1,000 Parkruns

On a Saturday morning in October 2004, Paul Sinton-Hewitt started a community 5km run at Bushy Park, Teddington, UK. 13 runners turned up and 5 volunteers. On this day, Parkrun was born.

About the run

The 5km run in the park grew to 378 members at one single Parkrun, which meant an expansion was needed. In 2006, Parkrun grew to 7 total locations. These were and are community-led runs in Teddington, Wimbledon, Richmond, Banstead, Leeds, and Brighton, and the first international Parkrun - Zimbabwe. By 2012, Parkrun had expanded to Scotland, Wales, Denmark, Northern Ireland, Australia, South Africa, Poland, a UK military base in Afghanistan, USA. By 2027, Canada, Sweden, Germany, Norway and Finland joined the party. As of 2026, there are now 10 million members of Parkrun across 23 countries. On average, 400,000 runners take part in the free weekly community-led run across 2,500 separate park locations each week.

This week’s milestone is Darren Wood’s 1,000 park run statistic.

Who is Darren Wood?

Darren Wood is the first person to complete 1,000 parkruns, which equals 5,000km across 22 years and in 120 different locations. Wood has also volunteered at 400 parkruns. Speaking on this milestone, Darren said: “Parkrun is essentially the same everywhere you go, whatever country you’re in. Travelling to new locations is always great fun, and each event has its own character and quirks, but the community is always welcoming”.

Wood adds, “Parkrun has always been there for me, every week, and through challenging times”. This amazing commitment is impressive and shows what hard work, dedication, and loyalty can offer. Well done, Darren.

Take a look at your local Parkrun to find a weekly run near you.