Volunteers are fundamental to the delivery of all events, and carry out roles such as setting up the event, marshalling, timekeeping, scanning, handing out finish tokens or tail walking, to name just a few.
We encourage each event to have as many volunteers as they can and to never turn down an offer from someone to volunteer. A course can never have too many Marshals and multiple Tail Walkers can make the event even more fun!
However, there should be no pressure for parkrunners to volunteer at events. While the roles on the roster do need to be filled each week, we ask people to volunteer when they would like to, and for event teams to create an environment where people feel welcomed, included and supported.
We know from experience that some people will volunteer regularly while others will seldom or never volunteer. Event teams need to remember that volunteering is a choice, and everyone is welcome at parkrun whether they volunteer or not. If an event is having trouble filling the roles on the volunteer roster or would like some ideas to encourage people to volunteer, they should speak to their Ambassador or contact eventsupport@parkrun.com
Volunteers are welcome to be accompanied by their children. However, they can be distracting and volunteers may find themselves in very challenging situations, so volunteers must be mindful of this at all times.
3.2.1 Volunteer Roles:
Event Director
Each parkrun event is managed by one or two event directors, who are responsible for ensuring the event is delivered appropriately, for building relationships with landowners, and for liaising with parkrun HQ. Event Directors:
- Must be aged 18 or older.
- A person cannot be an Event Director for more than one event at the same time.
- There is a maximum of two people allowed as Co-Event Directors for a single event.
Volunteer Role Monitoring at parkrun
parkrun uses automated systems to monitor the completion of volunteer roles at events. This monitoring is conducted for the purposes of supporting safeguarding and to identify any activities that may warrant further review. The results of this monitoring are accessed by the Safeguarding Team, who where necessary, will notify Event Teams of any irregularities for further investigation.
We have a dedicated parkrun volunteering video series to empower event teams to showcase to their community just how enjoyable and easy volunteering is. These videos below are a tool to inspire, excite, educate and invite anyone to get involved as a volunteer at parkrun.
On each event day, the volunteer opportunities are many and varied. Some volunteer roles are essential and therefore compulsory at all parkrun events to ensure safe and prompt delivery of the events, and other roles may be dependent on volunteer availability or event need.
Compulsory Roles:
- Run Director
- First Timers Welcome
- Event Day Course Check
- Timekeeper(s)
- Finish Tokens
- Barcode Scanner(s)
- Tail Walker
- Marshal(s) (where identified in event risk assessment)
In addition, the following roles are compulsory at junior parkrun events:
- Marshal(s)
- Warm-up Leader
Other Opportunities to Volunteer:
- Marshal(s)
- parkwalker (should be utilised by all events if a volunteer offers to parkwalk)
- Funnel Manager
- Car Park Marshal
- Equipment Storage and Delivery
- Report Writer
- Finish Token Support
- Number Checker
- Pacer(s) (5k events only)
- Photographer
- Post-event Close Down
- Pre-event Set-up
- Results Processor
- Sign language Support
- Token Sorting
- VI Guide
- Volunteer Coordinator
What does each role involve?
Run Director
The Run Director has overall responsibility for event safety and oversees proceedings during the event and at the finish line. They must be near the start and/or finish area at all times. The Run Director has the ultimate authority to decide whether the event should be cancelled or postponed or if an adjustment to the course is required.
The Run Director also welcomes all parkrunners to the event via the pre-event brief and communicates all important messages prior to the event start, recognises the contributions of the volunteers, acknowledge visitors, first-timers and ensures everyone understands the event and stays safe for the duration.
A person under 18 can only be an RD if they are accompanied by an adult RD throughout the duration of the event.
The Run Director must not participate in the event or perform any other volunteer role whilst it is taking place.
First Timers Welcome
This role is to create a welcoming and friendly atmosphere for first timers and visitors by describing parkrun, its inclusiveness and ethos, and highlighting any course-specific information. Seeing this role on a volunteer roster may be very comforting to a brand new participant.
Event Day Course Check
The Event Day Course Check involves checking that the course is safe to use and is free from anything that may make it unsafe to participants and volunteers. The check is to take place on the day of the event as close to the start time as reasonably possible.
Timekeeper(s)
The Timekeeper is responsible for recording the finish times of all participants at the event (using the Virtual Volunteer app). Ideally, events should use two timing devices to protect against losing one set of times.
