Parkrun, as a walker, with even slower DH

It doesn’t sounds like someone waiting for a joint replacement is really suited to park run.
Surely there are better less stressful options to keep moving but at his own pace?

My friend volunteers and finds the walkers frustrating. She wants to get home! Just go for a walk somewhere instead. Or you could do Couch to 5k and work up to running it. The Parkrun I go to does have some people who do a mix of running and walking, but no one who walks the whole thing.

We have quite a few walkers too and the support they get is lovely. Just do your best, pick a parkrun with solve longer finish times, and worry case you can always drop out if you're worried you're taking too long. Don't forget to scout out a cafe for after 😊

I think you can look up finishing times online, maybe look up your nearest one and see what sort of parkrun it is? If it’s a fast one maybe just go out for some walks together till you’re confident you’ll be in ballpark. Alternatively councils or your local NHS might run healthy walking groups nearby…

If you wanted to find out more you could look at the results times as a pp said, and then also contact the parkrun Run Director via a Facebook page or email to say you are hoping to come as a first timer, you will be walking.
The vast vast majority of events are friendly and welcome to every participant, no matter what pace.
I'd also say don't worry if you don't feel you can complete the whole 5k your first time! It's not a short distance. So even if you go for a few times to get a feel for how it works and what the event is like and only do a couple of km, that's not a problem at all, you won't get told off or anything.

Our final finisher this week was well over an hour, and the week before that had taken even longer. We all waited, clapped them over the line, and were happy for them that they’d achieved the distance.

Not all will be like that, but our local one is genuinely open to all.

Also, who needs to run at 9am on a weekend? Pick a time that suits you.

Honestly I'd go for a walk/run yourselves.

Yes, there's a tailwalker, but it's still very clear who is at the back!

I didn't find the one I went to particularly welcoming either - even the kids one I volunteered at for about a year was cliquey as fuck.

There’s a volunteer led walking group at mine which is well attended and very welcome. All sorts of paces of walking.

Plenty of walkers at mine, and every week we go over the hour.
A good idea might be to look at the results- each week they are published on the website- then you can see where you might be coming in.

Was coming to say the same thing. They vary.

There are no walkers at mine and the volunteers would want to get going and have to pack up the gear.

My local parkrun requires them to pack up the signage by 10am as there's other users

You can walk but be aware that the volunteers do want to pack up. The walkers normally finish in about 50 mins. Perhaps do one lap at first or try a gentle jog?

I'd say it depends on the parkrun. I'd read that they are open to all, people will be slow, it's very friendly, etc. so that was my expectation. That wasn't my experience with my local one. I was very much one of the stragglers at around 35 minutes. I didn't find it friendly. There were no walkers. Hopefully others are more open to all comers.

You can walk, run, walk/run, hop… it’s open to all. Doesn’t matter if you’re slower or faster - there’s a volunteer who tailwalks at every Parkrun so there’s always someone at the back for company and no need to worry about taking ‘too long’ or anything like that 😊

Don’t forget your barcodes, and only go through the finish funnel once - so if you finish before your DH and decide to go and find him and walk with him for a bit, once you get to the finish you peel off and go around the finish funnel. Otherwise it messes up the timings. And although it’s not a race, if you know you’re going to be walking then hang back a little at the start, let the faster ones go then you won’t have to worry about them diving past you.

You’ll be fine - enjoy it! I volunteered at my local one last week, and no matter how fast or slow someone was, everyone was supported and applauded and everyone was doing their best.

I'd be interested in responses too as I didn't know you could take part as a walker.