Having started with 13 runners in 2004, Parkrun is now a worldwide phenomenon with over 3 million Parkrunners across 20 countries. Average finish times are increasing as time goes on, which actually delights the organisers as it shows that Parkrun is achieving its aim of including people of all abilities. The Agnew Parkrun is growing almost every week, and participation recently hit three figures for the first time.
Aside from the obvious benefits – good for your health, getting people out of the house, building relationships in the community – Parkrun also boosts host towns in less obvious ways. For example, Parkrun ‘tourists’ try to complete as many different Parkruns as possible, and I know from talking to a local B&B owner that we’ve already had people coming to stay a night in Stranraer specifically to take part in it. Many Parkrunners also choose to get a coffee together afterwards, which further boosts the local economy.
As a pastor, I find Parkrun to be a good illustration of what the church should be like (though at times fails to be). For a start, it’s not just for those who look the part. Just as Parkrun isn’t just for those who look like runners, church isn’t just for those who have their lives together. Some of those who have begun worshipping with us recently are asked ‘What are you doing going to church?!’ And yet Jesus said ‘Those who are well have no need of a doctor, but those who are sick’. He came not for those who think they’re righteous, but those who know that they aren’t.
Similarly, just as Parkrun aims to cater for those of all shapes and sizes and backgrounds, so the Apostle Paul hailed Christianity as breaking down the barriers we tend to erect, and was able to remind some early Christians: ‘there is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave no free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus’.
