Kiwis ‘touching grass’ at free parkruns across 70 locations

Free parkruns are attracting more kiwis to pound the ground as the cost-of-living crisis hits wallets.

Across 70 locations in New Zealand there are 203,006 finishers and 21,980 volunteers.

parkrunner William Zhu, said with the rising cost of living, parkrun provides a free option for exercising.

“It's a very open and non-exclusive event, so that people of all financial backgrounds and cultural backgrounds can attend.

“It’s nice to have an event that gets people out of their homes and gets them exercising,” he said.

parkrun is a 5k weekly event that was founded by Paul Sinton-Hewitt in 2004 at Bushy Park in London, England. The event now takes place across 23 countries including New Zealand.

Located in Albany, Northern Pathway parkrun held its 129^th event over ANZAC weekend.

parkrunner Daniel Chapman said that parkrun is important for the fitness and community aspects.

“It's really important for overall physical and mental health.

“We all need to connect with each other in some way, and I think this is a great way to do it.”

Run clubs have in the past few years seen a growth in popularity and attendance.

Strava, a fitness tracking app, saw a 59% increase in running club participation globally in 2024, with the trend continuing in 2025.

Sherwood Reserve parkrun co-event director Andrew Capel said that parkrun is a valuable weekly event.

“We get people from all walks of life and all levels of fitness,” he said.

parkrun event ambassador, Scott Arrol, agrees.

“It doesn't matter who you are, what you look like, lots of the paths and courses that are used are accessible,” he said.

At the end of April 2026 parkruns across the world remembered and celebrated the life of Colin Thorne, the first person over 100 in the world to reach 100 parkrun’s, who passed away mid-April 2026.

Parkrunner and co-event director at Northern Pathway parkrun, Catriona Miller, said parkrun is great for everyone.

“It's obviously good for those who enjoy running… but also for those who don't,” she said

Through the parkrun app, parkrunners, walkers and volunteers can track their progress and work toward challenges.

Tracey Hansen, Volunteer Coordinator, said she didn’t like running but was inspired to join parkrun because of her sister and the parkrun challenges.

“I started doing the tourist challenge, the tourist streak. That got me into it. Once I got up to four or five, I was hooked.”

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Our journalists sometimes use AI tools which are checked by humans for accuracy.

AI was used to transcribe audio from the interview.