Charlie Pearce

Bar graph of parkrun Lithuania finishers by date

Table showing the record national attendance for each country for Saturday, New Year's Day 2004-2020, New Year's Day 2021- and Special Day. parkrun Lithuania had 547 finishers on their Special Day today - their record for a Saturday is 238.

parkrun Lithuania's first Special Day (for Independence Restoration Day) saw their attendance record more than doubled thanks to an influx of tourists. 6 other countries have had a national record similarly set on their Special Day, though Denmark, Finland and Norway have later beaten it on a Sat.

Bar graph of parkrun Lithuania finishes by date

Two tables showing the period taken for each parkrun country's opening day national attendance to be surpassed. parkrun Netherlands took 137 weeks (though this included the COVID pause 2020-21) and 61 Saturday parkruns, while parkrun Lithuania 76 weeks and 76 Saturday parkruns

Bar graph of parkrun Poland finishes by date

Table showing the total 5k parkrun finishes by country: parkrun Country Dates Events Finishes UK 1,145 349,255 73,016,288 Australia 777 192,275 23,623,025 South Africa 705 79,416 15,859,620 Ireland 638 41,190 3,982,724 New Zealand 707 17,772 2,270,190 Poland 703 36,189 2,002,361 USA 681 19,665 936,826 Germany 375 14,605 675,525 Russia 392 14,438 589,878 Canada 441 12,375 518,429 Japan 338 8,322 300,847 Netherlands 246 4,474 255,704 Denmark 840 5,863 251,949 Italy 503 5,131 189,274 Sweden 431 3,277 147,984 Singapore 506 1,321 107,382 Norway 366 2,014 101,303 Finland 371 1,605 57,000 France 310 1,973 49,321 Austria 237 851 44,256 Malaysia 278 358 32,934 Lithuania 78 110 7,747 Zimbabwe 54 54 834 Iceland 32 32 550 Overall 1,275 812,565 125,021,951

parkrun Lithuania passed their long-standing national record set on opening day in Sep 2024 (only Netherlands have waited longer, but that included COVID).

parkrun Poland passed 2 million total finishes, meaning ten billion metres have been run, jogged or walked in the country since Oct 2011. 2/2

Bar graph of global 5k parkrun finishes by date

Bar graph of global 5k parkrun finishes by date

Table showing the 10 highest daily 5k parkrun attendances: Date parkrun Countries Events Finishers 17/01/2026 20 2,114 412,504 24/01/2026 20 2,038 399,580 19/04/2025 20 2,105 390,750 31/01/2026 20 2,051 386,103 21/02/2026 20 2,140 380,520 03/05/2025 20 2,120 378,924 18/01/2025 20 2,040 378,030 07/03/2026 20 2,181 371,589 12/04/2025 20 2,121 371,368 08/11/2025 20 2,222 371,353

Table showing the highest daily global 5k parkrun attendances by month: Month Date parkrun Countries Events Finishers January 17/01/2026 20 2,114 412,504 February 21/02/2026 20 2,140 380,520 March 07/03/2026 20 2,181 371,589 April 19/04/2025 20 2,105 390,750 May 03/05/2025 20 2,120 378,924 June 14/06/2025 20 2,108 333,113 July 26/07/2025 20 2,139 337,506 August 30/08/2025 20 2,164 363,627 September 27/09/2025 19 2,183 363,204 October 18/10/2025 20 2,224 368,494 November 08/11/2025 20 2,222 371,353 December 27/12/2025 20 2,073 347,772

Yesterday's global #parkrun attendance was the 8th highest ever, and a record for March. 1/2

Bar graph of parkrun Japan finishers by date

parkrun Japan saw a new record national attendance this morning, the third time this has happened the eve of the Tokyo Marathon.

