5k parkrun for a 5 year old

I discovered 5k parkruns after our daughter was born, and now we do them weekly together.

Our daughter started running 5k parkrun events when she was five years old. One of her favourite possessions in the world is her white 10 parkrun milestone t-shirt.

Before our daughter was due, I had never run any great distance. As an older parent, I knew that I would struggle to keep up with her if I didn't do something. So I started running. I did a slightly unconventional version of the Couch to 5k program without even knowing what it was. Later, I joined a running group and learned about parkrun. It was a slow start, with only one run every month or two for a few years. Then came the gap for lockdown. Our daughter cheered me on from the sidelines. She learned to walk and run, and she turned 4 during that time.

Junior parkruns are the younger siblings of the 5k parkruns. Each run is 2km, and children can participate from age 4. When our local junior parkrun resumed after lockdown, our daughter participated in her first run while holding my hand the entire way. She has since completed over 50 junior parkruns, gradually improving her time. Children can run with an adult or on their own. We expected her to run with me for years, but I wasn’t feeling well one Sunday and couldn't keep up with her. She finished a 2k run on her own that day and has been running them independently ever since.

However, after starting the 2k juniors, she realised she was missing out on the 5k. It took about a year, and one false start, to reach her first 5k parkrun. It is a significant distance for a 5-year-old, and it took some time to get there. She wasn't particularly keen on training runs and disliked the idea of alternating walking and running, but we took her out sometimes and gradually built up to 3k, then 4k. Unfortunately, she tried a 5k parkrun too early, dropped out, and we regressed a bit.

On a sunny day during a training run along a canal, she decided she wanted to go further to see more of the canal's natural surroundings. We ended up 3k away from our starting point. On the way back, walking and running, she struggled with the 4th and 5th kilometre. However, as soon as we passed 5k, she ran most of the 6th kilometre. The following Saturday, she completed her first 5k parkrun in the rain but was very happy.

We have never pressured her to run faster or push herself. She is entirely self-motivated. Before each race, she eats a bar of chocolate, which gives her energy, though I couldn't imagine doing the same. Unless there are hills, she runs the entire course. Her pace is incredibly consistent, so other runners often pass us on the first two laps, only to be overtaken by a small child on the last lap! If she's struggling, she talks it out. Occasionally, if she needs extra motivation, she'll even sing.

One of the most important lessons we have learned is to try to run every week. If she skips more than one week, it becomes much harder for her, and it takes a couple of weeks to recover her pace. If she only ran monthly, she would be much slower, struggle more, and not experience the joy she gets from regular runs.

A couple of times, she went a bit too fast and felt exhausted the next day. As she is under 11, she must run with an adult, so it has been easy to avoid this by limiting the pace to slightly better than her previous personal best while letting her pick any pace under that. I'm sure some people think I am checking my watch to ensure we are going fast enough, but it is to ensure we are not going too fast.

She still participates in junior parkrun every week as well. Initially, her 2k pace was slower than her 5k pace; she had done the 5k the day before and hadn't fully recovered. Now, she can achieve a personal best in both runs, one day after another. The new junior pace is reflected in the 5k pace a few weeks later.

Her best time is now three minutes slower than mine, which is getting scary. When I started running to improve my fitness, I imagined playful activity, not a challenge to keep up with her in parks across the country. However, her steady pace has made me a better runner, so I should be able to keep up for the next few months. After that, I'll really have to step up my game.

She loves the camaraderie of running with people she knows. She also enjoys visiting different parkruns and is up for the challenge of getting around all the Scottish parkruns, both junior and senior, in the next few years. Her mum occasionally joined her as a walker or runner but is a regular volunteer. We are incredibly grateful to all the volunteers who make parkrun happen and who are so lovely to our daughter when she is running.

Her white 10 milestone t-shirt is her pride and joy, but when she returns to school after summer, she wants to trade white for the purple 25 milestone t-shirt. At least that will be easier to keep clean.