Making strides walking papers free#

Another concluded parkrun was beneficial to mental health, by way of increased confidence and self-worth, in addition to reducing isolation, depression, anxiety, stress and giving space to think. When examining the studies looking specifically at parkrun and mental health, one found that tension, depression and anger all decreased from before to after the event, as well as improving participants’ self-esteem, stress levels and mood. More specific to running, it was found that running can increase life satisfaction, same day arousal and short term valence, with the latter having a larger effect the more experienced the runner is. PA and leisure engagement in general is linked with mental wellbeing.

Without controlling for diet, 12 months after starting parkrun, average weight loss was 1.1% on average, with a slightly higher 2.4% in overweight and obese participants in one study, and the majority of participants in another qualitative study reported that parkrun had impacted their weight. With regards to weight loss, beginning running in general is suggested to lead to clinically significant weight loss regardless of sex or participation in other sports. Whilst parkrun will not cause all participant’s weekly PA to meet guideline levels, it is important to reference research showing that even low dose PA can confer a significant health benefit compared to inactivity. The increase was most marked in low-active individuals, whose weekly increase in PA was comparable to studied interventions to increase PA. When evaluating parkrun’s effect on participant’s overall PA, in general it was found to increase PA after 6 months, though this effect was less marked after 12 months. While there is plenty of publicised anecdotal evidence (link: ) of parkrun benefitting health, what does the higher level evidence show?Īside from the obvious opportunity to increase weekly physical activity (PA) by way of running/walking 5km (based on the current average UK completion time of approximately 28:30, theoretically one could expect to complete 19-38% of the UK weekly guideline (link: ), depending on intensity), parkrun has the potential for much more wide reaching benefits on the health and wellbeing of individuals and communities. Since the British Royal College of General Practitioners began actively promoting parkrun through the parkrun practices scheme (link: ), healthcare practitioners could be left asking: ‘is there any evidence that it makes a direct difference to my patient’s health?’.

Making strides walking papers free#

Consisting of volunteer-led, free weekly timed 5km runs in local parks, it has the potential to have an impact on the global issue of inactivity.

Recently celebrating its 15 th anniversary since inception, parkrun is on the increase on an international scale.