‘I’ve been involved with parkrun for
eight years and, for the last three, with
my local run in Penrith. For me, parkrun
is all about encouraging everyone to
give running a go. When I volunteer
to be the tailrunner – or walker – I
really enjoy it. It gives me the chance
to support people who are newer to
running, coming back from injury, or
people with younger children. I don’t
worry about my time. What’s important
is that I will always be last to cross the
finish line so that nobody else has to be.
Tailwalking involves boosting people’s
confidence and “reading” the situation.
Some people want to chat, others want
to put their head down. I’ve learnt to be‘I LOVE
ENCOURAGING
PEOPLE ON
THE START OF
THEIR FITNESS
JOURNEY’
Steph Hulford, 50, from Cumbria, is
a volunteer at her local parkrun.Beth enjoys
mixing staying
fit with helping
the communitysensitive to each individual. People have
such hang-ups about their shape, size
and what they look like running. They’ve
taken a risk just to put themselves out
there, so encouragement is key –
I regularly say “Remember, you’re
lapping everyone on the couch”.‘I’ve been a GoodGym member for five
years. I volunteered at the Olympics and
loved being part of a big event, but it
made me realise I wanted to volunteer on
a more personal level. I liked the idea of
running in a group, so GoodGym ticked all
the boxes.
GoodGym has three run types. I’ve been
running to see my “coach” Paul for four
years now. They’re called “coach runs”
because the person you run to visit is
considered your coach; they’re the reason
you go for a run. Coach runs are purely
social – perhaps to someone who’s
isolated. I visit Paul once a week and stay
around 30-45 minutes. Sometimes if I walk
there rather than run, he’s quick to pick
me up on it! It’s been lovely to see him
gain confidence over the time I’ve been
visiting – he goes to an art group and a
choir now.‘MOVING FURNITURE IS GREAT EXERCISE!’
Beth Hoskins, 40, from London, is a member of GoodGym.
Mission runs involve running to an older
person’s home to do a task they can’t do
themselves. For the last 50 months, I’ve
done at least one mission run a month. If I
miss a month, my total on my Good Gym
profile will go back to zero, which
encourages me to keep going! As well as
the run, the task is good exercise, too, as it
often involves moving heavy furniture or
gardening.
I particularly enjoy the group runs,
where any number of members meet at a
defined location then run a maximum of 4k
to do a task for a community organisation.
We have a 90-minute window for the run
and the task, so it can be pretty fast-paced.
A recent task involved passing 200 bags
of compost along a human chain to get
them to where they needed to be. There
were 44 of us and it took just 20 minutes!
%Discover more at goodgym.orgSteph wants runners of all
abilities to feel happy
doing parkrunsIf someone is struggling, I try to
make them laugh to take their mind
off their current hot and sweaty state!
Tailwalking has shown me that
parkrun can be utterly transformative.
Sometimes when I’m not volunteering,
but running the race myself, people
who’ve been at the back with me
previously suddenly appear at my
side. I can see just how proud they
are to be improving their times.
I love encouraging people on
the start of their fitness journey.
Everybody has to start somewhere.’
% Sign up to a local group at
parkrun.org.uk