Less than a year after starting, Wichita’s parkrun draws tourists as well as locals

In January, an Australian couple took time out of their three-week vacation at Disney World in Orlando, Florida, to fly to Wichita for a weekend so they could participate in the Exploration Place parkrun. At the end of June, a Chicago-area couple drove from Illinois to run in the weekly event that takes participants on a 3.1-mile route along the Arkansas River.

Both couples said they likely wouldn’t have traveled to Wichita if not for the lure of completing one of the newest parkruns in the U.S. A parkrun is a free, weekly 5K that is open to walkers, runners, volunteers, spectators and even leashed dogs accompanied by their owners. The concept started in 2004 in west London when a small group of runners wanted to provide a free-for-all timed event to encourage inclusiveness and wellbeing. Their lofty goal was to create a healthier, happier planet by encouraging people to get involved on a regular basis, either as a volunteer or a participant.

The concept spread across the U.K., where there are now 1,185 locations, then across the globe to 20 countries and counting. The U.S. joined the fun in 2012 and the country’s 62nd parkrun location is set to start this weekend in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Wichita was No. 56 when it started in September 2022. Two other regional parkruns started earlier in 2022: Bentonville, Arkansas, and Iowa City, Iowa. Before that, the closest parkrun was in north Texas.

Two Wichitans with connections to the U.K. led the effort to launch the Exploration Place parkrun. While the event carries the Exploration Place name, the downtown science center is not a sponsor of the event. Adam Smith, CEO and president of Exploration Place, was involved with creating the event, though.

“My sister got involved with the parkrun in my hometown of Burnley, England,” Smith said. “It has been incredibly beneficial for her two boys who participate every week. The National Health Service invests in parkrun because it’s really moved the needle on public health. I promised her I’d try and get one started when I moved to Wichita and realized we had such a great location.”

Smith moved to Wichita in 2019 to take the role at Exploration Place, and that job kept him too busy to focus on launching a parkrun event.

“Nothing happened until I was connected with Curtis Whittit with Run Wichita, who had the same dream,” Smith said.

Whittit is a 35-year-old electrical engineer and marathon runner who is on the board of Run Wichita. His wife, Joanna, who introduced him to running in 2012, has family in the U.K. and was familiar with parkruns. When he reached out to parkrun’s U.S. headquarters, they connected the two for both expressing interest in launching Wichita.

Smith and Whittit said they believe one reason parkrun has been slower to grow in the United States is because volunteers often run into roadblocks when dealing with their local park departments. They both praised the city of Wichita Park & Recreation for embracing their idea and being an enthusiastic partner as Whittit created the local course.

Wichita’s 3.1-mile parkrun course begins and ends on Exploration Place’s property, taking participants across the Keeper of the Plains bridge, south along the east riverbank almost to Kellogg and then returns on the same route.

“Shortly after our route starts it takes you on the downtown river path that is operated by the city of Wichita,” Whittit said. “They saw that a parkrun would increase park use and fit their mission as a free, inclusive event. Having them on board was a huge step in making this happen.”

The parkrun organization requires not only that all events remain free but that local organizers not pay a fee for the space they use for the weekly events, Whittit said. Other considerations are having a strong pool of volunteers and staging a safe route that does not cross roads.

“The parkrun HQ is carrying the insurance for these events so they are particular about the route,” he said. “I was looking at a loop route originally, but HQ encouraged me to create an out-and-back route as that is easier to marshal and limits the opportunity for participants to make a wrong turn. I’m really happy with the route we’ve established. It’s safe, fun and it really features a part of the city we should all be proud of.”

Organizers are careful to coordinate with other entities paying a permit fee for any of the areas the route covers. The parkrun happens no matter the weather and always start at 8 a.m., departing from just outside Exploration Place, 300 N. McLean Blvd.

While participants don’t have to register, most do because it allows them to collect badges and join in challenges. These range from official challenges such as hitting the 25th, 50th or another milestone for participation to unofficial challenges including the parkrun alphabet, where participants complete a parkrun at locations starting with each letter of the alphabet. Details on registering or signing up as a volunteer can be found at parkrun.us/explorationplace.

Each parkrun is timed but they are not considered races, Whittit said. One of the dozen volunteer roles at each event is tail-walker, to ensure no one ever officially finishes last. All ages and abilities have participated, he said, including people training for a competitive race, families walking before they go to the farmers market and many solo first-timers who make friends while at the event.

Through the end of June, volunteers had organized 37 parkruns in Wichita. A nifty stats counter on the bottom of the event website shows that through nine months the Exploration Place parkrun has seen 598 different participants and 2,029 finishes; on average each participant has completed three parkruns in Wichita. That’s an average of 54.8 showing up weekly. Organizers say they’ve not had fewer than 30 runners, even on cold and windy days or recent hot and humid Saturdays, and their highest participation was 95 at their first event in September 2022.

(They expect to break that record on Aug. 5 when KWCH Channel 12 includes parkrun in a family fun day promotion and Aug. 19, when Wichita Corporate Challenge includes the event in their activities.)

At last count, parkrun said more than 3 million people have become parkrunners – as an excuse to exercise or travel, or simply as a social outlet. While parkrun HQ advised Whittit in the early stages of establishing the event that tourists would come, he wasn’t convinced.

“I figured they didn’t know how hard it is to get to Wichita,” he said. “It’s not the easiest place to get to by plane or by car, so I’ve been blown away. The first run we did was a practice run, and we had a guy from Australia join us because he saw us talk about the event on Facebook. We’ve had more events with tourists participating than events without them. It’s really been incredible.”

Photos and videos posted on social media by visiting parkrun tourists show them doing much more in Wichita beyond the 25-minute run or 90-minute walk. They come in on a Friday, stay in a hotel, have meals, get coffee, visit attractions and often stay for the full weekend. They leave comments on the Exploration Place parkrun such as: “The museum was cool, the parkrun was spectacular and the city had far more than I expected.”

Whittit and Smith said they’re thrilled that parkrun is bringing new people to Wichita, but equally happy that locals are embracing the event. They continue to see a good amount of first-timers as more learn about the event.

“It’s been really great to see someone show up by themselves one week and the next week their whole family is with them, because you know then that people are coming away with good feelings and telling their friends and family about parkrun,” Whittit said.

He’s training to compete in the Berlin Marathon in September in Germany, though he’s been too busy volunteering as race director to complete a parkrun himself. He plans to someday, but for now he’s enjoying cheering participants on at the finish line.

“The finish line of any event, big or small, is a pretty sacred place,” he said. “You have this real connection with the people finishing with you and the people who put on the race. It’s just a cool environment at the finish line, and part of me just wants to bring that to anybody and everybody who wants to give it a shot.”

If you go

Exploration Place parkrun

Free weekly 5K open to walkers, runners, volunteers, spectators (dogs allowed)

Starts at 8 a.m. outside Exploration Place, 300 N. McLean Blvd.

More details at parkrun.us/explorationplace and facebook.com/explorationplaceparkrun