I remember my first parkrun: Wimbledon in November 2014. I also remember the words I said to a friend at the end: “never again”. That was a promise that I didn’t so much break as grind into dust: I would complete 355 more of the free community 5ks over the next 12 years.
My modest running achievements are nothing to brag about: I’ve never run further than 10km, and my times are middling. In fact, the world record for running 5km while juggling (a niche sport delightfully known as “joggling”) beats my non-juggling PB by more than eight minutes.
But I believe this averageness gives me something of a persuasive superpower. If I can go to parkrun every week, so can you, and that’s why I’ve written a guide to parkrun for the Filter. Running guides are usually written by pros, and they’re often overkill. Worse, they’re potentially off-putting to newcomers worrying more about social embarrassment than the competitive merits of carbon-plate and zero-drop shoes (no, me neither).
The longest parkrun journey
Do I like running? On some level, I must because I’ve just taken part in my most far-flung parkrun to date: Futakotamagawa, Tokyo. That’s about 6,000 miles away from my home course of Morden in south London. Indeed, if you were to uncoil all the parkruns I’ve run to date in a straight line to Tokyo, the finish line would be in Russia.
I didn’t make the journey for parkrun, but it seemed like a great opportunity to add a third flag to my profile. I picked Futakotamagawa, Japan’s inaugural parkrun: flat, easy to get to on the Metro and with majestic views of Mount Fuji on a clear day (spoiler: it was not a clear day).
In Japan, parkruns start at 8am to compensate for the extreme heat and humidity. Thankfully, only the latter of these was present on the morning of 20 June when I arrived at the start line. I attended the English-language briefing and discovered that I wasn’t the curiosity I had expected to be. Yes, I was the only Briton present, but there were plenty of Australians and a few Americans.
The talk was familiar, but charming: it’s three laps (“you can make four – we don’t care”) and don’t take your barcode away (“we will find you”). I’d heard talk of special Japanese parkrun events where a pro runner starts five minutes behind and tries to catch everyone, but sadly that wasn’t happening today.
Briefing completed, the run began. It felt different from a British parkrun, thanks to the busyness of the park – the centre of the loop packed with children and adults practising baseball, football and rugby.
As I rounded the third lap, a glance at my Apple Watch told me that despite the humidity, I was running faster than I had since before Covid. Whether this was down to the bouncy shoes I bought for city walking, the hearty ramen I’d eaten the night before, or the desire not to look like a slowpoke in this newsletter, I kept it up, finishing in 58th place with a time of 25:31. That’s 50 seconds off my 2026 best, and my fastest parkrun since February 2020.
The humidity had left me drenched and thirsty, but drink machines are everywhere in Tokyo. While I was tempted to try the viral and ridiculously high-caffeine, high-calorie Nope (a drink one redditor described as “a carbonated prune juice travesty”), I settled on a more respectable water instead, while I tried not to stink up the Metro carriage.
Ultimately, parkrun is parkrun wherever you are in the world. If you’ve been tempted, it’s absurdly welcoming, whatever your speed. My guide will give you everything you need to get started – and you don’t have to travel 6,000 miles for the pleasure, either.
This week’s picks
Editor’s pick
Tropical nights, high humidity and 2am kick-offs have been playing havoc with our sleep recently. So how can you get a good night’s sleep during a heatwave? From breathable bedding to cooling face mists and frozen hot-water bottles, Ravi Meah has rounded up all our favourite tips and tricks.
Monica Horridge
Deputy editor, the Filter
In case you missed it …
Most schools in England break for summer this week. If you’re scrambling for a last-minute idea for what to give your child’s teacher, don’t panic. We spoke to 17 teachers from around the country to find out what they would really like as end-of-year gifts – whether that’s plants, tote bags or flying lessons (yes, really).
Get involved
Summer holidays aren’t all fabulous beach days, gorgeous villas and good vibes (as anyone who has watched Two Weeks in August can attest). Sometimes we get sunburnt, bitten by midges, lose our luggage, eat something that didn’t agree with us – or the other family’s kids simply drive you nuts.
How did you cope when things went wrong? What saved the day (or week)? What one thing do you wish you’d taken with you or left behind? Let us know by replying to this newsletter or emailing us at thefilter@theguardian.com.
