Parkrunners Assemble - reviving the thread that will remind you "do not forget you barcode"

First time giving out tokens for me today. It was more full on than I expected. Good though. Great weather for it.

4th Parkrun. New extra cushioned shoes felt good. Going from dirt tracks and grass to hard gravel was really hurting my legs but the shoes seemed to have ended that issue.

50 seconds off my time.

And that's a pb for me this morning. I last did that course in 2018. I know why I've only done it twice!

Very envious - sounds amazing!

Juniors is always fun to volunteer at. The speedy ones crack on and are done in about 8 minutes. The stragglers are adorable spudding along at the end, they (and their parents) always appreciate marshall encouragement.

I volunteer now and again at the main park run and the junior one. Junior is lovely, very friendly and great to see the kids out running. It's also a lot quicker time wise than the main one, so very little time needed. I much prefer marshalling at the junior as it's great giving the little kids encouragement, although do enjoy it at the adult one too. Sometimes our junior one doesn't go ahead due to lack of volunteers, so I'm sure they'd appreciate you!

All the jobs are pretty straightforward and they explain what to do, or you get partnered with someone who has done it before

Agree that juniors on Sunday is a lovely place to volunteer. Our event has a friendly team and we always need marshals - it is genuinely joyous seeing the youngsters go round the course ☺️

You would be very welcome at junior parkrun, as we need more volunteers than the 5k one (as explained by a previous poster) and although parents attend junior parkruns, it is difficult to get them to volunteer. Many run with their child or have younger children to look after or don't want to stay until the end, if their child has finished early or can't commit in advance, as they don't know if their child will want to attend that weekend. At least 80% of our regular volunteers have no personal connection to the participants.
Volunteering is fun. You'll meet new people and find it's good for the soul! And you'll be finished by 09:45!

They would be really pleased to have you at junior parkrun and/or on a Saturday. The Saturday parkruns sometimes have trouble recruiting because people want to run and the Sunday parkruns because people without children are less aware although sometimes parents get involved on Sundays I guess as well.

Go onto the parkrun’s website where you are interested in volunteering and click on the volunteering page and look at the future roster. There is also a page about the different roles. On the roster page you will see where there are gaps to be filled. Although you can always double up roles and if you’re nervous for the first time you could ask to do a role with somebody else. Once you have decided when you could volunteer and what you would like to do, email the parkrun - the email address is on that volunteer page. Include your barcode number so that they can find you easily on the system. if you follow the link from a result you have received it will automatically fill the subject line with your barcode number. You can also opt in to receive emails appealing for volunteers from a particular event and there is a link to that in the email you get thanking you for volunteering or you can do this on the website if you login. You can volunteer weeks in advance if you want to.

There is no should about volunteering but hopefully you will like doing it anyway. The run director on the day will know it’s your first time and will give you lots of help. Marshalling is probably the most straightforward role but most of the roles are reasonably simple, especially if you have been to the course before. For barcode scanning and timekeeping you need to download the parkrun volunteer app. There are usually two timekeepers so if it goes wrong, it will be ok. There are roles that you can do as well as running if you want to for example the first timers welcome, pre-event set up and token sorting. if you are a fast runner, you can barcode scan afterwards. The parkwalkers and tail walkers get a participation credit as well as a volunteer credit.

It is a really good way to get to know people a bit better at parkrun and feel more of a part of things.

To follow more practically, it will differ event to event but at our local volunteers arrive by 8.30 to get their hi-vis and any specific instructions.

If you're brand new to volunteering and nervous then tell the RD that at the point you volunteer and I'm sure they'll allocate you an easy / low pressure role.

Again may not be the same for all events but our team keep their volunteer roster pretty up to date so you can look via their web page at what's available on the dates you're free and email / Facebook message to be added.

@PolkadotsAndMoonbeams It depends on the role! Marshalling is easy, bar code scanning fine, timekeeping I've never done as it would give me anxiety! Tailwalking or Parkwalking you still get a run credit if you're working towards a milestone.

I can only speak for our local runs but Marshalls are more sought after at Junior Parkrun as they need more to be able to go ahead. Our adult run can get by with just two marshalls at critical points, but 4+ is preferred. At junior the runners always need to be in sight of a marshall, no blind spots.

Could somebody give me a little bit of information about volunteering? I've done enough runs now that I should.

I'm sure everybody will be very nice, I'd just like to have an idea in advance of what the first time volunteering might be like.

I have a couple of busy Saturdays but could volunteer at the junior one on Sunday sooner, but I don't know if that's a good alternative — would I be more useful volunteering at a normal one?

Lithuania launched today and we were there. It was great!

Had a good run at my home parkrun today - managed a sub 30 min parkrun for the first time in over 3 months :)

I had a lovely morning mentoring a new volunteer and then running and coffee after at my home parkrun.

I got another stopwatch bingo yesterday 😃. Just four to go now. A beautiful morning for it at my home parkrun.

Did my 150th yesterday and first run for a while. Treated myself to my 50 milestone notch (I already have my 100). Not very fast - planning to up the training now the kids are back at school.

Headed north to visit my parents and stopped off at Rushcliffe. Absolutely lovely course and my fastest parkrun since March.

Second Parkrun on the weekend. I was well prepared. They called a minute to go and I redid my laces to be extra certain they were good...snap! I managed to thread it through the top holes and left the middles ones with a big gap of no laces. It held. 1 minute 45 seconds off my time.

They ran out of pens by the time I finished! They were just scanning barcodes

I was pleased to be at Bushy yesterday but have to say I'm pleased it's not like that every week! By the time I was in the funnel they were writing numbers on people's hands, as they were out of tokens and raffle tickets. Everyone was brilliant though - the run director kept his cool (how?) and the volunteers just got on with it. Huge respect to everyone.

Wow @SouthCountryGirl Bushy looked like an awesome experience on the socials. Good luck to the results processors today.

I was on my RD duties at my local. Beautiful morning for it yesterday and a reasonable turnout considering Bushy’s 1000th and the Oasis sale.

Can you spot yourself South?

www.instagram.com/reel/C_VSRsZNkKg/?igsh=MWYya2NwMHRsbjR2Mw==