Strava, the online network for athletes, have partnered with parkrun, organisers of free weekly 5k runs in parks across the globe
Photo © Andy Waterman
The partnership will see integration between the UK’s two largest running communities, helping parkrunners find and connect with other runners in their local area, as well as tracking their own performance and improvement using Strava’s tools for athletes, including Segments.
The parkrun website will allow parkrunners to connect their Strava account with their parkrun profile, allowing them to identify fellow Strava athletes by way of a Strava badge next to their names in the parkrun results table. This connection will help parkrunners follow and connect with each other using Strava’s social functionality.
For parkrunners, Strava’s segment functionality helps members analyse their performance during every stage of their run, and track improvement via Personal Records and comparison with other runners using Leaderboards. Strava’s training tools and community helps members analyse and improve, whatever their ability.
Paul Sinton-Hewitt, founder of parkrun, said: “We’re really proud to have an amazing community of runners of all abilities, culminating in tens of thousands of runners participating at parkrun each weekend. We think Strava is a brilliant network for parkrunners to get social, learn from and encourage each other all-year-round. It’s a wonderful tool to help with self improvement for those looking to get that next PB.”
Gareth Nettleton, Director of International Marketing at Strava, said: “As keen parkrunners ourselves, we think Strava is a great way to find and keep up to date with likeminded runners in your area, as well as using our online network to analyse and improve training and performance. We think it’s really exciting for two running communities to join together and commit to serve the running community better together.”
Millions of athletes use Strava globally. parkrun has over 1 million registered runners, with 543 events held every week. 7 million runs have been recorded by parkrun, with the events attracting everyone from first timers to Olympians and professional athletes. Steve Way, 10th place finisher at the 2014 Commonwealth Games for England, is a regular at Poole parkrun and a Strava member.
“I’ve just started using Strava to log my runs and that’s a whole new community for me to get involved with. It’s quite interesting, bringing the stats - which I love - and the community together in one place, and getting the immediate feedback I now get on my training runs,” said Way.
Strava is the online network that connects the global community of athletes. Founded in 2009, millions of athletes have joined Strava for the competition and camaraderie found in tracking and sharing their fitness activities.
Strava’s free mobile apps and website help members discover and plan workouts, record and share activities, and analyse and compare performance. Strava’s ability to connect athletes around the world makes fitness a more social experience, providing extra motivation even when training alone.
Photos © Andy Waterman
For more information, please visit www.strava.com/parkrun
Find out more about parkrun at www.parkrun.com
