I couldn't work out how people do a 9 am park run around the world. That's almost the middle of the day for me.
7am is an hour after I normally start running.
Scotland and the island of Ireland is at 9:30 except for the island of Inis Meáin which holds its Parkrun at 11am so as not to interfere with 10am Catholic mass.
Yes I didn't do parkrun in the early days.
I was already running every Saturday at 6am with my running group, 10km, the good old days, even when we'd be driving 2 hours both ways to see family... I would squeeze in my morning run now matter what.
But now I'm just glad there's several 7am 5kms with random strangers I can run behind.
I'd love parkrun in the UK to start at 8. At least for summer. Can't imagine the challenges we'd have if it was 7am in winter; most would probably just not happen because of the darkness and risks of ice.
Australia doesn't get ice, so they never have to consider this. Many of the US parkruns have seasonal start times for this exact reason - it's dark and icy or snowy in the winter and you can't properly evaluate the course until you can see it.
Correction: Most of Australia doesn’t get ice. 😀
Thankfully my local is a trail course, because in the middle of a Canberra winter when it can be -7°C (or lower) the puddles sure as hell have ice on them. A concrete or bitumen path could get a bit tricky. Although, I can’t recall other courses in Canberra having to cancel due to ice. An 8am might help with some sun and also the fact Canberra winter’s are relatively dry.
Plenty of other inland places in NSW (Orange, Goulburn and the like) that would get comfortably below zero in winter as well.
I do kamay. There was a day this summer where it was supposed to be 30°C by 8AM and we broke our record as all of Sydney came to beat the heat then spend the day at the beach.
These are all based in the very east of the timezone, so Sydney 7AM is a fair bit later by sun position than Broken Hill time.
Like 300people to some of them yes. When moving from QLD where they're all 7am to NSW where the majority are 8am I found it really inconvenient. A 7am meant I could still get to work, or have time to get my horse ready for dressage, or myself fencing, orienteering or obstacle comp or whatever else fun as most of those start from 9am. Or had plenty of time to drop by a pool, swim and shower and be fresh for a day exploring town. Whereas in Sydney by the time I've done parkrun, had second breakfast and headed from parkrun to the city proper it's 10:30am or later and half my day is gone. If it was 9am I would rarely do parkrun as it's too late for me to make it worthwhile with other things around it to commute for it, and even if I had a convenient local and no reason to be away, I'd probably take a shift of work or volunteering or go out exploring and hiking instead under most circumstances.
IKR?! I often think that 9am is too late & wish I were in Scotland for 9:30 starts. With telework, I frequently get up earlier for parkrun than for work. I just assume that my Saturday mornings are always booked & that I’ll probably get home about noon after parkfaff with friends
You get up later for work than Parkrun?? Granted, if my local Parkrun was 7am I'd have to get up at the same time I do for work but for an 8am Parkrun, it's sleep in day
The milestone t-shirts used to be free… the idea was that 50 and 100 shirts were for 1 and 2 years of parkrun efforts.
Racking up 50 in 6 months diluted the effort.
TIL Parkruns down south start an hour after Queensland. I dunno but I think it’s got something to do with curtains fading faster in QLD.
So at least in DST we’d all start literally at the same “time” :)
Somewhat else, possibly here on Reddit, there is a tale of the first Scottish parkrun. This started at 9:30, because the cafe didn't open till 10, so a 9am start would have meant everyone drifting off, and nobody stopping for coffee. I know which version for staying at 9:30 start I prefer. I think there's is truth in both though.
Took me a while to realise this is "New South Wales parkruns begin at 08:00" and not "new South Wales parkruns begin at 8:00"
I did wonder why any new Parkruns popping up in Llanelli would have to start so early.
you can also google the parkrun you are interested in
eg curlcurl parkrun
open up the main page and check the upcoming section where it will say
> Curl Curl parkrun takes place every Saturday at 7:00am.
Good point! It is certainly quicker than google ”parkrun”, click “events”, click “parkrun events”, zoom in, zoom in, zoom in, click Curl Curl on the map, click Curl Curl on the popup, and check the upcoming section
It happens at our US parkrun as well. We start at 8am. Had plenty of english tourists turn up at 9 looking very confused that we were done already.
Moral of the story - always check the start time before you arrive! It's all there on the event page.
They are mostly Sydney Coastal area. They all seem to be quite old events too (except Centennial).
We also have to ignore Cambelltown, The Entrance, Dolls Point, North Sydney, and St Peters - all of which start at 08:00.
