Free Outdoor Fitness

If you go online to free physical activity provider Parkrun you can sign up to take part in completely free weekly timed 5K runs at selected parks (find your nearest) across the country, usually at 9am on Saturday mornings.

You don’t need to be Mo Farah to participate as Parkrun welcomes all abilities. You don't even have to run – you can walk if you prefer, and kids and dogs are also welcome. Once you’re registered you’ll be allocated a barcode which you’ll need to print out and bring with you to the park as this will be scanned to give you an accurate 5K time.

What is Parkrun?

Parkrun has been around since Oct 2004 with funding from sponsors. It currently has more than two million registered runners and volunteers and operates free weekly runs in 700+ parks worldwide. 

Junior Parkrun for 4 to 14 year olds

Junior Parkrun is similar, and often at the same locations as the regular Parkrun (which children are also welcome to run), but is 2K long instead of 5K and held at 9am on Sundays instead of Saturdays. Children aged between four and 14 years old can participate.

What happened to the 'free' T-shirts?

On your 50th official timed run (as an adult), you used to be able to claim a 'free' Club 50 T-shirt paying postage of £3.95. Now, all 'milestone' T-shirts cost £15 all-in, including those for volunteering, and for junior parkrunners completing 10 events (5k events only). You can choose not to purchase them, and the events themselves remain free to attend for all.

There are hundreds of local council-funded outdoor gyms that are free-to-use all year.

See our FREE outdoor gyms blog for full information and how to find your nearest.

If you're a regular Parkrunner you'll know that it's a free and friendly event at many locations in England and Wales at 9am on Saturday mornings (9.30am in Scotland) – but did you know there's a Parkrun at The Eden Project?

As Parkrun is based on the ethos that everyone should be able to participate, it's always free – which means if you run your Parkrun at Eden you'll be able to enjoy the facilities including the café and biomes after getting in your 5k morning run.