Bushy Parkrun (stylised Bushy parkrun) is a running event that takes place every Saturday morning at 9am in
Bushy Park
Bushy Park in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames is the second largest of London's Royal Parks, at in area, after Richmond Park. The park, most of which is open to the public, is immediately north of Hampton Court Palace and Hampton ...
, Teddington, London. It was the very first
Parkrun
Parkrun (stylised as parkrun) is a collection of events for walkers, runners and volunteers that take place every Saturday morning at more than 2,000 locations in 23 countries across six continents. Junior Parkrun (stylised as junior parkrun) ...
, founded by
Paul Sinton-Hewitt
Peter Paul Sinton-Hewitt CBE FRSA (Born 1960) is the founder of Parkrun. He was appointed a CBE "for services to Grassroots Sport Participation" in 2014, and was selected as an Ashoka Fellow in 2016. In December 2019, he was awarded the Albert ...
in October 2004 under its original name Bushy Park Time Trial. The event has become a pilgrimage for Parkrunners, attracting entrants from across the globe. It is entirely managed by volunteers and is free to enter. The course is
5km in length with a terrain that is mostly footpaths and grass. The run holds the UK record number of entrants with 2,545 people on Christmas Day 2019. There have been numerous notable participants including the current men's former Parkrun record holder
Andrew Baddeley
Andrew James Baddeley (born 20 June 1982) on The Wirral, Merseyside is an English middle-distance runner.
Career
He finished sixth in the 1500 metres final at the 2006 European Athletics Championships in Gothenburg. He also competed at the ...
, and double Olympic 5 km gold medallist
Mo Farah
Sir Mohamed Muktar Jama Farah (born Hussein Abdi Kahin; 23 March 1983) is a British long-distance runner. His ten global championship gold medals (four Olympic and six World titles) make him the most successful male track distance runner ever ...
.
History
Bushy Parkrun was founded by
Paul Sinton-Hewitt
Peter Paul Sinton-Hewitt CBE FRSA (Born 1960) is the founder of Parkrun. He was appointed a CBE "for services to Grassroots Sport Participation" in 2014, and was selected as an Ashoka Fellow in 2016. In December 2019, he was awarded the Albert ...
under its original name Bushy Park Time Trial. The event started on 2 October 2004 with just 13 runners taking part in the inaugural event. The organisers changed the name to UK Time Trial (UKTT) and in October 2008 to
Parkrun
Parkrun (stylised as parkrun) is a collection of events for walkers, runners and volunteers that take place every Saturday morning at more than 2,000 locations in 23 countries across six continents. Junior Parkrun (stylised as junior parkrun) ...
. In 2007, the Parkrun events began to be staged elsewhere in London and the UK. It has also since expanded into 21 other countries.
Originally Parkrun results were recorded manually on laptops with runners receiving a metal token after finishing. Barcodes were introduced in October 2009, shortly after the 5th anniversary run which had a record turnout; this made recording results significantly quicker.
![Bushy Parkrun (8395134464)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c0/Bushy_Parkrun_%288395134464%29.jpg)
On 2 October 2014, Bushy Parkrun celebrated its 10th anniversary. The event celebrating this was run on 4 October 2014 and contained a record 1,705 runners, beating the previous record of 1,184 on 11 January 2014, which was the 500th event.
Bushy Parkrun is highly rated by the runners who have taken part in it, with a 96% overall rating and 98% reporting that they would take part again, in the ''
Runner's World
''Runner's World'' is a globally circulated monthly magazine for runners of all skills sets, published by Hearst in Easton, Pennsylvania, in the United States. Before its acquisition by Hearst, it was founded and published by Rodale, Inc. in E ...
'' running event survey. The event is reported on a weekly basis by the local press, and the Parkrun phenomenon is gaining national exposure. As well as being the oldest Parkrun, Bushy is by far the largest event in the UK, consistently getting over 1,000 participants each week and over 50 volunteers. Its size can also be attributed to Parkrun's worldwide adoption of barcodes to record results.
Due to its large turnout, Bushy Parkrun has over 40 volunteer roles including some uncommon to other Parkrun events such as a Lead Bike and Visually Impaired Guides.
As with all other parkrun events, runners must pre-register on the parkrun website and bring their barcode with them to get a recorded time for the event. With this barcode, a runner can record a time at any parkrun they choose to run.
Course
The course is fast, flat and runs anticlockwise from close to the
Diana Fountain in Bushy Park. Due to its large size, Bushy Parkrun has had to adapt over the years to accommodate for its increasing popularity, differing itself from other Parkrun events. Such innovations include changing its route twice, once in 2006 and again in 2015, and adopting a two-funnel system at the finish line in 2012.
Tourism
Bushy Park is the origin of the now international phenomenon. The event has become a place of pilgrimage for runners across the globe, having many tourists every week.
