Parkrun in Dresden and Coventry

arkrun is a free 5 kilometre timed event to encourage us to do a bit of running. In UK it has  become a bit of a phenomenon and there are over 1,000 events around the country every Saturday. It is estimated that that over 3 million people have done a park run at some time or another, and this has come about by encouraging people who do not naturally see themselves as runners to give it a go. So you will see both club runners and novice runner (or indeed walkers) at Coventry park run. We enjoy the buzz of running with other people, and I know people who search out park run as running in company seems to help them with their physical and / or mental health. I should add here that I quite get it if running is not for you, but why not take up a sport, go for a walk or go clubbing?

In Germany park run is newer though quickly growing. The first event was in 2017 and over  200,000 have taken part since (though on any given week the number will be much lower than this). 

I have been asking myself as to why parkrun was slower to take off in Germany and my theory – there to be knocked down – is that running was already better established here. In Dresden I have seen people in various states of fitness running quite happily alongside the river Elbe. Perhaps in England running is not so well established as a leisure activity. Many people in Coventry only do parkrun as it does not make them feel self-conscious as the way running in on their own or even in a small group does. 

So what about Dresden parkrun? Compared to Cov it feels a bit cross countryish as you are running along a path by the side of a river. When I ran it the path was a bit muddy but not slippy, and the river was in full flow. In summer the ground gets hard and the river might well dry-up.

I’d like to say it was a hilly but that is an exaggeration, but it felt just a bit more up and down than the memorial park. The run takes you along the river and back again, so just one lap. Thankfully, going out tended to be more up and coming back more down. There are fewer people running in Dresden which makes it easier to get to know your fellow runners if that is what you want to do (most I met spoke English) and it turned out that Laura who was managing the run had studied at Warwick uni and used to do the memorial park run as a student. In fact this experience had made her want to set up a parkrun when she settled in Dresden. 

Perhaps it is not worth going to Dresden specifically to do parkrun, but check it out if you are here, it is a quite a spot