With very cold weather now very much here in Europe, the possibility for parkrun cancellations is again something we should be conscious about.

parkrun event teams commit to holding their free, weekly, timed events every Saturday (a.k.a. parkrunday), but unexpected things can happen and if a safe event cannot be guaranteed, parkrun cancellations are possible, even at the last minute.

Why would a parkrun event be cancelled?

There are many reasons why an event could be cancelled and parkrun HQ provides some examples on an official post on their volunteer hub.

In general, we can think about a few reasons that could lead to parkrun cancellations:

  • Very bad weather, ie major snow or wind storms
  • A lot of ice on the course
  • Major flooding… mud and puddles are ok, my local event Wimbledon Common regularly goes ahead in quicksands conditions 🙂
  • Lightining storms during the event in the area
  • Medical emergencies in the area shortly before or during the event
  • Other events on the grounds that day making the event impossible
  • Not enough volunteers. Yup, it can happen, if you enjoy parkrun, consider volunteering sometimes
Flooding at Somerdale Pavilion parkrun. Good grounds for parkrun cancellation

How can you find out about parkrun cancellations?

It is possible something happens last minute and the event is cancelled when everyone is already there, but this is very very rare. So, if you check the status before going, 99% of the times you will not be disappointed.

How can we check if we our target event is going ahead then? There are a number of ways to do that:

  • The official parkrun cancellation list. This is updated fairly quickly, but it is not real time, so it is a good page to check on Friday evening, but I would still double check elsewhere just in case
  • Event social media. All events maintain a Facebook page (yeah, I despise it too, but it can be useful at times), while some are also active on other medial such as Twitter (sorry, will never call it X) or Instagram. Facebook is probably the fastest place to find out about a last minute cancellation resulting from the course check in the morning
  • The 5K app, probably the best parkrun app as described on my dedicated post. Once in the app, tap on the 3 lines top left, then parkruns, then find a parkrun. That opens up the colour coded map, where orange dots show planned cancellations over the next few weeks and red dots show upcoming cancellations for the next events. The picture below looks worse than usual, because it is updated to take into account events that will not hold a parkrun special event either on Christmas or New Year’s Day.
  • The event volunteer roster. It goes to zero immediately once an event is cancelled and it can also show the event is ‘at risk’ if there is still a big gap between available volunteers and required volunteers on Friday. You can find this on the 5K app as well: go to the map and either tap on the event you are interested in or use the magnifying glass to search for it. Once you found it, tap ‘View’ and then tap ‘Event Schedule’ and the volunteer roster will be there. The photo below shows Fulham Palace parkrun’s event roster as an example
Parkrun cancellations official page
Hampstead Heath parkrun Facebook page showing event cancellations
Parkrun cancellations on the 5K app
Fulham palace parkrun event roster

What can I do if my parkrun is cancelled?

You can sleep in or go for a solo run, but I know how disappointed it is when your weekly fix of parkrunnes is at risk. Or, God forbid, you have travelled somewhere and were planning to discover a new events that is far away from your usual area.

The 5K app once again comes to the rescue, with the very useful NENDY feature on the same parkrun map page described above. You can tap the NENDY box at the bottom left corner of the map to see other nearby events and their status.

If it is an event I have attended since I started this site, you can also find a description and video highlights here before going!