Saturday morning adventures  - From Bedford to Burgess and perhaps even further away - Burgess parkrun #613 - 09/05/26
- aqasanu
- 10 hours ago
- 3 min read
‘The journey of a thousand miles starts with a single footstep’, Lao Zao
Today, coming from Bedford to visit her friend and do her first parkrun was Shania. The friends had grown up in the Luton area. Louise had moved to London to be closer to work. Hearing about parkrun from Louise and with the magic of the London Marathon still in the air, Shania decided to complete her first parkrun, and I was fortunate to walk it with her.Â
The first marshall spot on the course is the very important ‘underpass’. We don’t have the right of way in the park, and it’s essential that runners keep to the left to allow other park users to get through. This marshal spot is often done by Tom, who was joining the volunteer 50 club today. A huge thank you to Tom for telling participants to ‘keep to the right’ to ensure no accidents and continued good relations. Keep up the great work, Tom!Â
The park walker role has become one of my favourite volunteer activities and feels like a natural extension of doing the new runners welcome, another favourite of mine. It is an opportunity to put people at ease, answer their questions, point out some natural gems on the course (such as the recently hatched ducklings), and provide encouragement as needed. I understand that some people don’t want to talk, preferring to immerse themselves in the surroundings. The key for me is to make an initial ‘check-in’ to see how they’re doing and to give them space to ask any questions.Â
Consistently, first-timers will share some anxiety about being ‘last’ or ask if they’re going too slowly. I’m there to reassure them that this isn’t a race, to ensure they don’t get lost, and to help them enjoy the experience. It was great seeing Shania become more relaxed and finish with a sprint that our co-Event Director Shona would have been proud of 🙂
As I got my barcode scanned and helped myself to a banana (bananas are brought by regulars for everyone to enjoy), I got talking to Stephanie and learned she had just completed her 300th parkrun (133 at Burgess parkrun)! Stephanie has also volunteered 158 times (67 at Burgess junior parkrun), creating a very impressive 52% volunteer ratio. Junior parkruns take place on Sundays at 0900, with a 2k distance for 4-14-year-olds. Burgess Junior Parkrun started back in February 2019 and is now on event #311, going from strength to strength. Stephanie explained how much she enjoys helping out at Burgess junior parkrun and how great it is to see the enthusiasm and exuberance of the young runners and walkers.Â
Stephanie has completed 32 different parkrun events, including Stadtpark, Graz in Vienna, last year. I was intrigued to hear more, as this is on my radar to visit later this year for a friend's birthday celebration! I learned that Stephanie has also completed the Two Oceans Half Marathon in South Africa. This course starts in Newlands, with runners running along Edinburgh Drive, then into the forest roads past Kirstenbosch, and finishes at the University of Cape Town. With over 16,000 participants, it’s the biggest half-marathon in South Africa, and with the spectacular scenery of the Cape Peninsula, it is arguably one of the most stunning half-marathons in the world.Â
‘The journey of a thousand miles starts with a single footstep’, and this could be at any of the 912 registered events in the UK.  Â
To everyone, happy running, walking and/or volunteering. Â
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.