So, this weekend I chose to volunteer as a Tailwalker in a local parkrun event. Why did I chose today for a break in my running adventures? This Sunday I am taking part in the Big Half, covering a portion of the London Marathon route and one of the largest and, I expect, most exciting, half marathons in London. I am sure I will be emotional running the streets of the London Marathon again after I completed the event in April 2023.
So, what best opportunity to volunteer for the second time in 2023? There would be no parkrun without volunteers, it’s important we give back at least sometimes!
parkrun is a (great) community event that can continue existing because of the many kind people who volunteer most weeks and without them many event would not exist. You don’t have to, but if you enjoy parkrun, you should try volunteering at your local event. Actually, shortly after the grim Covid months, many event HAD to cancel last minute on Friday or even Saturday morning because they could not fill their minimum volunteer requirements.
App support
The full list of volunteering roles can be found on both the 5K and the Running Achievements apps, which I have briefly reviewed alongside other parkrun apps. Specifically for volunteering, I think Running Achievements deliver a funnier experience, with dedicated achievements and little logos… but both get the gist. One thing 5K offers though is the ability to find volunteering roles for future weeks – more on that in a future post.
You can even play on some parkrun challenges as a volunteer, including tourism. Today I visited my third location as a parkrun volunteer tourist.
Today was the third time I volunteered, after a first visit about 18 months ago to my local, Wimbledon Common, where I was given the role of Time Checker. Basically, I had to stand next to the timers and count runners as they came through, giving each tenth of a card that could be checked vs the distributed tokens. This helps correcting errors the timekeepers might make in recording finishers. Then, the second time I volunteered was in Nonsuch, where I was one of the timekeepers. Fun role which can be even exciting when you have most of the runners coming through all at the same time.
Volunteering gives you a very clear view of what an amazing community event parkrun can be, seeing so many people who come and give their time nearly every week and get friends, camaraderie and true happiness from it.
Tailwalker
On to Tailwalking: you see the first difference one you arrive and register with the Run Director or the Volunteer Coordinator. It is one of the roles that get a vest of a different colour, together with Run Director and the new(ish) parkwalker. If you are tailwalking, your vest is orange. Once you have registered and put your bright high-viz vest on, you are free until the ceremonies start.
You can chat with the other volunteers, join in the group picture that many venues take, walk around. I’ve done all of them. While walking around I was approached by first timers twice, asking where registration was. Helping new people is nice, so I spent a couple of minutes with all of them giving them the short version of the the New Runner briefing they would soon get. I know the course well, so I could describe that too.
Another nice part of this role is that you have nothing to do until everyone is well through with their run. So I took a chance to take a short video of the mass start. It is pretty impressive in a large venue like this one. You can see the video embedded below and on my YouTube channel.
I enjoy writing my impressions after I run at parkrun as well, you can find a list of the run reports and video highlights I have completed so far on my website as well.
The it is off to your walk. There is often more than one tailwalker, so after stopping my video I joined the other tailwalker and spent one full hours amiably chatting with someone I had never met before. And it was fun and pleasant.
In a 3 lap course, we had not even turned the corner at the end of the first long straight when we were lapped the first time: the first runner will finish in less than 16 minutes. This is a fast course.
Finally, an unofficial task of the tailwalkers is sweeping up the marshal during the last lap, so the tiny group of 2 we started as became a much larger group when we approach the finish line.
It was a great experience and anyone can enjoy it. Try it out, it’s fun!
