Junior parkrun pilot in Australia: A real world evaluation

Abstract

AbstractIssue AddressedRegular physical activity is important for children's health. Parkrun supports communities to deliver free, weekly, 5 km events in 22 countries around the world and is the largest physical activity model delivered at scale in the world. Junior parkrun aims to encourage children aged 4–14 years to be active outdoors through providing safe, cost‐free and non‐competitive weekly timed walk, run or jog over a 2‐km distance. The aim of this study is to evaluate the junior parkrun pilot in Australia.MethodsA process evaluation was conducted using routinely collected data of junior parkrun participants, as well as a self‐completed questionnaire.ResultsA total of 1827 children had registered and participated in at least one junior parkrun over the course of the pilot period. Participants had, on average, attended 10% of the junior parkrun events including and subsequent to their first participation by the end of the study period. Majority of parents (61%) said that junior parkrun had increased their child's physical activity either a little or a lot, and most agreed or strongly agreed that junior parkrun was fun (90%), enjoyable (91%), energising (85%) and challenging (70%).ConclusionThe junior parkrun pilot appears to show promise in Australia for enabling children to engage in physical activity, in their local communities in a fun and inclusive way.So WhatParkrun junior can co‐exist with other organised sports programs; however, it can also specifically target those not participating in any sports, given the high levels of enjoyment in a non‐competitive, non‐team environment.