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A woman in a seated twist on a green mat in a sunlit room, an olive tree and the sea behind her

Move · 60 min

A weekly timed walk or run in the park

Free community events in many parks: a set distance on the same morning each week, where walkers are as welcome as runners.

60 minutesFrom the library, free to readFour steps
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In many towns and cities, volunteers put on a free walk or run of a few kilometres in a local park on the same morning every week. Anyone can come, at any pace, and plenty of people walk the whole way. It gives a week a fixed point outdoors.

The steps

Four small steps,in your own time.

  1. Search for free weekly community walks or runs in parks near you, or ask at your local park, sports centre or library.

  2. Read how it works: where to meet, the start time, and whether you need to register beforehand. Registration is usually free.

  3. Go once and walk it, or walk and jog in turns. Start near the back so you can settle into your own pace.

  4. Afterwards, stay for a drink if people gather, and write your time down. Next week, aim only to come back, not to be faster.

The reason

Why it helps

A fixed weekly event makes being active outdoors part of the rhythm of the week rather than something to fit in. Being among people of all ages and paces takes away the worry of being too slow. Many people find the company and the outdoors do as much for their mood as the walk does for their body.

A gentle variation

If the full distance is too long, walk part of it and cut back to the finish, or go along to cheer and help. Many events welcome volunteers to marshal, time or hand out tokens, which is a good way to be part of it without walking.

Friends resting after a game, the sea behind them

WE · TRIBE

Try itwith someone.

Go with someone: a friend, a teenager, a neighbour, the person you care for in a wheelchair if the course allows. Walking it side by side at the back is a fine way to spend a morning.

Make it a plan in HIVELIVE, with WE

Try it today

This week, find the nearest free weekly park walk or run, check how to register, and plan to go and walk it.

Add it to your day

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