Information for practice staff
Getting involved
At least one designated person should be chosen as the principal contact within the practice. This doesn’t have to be a GP partner, or even a GP. Whoever is most passionate about parkrun is the best person to lead. And everyone can have a role to play! GPs, nurses, receptionists, link workers, practice managers and more can get involved. Of course, everyone is welcome at parkrun whether that be to walk, jog, run, volunteer or simply come along and watch.
We encourage all staff who want to participate in parkrun to register for free beforehand:
Taking part
Although it would be wonderful if staff were to participate in parkrun on a regular basis, there is no obligation to do so, or to accompany patients to the event. Just bring your barcode whenever you want to participate and enjoy walking, running or volunteering.
Being a parkrun practice has lots of positive spin offs for staff and the whole practice: including improved health and wellbeing, better staff morale, increased awareness about the importance of activity for health and strengthened staff relationships. Involvement in the parkrun practice initiative is an incredible investment in the life of the practice, as well as the community it serves!
Benefits
The public health benefits of parkrun are well documented, with evidence suggesting improvements in both physical and mental wellbeing, particularly in people who volunteer at parkrun as well as walk, jog or run.
This has been substantiated by research, with academic papers being published about the parkrun practice initiative in the British Journal of General Practitioners (BJGP) and in Health and Social Care in the Community. Please do have a read to find out more about how the initiative has been implemented by practices and event teams.
Please see the parkrun Research Board website to access all the research outputs related to parkrun, including those which evidence its considerable and varied impact on health and wellbeing.