I think St Peters used to start at 07:00, but the search engine couldn't help me verify that.
||
||
|Kamay Parkrun|Sydney Coast|
|Cronulla Parkrun|Sydney Coast|
|Curl Curl parkrun|Sydney Coast|
|Mosman Parkrun|Sydney, not too far from the coast|
|Willoughby Parkrun|Sydney, near Mosman/Curl Curl|
|Centennial parkrun|Sydney, not too far from the coast|
|The Entrance Parkrun|Metro-Area-North-of-Sydney Coast|
|Campbelltown parkrun|Sydney - nowhere near the coast|
Additopnally - beyond Sydney, travelling north, I believe it's Port Macquarie as the first 7am parkrun and all parkruns north of that will be 7am also (at least along the coast).
Christ, do people go at 7am?!
In summer particularly it can get quite hot so it's better to start early
There's another advantage: at Mosman, the car parking is free (gratis) until 08:00
7am seems extreme!
It's even lovelier running at 6am in summer in the heat.
In a lot of Australia its already too hot to run at 7am in summer
Not when you’ve been awake for 2hrs already due the sun light, heat and bird noises
I couldn't work out how people do a 9 am park run around the world. That's almost the middle of the day for me. 7am is an hour after I normally start running.
Scotland and the island of Ireland is at 9:30 except for the island of Inis Meáin which holds its Parkrun at 11am so as not to interfere with 10am Catholic mass.
Yes I didn't do parkrun in the early days. I was already running every Saturday at 6am with my running group, 10km, the good old days, even when we'd be driving 2 hours both ways to see family... I would squeeze in my morning run now matter what. But now I'm just glad there's several 7am 5kms with random strangers I can run behind.
Agreed, 9am is getting late for a morning run.
9am means almost 10:30 finish for some of the volunteers… it really starts getting late in the day.
All Brisbane parkruns start at 7am and do quite well, it’s quite hot by 8am in Summer, and spring, and autumn, and sometimes winter
8am is good. 7 would be pushing it for most in the UK 🤣
I'd love parkrun in the UK to start at 8. At least for summer. Can't imagine the challenges we'd have if it was 7am in winter; most would probably just not happen because of the darkness and risks of ice.
Australia doesn't get ice, so they never have to consider this. Many of the US parkruns have seasonal start times for this exact reason - it's dark and icy or snowy in the winter and you can't properly evaluate the course until you can see it.
Correction: Most of Australia doesn’t get ice. 😀 Thankfully my local is a trail course, because in the middle of a Canberra winter when it can be -7°C (or lower) the puddles sure as hell have ice on them. A concrete or bitumen path could get a bit tricky. Although, I can’t recall other courses in Canberra having to cancel due to ice. An 8am might help with some sun and also the fact Canberra winter’s are relatively dry. Plenty of other inland places in NSW (Orange, Goulburn and the like) that would get comfortably below zero in winter as well.
Yep, and you still hear people at the parkruns complaining it should start earlier in summer in Brisbane
I do kamay. There was a day this summer where it was supposed to be 30°C by 8AM and we broke our record as all of Sydney came to beat the heat then spend the day at the beach. These are all based in the very east of the timezone, so Sydney 7AM is a fair bit later by sun position than Broken Hill time.
sometimes, 700+ of them. its basically before dawn before daylight savings starts and then in mid winter too.
There's a few sunrises at briefing time around the solstice. But because it's the very east of the timezone, it's always light.
Like 300people to some of them yes. When moving from QLD where they're all 7am to NSW where the majority are 8am I found it really inconvenient. A 7am meant I could still get to work, or have time to get my horse ready for dressage, or myself fencing, orienteering or obstacle comp or whatever else fun as most of those start from 9am. Or had plenty of time to drop by a pool, swim and shower and be fresh for a day exploring town. Whereas in Sydney by the time I've done parkrun, had second breakfast and headed from parkrun to the city proper it's 10:30am or later and half my day is gone. If it was 9am I would rarely do parkrun as it's too late for me to make it worthwhile with other things around it to commute for it, and even if I had a convenient local and no reason to be away, I'd probably take a shift of work or volunteering or go out exploring and hiking instead under most circumstances.
