A Favorite Run for Many BRR Members
By Chris Wyburn-Powell
Parkrun started in London, England in 2004 as a free weekly timed 5km run every Saturday. Since then, parkrun has expanded to over 2,200 parks across 22 countries. There are even 74 events in the U.S., although you likely won’t have heard of them as they manage to stay mostly under the radar. In fact, at some of the smaller U.S. locations, the locals may be outnumbered by a contingent of foreign parkrun fanatics visiting from the UK or Australia who can’t go a week without their parkrun fix!
Boulder’s parkrun got started on a cold and snowy February morning in 2018. Ever since, we’ve been running a 5k along the beautiful Bobolink and South Boulder Creek trails every Saturday. Fast forward to April 1st, 2023, and South Boulder Creek parkrun hosted its 200th event. How time flies…but we still have a large group of regulars, two of whom have run at South Boulder Creek over 100 times!
We typically have between 30 and 60 runners each week, and we rely on six or seven volunteers to organize the event. There are no prizes or ‘winners’; your time is just posted online. Some people like to race the clock, but for the most part it’s just a great way to start your Saturday, and catch up with friends old and new.
Boulder Road Runners – Come and join us any Saturday at 9am in the winter. For the months of June-Sept, we switch to 8am. To find out more on how to register, the course, and where we meet, and previous results, please visit www.parkrun.us/southbouldercreek/.
Photos courtesy of Park Run South Boulder, and Todd Straka