to account for gendered participation differences.

Patterns and Correlates of Participation in a Weekly Mass Participation Physical Activity Event, parkrun, in Australia, 2011-2020

BACKGROUND

Studying effective interventions already operating at scale is critical to improving physical activity intervention research translation. The free, weekly, timed 5-km run or walk parkrun represents a unique opportunity to examine successful organic dissemination. We conducted an ecological analysis to identify patterns of growth in Australian parkrun participation and their correlates from 2011 to 2020.

METHOD

Outcome variables were (1) weekly counts of walkers/runners and (2) monthly number of new parkrun registrants. We used latent class analysis to characterize growth trajectories followed by logistic regression on class membership. Covariates included parkrun course characteristics (eg, surface type and route), site-level aggregate participant profile (eg, proportion women and mean age), and surrounding area characteristics (eg, population density and physical activity norm).

RESULTS

Three hundred and sixty-three parkruns were included (n = 8,388,695 participation instances). Sixty-nine percent followed a low-growth and 31% a high-growth participation pattern. High growth was associated with greater participation by women, concrete/bitumen surface type, lower area socioeconomic status, and greater volunteer heterogeneity. Odds of being in the slow-growth class were higher if the course contained >1 km of repetition, higher average age of participants, better average parkrun performance, and higher running group membership. Two patterns of new registration were identified: high start followed by steep decline; and low start, slow decline with similar correlates to participation.

CONCLUSIONS

Parkruns with a less competitive social milieu may have more rapid dissemination. As a free and regular event, parkruns in low socioeconomic areas have the potential to improve the activity levels of those with fewer resources.

Predictors of successful return to parkrun for first-time adult participants in Scotland

Physical activity is essential for promoting good health and reducing burdens on healthcare systems. parkrun organise free weekly events where participants complete a 5km route. Studies have identified characteristics of participants associated with lower levels of participation. The aim of the study was to identify predictors of the likelihood of returning to parkrun for first-time adult participants. The return rate of adult first-time participants was determined for all 5km parkrun events in Scotland over a 1-year period from February 2019. The dataset consisted of 20,191 adult participants made up of 11,459 females and 8,732 males across 58 venues. A General Linear Mixed Model was used to identify factors associated with return rate. Return rates were negatively correlated with event size and positively correlated with the proportion of first-time adult participants at the event. Age was positively correlated with return rate and males were more likely to return. New participants that finished in a relatively slow time were disproportionately less likely to return. Return rates were positively correlated with the amount of freshwater and woodland on the route. These findings provide potential opportunities to manage events to enhance their efficacy. Specific events could be promoted as first-timer days to encourage new participants to attend together. New events could be prioritised in proximity to events that currently experience high attendances to reduce attendances locally. As the presence of freshwater and woodland are associated with higher return these habitats could play a role in generating the benefits of green exercise. If so the creation of more routes running through or alongside these habitats could be beneficial. The findings are likely to be widely applicable to other mass participation events and those interesting in understanding the mechanism by which green exercise provides its benefits.

Self-based goals, underlying reasons, performance and discrete emotions among parkrunners

Introduction

A temporal sequence of hypothesized relationships was tested between self-based goals and their underlying reasons → stress appraisals → performance and emotions, among UK parkrunners. A conditional process model was also examined to ascertain the potential moderating role of self-determined reasons in explaining the indirect relationship of self-based goals predicting performance and emotions via stress appraisals.

Methods

Utilizing a prospective design, 324 parkrunners (Mage = 45.27; SD = 10.73 years) completed online measures of self-based goals, their underlying reasons at 7 days (T1), and stress appraisals at 24 h (T2), prior to their next UK parkrun. Performance data and discrete emotions (pride and shame) were reported 24 h post-parkrun (T3).

Results

Structural Equation Modeling revealed partial support for the hypothesized model. More specifically, findings suggested that: (1) T1 self-determined reasons underpinning a self-approach goal positively predicted T2 challenge appraisals and T3 pride, (2) T1 self-determined reasons for pursuing a self-avoidance goal corresponded to reduced T3 performance and shame, (3) T2 challenge and threat appraisals were found to positively relate to T3 pride, and (4) the slower parkrunners ran, the more shame they felt post-event. T2 challenge and threat appraisals were found to mediate the relationship between T1 self-determined reasons underlying a self-approach goal and T3 pride. Further analysis failed to support a conditional process model.

