Often described by parkrun enthusiasts as the Holy Grail of parkrun challenges, running the parkrun alphabet has now been achieved by over 7,000 people. Dame Kelly Holmes joined the "alphabeteers" on Saturday, 25 October 2025, when she added the letter J to her collection at Jersey in 19:34 (91.31% age grade).

Completing the parkrun alphabet has delighted Dame Kelly, who was running the 5K event at Les Quennevais Sports Centre and has completed 94 parkruns, with a personal best time of 17:48 at Hastings in 2018.

Talking to a local reporter in Jersey, Dame Kelly said: "I am a bit competitive and there's a challenge in parkrun called the alphabet challenge. Alphabeters are enthusiasts who seek to finish parkruns starting with all 26 letters. All I needed was my J, and I got my J."

Still buzzing after her achievement, Dame Kelly added: "We all commit and turn up for ourselves, whether that's for our mental health, our physical health, the social interaction or the community. We are all doing a 5K and it hurts. It's not easy and I love the fact you see all these different people that come with their dogs and babies. There's such a community feel."

That's a strong endorsement for the benefits of parkrun from a double Olympic champion! Who will ever forget Dame Kelly's brilliant 800m and 1500m gold medals in 2004 in Athens? Now running for fun as a W55 master, the Ealing Southall & Middlesex AC member ran 1:29:10 for first W55 in the Belfast Half Marathon last month and was first W55 (1:06:39) in the Great South Run 10 miles at Portsmouth the weekend before her Jersey exploits.

The challenge is technically restricted to 25 venues, as there is no parkrun in the world at a location starting with an X. Many "alphabeteers" don't stop at just one parkrun alphabet. According to AI, 610 people have completed the double alphabet, 182 parkrunners have achieved the triple alphabet, 71 runners have completed four alphabets, and 15 dedicated travellers have achieved five different alphabets of parkruns.

Dame Kelly completed her tricky Q parkrun at Queen's, Belfast; her V parkrun at Volksgarten, Germany; Y at Yeovil Montacute, and Z at Zandvlei, South Africa. She has also run Exeter Riverside parkrun, which some claim is 'near enough' to an X venue, as it sounds like it starts with an X!

If you fancy becoming a parkrun alphabeteer, click here for venue suggestions...

Photo courtesy of Jersey parkrun