‘The Christmas Compendium’ sounds like a great seasonal gift – and it is! 

Every year at this time parkrun compiles a list of additional events taking place on Christmas Day and New Year’s Day, both of which this year fall on a Sunday (aka Junior parkrun day).

This list is actually called the Christmas and New Year Compendium and there are around 300 parkrun events already declared for Christmas Day and many more on New Year’s Day 2023. You can check the full list of parkrun Special Events here

Perhaps you are visiting friends or family this year and fancy a spot of parkrun tourism – out for a 5K run and back in good time to open the presents before lunch – or maybe you are at home and just want to see if your local event is taking place. 

There will be someone out there on 96 completed parkruns who could qualify for the highly respected black 100 parkrun T-shirt over the next two weekends – with regular Saturday parkruns still on the calendar for Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve.

This is generally a much quieter time for regular races and a parkrun or two could plug the gap and fill the need for speed for the more competitive runners during the racing drought. 

You could just find a world class athlete lining up in your next parkrun. The world’s fastest parkrunners are both British: Andy Baddeley (13:48) at Bushy Park on 11th August 2012 and Samantha Harrison (15:37) at Long Eaton on 3rd December this year.

Finally, parkrun is as much about volunteering as participating, as we describe in this recent story. Perhaps the season of giving is the time for you to enjoy the company of others and the spirit of parkrun by offering some support so others can enjoy their run. There are roles to suit everyone – simply search for your local event here and contact the team to volunteer. 

Image courtesy parkrun UK