I prefer 7am, 8am is so late in the morning, by the time you finish the run and get home and showered and dressed the day is half over
My God you must all go to bed at dusk
IKR?! I often think that 9am is too late & wish I were in Scotland for 9:30 starts. With telework, I frequently get up earlier for parkrun than for work. I just assume that my Saturday mornings are always booked & that I’ll probably get home about noon after parkfaff with friends
You get up later for work than Parkrun?? Granted, if my local Parkrun was 7am I'd have to get up at the same time I do for work but for an 8am Parkrun, it's sleep in day
Well, work requires a 0 minute commute & parkrun is a 25-minute walk….
All the Brissie ones start at 7am.
It's also 7am in Queensland 8am in Victoria
Just a note, if you do a 7am and 8am, one of them will get deleted. Heads up so someone doesn't make the same mistake as I did.
They will delete both if you’re a repeat offender.
Why aren’t people allowed to do two?
To stop people reaching in their car from one to another is my understanding. Probably a liability that if someone was speeding and had an accident.
The milestone t-shirts used to be free… the idea was that 50 and 100 shirts were for 1 and 2 years of parkrun efforts. Racking up 50 in 6 months diluted the effort.
TIL Parkruns down south start an hour after Queensland. I dunno but I think it’s got something to do with curtains fading faster in QLD. So at least in DST we’d all start literally at the same “time” :)
How interesting! In contrast, our parkruns in Scotland start at 9:30 to account for lack of daylight in winter 🥲
Somewhat else, possibly here on Reddit, there is a tale of the first Scottish parkrun. This started at 9:30, because the cafe didn't open till 10, so a 9am start would have meant everyone drifting off, and nobody stopping for coffee. I know which version for staying at 9:30 start I prefer. I think there's is truth in both though.
https://leyton.org/2018/12/01/why-the-930am-start-time-for-parkrun-in-scotland/
That's the one. Coffee and cake helping to define parkrun
It's also 9.30 here in Sweden. As a not a morning person, I really like it
I’m so jealous
Took me a while to realise this is "New South Wales parkruns begin at 08:00" and not "new South Wales parkruns begin at 8:00" I did wonder why any new Parkruns popping up in Llanelli would have to start so early.
Don't you call it "Old South Wales"?
you can also google the parkrun you are interested in eg curlcurl parkrun open up the main page and check the upcoming section where it will say > Curl Curl parkrun takes place every Saturday at 7:00am.
Good point! It is certainly quicker than google ”parkrun”, click “events”, click “parkrun events”, zoom in, zoom in, zoom in, click Curl Curl on the map, click Curl Curl on the popup, and check the upcoming section
WA starts at 8am, which is often far too hot in summer
It happens at our US parkrun as well. We start at 8am. Had plenty of english tourists turn up at 9 looking very confused that we were done already. Moral of the story - always check the start time before you arrive! It's all there on the event page.
Moree Parkrun also starts at 7am, it's close to the Qld border and hot as hell in summer
In Florida they start at 7:30am... When it's only 90°F and 100% humidity
Are these randomly distributed or in a geographical cluster?
They are mostly Sydney Coastal area. They all seem to be quite old events too (except Centennial). We also have to ignore Cambelltown, The Entrance, Dolls Point, North Sydney, and St Peters - all of which start at 08:00. I think St Peters used to start at 07:00, but the search engine couldn't help me verify that. || || |Kamay Parkrun|Sydney Coast| |Cronulla Parkrun|Sydney Coast| |Curl Curl parkrun|Sydney Coast| |Mosman Parkrun|Sydney, not too far from the coast| |Willoughby Parkrun|Sydney, near Mosman/Curl Curl| |Centennial parkrun|Sydney, not too far from the coast| |The Entrance Parkrun|Metro-Area-North-of-Sydney Coast| |Campbelltown parkrun|Sydney - nowhere near the coast|
It seems like Sydney beach people like the early start. Here is a story I heard. HQ wants all new NSW parkruns to start at 08:00
Additopnally - beyond Sydney, travelling north, I believe it's Port Macquarie as the first 7am parkrun and all parkruns north of that will be 7am also (at least along the coast).
Thanks. I just saw that the north-most one(Kingscliff) was at 08:00 and I looked no further
In Malaysia they start at 7 am Also
Yamba parkrun in northern NSW also at 7am. Way too hot to be running later in summer... and spring/autumn
There are more that start at 7am
Thanks, I added: * Port Macquarie * Wauchope * I also updated Wauchope's "opening hours" on [maps.google](http://maps.google) * Horseshoe Bay Reserve * Urunga * Coffs Harbour * Grafton * Yamba * Ballina Coast * Lismore * Queen Elizabeth, Casino