Discussion

Our findings suggest the intensity of pursuing a self-based goal does not matter at all, but underlying self-determined reasons are a key driver influencing stress appraisals, performance and subsequent emotions among parkrunners.

New Parkrunners Are Slower and the Attendance Gender Gap Narrowing Making Parkrun More Inclusive

Parkrun is a weekly mass-participation event. Finishes are recorded, with the resulting database potentially containing important public health information. The aim of this study was to identify characteristics of events that overcome barriers to participation, and to identify changing patterns in the demographics of participants. GLMMs were generated of age-graded performance, gender ratio and age of participants at Scottish parkrun events. Predictor variables included age, gender, participant, runs, date, elevation gain, surface and travelling time to the next nearest venue. There was a decline in the mean performance of participants at events, yet individual performances improved. The gender ratio showed higher male participation with a narrowing gender gap. Events in the most remote parts of Scotland had lower performance and a higher proportion of female participants. Events on slower surfaces had more female participants. Parkrun events are becoming more inclusive, with more females and participants exhibiting low performance. In more remote parts of Scotland, more females participated in parkrun than males, suggesting parkrun has overcome traditional barriers to female participation in sport. Prioritising the creation of events at remote locations and on slower surfaces could increase inclusivity further. General practitioners prescribing parkrun might want to prescribe attendance at slower events for female patients.

The 5 K run in popular fiction: Reading about parkrun and couch to 5 K

Recent years have witnessed great interest in mass-participation running events (1), and organisations such as parkrun and fitness programmes like Couch to 5 K, have been instrumental in enabling participation for inexperienced runners. Concomitant with this has been a number of fictional works which centre on the 5 K run. I contend that exploring fictional texts can offer a fresh take on how movements such as parkrun and Couch to 5 K have entered the popular imagination. The four texts explored are Wake's Saturday Morning Park Run (2020), Park's A Run in the Park (2019), Boleyn's Coming Home to Cariad Cove (2022), and James's I Follow You (2020). The analysis is arranged thematically around the categories of health promotion, individual transformation, and community building. I argue that these texts frequently operate as health promotion tools and can help familiarise would-be runners with how parkrun and Couch to 5 K work.

Feasibility of 'parkrun' for people with knee osteoarthritis: A mixed methods pilot study

Objective

To investigate the feasibility of 'parkrun' for people with knee osteoarthritis (OA) and examine its potential to improve symptoms and increase physical activity.

Design

This uncontrolled mixed methods pilot study enrolled people with knee OA not meeting physical activity guidelines. Participants were asked to walk in four consecutive parkrun events supervised by an exercise physiologist/physiotherapist. Feasibility was assessed by recruitment data (numbers screened and time to enrol 15 participants), adherence to the protocol, acceptability (measured by confidence, enjoyment, difficulty ratings and qualitative interviews), and safety (adverse events). Secondary measures were changes in knee pain, function, stiffness, and physical activity levels.

Results

Participants (n ​= ​17) were enrolled over 11 months and recruitment was slower than anticipated. Fourteen participants attended all four parkruns and three of these participants shortened the 5 ​km course to ∼3 ​km. Across all four parkruns, 75% of participants reported high confidence that they could complete the upcoming parkrun and the majority (87%) enjoyed participating. Most participants rated parkrun either "slightly difficult" (38.5%) or "moderately difficult" (35%) and two mild adverse events were reported. Participants showed improvements in knee pain, function, stiffness, and physical activity levels.

Conclusions

This pilot study demonstrates parkrun's feasibility, acceptability, safety and, its potential to improve knee OA symptoms and physical activity levels. Participating in parkrun was acceptable and enjoyable for some, but not all participants. The scalability, accessibility and wide appeal of parkrun supports the development of larger programs of research to evaluate the use of parkrun for people with knee OA.

“Like Nothing I’ve Seen Before”: A Qualitative Inquiry Into the Lived Experience of Competing in a Trail Running Event

Background

A recent upsurge in nature-based exercise research demonstrates the potential added benefits of exercising in this context compared to more urban ones. Yet there is a lack of qualitative research investigating the lived experiences of those who participate in nature-based exercise events.

