It grew into a network of similar events called the UK Time Trials, before adopting the name Parkrun in 2008 and expanding into other countries.

Events take place at a range of general locations including parks, stately homes, forests, rivers, lakes, reservoirs, beaches, promenades, prisons and nature reserves.

[1] Sinton-Hewitt was born in Zimbabwe and went to Potchefstroom High School for Boys in South Africa as a boarder.

[5][6] Over the next two years, the event took place every week with the number of participants and volunteers growing, and with new technology introduced to streamline the processing of results.

[10] By 2015, more than 80,000 people were gathering in parks across the world each week to run, jog and walk a Parkrun – more than twice the number who take part in the annual London Marathon.

Zimbabwe was the first country to host a Parkrun outside the UK; the event started in 2007 but closed several years later.[when?]

[citation needed] In 2022, due to war invasion, Parkrun banned its site for users from Russia and ended support for all its events there.

This was due to research that showed that where participants use waist harnesses, there was an "increased risk of serious incidents, particularly trips and falls, compared to when using handheld leads."

In a statement to the BBC, Parkrun stated that this was as a result of investigations by a global working group looking at how their events could be less "off-putting" to potential participants.

[29] Participants run or walk the course and are directed by marshals along the correct route to the finish line.

[31] The results available are: finishing position for both male and female runners, finish time, whether a personal best time has been achieved, the total number of runs completed by an individual, their age grade result and their position in relation to other veteran or junior runners.

[32] To have a time recorded, runners are asked to register on the Parkrun website, print out a personal ID that includes a barcode and bring it to each event.

Runs that take place in hotter countries often start early in the morning to avoid excess heat.

The individual roles are typically filled by different volunteers each week and include: a run director who manages the event, making announcements and starting the run; course safety checkers; timekeepers; marshals; barcode scanners who scan finishing tokens; event setup and close down volunteers; pacers and tail walkers.

[42] According to Steve Flowers at the University of Kent’s business school, Parkrun is an example, along with Wikipedia, of what he calls "people’s innovation", which The Guardian explains as being "driven by users rather than producers, by volunteers rather than professionals".

[43] Volunteer roles such as timekeeping and barcode scanning use a free, downloadable app to assist with the data collection and compilation.

[44] Several surveys and academic studies have shown a net beneficial effect on health and wellbeing experienced among those who volunteer regularly at Parkruns.

[52][53][54] Parkrun challenges involve completing a number of different runs in a particular way which are personally meaningful but not officially recorded.

Parkrun Global Limited receives all funds; it is a registered charity in England and Wales and in 2022 it reported income of £5.5m with expenditure of £4.3m.

[66] A 2013 article in The Guardian noted the rapid growth of Parkrun and suggested this was mainly due to its simplicity and accessibility: runners register online once, turn up at any event, and run.

It added that participation problems have been minimized, with no upper age limit, no special equipment and no cost.

[25] A 2015 qualitative study by the University of Loughborough found that runners attending a parkrun for the first time were typically motivated for weight loss or an improvement in their physical fitness.

[68] On the other hand, there were a range of motivations for runners to continue regularly taking part, with runners wanting to beat their personal record time, reach a certain number of runs and join a milestone club, enjoy being outdoors, make new friends through volunteering, and meet up with existing friends or family.

[69][70] In the UK, Parkrun has partnered with the Royal College of General Practitioners in order to promote healthy living through increased physical activity, socialisation and mutual support.

[74] In April 2016 the responsible parish council in Stoke Gifford, Bristol, England, voted to charge runners a fee to participate.

[75] Despite an online petition and support from the Minister for Sport, the council would not change its decision, so the Parkrun was permanently cancelled.

[76] In April 2017 the British Government proposed that, in future, local councils in England would not be allowed to charge for Parkruns in a public park.

[78] ABC News, remarking on Parkrun Australia, said "there are competitive runners aiming to win but there are just as many people running for the fun of it.

The rollout of Parkruns in Ireland was assisted by funding from the government's Department of Health with the aim of empowering local communities and encouraging individuals and families to lead active lives.

As of December 2024, there were 56 parkrun events around the country taking place every weekend, with more locations being added all of the time.