For some it’s an electronic training diary, for others it’s a way to be connected, but however you view it, (not)parkrun is a means to record a 5km in a Covid-safe environment.
Under current Covid-19 restrictions parkruns are unable to meet up in person and put on a free, weekly, timed 5km event.
(not)parkrun started in June 2020, but for most Kiwis it’s not been something they’ve taken part in until recently.
It launched just a couple of weeks before parkruns for real returned in July 2020.
When thrust into Level 4 lockdown last month it suddenly became something that could keep the community active, and even introduce a competitive spirit between some event teams.
Prolific
Aucklander Keith Procter has been logging his own 5km since (not)parkrun launched last year. He’s now logged more than 340.
“It makes sense to me, a no-brainer,” says the Cornwall Park parkrunner.
“I started in June last year and used it as a training diary. I stopped in June this year but then started again in lockdown.”
Keith started parkrunning at Cornwall Park’s inaugural in July 2012 and has achieved 210 parkrun finishes.
“Cornwall Park is five minutes from my house. I’ve got about half a dozen courses that I know are 5km so I do one of those each day, then on a Saturday I’ll go and run a freedom run of the parkrun course.
“Running (not)parkrun and logging them is a way to be connected. It’s a motivator too.”
New to parkrun
Apii Viti registered for parkrun last year and has walked four times and marshalled eight at Puarenga parkrun in Rotorua.
When it comes to (not)parkrun she’s more engaged, logging a (not)parkrun most days.
“I did my first one in the August lockdown of last year, but this time it’s different,” she says.
“Last August I wasn’t very well health wise and I needed to be active. This lockdown I’m in a better place and more disciplined.
“I like that I can do this in my own time, at any time of the day. It’s helping me feel connected to parkrun still even though we can’t meet up. I look at the results to see who else has logged a (not)parkrun.
“In the mornings I don’t always want to roll out of bed, but I do.
“I’m looking forward to parkrun coming back. I’ll keep the momentum going by walking 5km to parkrun and then volunteering.”
We’ve had things so easy in New Zealand compared to other parkrun countries, but that doesn’t mean to say your feelings towards this most recent lockdown are not valid.
We all respond in different ways. Your feelings may be different to mine, neither of us are wrong, our feelings are valid.
While we are on pause here are three tips I would like to share that may help you, or people you care about, in one way or another.
Connect with your tribe
Your nearest and dearest may not understand any grief you may be feeling towards a parkrun-free Saturday.
They may have apathy, or they may be enjoying your company on a Saturday morning.
Find people who understand how you’re feeling to talk this through. It may be a parkrun facebook group or you might need a trained counsellor. In New Zealand that’s a free call or text to 1737.
Stay active
It goes without saying that exercise can help stay positive, even if you don’t get a token and scan your barcode afterwards (maybe you could play parkrun at home?).
Being active doesn’t mean a 5km run each day, but if you do cover 5km you can record it as a (not)parkrun.
Try a minimum 2km walk and see how you go. The fresh air can do wonders.
Please make sure you stick to public health guidelines where you live.
Choose your challenge
Lockdown has proven to be a time when people take up new skills, or master skills they already have.
But if you want to binge watch a Netflix series, or read an author’s back catalogue then do that.
You could also look ahead to when parkrun is back to normal and plan a parkrun adventure.
What are you doing to look after yourself during this current pause?
Balclutha comes from the Scottish Gaelic for Town on the Clyde (Baile Cluaidh). The town was founded by Scottish settlers who named the river for Glasgow’s River Clyde.
Blenheim was originally known as Beaverton but was renamed Blenheim after the Battle of Blenheim (1704), where troops led by John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough defeated a combined French and Bavarian force. Its Māori name is Waiharakeke, meaning flax stream.
Cornwall Park has undergone a few name changes. It was Mt Prospect Estate, then in 1853 One Tree Hill Estate.
It was renamed in 1901 in honour of the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall and York, who were visiting at the time. Its Māori name is Maungakiekie, meaning mountain of the kiekie vine.
The name Dunedin comes from Dùn Èideann, the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. The city was founded by The Lay Association of the Free Church of Scotland.
The original European owner of the land that became the Flaxmere township, Sir William Russell called his estate Flaxmere. Subdivision that created the township began in 1963. It’s known to Māori as Paharakeke, harakeke is New Zealand flax.
Gisborne was originally known as Turanga and renamed Gisborne in 1870 in onour of New Zealand Colonial Secretary William Gisborne. Its Māori name is Tūranga-nui-a-Kiwa, meaning Great standing place of Kiwa.
This parkrun is a trail connecting Greytown and Woodside and is the site of an old railway line. Greytown was named after Governor Sir George Grey, who arranged for the land to be bought from local Māori. Woodside is the name of the railway station.
Hamilton was named after an English ship captain, John Charles Fane Hamilton, who was killed during the Battle of Gate Pa in Tauranga in 1864. Its name in Māori is Kirikiriroa, meaning “long stretch of gravel” in reference to an area on the west bank of the Waikato River.
