Parkrun and the promotion of physical activity: insights for primary care clinicians from an online survey.

Background To support efforts to increase social prescribing and reduce levels of physical inactivity, parkrun UK and the Royal College of General Practitioners together developed the parkrun practice initiative to link general practices to local parkruns (free, weekly, timed, physical activity events). General practice staff are encouraged to take part in parkrun events themselves and to encourage patients to participate.

Aim To provide insights for primary care clinicians about parkrun participants (parkrunners), especially those with characteristics of patients who might be signposted to physical activity.

Design and setting Secondary analysis of an online survey of parkrunners in the UK.

Method Responders were ranked into 13 categories using mean parkrun finish time, allowing the following definitions: front runners; median runners; slower runners; runners/walkers; and walkers. Measures included demographics, health conditions, motives for first participating, and perceived impact on health and wellbeing.

Results The survey included 45 662 parkrunners. More than 9% of all participants and 45% of walkers were found to have at least one long-term health condition, including arthritis, obesity, depression, hypertension, chronic pain, anxiety, type 2 diabetes, and asthma. Walkers were less likely to be motivated by fitness or competition, and were more likely to be motivated by physical health. Despite these differences, perceived improvements to wellbeing were broadly similar for all parkrunners, regardless of their finishing time.

Conclusion Parkrunners are a diverse population in terms of their physical health. Information provided by this study could be combined with other research on the barriers to participation and successful brief interventions to help address the key issues of primary care clinicians’ knowledge and confidence about social prescribing to increase patients’ physical activity levels.