Finish Tokens
The Finish Token volunteer is responsible for handing out position tokens to all participants working in a team with the timekeeper. They may be assisted by a Finish Tokens Support volunteer.
Barcode Scanner(s)
This volunteer scans the personal barcode (using the Virtual Volunteer app), followed by the barcode on the finish position token, to ensure every participant who completes the course receives a result.
Tail Walker(s)
Every parkrun has a Tail Walker volunteer (or volunteers) who sets off at the start of the event and walks at the back of the field. A Tail Walker is entitled to receive both a volunteer credit and a walk/run credit (providing they brought their barcode with them to be scanned) when carrying out this role.
Please note, that the volunteer carrying out this role must be a registered parkrunner in line with our safeguarding policy and that we are always happy to see more than one Tail Walker at an event. It is good practice for this role to be shared around and parkrun recommends that for both operational reasons, and safeguarding reasons, an individual does not tail walk for more than three consecutive weeks, unless they are part of a group of parkwalkers or tail walkers.
The role is compulsory at all 5k and 2k events globally.
3.2.2 Compulsory at junior events
Marshal
Marshals at junior parkrun events are positioned no more than 100m apart and maintain line-of-sight to the next Marshal. Marshals perform a variety of tasks which include giving directions, ensuring safety on the course and cheerleading.
Warm-up Leader
This junior parkrun specific role involves taking everyone through a short pre-defined warm-up routine. It is an opportunity to not only warm up the participants but to help foster a fun environment. parkrun has developed the warm-up routine below that should be used.
Please note: To lead a warm-up at a 5k parkrun event a volunteer would be required to have sufficient qualifications. Therefore, due to the level of administration involved to monitor this across the thousands of parkrun events globally, we do not allow warm-ups at 5k events unless delivered by official parkrun partners.
3.2.3 Other volunteer roles, that may be needed
Marshal
Each event has different requirements for Marshals depending on the complexity of the course, the number of participants and any location-specific issues. The main tasks performed by Marshals are guiding, interacting and encouraging the participants around the course, warning them of any obstacles or hazards, alerting the Run Director to any incidents, as well as ensuring that other park users are aware of the event. The Marshal role is a stationary one and they should stay in position until the Tail Walker passes them for the last time. Therefore Marshals do not get a result even if they finish with the Tail Walker.
parkwalker
The parkwalker role is a friendly face or faces who provide support and encouragement to walkers, as part of our commitment to increasing the number of people who walk at our events.
This is a separate role from that of Tail Walker. The parkwalker should be positioned ahead of the Tail Walker and walk at their usual pace to demonstrate that walking is welcome at parkrun.
A parkwalker is entitled to receive both a volunteer credit and a walk/run credit (providing they brought their barcode along to be scanned) when carrying out this role.
We ask that this role isn’t filled by the same person each week, for more than three consecutive weeks, and whenever possible multiple people carry out the role. This is both for safeguarding purposes and to provide as positive and sociable experience as possible for everyone.
Funnel Manager
The Funnel Manager is responsible for the whole finish area and is primarily focused on ensuring the participants move smoothly and swiftly through the finish funnel.
We would ideally like all junior events to have a funnel manager. We appreciate that this can be challenging and feel unnecessary for some of our smaller junior parkrun events but would encourage teams to utilise the role whenever possible.
Car Park Marshal
This volunteer marshals car parking areas as directed by the Run Director to ensure cars are parked within designated areas and to help ensure the safety of pedestrians.
Equipment Storage and Delivery
The volunteer consolidates and stores the event equipment and ensures it is available for course set-up the next week.
Report Writer
The volunteer writes a report for the weekends’ event that is available to view via the event website. Different events go to different lengths in their report writing and there is no expectation from HQ that a report will be published at all.
Finish Token Support
The role involves preparing small stacks of tokens and passing them to the Finish Token volunteer/s, who hands them out to those crossing the finish line. This role is often used at larger events where the Finish Tokens volunteers may be under pressure to hand out finish position tokens in a timely fashion.
Number Checker
The Number Checker is responsible for recording (but not correcting) discrepancies that may arise between the timer and the numbers that are given out. They work closely with the Timekeeper and Finish Tokens volunteers.
Pacer (5k events only)
We use the term Pacer to identify those accompanying a walk and/or a walk/run group. Those volunteering as Pacers agree to identify themselves to the other participants and try as best they can, to complete the course in an agreed time or pace.