Bar graph of global 5k parkrun finishers by date

Bar graph of global 5k parkrun finishers by date

Table showing the 10 highest daily 5k parkrun attendances: Date parkrun Countries Events Finishers 17/01/2026 20 2,114 412,504 24/01/2026 20 2,038 399,579 19/04/2025 20 2,105 390,750 31/01/2026 20 2,051 386,103 21/02/2026 20 2,128 380,258 03/05/2025 20 2,120 378,924 18/01/2025 20 2,040 378,030 12/04/2025 20 2,121 371,368 08/11/2025 20 2,222 371,353 18/10/2025 20 2,224 368,494

Table showing the highest daily global 5k parkrun attendance by month: Month Date parkrun Countries Events Finishers January 17/01/2026 20 2,114 412,504 February 21/02/2026 20 2,128 380,258 March 22/03/2025 20 2,091 357,555 April 19/04/2025 20 2,105 390,750 May 03/05/2025 20 2,120 378,924 June 14/06/2025 20 2,108 333,113 July 26/07/2025 20 2,139 337,506 August 30/08/2025 20 2,164 363,627 September 27/09/2025 19 2,183 363,204 October 18/10/2025 20 2,224 368,494 November 08/11/2025 20 2,222 371,353 December 27/12/2025 20 2,073 347,772

Yesterday's global #parkrun attendance was the fifth highest ever.

parkrun events map zoomed in on North Island of New Zealand, with the corresponding opposite side of the Earth (Spain, Portugal and Morocco) overlaid.

Map showing the locations of Millwater and Whangarei parkruns, plus the antipodal location of Gibraltar Botanical Gardens parkrun, with Great Circle routes from the former two to the latter. GBG to Whangarei: 179.5281 degrees of arc 19,957.979 km GBG to Millwater: 179.5285 degrees of arc 19,951.666 km

Table showing the 10 greatest distances between pairs of 5k parkrun events: 19,957.979 km Gibraltar Botanical Gardens Whangarei 19,951.666 km Gibraltar Botanical Gardens Millwater 19,938.780 km Gibraltar Botanical Gardens Sherwood Reserve 19,937.625 km Gibraltar Botanical Gardens Northern Pathway 19,930.880 km Gibraltar Botanical Gardens Hobsonville Point 19,929.310 km Gibraltar Botanical Gardens Tuff Crater Reserve 19,922.453 km Gibraltar Botanical Gardens Western Springs 19,922.120 km Gibraltar Botanical Gardens Orakei Bay 19,918.969 km Gibraltar Botanical Gardens Owairaka 19,918.741 km Cornwall Park Gibraltar Botanical Gardens (calculated using Great Circles on WGS84 datum)

The new Gibraltar Botanical Gardens parkrun is almost antipodal to 2 events in New Zealand. However, while it subtends a (v. marginally) larger arc to Millwater (Great Circle route through Antarctica), the shape of the Earth means it's actually further in distance from Whangarei (GC through China)!

Scatter plot of the average number of finishers per event globally (Saturday only)

Scatter plot of the average number of finishers per parkrun UK event (Saturday only)

The average number of parkrunners per event is still lower than it was pre-COVID (though of course they aren't distributed equally).

Stacked area graph showing the number of active 5k, active junior, defunct 5k and defunct junior parkrun events over time, plus lines showing the number taking place each weekend and projected exponential growth to 4,400.

Stacked area graph showing the number of 5k and junior parkrun finishers each weekend, plus a lines showing the projected exponential growth to 500,000.

It's now 3 years since #parkrun announced a 5-year plan to double both the number of active events (from ~2,200 to ~4,400) and finishers (from ~250k to ~500k) each weekend. www.parkrun.com/blog/news/20... While there has only been a net increase of c.400 events, overall attendance is well on track.

That should of course read 'finishes' (aggregate total) not 'finishers' (distinct parkrunners). I managed three parkruns in January post-injury - many people will have done six!

Bar graph of parkrun New Zealand finishers by date

parkrun New Zealand set a new national record for the third time this year, more than double their highest turnout prior to 2024. 2/2

Bar graph of global 5k parkrun finishers by date

Bar graph of global 5k parkrun finishers by date

Table showing the 10 highest daily 5k parkrun attendances: Date parkrun Countries Events Finishers 17/01/2026 20 2,114 412,503 24/01/2026 20 2,038 399,580 19/04/2025 20 2,105 390,750 31/01/2026 20 2,042 385,873 03/05/2025 20 2,120 378,924 18/01/2025 20 2,040 378,030 12/04/2025 20 2,121 371,368 08/11/2025 20 2,222 371,353 18/10/2025 20 2,224 368,494 25/10/2025 20 2,220 368,192

