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On Every Saturday; A celebration of the people, stats and stories behind parkrun in Australia
From its first Australian event on the Gold Coast in 2011, parkrun has grown to over 400 Australian locations with nearly a million registered participants. In its first ten years, Australian parkrunners completed an astonishing 9,810,901 parkrun at an amazing 78,533 events.
On Every Saturday celebrates Australia’s first ten parkrun years. This beautiful, full-colour book outlines parkrun’s history, in Australia and across the world, provides examples of Australia’s amazing parkruns and the people who’ve created them, explains how easy it is to become involved, and highlights the stats and stories behind individual parkruns all across the country.
It's a celebration of community and the spirit of 'getting out there' which, as Peter FitzSimons notes, 'is dinkum taking Australia by storm'.
On Every Saturday celebrates Australia’s first ten parkrun years. This beautiful, full-colour book outlines parkrun’s history, in Australia and across the world, provides examples of Australia’s amazing parkruns and the people who’ve created them, explains how easy it is to become involved, and highlights the stats and stories behind individual parkruns all across the country.
It's a celebration of community and the spirit of 'getting out there' which, as Peter FitzSimons notes, 'is dinkum taking Australia by storm'.
- GenresNonfictionHealth
304 pages, Paperback
Published November 9, 2021
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
December 2, 2021
This was okay but somewhat repetitive. I found myself skimming it, as I had read much of it elsewhere. It would be an interesting read for starters to Parkrun. It was nice to see a couple of names of people I have met on my Parkrun travels included in the tables.
Also, in future editions, it would be nice to have captions to photos to know where they were taken.
Also, in future editions, it would be nice to have captions to photos to know where they were taken.
April 17, 2022
Lovely overview of the first 10 years of parkrun in Australia. As an avid parkrunner, I enjoyed reading about a number of courses that I haven't completed. It also gives a good introduction to what parkrun is for beginners. Highly recommend.
February 2, 2022
I am a parkrun addict so I thoroughly enjoyed this book.
December 1, 2021
I normally read every word in a book but I found myself skimming a lot with On Every Saturday.
The main section where a small portion of Australia’s 400ish events are profiled contained a lot of repetitive foundation stories that could have been consolidated into a short chapter on how to establish a parkrun, which I’m sure some people would find interesting. I found the subjective superlatives tedious, “so and so reckons this is the most scenic parkrun in Australia“ and the table of stats of all the fast runners at the end of each profile really contradicted the repeated message that “it‘s not about running, it’s about the community“. I would have far rather seen more events profiled with a focus on what is interesting about each course and its local community, though I did really enjoy the “when to visit” paragraphs.
Then there were large swathes of text copied from the parkrun websites, along with tables of statistics that were probably out of date by the time they were published. Yawn.
parkrun founder Sir Paul Sinton-Hewitt's Albert Medal speech was inspirational; I don’t know why it was included verbatim though. You can watch it here: https://youtu.be/jcDrDFWLu64 (and I encourage you to do so).
I enjoyed reading some of the interviews with the Event Directors and other personalities but for my money “parkrun: Much More than Just a Run in the Park” by Debra Bourne was a much more interesting read: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...
The main section where a small portion of Australia’s 400ish events are profiled contained a lot of repetitive foundation stories that could have been consolidated into a short chapter on how to establish a parkrun, which I’m sure some people would find interesting. I found the subjective superlatives tedious, “so and so reckons this is the most scenic parkrun in Australia“ and the table of stats of all the fast runners at the end of each profile really contradicted the repeated message that “it‘s not about running, it’s about the community“. I would have far rather seen more events profiled with a focus on what is interesting about each course and its local community, though I did really enjoy the “when to visit” paragraphs.
Then there were large swathes of text copied from the parkrun websites, along with tables of statistics that were probably out of date by the time they were published. Yawn.
parkrun founder Sir Paul Sinton-Hewitt's Albert Medal speech was inspirational; I don’t know why it was included verbatim though. You can watch it here: https://youtu.be/jcDrDFWLu64 (and I encourage you to do so).
I enjoyed reading some of the interviews with the Event Directors and other personalities but for my money “parkrun: Much More than Just a Run in the Park” by Debra Bourne was a much more interesting read: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...
July 1, 2026
Found this on Booktopia for $4, it has been on my 'To Read List' for some time.
Written in 2021 and so the stats/deets are out-dated. Giving this a five star due to effort put into the book, also it's parkrun so I'm biased here. ;)
Written in 2021 and so the stats/deets are out-dated. Giving this a five star due to effort put into the book, also it's parkrun so I'm biased here. ;)
January 23, 2022
Parkrun is a fantastic concept 9which I was already familiar with), but this book does not do it justice. I am usually the first person to call for data and evidence to support clams, but the detail in this book was ridiculous. Because Parkrun does have the data available on every runner for every run, the author threw it ALL into the book. Definitely a case where Less is More. All the stats and tables early on detracted from the core message of people and community. Also a close examination of some of the stats suggests most people only do a few parkruns.
