Young Reporter - Poppy
POPPY - PARKRUN
We are really honoured to be able to share the inspirational story of Poppy, who has recently run at her 100th parkrun venue…at the age of 10! Read her brilliant story below and find out more about parkruns too.
Poppy completed her first unofficial parkrun when she was two and a half years old. It was the week her dad, Ben, died of a brain tumour. Too young for an official barcode she scanned her dad's barcode at the finish.
Age four, Poppy was old enough to get her own barcode, and since then, Poppy has run almost 200 parkruns in nine different countries! These include four different events in Australia, two events in New Zealand and Italy, and one event in Singapore, Germany, Denmark, Sweden,and Poland. However, if you ask Poppy which her favourite parkrun is then she'll tell you that it is Woodhouse Moor parkrun in Leeds... There's no place like home!
Poppy celebrated turning 10 on Saturday 5th November with a run at Woodhouse Moor parkrun. Poppy could have run her 100th different parkrun on her birthday but she figured that two weeks of cake are better than one! The following weekend Poppy celebrated being a committed parkrun tourist as she ran her 100th different parkrun venue at Barnsley parkrun.
On Poppy's 100th different parkrun, her parkrunning best friend Faith surprised her by turning up to run! The surprises didn’t end there as Poppy’s mum had bought her a cake, a helium balloon and some books she'd been wanting which was really exciting too. The parkrun team at Barnsley gave Poppy a 100 sash to run in so that the other runners would know that it was a special run for her. The run was at 9am but they didn't leave the park until 4pm!!! They call the bit after parkrun "parkfaffing" and parkfaffing is even more important than the run itself. It usually involves a cafe, treats, future parkrun planning and ALWAYS involves laughing and joking with friends. Depending on where the parkrun is, because not all parkruns are in parks, then parkfaffing for Poppy includes messing about on cool playgrounds, or exploring anything interesting that they’ve spotted during parkrun. On occasion, Poppy has been stand up paddleboarding, kayaking, mountain biking and in Sweden Poppy even went sea swimming and in the very hot saunas after parkrun!
Poppy is incredibly lucky to have visited over 100 different places in the world; parks and green spaces, beautiful places this world has to offer. However, more importantly Poppy has discovered that she is welcome and accepted in all of these communities around the world. This has given her so much confidence for the future as she knows she has a parkrun family across the globe, but especially here in her home county of Yorkshire.
Poppy’s mum, Nicola, is a parkrun podcaster (With Me Now podcast) and started sharing YouTube videos of their runs on her YouTube channel; Nicola Runs). She often gets told how seeing Poppy running has inspired other people's children to get out there and get active. The videos make people realise that 5 kilometers does not have to be about speed or what time you run. It can be about spending quality time with family, seeing new places, appreciating your environment and making new friends.
It’s so easy to find a parkrun near you, or even when you are on holiday if you are in a parkrun country. Registration is completely free and 5k runs take place on a Saturday, with 2k junior parkruns on a Sunday for children aged 4-14. Simply visit www.parkrun.org.uk and you can use the event map to find a run near you. They even hold parkruns on Christmas Day - that could become a great new Christmas tradition for you and your family to enjoy together. According to Poppy it's the friendliest parkrun of the year and the perfect start to Christmas Day! More importantly you might get to brighten up someone’s day because not everyone has a family to celebrate with at Christmas. Poppy thinks this is even more important for some of the older participants or volunteers and it makes her feel good to share the Christmas gift of a smile, a chat and their common love of getting outside and active in the wonderful parkrun community.