Table showing the 10 highest monthly 5k parkrun attendances: Month parkrundays Events Finishes Sat Other January 2026 5 1 10,869 2,089,567 May 2025 5 2 10,626 1,812,514 August 2025 5 0 10,726 1,764,197 March 2025 5 0 10,211 1,742,121 November 2025 5 1 10,855 1,643,740 January 2020 4 2 7,442 1,566,513 December 2025 4 2 9,418 1,533,363 March 2024 5 0 9,624 1,507,535 August 2024 5 1 10,087 1,488,081 November 2024 5 1 9,895 1,486,731

Yesterday's global #parkrun attendance was the fourth highest ever, and we also saw over two million finishers in a calendar month for the first time. 1/2

Stacked bar graph of average Saturday parkrun finishers by month, stacked by country

Stacked bar graph of average Saturday parkrun finishers by month, stacked by country, with Northern Hemisphere countries above the x-axis and Southern Hemisphere countries below it

Despite icy weather in the UK affecting the first two weekends' totals, January's average Saturday turnout is the highest seen so far, driven mostly by large attendances in the Southern Hemisphere. 2/2

Bar graph of global 5k parkrun finishers by date

Bar graph of global 5k parkrun finishers by date

Table showing the 10 highest daily 5k parkrun attendances: Date parkrun Countries Events Finishers 17/01/2026 20 2,113 412,486 24/01/2026 20 2,024 399,166 19/04/2025 20 2,105 390,750 03/05/2025 20 2,120 378,924 18/01/2025 20 2,040 378,030 12/04/2025 20 2,121 371,368 08/11/2025 20 2,222 371,353 18/10/2025 20 2,224 368,494 25/10/2025 20 2,220 368,192 26/04/2025 20 2,086 367,185

Bar graph of parkrun South Africa finishers by date

Global #parkrun attendance almost passed 400k again yesterday, with parkrun South Africa once more seeing a new post-COVID record. 1/2

I stand corrected! I didn't realise that Durban Point and North Beach (3 km apart on the events map so way off my radar) actually overlap by ~100m (though the former's runners should all be through by the time the latter's reach the shared section).

Bar graph of parkrun New Zealand finishers by date

Bar graph of parkrun South Africa finishers by date

There was a new national record in New Zealand for the second week running, while South Africa passed 50k finishers for the first time since COVID. 2/2

Table showing the 10 highest daily 5k parkrun attendances: Date parkrun Countries Events Finishers 17/01/2026 20 2,104 412,258 19/04/2025 20 2,105 390,750 03/05/2025 20 2,120 378,924 18/01/2025 20 2,040 378,030 12/04/2025 20 2,121 371,368 08/11/2025 20 2,222 371,353 18/10/2025 20 2,224 368,494 25/10/2025 20 2,220 368,192 26/04/2025 20 2,086 367,185 11/10/2025 20 2,207 366,768

Bar graph of 5k parkrun finishers by date

Bar graph of 5k parkrun finishers by date

Yesterday saw a new global #parkrun attendance record, with over 400k finishers for the first time. 1/2

Holme Pierrepont #parkrun set an unenviable new record this morning, and also formed part of the new closest pair of events (but >6 km apart by foot at present).Though only if you go by pins on the events map - the 2 courses that get closest to each other are actually Atlasville and Homestead Lake.

26 out of 27 events were cancelled in the Netherlands, with a hardy 8 parkrunners finishing at Zuiderpark, Hoogeveen. This is the 89th instance of a single-digit national total, but the first since March 2020 (and first since 2016 excluding COVID restrictions). 2/2

Stacked area graph showing number of events run, cancellations, suspended and defunct events by date (suspended events are those that disappeared but later returned)

Bar graph of global 5k parkruns by date

Bar graph of parkrun New Zealand finishers by date

Bar graph of parkrun Singapore finishers by date

Thanks to Storm Goretti, yesterday saw a record number (630) of global #parkrun cancellations on a Saturday (excluding COVID and Christmas Day), and the lowest number of events (1,676) going ahead since the same weekend last year. There were new national records for New Zealand and Singapore. 1/2

