“Everyone Should Muck In”: A Qualitative Study of parkrun Volunteering and Conflicting Motivations

Abstract

This study looks at volunteering at parkrun, a weekly 5k run/walk event held at almost 2,000 different locations worldwide, which relies on volunteers. Despite large numbers of parkrunners, and an ethos encouraging occasional volunteering, some parkrunners do not volunteer which can lead to recruitment difficulties for events. Ten parkrunners were interviewed about volunteering to explore why there might be reluctance. Data were transcribed and analysed using thematic analysis, and three interlinked themes found: becoming "hooked" on parkrun, "obligation to give back", and "reluctance to miss a run".Conflict between obligation and a desire to run or walk led to strategic volunteering to facilitate both, despite this approach potentially challenging event delivery by leaving nonrun/walk roles uncovered. Findings indicate a complex and somewhat conflicting system of preference, intrapersonal and structural constraints, mutual aid and social exchange.Gamification and the triggering of reward mechanisms may be increasing motivation to run rather than volunteer.

The health benefits of volunteering at a free, weekly, 5 km event in the UK: A cross-sectional study of volunteers at parkrun

“…Our findings support previous parkrun volunteering research [13] which showed the primary motive for volunteering was to 'give something back'. Wiltshire and Stevinson [25] explored this through the lens of social capital (the resources and links that derive from contacts in society).…”

“…It is possible that RWV balance the cost of volunteering (a median of 2.4 times per year) with the reward of runs (a median of 11.1 times per year). Volunteering for RWV also provided an opportunity to still take part during injury, illness or rest days, which has been found in previous parkrun research [13].…”

“…Each event has a permanent core team of volunteers who are responsible for the delivery of events supported by a wider network of people who, episodically, carry out event day volunteering duties such as marshalling, timekeeping, scanning barcodes, handing out finish tokens or tail walking [12]. People can volunteer as often or as little as they like and there is no obligation to volunteer [13]. Each volunteering instance is recorded on the parkrun database and, like those who run/walk, volunteers are recognised as participants and given tshirt rewards when they reach certain milestones.…”

“…The public health impact of parkrun on runners has been studied by Stevinson et al [15] and Grunseit et al [16], though the impact of parkrun on its volunteers is less well understood. Hallett et al [13] studied runners and walkers at parkrun who also volunteered. Hallett et al found that those volunteered were older, had been registered with parkrun for longer and participated more often.…”

Predictors of successful return to parkrun for first-time adult participants in Scotland

“…In addition to physical health benefits, both participants and volunteers gain social network rewards from being part of the parkrun community [5,[21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28]. Engagement with parkrun has also been found to promote a more positive sense-of-self [29].…”