There are two other parkruns using the name Hamilton, the others are Hamilton parkrun in Hamilton, Victoria, Australia, and Hamilton Island parkrun in Hamilton Island, Queensland, Australia.
In 1853, the Crown bought 600 acres on this Auckland peninsula from Ngati Whatua and renamed the area from Onekiritea to Port Hobsonville after Captain William Hobson, the first Governor of New Zealand.
Inver comes from the Scottish Gaelic word inbhir meaning a river’s mouth and Cargill is in honour of Captain William Cargill, who was at the time the Superintendent of Otago, of which Southland was then a part.
The coast is named after Kāpiti Island. The name Kāpiti is an abbreviation of the Māori Te Waewae-Kāpiti-o-Tara-raua-ko-Rangitane or the junction line of the boundaries between the Ngai Tara and Rangitane tribal lands.
The river Hutt is named after one of the founding members, director and chairman of the New Zealand Company, Sir William Hutt. The urban area is divided into Upper Hutt and Lower Hutt. Before it was given a colonial name, the Hutt River was known to Māori as Te Awakairangi, meaning esteemed or precious.
Millwater is a new suburb of Auckland. In 2005 a number of themes were developed for naming the area. The name Millwater combined an element of history (milling Kauri) with the area’s predominant geographical asset, water, which was used to transport the timber;
Owairaka is in the Auckland suburb of Mount Albert, which was named after Queen Victoria’s consort, Prince Albert. The Māori name for the peak is Ōwairaka, which means Place of Wairaka; she was the daughter of Toroa, the commander of one of the great voyaging canoes, Mātaatua.
On foundation, the British settlement was bestowed the name Palmerston, in honour of Viscount Palmerston, a former British Prime Minister. The suffix North was added in 1871 to distinguish the settlement from Palmerston in the South Island.
The Pegasus was the name of the sailing ship which surveyed Pegasus Bay and other parts of the South Island in 1809. The township is named after the bay.
Puarenga comes from the Māori for “flowers of sulphur”. The stream is called this after the petal-like sulphur particles that sometimes float on the surface.
There are lots of theories but it was most likely named after Cobh in the Republic of Ireland which in 1849 was renamed Queenstown in honour of Queen Victoria (Cobh reverted to its current name in 1920 during the Irish War of Independence). Its Māori name is Tāhuna, meaning shallow bay.
Sherwood Reserve is part of Brown’s Bay, which was named after the area’s earliest settlers, Peter and Mary Brown. They purchased 136 acres of land in 1876, which they developed into a farm, complete with orchard and apiary.
Sherwood Reserve adjacent to Freyberg Park was formed during the 1970s when the surrounding land was subdivided for residential use, I have been unable to find a reason behind its name.
The name Taupo, by which the town is commonly known, is the shortened version of its Māori name, Taupō-nui-a-Tia. Literally translated, Taupō-nui-a-Tia means “The great cloak of Tia”; the explorer Tia discovered the lake.
Named after the university in which grounds this parkrun is held. The name Waikato originated during the voyage of the Tainui canoe, which had journeyed from Polynesia. Arriving just off the mouth of the river, the crew remarked upon the kato (the pull of the river current in the sea) and thereafter the name Waikato (wai meaning water) was given to the river.
After colonisation, the area was part of a block of land farmed by William Motion, a Scottish settler. The area was called Western Springs to differentiate it from the springs in the Auckland Domain to the east of the town.
There are several histories that describe how Whāngārei was named. One is to lie in wait, another is to gather. Ngātiwai named the harbour Whangarei-te-rerenga-parāoa (the gathering place of whales) because whales gathered there to feed during summer. Another interpretation is that the harbour was a gathering place for chiefs.
Another suggestion is the full name was either Te Whanga-o-Reitū or Te Whanga-o-Reipae.
One meaning of whanga is harbour; these names mean the harbour of Reitū, or the harbour of Reipae. Two sisters, Reitū and Reipae, flew from Waikato in the form of two birds. Reipae stayed at the Kaipara. Reitū flew on and was seduced by Manaia in the harbour that bears her name. A variation of this tradition is that Reitū and Reipae arrived on the back of a single bird and that Reipae married Tāhuhu-pōtiki there.
The final suggestion is Whangarei-o-te-tohorā.
This name means “waiting for the breastbone of the whale”. One tradition refers to an incident where a young tohunga attempted to trick an older tohunga into revealing his highest knowledge. The master tohunga rebuffed his inquiries, saying, ‘E whanga nei i te rei o te tohorā?’ – Are you waiting (whanga) for the opportunity to extract the breastbone (rei) of the whale (tohorā)?
This list is compiled by stalking event facebook pages and volunteer rosters for Christmas and New Year runs. I don’t take any responsibility for an event not listed.
This will be updated regularly but any event not declared by December 13 will be assumed as not hosting a special event. Please check event pages for late cancellations.