Tables showing the five highest weekly 5k parkrun attendances, broken down by day of week

Bar graph of global 5k parkrun finishers by date

Bar graph of global 5k parkrun finishers by date

Despite icy weather in the UK reducing global numbers, it was still the third highest weekly total, and added to the previous week nearly 1.2 million finishers were recorded in the 10 days from Christmas Day - a new fortnightly record. 2/2

Stacked area graph showing Saturday parkrun attendances by parkrun country, with Northern Hemisphere countries above the x axis and Southern Hemisphere countries below it

Bar graph of parkrun Australia 5k finishers by date

Scatter graph showing each occasion a national Saturday parkrun record was set, colour-coded by country

Scatter graph with logarithmic y axis scale showing each occasion a national Saturday parkrun record was set, colour-coded by country

Yesterday was a tale of two #parkrun hemispheres - the SH had >150k finishers on one day for the first time with a massive new national record for Australia, while there were >450 cancellations in the NH (>30% of events). 1/2

Can confirm! Full roundup coming tomorrow...

When the ground says No. 😄 #parkrun

Table showing the number of 5k parkrundays by day of week by country

Table showing the number of 5k parkruns by day of week by country

Table showing the number of 5k parkrun finishes by day of week by country

Table showing the number of 5k parkrun dates, events and finishes by day of week

For the first time since 2007 (when parkrun was only in UK) there was at least one NYD parkrun in all current parkrun countries (20). Austria and Lithuania held their first ever non-Saturday events, and Canada and Singapore join 10 others in having run every day of the week. 2/2

Bar graph of global 5k parkrun finishers by date

Bar graph of global 5k parkrun finishers by date

Table showing 10 highest non-Saturday 5k parkrun attendances: Date parkrun Countries Events Finishers Notes 25/12/2025 5 743 236,844 01/01/2020 17 851 235,460 52,080 known NYD doubles 01/01/2026 20 1,178 231,782 25/12/2024 5 671 192,285 01/01/2019 16 689 180,571 38,176 known NYD doubles 01/01/2025 18 996 159,711 01/01/2024 17 927 147,023 25/12/2023 5 601 136,970 25/12/2019 8 470 120,939 01/01/2018 13 476 109,587 22,034 known NYD doubles

Bar graph showing New Year's Day 5k parkrun attendances from 2017 to 2026, including the numbers of parkrunners known to have recorded two results

Yesterday saw the most unique 5k #parkrun finishers on a New Year's Day (in 2020 at least 52k parkrunners recorded two results, as was allowed at the time). 1/2

Great way to start the second quarter of the century, stepping on a headless mouse on the stairs in my bare feet. Happy New Year everybody!

Only Connect - Series 19 Specials: 3. Boxing - Wrestlers v Arrowheads Another special edition of the quiz, hosted by Victoria Coren Mitchell, where knowledge only gets you so far. Two ‘sporting’ teams from previous series have returned to fight it out.

It was this one - a repeat. www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/epis...

Bar graph showing global 5k parkrun attendance by date

Bar graph showing global 5k parkrun attendance by date

Table showing the 10 highest daily global 5k parkrun attendances by month: Month Date parkrun Countries Events Finishers January 18/01/2025 20 2,040 378,030 February 01/02/2025 20 2,013 366,375 March 22/03/2025 20 2,091 357,555 April 19/04/2025 20 2,105 390,750 May 03/05/2025 20 2,120 378,924 June 14/06/2025 20 2,108 333,113 July 26/07/2025 20 2,139 337,506 August 30/08/2025 20 2,164 363,627 September 27/09/2025 19 2,183 363,204 October 18/10/2025 20 2,224 368,494 November 08/11/2025 20 2,222 371,353 December 27/12/2025 20 2,069 347,725

Five side by side tables showing the highest weekly 5k parkrun finishes. 22-28 December 2025 had 588,579 finishers (plus any pending results).

For the second weekend in a row, Saturday saw a new global #parkrun attendance record for December. The total attendance for the week was also a new global record.

Sorry, I don't have that level of data without scraping the website(s), and I don't do that,

Stacked bar graph showing 5k parkrun finishes by year and parkrun country

Also yesterday, parkrun UK passed 10 million finishes in a calendar year for the first time.