Objective

To explore the lived experience of individuals who were first-time participants in a nature-based running event.

Method

Six participants who completed the Run Forrest trail run for the first time were individually interviewed. Semi-structured interviews were devised, and participants were invited to talk about their experiences of running in the event. Interviews were analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis.

Results

Following data analysis, two superordinate themes were constructed to resemble participant experiences. “Maintaining good health is vital” reflected participants’ personal theory of health and their perceived benefits of exercise. “Nature as a special place” reflected the atmospheric characteristics of the event, including the pre-event set-up and the actual running event itself.

Conclusion

Analysis suggests that participants considered the event and natural environment to provide unique value adding opportunities that encouraged positive experiences. These results also reaffirm the positive benefits associated with nature-based exercise, including potential benefits to individual wellbeing. Further research in this context may strengthen our collective understanding regarding individual motivation towards such events.

Exploring the benefits of participation in community-based running and walking events: a cross-sectional survey of parkrun participants

Background

Whilst the benefits of physical activity for health and wellbeing are recognised, population levels of activity remain low. Significant inequalities exist, with socioeconomically disadvantaged populations being less physically active and less likely to participate in community events. We investigated the perceived benefits from participation in a weekly running/walking event called parkrun by those living in the most socioeconomically deprived areas and doing the least physical activity.

Methods

A cross-sectional online survey was emailed to 2,318,135 parkrun participants in the UK. Demographic and self-reported data was collected on life satisfaction, happiness, health status, physical activity, motives, and the perceived benefits of parkrun. Motivation, health status and benefits were compared for sub-groups defined by physical activity level at parkrun registration and residential Index of Multiple Deprivation.

Results

60,000 completed surveys were received (2.7% of those contacted). Respondents were more recently registered with parkrun (3.1 v. 3.5 years) than the parkrun population and had a higher frequency of parkrun participation (14.5 v. 3.7 parkruns per year). Those inactive at registration and from deprived areas reported lower happiness, lower life satisfaction and poorer health compared to the full sample. They were more likely to want to improve their physical health, rather than get fit or for competition. Of those reporting less than one bout of activity per week at registration, 88% (87% in the most deprived areas) increased their physical activity level and 52% (65% in the most deprived areas) reported improvements to overall health behaviours. When compared to the full sample, a greater proportion of previously inactive respondents from the most deprived areas reported improvements to fitness (92% v. 89%), physical health (90% v. 85%), happiness (84% v. 79%) and mental health (76% v. 69%).

Conclusion

The least active respondents from the most socioeconomically deprived areas reported increases to their activity levels and benefits to health and wellbeing since participating in parkrun. Whilst the challenge of identifying how community initiatives like parkrun can better engage with underrepresented populations remains, if this can be achieved they could have a critical public health role in addressing inequalities in benefits associated with recreational physical activity.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12889-021-11986-0.

Socioeconomic inequalities in distance to and participation in a community-based running and walking activity: A longitudinal ecological study of parkrun 2010 to 2019

Objectives

To conduct a longitudinal ecological analysis of the distance to and participation in free weekly outdoor physical activity events (parkrun) in England from 2010 to 2019, and related socioeconomic and ethnic inequalities, to inform policies to support participation in physically active community events.

Methods

We calculate distance to the nearest parkrun event for each English Lower Layer Super Output Area (LSOA) each month from January 2010 to December 2019. We then report the trends in distance to and participation in parkrun by Index of Multiple Deprivation quintile. We also report trends in the Relative Index of Inequality (RII) by deprivation for participation and distance to nearest event. We go on to investigate trends in LSOA level determinants (e.g. deprivation and ethnic density) of parkrun participation between 2010 and 2019, using multivariable Poisson regression models.

