What began as a low-key Saturday morning jog around the local park has evolved into a nationwide movement inspiring Australians to lace up and hit the road.
The free, timed 5km parkrun held weekly in well over 500 locations around the country has given rise to a new breed of weekend warrior: the parkrun tourist.
These dedicated runners travel far and wide to tick off new events, tackle tough courses and earn unofficial titles like “statesperson” – someone who has completed all the courses in their state, of which there are 172 nationwide.
Kate Corner proudly qualifies for this status, having conquered all 54 parkrun locations in South Australia as well as 34 others across the country as part of a 256-event ‘tour’.
“I’m certainly one of those that has planned more than one family holiday around where we’re going to be on a Saturday morning and this parkrun we will attend,” Ms Corner tells AAP.
Parkrun tourism has spawned online communities, where members share travel advice, course tips and brag about their latest conquests.
Some caravan parks and Airbnbs now advertise their proximity to local parkrun events, tapping into the growing enthusiasm.
Next in Ms Corner’s sights is the coveted “alphabeteer” title – someone who has completed a course at locations starting with each letter of the alphabet, with the exception of X because there isn’t one.
“We’re reasonably fortunate in South Australia in that we cover off most of the alphabet but there’s certainly a few letters that you have to travel interstate for if you want to collect,” she says.
“I’m just missing a ‘U’ now. I keep trying to convince my family we need to travel somewhere that just happens to have one.”
While it may not have a ‘U’, South Australia does boasts some of the country’s toughest courses, she says.
Cleland parkrun in the Adelaide Hills features a brutal out-and-back course with a steep 2.5km climb. Another course is infamous for it’s ominously – an apparently accurately – titled Torture Hill.
“There’s no relief. You just keep going up and up.”
Despite the increasing competitiveness, community spirit remains central.
Ms Corner’s nine-year-old son Lachlan has joined her at every parkrun she’s done – the first four years in a pram, now on foot.
She even helped launch the state’s first junior parkrun to get more kids involved.
The ripple effect is being felt in regional towns too, with parkrun tourists bringing tourism dollars and social connection.
“If the locals know that you’re coming for parkrun, quite often they’ll make recommendations about where to have dinner or even to meet you for dinner,” she says.
Ms Corner feels it on the reverse side too – when people come to Adelaide and participate.
“There’s a sense of pride, to show off your course when visitors come and choose your event,” she says.
Joining the local parkrun is a way to fast track and elevate your travel experience by combining sightseeing with social connection, parkrun’s Asia Pacific spokesman Glen Turner says.
“Rather than just going to the information centre or having a random discussion with somebody, you’ve got a community of people there and you’ve got something in common with them as well,” he tells AAP.
“You can just rock up to any parkrun in the world with your barcode. You know what you’re going to get.”
“And people in those locations love to have parkrun tourists come through that they can show off their part of the country.
“It’s a real shared experience … a great icebreaker.”
It’s also great for local business, he adds.
“They’re going into the town, they’re staying there, they’re to have coffee after parkrun, having lunch, they’re staying a bit longer than they might have … all of that is contributing to the economy,” he says.
“parkrun is a community asset … everybody is always trying to make their parkrun more visible.”
Officials have stopped the clock on 1,220,085 competitors as they crossed the finish line 20,289,373 times since parkrun kicked off in Australia in 2011.
And that’s without counting the latest Saturday run numbers, which are yet to be crunched.
Runs are currently staged in 518 locations across the nation, making for some 169,000 events over the past 14 years.
It’s an achievement that doesn’t happen without help, namely from the more than 180,000 volunteers involved.
Parkrun runners have recorded personal best times 2,875,149 times, with the average time over the five kilometre course, 33 minutes, 24 seconds.
More than 5300 groups participate in the parkrun fun.
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