Bushy parkrun Run Report No. 580
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Records
The record number of runners completing the course is 2,545 people on Christmas Day 2019. The course record for men of 13 minutes 48 seconds was set on 11 August 2012 and is held by Andrew Baddeley
Andrew James Baddeley (born 20 June 1982) on The Wirral, Merseyside is an English middle-distance runner.
Career
He finished sixth in the 1500 metres final at the 2006 European Athletics Championships in Gothenburg. He also competed at the ...
; the previous record was exactly 14 minutes held by Craig Mottram
Craig Mottram (born 18 June 1980) is a former Australian long and middle-distance runner who specialised in the 5000 meter event.
Early years
Mottram was born on 18 June 1980 in Frankston, Victoria. He attended Geelong Grammar School.
Car ...
. Baddeley's time is also the second fastest Parkrun time run anywhere in the world. The women's record of 15:58 was set on 22 October 2011 by Justina Heslop. The previous record holder was Gladys Chemweno (16:11 on 8 May 2010) who beat Katrina Wootton's women's record of 16 minutes 20 seconds (1 January 2009). This performance beat parkrun's longest standing record: Olympic Games
The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...
silver medallist Sonia O'Sullivan
Sonia O'Sullivan (born 28 November 1969) is an Irish former track and field athlete. She won a gold medal in the 5000 metres at the 1995 World Championships, and a silver medal in the 5000 metres at the 2000 Olympic Games. Her 2000 m wor ...
had previously held the record since 18 June 2005.
Notable participants
*Andrew Baddeley
Andrew James Baddeley (born 20 June 1982) on The Wirral, Merseyside is an English middle-distance runner.
Career
He finished sixth in the 1500 metres final at the 2006 European Athletics Championships in Gothenburg. He also competed at the ...
, British Olympic 2008 1500m runner
*Martin Cross Martin may refer to:
Places
* Martin City (disambiguation)
* Martin County (disambiguation)
* Martin Township (disambiguation)
Antarctica
* Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land
* Port Martin, Adelie Land
* Point Martin, South Orkney Islands
Austr ...
, British Olympic rowing gold medallist
*Richard Dunwoody
Thomas Richard Dunwoody MBE (born 18 January 1964 in Belfast, Northern Ireland) is a retired British jockey in National Hunt racing. He was a three-time Champion Jockey.
Racing career
Dunwoody's race victories include the King George VI Chase ...
, jockey who has won the Grand National
The Grand National is a National Hunt horse race held annually at Aintree Racecourse in Liverpool, England. First run in 1839, it is a handicap ...
and the Cheltenham Gold Cup
The Cheltenham Gold Cup is a Grade 1 National Hunt horse race run on the New Course at Cheltenham Racecourse in England, over a distance of about 3 miles 2½ furlongs ( ...
* Becky Essex, England women's national rugby union team
The England women's national rugby union team, also known as the Red Roses, represents England in women's international rugby union. They compete in the annual Women's Six Nations Championship with France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. ...
player
*Mo Farah
Sir Mohamed Muktar Jama Farah (born Hussein Abdi Kahin; 23 March 1983) is a British long-distance runner. His ten global championship gold medals (four Olympic and six World titles) make him the most successful male track distance runner ever ...
, Olympic 5000m gold medallist, Olympic 10000m gold medallist
*Craig Mottram
Craig Mottram (born 18 June 1980) is a former Australian long and middle-distance runner who specialised in the 5000 meter event.
Early years
Mottram was born on 18 June 1980 in Frankston, Victoria. He attended Geelong Grammar School.
Car ...
, Australian
Australian(s) may refer to:
Australia
* Australia, a country
* Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia
** European Australians
** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists
** Aboriginal A ...
5000m runner
*Sonia O'Sullivan
Sonia O'Sullivan (born 28 November 1969) is an Irish former track and field athlete. She won a gold medal in the 5000 metres at the 1995 World Championships, and a silver medal in the 5000 metres at the 2000 Olympic Games. Her 2000 m wor ...
, Irish Olympic silver medallist
*Jonny Searle
Jonathan "Jonny" William C. Searle (born 8 May 1969) is a British rower and business man. Along with his brother Gregory, and coxswain Garry Herbert, Searle won the gold medal in the coxed pair event at the Olympic Games in Barcelona.
Early ...
, British Olympic rowing gold medallist
* Richard Stannard, British triathlete and 2011 ITU World Aquathlon Champion
* Jodie Swallow, British triathlete
A triathlon is an endurance multisport race consisting of swimming, cycling, and running over various distances. Triathletes compete for fastest overall completion time, racing each segment sequentially with the time transitioning between the d ...
*Jake Wightman
Jake Wightman (born 11 July 1994) is a British middle-distance runner competing primarily in the 1500 metres. He won the gold medal at the 2022 World Championships, the first global gold in a middle distance event for a British male since Seb ...
, British 1500m runner
References
External links
Official website
parkrun
The Royal Parks – Bushy Park
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Parkrun
2004 establishments in England
5K runs
Athletics competitions in England
Athletics in London
Bushy Park
Recurring sporting events established in 2004