p is for parkrun : a journey from A-Z

The free, weekly, 5k timed running and walking events known as parkrun are now a global phenomenon, operating in 23 countries worldwide.Within the community of participants are enthusiasts who have created a parkrun sub-culture of challenges, loved especially by those who can no longer improve on their personal best time week by week. One such is the Alphabet Challenge, to take part in parkruns which begin with every letter of the alphabet, just 25 letters in this instance, as there is yet no parkrun anywhere in the world beginning with X.Eileen Jones, the author of 'How parkrun changed our lives' (Gritstone 2021) was close to completing her own alphabet when parkrun was forced to stop because of the pandemic.Eventually, at long last, she made it to Zuiderpark parkrun in The Netherlands, only then to discover obsessives who were close to finishing their second, third, even seventh alphabets. This is her story, a personal memoir of a journey from Alexandra Palace in North London to The