• 22 November 2024

The Joy of junior parkrun

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We know that family time is precious at the weekends, so junior parkrun has been designed to get children active every week at a welcoming and inclusive event that they can enjoy with their parents or carers.

Every Sunday morning at 9am, dozens of 4 to14-year-olds run, walk, jog or even skip along our 2-kilometre route in Central Park, Dartford. They’re clapped and cheered around the course by the friendly volunteers who ensure everyone can take part safely while having plenty of fun.

Some children have the confidence to take part in junior parkrun by themselves, but for those who need a little bit of support, parents, grandparents and carers can join in, so they run or walk their way to the finish together. What’s more, a dedicated volunteer is rostered as the event’s tail walker which means that no child finishes last.

Junior parkrun offers a series of rewards to encourage children to keep returning every Sunday, and many love coming back week after week! When participants have completed 11 events, they are awarded a half marathon wristband, with a marathon band given after 21 finishes. There are further milestones which are celebrated at 50, 100 and 250 events and it is always fantastic to see our participants begin targeting their next wristband.

It isn’t only the children who benefit from our junior parkrun community, as some of our biggest supporters are the parents and carers of those taking part. We rely entirely on volunteers for the weekly event to go ahead, meaning every Sunday we need around 20 people to sign up and wear a brightly coloured high viz jacket. Most of the volunteer roles are simple. Tasks include time keeping, handing out the finish tokens as well as marshalling around our course. Full training is always given to any new volunteers.

The best start to a Sunday is seeing children getting active around Central Park with big smiles on their faces. The joy they get from completing two laps of our beautiful course is enough to light up the greyest of mornings. We hope you will bring your family along to Dartford junior parkrun and experience this for yourself.