The light of Diwali - Burgess parkrun #585 - 25/10/25
- aqasanu
- 1 day ago
- 3 min read
I approached the ‘banana table’, a standard feature of Burgess parkrun and next to it was a sister table decorated and adorned like a shrine to celebrate Diwali, the festival of light. The origins of Diwali date back to ancient India, stemming from a fusion of various harvest festivals with farmers expressing gratitude to the sun for its energy. Small oil lamps would be lit to thank the sun and pray for the next crop.
The weather forecast for this morning was rain; evidently, the gods were happy with our shrine and offerings, and we were blessed with spectacular morning light!
Amongst the 767 participants were a fair number of tourists, including a few unconnected visitors from Portsmouth. However, it was the bright orange shirts of The Penn Pacers, Jo*, Nick and Jeraldine that really caught my attention. Their home parkrun is Weymouth parkrun in Dorset, which they strongly recommend visiting. But as our conversation continued, I realised these were no ordinary tourists. Jo and Nick have 17 country flags and the back of their shirts showing that they’ve completed the Alphabet challenge four times! To become an ‘Alphabeteer’, you need to complete a parkrun with each letter of the Alphabet. Currently, there are no parkruns beginning with the letter ‘Z’ in the UK, which means you have to leave the country to achieve this challenge. I went to Zamek w Malborku in Poland (which I highly recommend). Some other letters are very limited in the UK. Completing this challenge 4 times means significant commitment and international travel!
Jo explained they are closing in on the mythical Cassabeteer status, which is the title given to anyone who has completed six Alphabet challenges. #bonkers!
Today I was the event's official tail walker, a role which is compulsory for all 5k and 2k events globally. The Tail Walker is the final participant and serves as the visual endpoint of the event and ensuring everyone finishes safely. Due to the nature of the Burgess parkrun course, the Tail Walker gets to see most participants with their facial expressions: grimaces, laughter and anything else. Some people will be having a leisurely run, others will be pouring blood, sweat and tears into it. People are running their own race, in the company of others and cheered on by marshals along the course. It’s a beautiful sight and one of my favourite volunteer roles. I’ve been at events where the Tail Walker will, in addition to their orange Hi-Viz vest, have a tail attached to them. Events can have more than one Tail Walker, too.
Burgess Park has many deciduous trees. In autumn, the green chlorophyll in the leaves breaks down, due to the cooler temperatures, revealing other colours like yellow, red and orange. The park was ablaze with these fallen leaves lit by the light of Diwali.
Diwali is a major cultural event for Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, and Jain communities, which contributes to its widespread celebration.
The Diwali table had been laden with sweets brought by Divyen, Trushna and Josna. Kathy did the 'Diwali- table sign and Phil brought along the Ganesha. Although all the sweets were gone by the time I finished, participants were still lingering in the sunshine, enjoying the sweetness of the sweets and the generosity that has become synonymous with Burgess parkrun.
May the light of Diwali lift the spirits of all people everywhere.
Stay well and happy running, walking or volunteering.
*Jo is a qualified guide runner and running coach registered with England Athletics. She is currently raising money to support a guide dog puppy from birth to training school. You can read more about this by clicking here.
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.
Lovely reading about Diwali 🪔. I teach the story of Sita and Rama to the children every year. 🌷🩷🌷 xxx