Full house of parkruns for Kerry Constant for second year in a row...

Kerry Constant is a regular at many of the road races and parkruns in Co Cork. In 2024, Kerry managed to do all the available dates for 5k parkruns for the year i.e. all of the usual Saturdays plus the extra ones on New Year's Day and Christmas Day which makes 54 in total.

The 54 parkruns for 2024 were scattered across the UK and Ireland in 22 separate venues.

Kerry has now repeated the feat for 2025 with another streak of 54 parkruns!

The 54 parkruns for 2025 were at 23 different locations including 9 in Killarney, 7 in Youghal, 6 in Midleton, 6 in Tralee and 5 in Ballincollig.

As of the end of 2025, Kerry also has 218 volunteer credits to his name.

600th edition for the Malahide parkrun

The very first 5k parkrun in Ireland was held in Waterworks, Belfast on the 6th of November 2010. The first one in Dublin was held two years later in Malahide on the 10th of November 2012.

The 600th edition of the Malahide parkrun was held on Saturday 8th November 2025 and the numbers for each week over the last 13-years is shown above.

It was getting roughly 350 per week early on and that dropped a bit a few years later as more parkruns started in Dublin. At the moment, it's getting about 300 per week.

The fact that Malahide has been going for so long has allowed some people to clock up an impressive number of parkruns.

Monica Flangan was the first person in the 26-counties to reach the 500 mark and get the blue milestone t-shirt. She completed #500 at the Malahide parkrun in March of 2024.

All going well, we should see the first blue 500 t-shirt in Cork in late 2026.

Half a million people are registered for parkrun in Ireland

Parkrun Ireland have just announced that they have just reached the 500,000 registrations mark!

The very first 5k parkrun in Ireland was in Belfast in November of 2010. Two years later, the first one in Dublin was the Malahide parkrun took place in November 2012. The very first 5k in Cork started in Macroom in May of 2013.

Since those early days, parkrun has been growing strongly and there are now usually over 1000 runners and walkers at the eleven 5k events in Co Cork every Saturday morning.

Of all the multitude of initiatives that Sport Ireland help fund, this one is certainly one of the most significant.

HSE podcast about parkrun - Fitness, Fun & Friendship

The HSE recently released a podcast in which Eamon Keogh talks to Jenny Branigan of parkrun Ireland and Katie Dillon Keane, HSE Health Promotion Officer about the benefits of parkrun.

"In this episode of the HSE Talking Health and Wellbeing Podcast, we talk about parkrun, a free, volunteer-led, 5k and 2k events that take place in open spaces every weekend around Ireland. This HSE supported initiative encourages people of all ages to come together to run, walk and talk.

We talk about the origins of parkrun and how it has gone from strength to strength, with over 14,000 participants weekly and over 10% of the population registered, it is a community initiative which is open to all ages.

Jenny Branigan, parkrun, Territory Manager, Republic of Ireland, talks about the parkrun experience, how it is volunteer-led and that everyone is made to feel welcome. She stresses that parkrun is a free, fun event to be enjoyed by people of all ages and at their own pace. She also acknowledges the supportive role the HSE has played over many years through funding and also through the many volunteers who give up their time to organise events across the country. Katie Dillon Keane, HSE Health Promotion Officer, talks to us about the benefits and importance of physical activity and also shares her thoughts and experiences of being a volunteer with parkrun."

Parkrun Ireland is 10-Years old

Coming up this Saturday (12th). Check out the number of registered parkrunners in Ireland!

The first parkrun in ROI was Malahide parkrun on the Saturday 10 November 2012. The community has grown rapidly over the last ten years to become the largest per capita globally.

Currently, we have: 

356,080 parkrunners registered in Ireland

held 27,159 events across the 10 years

seen 2,498898 parkruns completed 

filled 344,644 volunteer roles

106 5k events

30 junior events

Three events in custodial setting 

37 events linked to GP practices for social prescribing 

But the greatest achievement is the creation of a wonderful inclusive community building social cohesion and improving public health. 

You can find details about the 5k parkruns in Cork HERE

Some 5k parkruns can return on the 11th of September 2021

parkrun Ireland is the parent body for 5k parkruns in Ireland and in the last few days, they announced that some parkruns can return on the 11th of September.

"With current government guidelines in Ireland allowing for gatherings of up to 500 people in open spaces such as parks, we are delighted to be able to announce that some 5k events in Ireland will restart from Saturday 11 September."

They are currently in contact with the local organising teams of 48 5k events around the country about restarting. More 5k parkruns are likely to restart in the weeks that follow.

They also announced that all children aged 11-14 will be able to record a walk, jog or run at all junior parkrun events in Ireland from Sunday 12 September.

At the moment, it looks as if the 5k parkruns in Macroom and Mallow will be restarting on the 11th of September.

The 5k parkruns in Waterford City (nature reserve), Tralee and Clonmel are also restarting on that date.

Update: I am told that the Glen River and Ballincollig 5k parkruns will return as well.

