Participants in a Deep Run Park parkrun in 2024 (Photo by Ryan Simethy)
Nicole Greene started running in 2006 after moving to Richmond from her native South Africa to be an au pair. Challenging herself “one step at a time,” she says, she worked her way up from jogging short distances to running a full marathon.
Greene’s story might have ended there had she not gone back to South Africa in 2015 to visit her parents. While there, she participated in a free 5K called a parkrun. The event, part of the worldwide health and well-being nonprofit organization Parkrun, made such a profound positive impression on Greene that she decided to introduce a parkrun in Richmond when she returned.
“This beautiful thing was created so people can come together,” Greene says. “You celebrate everything they’re accomplishing in life. That’s what’s special to me … creating this community for everyone.” She says a parkrun offers support, welcome, inclusion and love, as well as accessible exercise. “Not everyone can afford the gym or the [entry fees for] races,” she notes.
After securing official approval from Henrico County, Greene kicked off the Deep Run Park parkrun in 2017. Organized by volunteers, it takes place every Saturday at 9 a.m. from October through April and at 8 a.m. from May through September. Participants travel a paved path that loops around the park’s lake and through the woods to complete a professionally measured 5K (3.1 miles).
On a recent wintry Saturday morning, dozens of runners and walkers gathered at the park, some wearing shorts and racing against the clock to achieve a personal record, while others, bundled in thick jackets and cozy caps, walked briskly or strolled unhurriedly. All paces are welcome at a parkrun, Greene says. “[Exercise] is great for your physical health. It’s good for your mental health. It’s great to be outside,” she enthuses.
Runner Kathy Gerber discovered the event in summer 2023 and has been participating regularly ever since. “There is no charge for parkruns, and as a septuagenarian on a budget, this really makes a difference to me,” she says. “Twice a year I compete in track meets, and parkruns have been instrumental in helping maintain endurance.”
Locals like Gerber are joined by people from around the globe who come to Richmond just to do the parkrun. Founded in a suburb of London in 2004, the Parkrun network has grown to more than 2,500 locations in 23 countries. It’s a registered 501(c)(3) organization in the United States with 78 event locations, including Deep Run Park and Purcell Park in Harrisonburg, according to Euan Bowman, Parkrun’s North America territory manager.
Nicole Greene kicks off the sixth anniversary parkrun at Deep Run Park in June 2023. (Photo courtesy Nicole Greene)
Greene explains that each participant is issued a barcode when they first register with Parkrun. It’s a personal identifier that allows access to any parkrun in the world. When each 5K is over, results are processed, and participants can track their progress on the Parkrun website.
John Amoroso joined Parkrun in 2018. “I found it accidentally while training and trying to find a timed event when I was in Florida,” he says. “I was so impressed with the parkrun that I sought one out [at home] and, to my surprise, there was one right here in the Richmond area. Since I started this amazing journey at Deep Run Park, I have done parkruns in five other states and one Canadian province. Every week I attend is like a check-in with a friend and family.”
Volunteers like Tom Spasojevich are crucial to organizing the weekly events. An avid runner, Spasojevich started training for races when he was in his early 40s; he qualified for the Ironman Triathlon in Hawaii eight times. Now 87, Spasojevich enjoys running the Deep Run 5K and volunteering as a course marshal. “Everyone in the group volunteers at some point, which is how the group has become successful,” he says. “I volunteer because not only is this running club a healthy thing to do, but also because I really enjoy the people. [They are] good, upbeat people.”
Robert Orndorff, who has been involved in the Deep Run Park parkrun since its inception, agrees. “I love the parkrun community. … After the event we go hang out at the [doughnut shop] just up the road. That’s where you really get to know the people. We always have a great time just hanging out and chatting.”
Orndorff also enjoys meeting parkrun visitors. “Just recently, there was a family from Richmond, UK, just outside of London, that was visiting the Richmond, Virginia, parkrun,” he says. “It was fun talking to them about how Richmond, Virginia, got its name.”
The Deep Run Park parkrun has built a community, Greene says. Since she began the event, children have grown from being toddlers in a running stroller to jogging alongside their parents, participants have run the 5K while undergoing treatment for cancer, and people of all different abilities have achieved their athletic and health goals. Most of all, she says, “It’s provided the community with a way to meet other people they might not have met otherwise.”
Nearly 10 years later, Greene is still happy with her vision to connect Richmond and the world through a parkrun. “It really is an honor to do it.”
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