Results

Mean distance to the nearest parkrun event decreased from 34.1 km in 2010, to 4.6 km in 2019. Throughout the period, parkrun events tended to be situated closer to deprived areas compared to less deprived areas. Participation rates increased superlinearly (greater than linear increase) from 2010 to 2013 before slowing to linear growth. Participation over the period exhibits a clear socioeconomic gradient, with people from deprived areas having consistently lower participation rates over the period. parkrun participation rates became more equal between 2010 and 2013 (RII improved from 189 to 39), before stabilising at an RII between 32.9 and 39.6 from 2014 to 2019. The results of the Poisson regression model validate this finding; the coefficients on IMD score initially increased from −0.050 in 2010 to −0.038 in 2013, and then remained relatively stable to 2019 (−0.035).

Conclusions

Over the past 10 years, geodesic distance to the nearest parkrun decreased from a mean of 34 km to 5 km. In 2010, there was equality between the least and most deprived areas but by 2017 the distance of the most deprived areas was 29% that of the least deprived. Participation was shown to have increased over the past 10 years which can be split into two distinct phases: from 2010 to 2013 participation increased super-linearly and inequality in participation fell dramatically; from 2013 to 2019 participation increased linearly, and inequality in participation remained stable. Despite parkrun's ambitions of creating inclusive events and engaging with deprived communities, the socioeconomic gradient in participation rates remained high and stable since 2013. Gaining a better understanding of the reasons why parkrun grew so quickly may be useful for other physical activity movements, while further analysis of the relatively lower participation rates in areas with higher socioeconomic deprivation is important for developing initiatives to encourage physical activity in these communities.

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Geographical access to & participation in parkrun in England improved every year from 2010 to 2019.

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However, the rate of improvement slowed down, especially after 2013.

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New events reduced distance to parkrun in high deprivation areas more than low deprivation areas.

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Socioeconomic inequalities in participation fell from 2010 to 2013 and stabilised after.

Action research with parkrun UK volunteer organizers to develop inclusive strategies

This article addresses the challenge of promoting physical activity through a focus on equity and engaging physically inactive citizens through the development of inclusive strategies within parkrun UK-a free, volunteer-led, weekly mass community participation running event. We discuss how a UK-based action research design enabled collaboration with volunteer event organizers to understand participant experiences, constraints and develop localized inclusive practices. In contrast with 'expert'-driven health behaviour interventions, our research pursued a 'ground up' approach by asking what can be learnt from the successes and challenges of organizing community events, such as parkrun UK, to promote inclusion? A modified participatory action research approach was used with four parkrun sites across England, Scotland and Northern Ireland, that involved quantitative and qualitative analysis of survey data (n = 655) that informed the process. Our analysis explored parkrunners' and volunteer organizers' perceptions relating to (i) the demographics of parkrun participation and (ii) actions for change in relation to the challenges of engaging marginalized groups (women, ethnic minorities, low income, older people, those with disabilities or illness). We discuss the challenges and opportunities for addressing (in)equity and inclusion through volunteer-based organizations and the implications for translating knowledge into organizational strategies.

Evidence on the reach and impact of the social physical activity phenomenon parkrun: A scoping review

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parkrun research shows health value and a model which suits participants.

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parkrun engages traditionally under-represented populations in physical activity.

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parkrun participation has a dose–response relationship with improved fitness.

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Future research should examine discontinuing participants and non-participants.

The aim of this study was to conduct a scoping review of parkrun literature for evidence of its reach, health impact and appeal whilst identifying gaps for future research. We used the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR). Six databases were searched according to search terms set a priori. Empirical studies of any design were included if they provided data on participation in, or benefits of, parkrun and were in English. Two authors conducted the searches independently and screened results by title and abstract, followed by full text reviews. A total of 235 records were screened and 15 studies were eligible; 12 were conducted in the UK and three in Australia. Seven were qualitative interview studies, six were quantitative, and two used mixed methods. parkrun reaches groups traditionally underrepresented in other organised sports or physical activity such as women, the insufficiently active and those aged over 35 years. Participants showed sustained improvements in fitness, physical activity levels, and body mass index with a dose–response effect with participation frequency. Qualitative data shows parkrun’s location in pleasant environments with opportunities for informal social interaction engages priority groups such as individuals with mental health issues, women and children. The small evidence base suggests parkrun has good reach, and can positively impact participants’ health and wellbeing. The data, however, are currently UK-centric and gaps in research on non-participants, long term health impacts and operationally relevant factors should be addressed.