Parkrun Ireland and VHI annouce sponsorship deal

While the numbers at some road races in Ireland are in decline or flat, 5k parkruns seem to be going from strength to strength. Earlier this week, parkrun Ireland announced a sponsorship deal with VHI.

Key points :
1) 55 running events to be held weekly in Ireland in 2017.
2) 5 year sponsorship
3) Development of junior parkrun which are 2k runs for 4-14 year olds. There are currently 4 junior parkruns in Ireland and the plan is to roll out more.
4) 5,000 people take pat in parkrun in Ireland every week.
5) Almost 80,000 people registered with parkrun Ireland.

See below...

parkrun Ireland and Vhi Announce Ground Breaking 5-year Partnership

Some stats for Parkrun in Ireland...

Last weekend, Parkrun Ireland released some data which showed the number of people that turned out for the various 5k parkruns last Saturday, the 10th of January 2015. I took this info and produced a simple chart below which shows the numbers in the 26 counties shown in order of size. While the numbers might change from week to week, it does give an indication of relative size.

As expected, the largest events were in Dublin but it's a bit of a suprise just how big they actually are. Three of them had over 300 people in each one and this is for an event with no entry fee. Contrast that to races in the Phoenix Park that charge €20-€30 for the same distance.

You can also see the three parkruns in Co.Cork......Macroom, Clonakilty and Bere Island.....and how they compare to the rest.

Two other figures to note are Kilkenny with about 150 and Clarisford which is about 14 miles NE of Limerick City with about 140. Both of these are near or in large population centres.

Just how big would a 5k parkrun in or near Cork City be? Considering the population, at least 200 a week might not be a bad guess.

Update on parkrun numbers in Cork...

Way back in August of 2011, I had a post up about 5k parkruns in Britain and asking if they would spread to Ireland. Fast forward to today and there are now 23 parkruns in Ireland with large clusters in and around Dublin and Belfast.

There are now 3 in Co.Cork....Macroom, Clonakilty and Bere Island. The Macroom one started in mid-2013, the Clonakilty one at the start of 2014 and the one on Bere Island in the autumn of 2014. You can see the numbers below....

The parkrun in Macroom has dropped back from the initial 60 or so per week down to about 40.

Clonakilty has also dropped a bit and is now getting about 20-30 per week.

Bere Island despite its remote location gets about 20 or so per week. A visitor wrote a short review of it recently in this magazine.

There is no entry fee for any of these 5k parkruns and the only requirement is that you must be registered. You just need to print out a bar code and bring it along to any event you want to do. Each parkrun is run by volunteers who take turns organising the event.

Elsewhere in Munster, a new parkrun started up in Clarisford, Co.Clare in late October. They've been getting very good numbers...roughly 70 per week...which may well be due to the proximity to Limerick City. On the 24th of January, a new parkrun will be starting in Tralee, Co.Kerry which will be a welcome development for runners there.

Will we see a few more new ones in Cork & Munster in 2015???

If you want to find out more about parkruns then visit the Irish website... http://www.parkrun.ie/

Clonakilty Park Run looking for volunteers...

Following the success of the first Park Run in Clonakilty last Saturday, the organisers are now appealing for people to come forward and offer to help at future events.

All Park Runs are run on a voluntary basis and it is the fact that people volunteer their time that makes them a success. The idea is that if people do these on a regular basis then they should help out occasionally. The more people that help out then it lightens the workload and adds to the success of the event.

If you can help out at the Clonakilty Park Run then send them an e-mail... clonakiltyhelpers@parkrun.com

Time for Parkruns in Cork???

Parkruns...what are they? Basically, they are free 5 km races which take place in parks during the weekends. Each race is timed and takes place on a variety of surfaces...from urban parks, country parks and seaside promenades to nature reserves, woodland and open fields.

Back in August 2011, I had a post up about Parkruns in the UK and I asked the question if they should be in Ireland. The first event started in the UK in 2004 and by mid 2011, it had grown to around 80 events and had spread to Belfast as well. Towards the end of 2012, one started in Malahide in Dublin and there is another one in the pipeline for Marley Park.

So is it time for a Parkrun in Cork?

From what I understand....
1) Each Parkrun costs some €7,000 to set up (one off cost for equipment, etc). The Parkrun organisation itself may fund 50% of this leaving the local organising group to find €3,500.
2) Expressions of interest have already been recieved from groups in North Cork and Clonakilty.
3) There may be grants available from local sports partnerships.

It's pretty obvious that considering the initial costs and the limited number of grants available that the most obvious place for a Parkrun is in Cork City itself. Once the novelty of the event dies off and it becomes a regular feature then it needs to be near a large population source for it to be a success.

What are the options?

The Cork BHAA have a 5 km route in Mahon that could be used straight away. Perhaps once the Tramore Valley Park opens, it could then be transferred there?

The big issue now is for some group to organise it. Maybe one of the athletic clubs or several of the clubs taking turns? Maybe a group of individuals?

If you are interested then contact Matt Shields at matt@parkrun.com

ParkRun Ireland have a website at http://www.parkrun.ie/