One in a million! - Horsham parkrun #551 - 13/06/26

The perfect place to celebrate the 1 millionth parkrun event.

An early start was necessary to reach today’s destination, Horsham, a market town and a civic parish in West Sussex.

Horsham railway station is built in the International Modern Style, a branch of Modernist architecture that is closely associated with Art Deco.

We exited Horsham station, which was built in 1938 and designed by architect James Scott in an Art Deco style, before strolling the short distance and entering the 60-acre, charming Green Flag-winning Horsham park, home to Horsham parkrun.

The origins of this park can be traced back to 1701 when a local merchant, John Wicker, built Park House. It was then purchased by Robert Hurst, who expanded the estate. In 1928, it became a public park, which is now protected under the Fields in Trust scheme.

The spectacular Horsham Park. Photo credit https://www.visithorsham.co.uk/business/the-park

We entered the park through a woody section, which then opened up to reveal the great vistas of the park. An idyllic morning and a perfect location for the weekend of the 1 millionth parkrun!

For its 1 millionth event milestone, parkrun has launched its Health and Inclusion Strategy, which focuses on tackling health inequalities by widening access and ensuring that parkrun is for everyone, irrespective of background, ability or circumstances.

As we approached the start area, we saw this strategy in evidence, greeted by many LGBTQ+ flags swaying in the trees and on the finish funnel. Some of the volunteers were in colourful Pride attire too. At the briefing, a member of the Horsham parkrun LGBTQ+ community shared a few words about how inclusive and welcoming the space has been for them, and thanked everyone for this.

With Phil, today's Run Director and LGBTQ+ flags to celebrate Pride. Photo credit Gemma Southren.

Phil, today’s Run Director shared the following milestones;

Joining the 10 Club - Nathaniel Craig

Joining the 25 Club - Charlie Burrow, Bertie Boakes, Clairessa Johnson, Amelie Robbins, Janet Giles John Walker-Lee and Carl Whittick

Joining the 50 Club - Charlie Holder and Alex Bubb

Joining the 100 Club - Becky Gattinesi

Joining the Volunteer 25 Club - James Thomas

Joining the Volunteer 50 Club - Helen Taylor

And a special mention and hoorah to Louise Dumas for her 80th birthday 🙂

With a true celebratory feel in the air, we walked down to the start for a slightly modified route because the council are doing some path maintenance. This is a 3-lap anti-clockwise course largely hugging the outskirts of the park. The course has a mixture of terrain underfoot. There is a slight hill that leads to the rec rooms at the north end of the park, past the ‘metallic tree’ and down to the lake. The park is wonderfully planted and maintained, and there was a lot of camaraderie between participants and marshals, a great example of everything parkrun stands for, and providing the perfect place to celebrate Louise’s 80th birthday, Pride and parkrun’s 1 millionth event. 

Parkrun is about inclusivity. Photo credit parkrun.

With 684 participants, today’s event was operating a double funnel, which worked perfectly. I finished behind a fellow buggy runner and a welcoming team of volunteers. My barcode was scanned by a lady and her granddaughter, which captured the family/community feel of the event.

Today’s first male finisher was Harry from Horsham Blue Star Harriers in a blistering 18min 10secs. 

Masie was the first female finisher from Dorking & Mole Valley AC in a personal best of 21min 17secs. 

And a huge well done to all the first timers today, especially Rachael. I hope you all enjoyed it and will come again.  

The park has numerous places to grab a bite to eat. The token sorting is done at Koffie. With its large outside area with benches and some shade, it’s the perfect place to grab a drink, a snack or brunch and engage in some parkrun faffing.

Brunch at the conservatory at the Koffie cafe.

With playgrounds, the Park House sensory garden, human nature garden and many conservation projects, organised by the Friends of Horsham Park, this is a destination you can make a day of. 

A huge thank you to the 45 volunteer team who made today happen. 

Happy running, walking and volunteering.  

www.nuhorizons.uk

You can read about how parkrun was created by the founder, Paul Sinton-Hewitt, a care leaver, in his book ‘One Small Step’, The Definitive Account of how a run became a Global Movement by clicking here.