Parkrun: The people who run the world one letter at a time

Frank McLoughlin’s first Parkrun was in Malahide in 2013 and he seldom ventured outside Dublin for years.

He has gone from being “dragged” by his daughter to rising in the middle of the night in time to catch a red eye flight to reach a start line somewhere in the world by 9am.

He has visited many places he said he would never have considered before.

“Namibia is a beautiful place, the desert runs into the sea. And Eswatini had the friendliest people, they were so nice and delighted to see tourism,” he said.

“Singapore is one the most fascinating places I’ve been to, but would it have ever been on my radar? Definitely not.”

He added that his holidays can revolve around Parkrun.

“Last night I was sitting here and I said I think I’m going to go to Boston for Thanksgiving, so four of us booked. We will have a few days in Boston but the starting point was Parkrun.”

Frank always planned to go to South America when he turned 60.

“I realised when I had done everything I wanted in South America, I could have two weeks left. I could go to South Africa or Australia, but it was cheaper to have five days in Japan and five in Singapore,” he said.

“But that entailed leaving my hotel in Buenos Aires at 5am on a Wednesday, flying to Lima, then New York, then Tokyo, then Kumamoto and getting two buses, all for a Parkrun beginning with the letter Y.”

While people sometimes question the expense, Frank said he spends his socialising money on Parkrun.

“I’m not as mad as some people think I am,” he added.