Photographer
This volunteer takes photographs/ videos for inclusion in parkrun communication and social media channels. Photographers must always…
- register as an official volunteer
- make themselves known to the Run Director/s
- wear a high-vis vest at all times
We do not support photographers charging individuals for event photography at parkrun events, nor do we allow any watermarks.
Post-event Close Down
These volunteers help clear up and return any kit to its storage place - leaving our parkrun space as we found it.
Pre-event Setup
The Pre-event Setup volunteers help the Run Director prepare for the event. This may include: the placement of markers and/or signage around the course, setting up the start/finish area including the finish funnel, and placing signs and/or cones to indicate the route.
Results Processor
The Results Processor is responsible for compiling the results and submitting to parkrun HQ for processing.
Sign Language Support
The Sign Language Support volunteer signs the First Timer’s Welcome and the Pre Event Brief for our deaf and hard of hearing participants.
Token Sorting
The Token Sorting volunteers sort the finishing position tokens back into order for the following week. This role is often performed at the post parkrun cafe and reinforces the social benefits of volunteering.
VI Guide
We warmly welcome people with visual impairments as walkers, joggers, runners, or volunteers at our events. A VI Guide accompanies a visually impaired participant at parkrun, this could be to support them to run, walk, or volunteer. They should receive a finish time, if they completed the course and scanned their barcode, and a volunteer credit.
Please note that parkrun does not provide trained or checked guides, or facilitate links with third party training providers. It is important that teams are clear they are not providing an official parkrun VI Guide.
We ask that whilst event teams continue to use a common sense approach, and whilst we always embrace communities behaving like communities, we also ask that teams please follow this guidance:
- Please do not organise or facilitate any form of parkrun VI Guide training; should teams wish to do this, we’d love you to connect with local VI Guide training providers, or local running clubs who run training sessions, and signpost your community to them.
- Please do not provide official, parkrun branded VI Guide bibs; should teams wish to provide non parkrun branded VI Guide bibs this is great, but there is no obligation to do so.
- Please do not develop the role to include offering a ‘meet and greet’ role to help VI participants with their journey to and from the event.
- Please be mindful of guides maintaining boundaries, and don’t ask them to commit to more than they are comfortable with.
Volunteer Coordinator
The Volunteer Coordinator is responsible for populating the positions on the volunteer roster each week. They use the EMS software to manage the roster. In addition to that, they may use the various communication channels available to source volunteers (EMS, volunteer email appeal, and social media) and respond to offers to volunteer.
This is one of the roles where the volunteer does not have to attend the event and, very often, the same person will perform this role for consecutive weeks.
Communications Person
Promotes the local parkrun event before, during, and after parkrun by sharing updates, photos, and key information across social media and other channels.
Volunteers are requested to:
- Wear a volunteer vest to make them clearly visible as a person who can help.
- Keep a watchful eye as people arrive looking for those who are there for the first time; they may be looking apprehensive and unsure of what to do.
- Greet people with a warm welcome, asking where they are from and what brings them to parkrun.
3.2.4 Unregistered Volunteers
Sometimes people offer to volunteer on the day of the event. It may be that these individuals are not registered parkrunners and/or have not volunteered at a parkrun event before.
If such an instance arises the Run Director or Volunteer Coordinator should
- Encourage them to register for parkrun.
- If for any reason it is not possible for the person to register as a volunteer on the day, their name should be taken and this should be added to the event ‘narrative’ on the roster.
- Ensure that any such volunteers are not placed in a role that is unsupervised (e.g., as an isolated Marshal or Tail Walker).
- Brief the volunteer on their role, including any necessary health and safety or safeguarding information.
If an event team have a specific concern about a volunteer or their conduct either the Event or Run Director should contact HQ immediately via eventsupport@parkrun.com or theCritical Incident Line.
If the Event or Run Director is implicated in the concern, another member of the event team should contact HQ via eventsupport@parkrun.com or theCritical Incident Line.
3.2.5 Providing References for Volunteers
Event Directors (EDs) are sometimes asked to provide a reference for someone who has volunteered at their event. EDs are welcome to give a personal reference if they feel they know the individual well enough to comment. However, please note that EDs (and other volunteers) cannot provide a reference on behalf of parkrun.
If you do choose to provide a personal reference, please make it clear that:
- You are writing in a personal capacity.
- You are not representing parkrun, and the reference should not be taken as an official endorsement from the organisation.