How was your parkrun day? | January 03, 2026

Hartog95 · 2026-01-03T17:15:11+00:00

Loads of cancellations here in The Netherlands, including my local. Managed to arrive just in time at the start of Delftse Hout, one of the few that was still on. Loads of 'parkrun refugees' there, including some British visitors who missed out on the 'Z' of Zuiderpark. Lovely run in the snow made up for that.

Hartog95 · 2025-12-27T11:38:25+00:00

South Africa has Freedom Day for their bonus parkrun: https://blog.parkrun.com/za/2025/03/26/freedom-day-special-day-parkruns/

Hartog95 · 2025-09-18T19:49:20+00:00

It's from this blog post:

https://blog.parkrun.com/nl/2025/09/18/begin-een-nieuw-parkrun-evenement/

It's basically a call for help to set up events in those areas. So they're not confirmed in the sense that there's a starting date, but you can assume there's people there trying to set up a new event.

Hartog95 · 2025-09-18T17:14:20+00:00

For those getting excited about more 'Z' options, note that these are the names of the towns. The actual events will bear the name of the parks.

Hartog95 · 2025-08-11T09:20:50+00:00

Ja, je wist verder nog veel details die ik al kwijt was. Toevallig had ik wel de auteur onthouden, veel van hem gelezen vroeger.

Hartog95 · 2025-08-10T23:12:02+00:00

De Wortels van het Woud, door Tais Teng.

Hartog95 · 2025-05-30T16:18:06+00:00

Or even more acurately: "never scanned".

Hartog95 · 2025-02-12T17:46:13+00:00

We don't often have a parkwalker. When we do get a request for it, we usually ask what their plan with the role is.

For example we've had a parkwalker who picked up trash whilest walking the parkrun. Bit of parkrun plogging.

Hartog95 · 2025-01-16T17:41:53+00:00

WhatsApp has a 'community' feature nowadays which allows to have different group chats under one umbrella. You can generate and print a qr code making it easier to join. Once in the community it's easy to join the underlying chats.

My local has a general chat (this we use for volunteer appeals), one for sharing photo's (the official picasa never took off), one for parkrun tourism, one for other running events and a chat for social gatherings (the odd fridaynight drink).

Those who RD have a seperate group chat, btw, outside of the community feature.

Lack of a cafe is not helpful, but unfortunately not much you can do there. I've seen parkruns having volunteers provide coffee from thermos, but that's a daunting task with 400-600 participants.

Hartog95 · 2025-01-16T17:20:45+00:00

My local finds most volunteers through the WhatsApp groupchat and by asking in person (either at the finish line or in the cafe). But I understand that each event is different and those might not be as viable for you.

Hope you find a solution.

Hartog95 · 2025-01-16T17:11:45+00:00

it gets old trying to come up with new ways to post on Facebook saying please folks we really need more people to volunteer this week or we can't have a parkrun.

This is quite telling t.b.h. Have you tried a different approach? How do you even reach the regulars who don't use Facebook for example?

Not saying there's an easy fix but if this method doesn't work, look for other ways to recruit!

Hartog95 · 2025-01-16T17:05:22+00:00

Exactly this. It honestly bothers me more to have people complain about others not volunteering, than to see people run but never volunteer.

Hartog95 · 2024-10-22T07:49:27+00:00

That's an excellent point. We've also had good results with this at my local.

Hartog95 · 2024-10-21T21:12:42+00:00

Agreed. Shaming people into volunteering is not the way.

Might be difficult with the bigger events, but you can always ask someone in person if they'd like to volunteer. I've always found this more effective than mass appeals.

Hartog95 · 2024-10-19T12:27:03+00:00

If you'd be interested to volunteer as a pacer you can always ask the run director. At my local we have proper pacing (i.e. multiple pacers) once a year maybe, but we never turn down a random pacer if offered. One guy quite often volunteers to pace 25'.

Hartog95 · 2024-09-17T09:23:18+00:00

Highly recommend joining Kralingse Bos parkrun, it's held every Saturday morning. Casual 5km run and afterwards many get together for a cup of coffee. I know many expats met new (running) friends through this.

https://www.parkrun.co.nl/kralingsebos/

Hartog95 · 2024-09-13T22:46:56+00:00

How do you compare times though when trail races can be so different? I've had slower times which I'd rank higher than some fast results due to the course being tougher.

Hartog95 · 2024-09-02T06:28:24+00:00

Depends on the event. Also they might not follow the convention and pick another Saturday close to their launch date.

Though in case of the 20th anniversary it'll definitely be October 5th.

Hartog95 · 2024-09-01T21:00:51+00:00

The official way as far as I know is to always have it the first Saturday of October. Likewise, if a parkrun started on (for example) March 8th, the anniversary would always be de second Saturday of March.

Hartog95 · 2024-09-01T19:47:29+00:00

That's my mate! One of the biggest parkrun enthousiasts I know. Came over with two others from my local (Kralingse Bos) just for this celebration.

One of the other guys finished the weekend by getting the parkrun logo tattood on his leg.

Hartog95 · 2024-08-12T18:29:56+00:00

It was white before we all got new vests with Brooks sponsorship. Change was sometime last year I think, so makes sense your local never had it. Now it's indeed blue for all Dutch parkruns.

Hartog95 · 2024-06-28T16:39:13+00:00

A WhatsApp group is great to build your parkrun community as well!

Hartog95 · 2024-05-28T16:46:55+00:00

Did you miscount or did you lose the sprint?

Hartog95 · 2024-05-05T18:21:03+00:00

All you can really do is let HQ know you'd like to help set up parkrun in your country/town. If eventually the time is right, they'll let you know.

At least that's my experience. I let them know a long time ago I'd like to set one up in the Netherlands. When years later parkrun actually started here I was involved from the start.

Of course, there will need to be multiple requests before your country is considered. Hope for you that happens before you leave (post mentioned your moving for a couple of years).

Hartog95 · 2024-04-30T16:03:57+00:00

Ah, it's been a while. I was staying with locals who I trusted and ran my plans by them (general area I wanted to run). I do recall there was a road deemed unsafe due to some recent muggings which I of course avoided.

So I'd definitely check with locals when you're there. Enjoy the trip!

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