December 3, 2021
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’d know we are passionate parkrunners. Luke let’s me act like I’m the obsessive, but it’s fair to say that since our BIG adventure in 2019/2020, where we completed 17 parkruns in 16 weeks across NSW, Vic and SA, he is just as committed to completing a free, timed 5km event every Saturday as I am. In fact, when I missed 10 weeks of parkrunning with a broken knee this year, Luke happily participated in each parkrun I volunteered at throughout that time. So… we are both passionate about this global phenomenon, which meant buying this book was a no brainer, really.
Crook explores the origins and phenomenal growth of this thing we call parkrun, which, despite its name, has much more to do with community, connection and mental well-being than running. In fact, one of the best things about parkrun is that the average completion time across all events is getting slower every year as more and more walkers realise how very welcome they are to come along and participate. As the well used meme declares: a 60 minute 5k is just as far as a 15 minute 5k.
So far, I have completed 80 parkruns at 38 different locations in 5 states/territories. Luke has completed 59 parkruns at 34 different locations in 4 states/territories. I have volunteered 88 times and Luke has volunteered 5 times.
There are 32 parkruns from across Australia featured in chapter 4 of this book. I have completed 4 of them and Luke has completed 3 of them. Crook calls this the OES Index, although some fellow parkrun tourists think the Crook Book challenge is a better name. Either way, there are some fabulous parkruns we have now added to our parkrun adventuring wish list.
Unlike Amway, I’m not trying to sell you anything, but if you have been wishing you could be a little more active and like the sound of a friendly, welcoming, community event - ask me how. Lol.
Crook explores the origins and phenomenal growth of this thing we call parkrun, which, despite its name, has much more to do with community, connection and mental well-being than running. In fact, one of the best things about parkrun is that the average completion time across all events is getting slower every year as more and more walkers realise how very welcome they are to come along and participate. As the well used meme declares: a 60 minute 5k is just as far as a 15 minute 5k.
So far, I have completed 80 parkruns at 38 different locations in 5 states/territories. Luke has completed 59 parkruns at 34 different locations in 4 states/territories. I have volunteered 88 times and Luke has volunteered 5 times.
There are 32 parkruns from across Australia featured in chapter 4 of this book. I have completed 4 of them and Luke has completed 3 of them. Crook calls this the OES Index, although some fellow parkrun tourists think the Crook Book challenge is a better name. Either way, there are some fabulous parkruns we have now added to our parkrun adventuring wish list.
Unlike Amway, I’m not trying to sell you anything, but if you have been wishing you could be a little more active and like the sound of a friendly, welcoming, community event - ask me how. Lol.
May 21, 2023
Stars: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre: non-fiction - sport, fitness and Australian culture.
Does the blurb reflect the plot: yes, it’s spot on.
Sum it up: After celebrating my 100th parkrun yesterday, there was no better time to read this book. A short but informative read, Crook takes us on a journey of how parkrun came to Australia, beginning on 2/4/11 at Main Beach on the Gold Coast; and grew with such popularity that by its tenth anniversary there were 408 parkrun locations across Australia which had been undertaken by 696,926 different people. What I particularly enjoyed about On Every Saturday is that you’ll find it interesting no matter whether you’re a seasoned parkrunner or someone who wants to start/is just starting out. The first hand sources of parkrun volunteers from around Australia bring the book to life and although each voice is different, they all echo the simple philosophies that parkrun is about and why this sees so many people around the world show up each Sunday to run, jog or walk 5km at the crack of dawn. Combine this with lots of colour photographs and interesting stats, and you have a book well worth reading.
Who should read it: anyone who participates in parkrun, is thinking about participating in parkrun or who just wants a short and enjoyable non-fiction read.
On Every Saturday is book 6 in #ktbookbingo. Category ‘Has a Red Cover’. To play along with my book bingo and to see what else I’m reading, go to #ktbookbingo or @kt_elder on Instagram.
Genre: non-fiction - sport, fitness and Australian culture.
Does the blurb reflect the plot: yes, it’s spot on.
Sum it up: After celebrating my 100th parkrun yesterday, there was no better time to read this book. A short but informative read, Crook takes us on a journey of how parkrun came to Australia, beginning on 2/4/11 at Main Beach on the Gold Coast; and grew with such popularity that by its tenth anniversary there were 408 parkrun locations across Australia which had been undertaken by 696,926 different people. What I particularly enjoyed about On Every Saturday is that you’ll find it interesting no matter whether you’re a seasoned parkrunner or someone who wants to start/is just starting out. The first hand sources of parkrun volunteers from around Australia bring the book to life and although each voice is different, they all echo the simple philosophies that parkrun is about and why this sees so many people around the world show up each Sunday to run, jog or walk 5km at the crack of dawn. Combine this with lots of colour photographs and interesting stats, and you have a book well worth reading.
Who should read it: anyone who participates in parkrun, is thinking about participating in parkrun or who just wants a short and enjoyable non-fiction read.
On Every Saturday is book 6 in #ktbookbingo. Category ‘Has a Red Cover’. To play along with my book bingo and to see what else I’m reading, go to #ktbookbingo or @kt_elder on Instagram.
January 7, 2022
An excellent insight into how parkrun started and it’s success here in Australia.. a great read
February 24, 2022
Good introduction for someone in Australia to parkrun and its history in the country up until early 2021
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews