Parkrun, I think, is pretty much a running phenomenon that has taken over the UK in the last few years. The free 5k Saturday runs are everywhere, a quick glance at the event location map on the Parkrun website shows a dense sea of yellow dots over most of the country (http://www.parkrun.org.uk/events/events/) , meaning that at least one event is going to be within easy reach of a huge number of people. It's not just happening in the UK either, the same map shows popularity in some European countries as well as South Africa, Australia and New Zealand, worldwide it involves some 1,339,426 runners (http://www.parkrun.com/, as of January 2016), which is incredible.

Now there are probably many reasons why it has become so popular and the following examples are merely opinion based on my experiences and interest. I believe that a key factor is the ease and accessibility of it all, just register once online then turn up, run and scan your bar code at the finish line, no fussing around or signing in each week and no need to hang around all morning. This makes it much more appealing than more time-consuming forms of exercise, as few people have the time to commit hours to such things, especially those who are new to it. Furthermore, anyone is invited – no need to be affiliated to a running club, or be able to run a certain time or have fancy running kit. I've seen kids running, old people, parents with buggies, people with dogs, people setting course records and others who choose to walk the course - anyone can join in. From what I have seen, no one will judge you if you can't run the whole course, instead the volunteers and other runners will applaud you for giving it your best go and encourage you round just as much as the fast ones at the front, if not more.

Something that I find makes Parkrun particularly enjoyable are the volunteers. Each event is run solely by people giving up their Saturday morning to set up and put away the course, act as marshals and scan bar codes, to name a few of the roles, pretty much whatever the weather. I have volunteered on one occasion, marshalling an especially slippery bridge at the Cambridge event and it was good fun to encourage and congratulate the runners on their way round, I would recommend everyone to give it a try as the events could not happen without it.

On a slightly different note, Parkrun provides an excellent opportunity for runners to measure their progress each week. Seeing your times improving, knowing you are getting faster can be a big boost to confidence and conversely, a bad week or two can help you know when to alter your training programme. Having a timed event like this on a measured course is a great way to include a weekly time trial into your training, as running with others like this can simulate a race environment without the actual pressure of seriously competing.

Furthermore, I think that the social aspect of Parkun events is a huge bonus and definitely part of its appeal. For people new to the sport, it can be encouraging to have others to run with, to be pulled along by a group. It makes it more likely that people will continue to exercise if they enjoy it and the social side can remove the feeling of it being a chore. For example, knowing that people will be there each week can mean it is harder to bail out and stay in bed than it would be if running alone, and this makes it easier to maintain the exercise, turning it into part of the weekly routine. For more experienced runners, having others to run with - or against, for the more competitively-minded – can simulate a race situation, as I previously mentioned, which is excellent practise for competition without the stress and pressure.

So, these a just a few reasons why I think that the Parkrun events have become so popular in recent years. They are an excellent way to exercise and to get people enthused by running in a relaxed and sociable way, while also providing a useful training tool for more experienced runners.