The survey findings are based on over 75,000 responses from parkrunners, and follows a previous survey in 2018 which also showed that more people who volunteer at parkrun feel an improved sense of happiness compared to those who only walk or run.
parkrun is the world’s biggest physical activity movement, and the research was commissioned to quantify the health and wellbeing benefits of participating in the free, weekly, timed 5k events.
Conducted independently by Sheffield Hallam University’s Advanced Wellbeing Research Centre (AWRC), the survey was sent to all individuals who had participated in at least one 5k parkrun between October 2023 and October 2024 over the age of 18, resulting in 76,589 survey returns.
After participating at parkrun:
- 90% of all respondents reported a sense of personal achievement
- 88% reported improvements to their fitness
- 85% reported improvements to their physical health
- 79% reported improvements to their mental wellbeing
- 81% reported improvements to their happiness
Those who also volunteer reported an 86% improvement to their happiness, compared to 79% for respondents who run or walk only.
The survey also showed that 23% of parkrunners have a health condition, with over 45% of them being impacted daily by their conditions. The five most commonly reported health conditions reported were Anxiety Disorder, Depression, Asthma, High Blood Pressure and Arthritis.
More than 80% of participants with a health condition reported an improvement on their physical health and 80% reported an improvement on their mental wellbeing because of running/walking at parkrun.
Professor Steve Haake from Sheffield Hallam University’s Advanced Wellbeing Research Centre said: “This new survey reiterated what we found six years previously – that parkrun improves the quality of life of parkrunners not just from running and walking, as you would expect, but also from volunteering. parkrun improves both the physical and mental health of parkrunners and contributes very effectively to the government’s current commitment to prevention of chronic disease and the desire to keep people healthy.”
