Key Queenstown Parkrun vollies met one of the global movement’s head honchos last week.
Brit Tom Williams, Parkrun’s chief operating officer, also walked some of the 5km Queenstown Gardens course, which has hosted Saturday Parkruns for five years.
Recent Parkruns have attracted 100-plus runners/walkers with, often, 50 to 60% of the field from out of town.
Parkrun tourism’s also a big thing.
‘‘We’re in 2400 locations in 22 countries, and some people do, literally, a different Parkrun event every week.
‘‘I think some people have done north of 500 different Parkruns, which is remarkable.’’
Queenstown’s also appealing for Parkrunners trying to complete every letter of the alphabet as not many start with ‘Q’.
‘‘Obviously this is extra ordinarily scenic, and the [Parkrun] community is great, too,’’ Williams says.
‘‘I’m sure, in time, we’ll see this grow to 200, 300, 400 people.’’
The great thing about Park runs, he notes, is they’re not only free, ‘‘but also, how many events are there that everybody can participate in?’’
‘‘It’s not unusual to have four generations of the same family taking part.’’
On his first New Zealand, Williams also visited Parkrun organisers in Dunedin, Balclutha, Gore, Invercargill, Te Anau and Wānaka.
