18/10/2026
🏃♀️🌴 𝐑𝐔𝐍 𝐏𝐎𝐑𝐓 𝐃𝐎𝐔𝐆𝐋𝐀𝐒 — 𝐀 𝐋𝐈𝐓𝐓𝐋𝐄 (delayed) 𝐓𝐑𝐈𝐁𝐔𝐓𝐄
On 5 September 2026, Team parkrun descended on Run Port Douglas.
I put together a wee tribute celebrating the many people, moments and contributions that made this fabulous event so special, and had hoped parkrun Australia might run with it.
To date, they haven’t — and it seems a shame to leave it gathering digital dust when so many people put so much into the day.
So, rather than let everyone’s efforts and contributions go to waste, I’m posting it here...👇
𝐓𝐞𝐚𝐦 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐫𝐮𝐧 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐑𝐮𝐧 𝐏𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐃𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐥𝐚𝐬
‘𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭, 𝘴𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘤 𝘵𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘵: 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘴𝘦, 𝘤𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘥-𝘶𝘱 𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘺 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘴𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘮𝘴𝘺 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦.’
Kalyra & I, Co-Event Directors at Cairns parkrun, were asked if we wanted to put a team into the second edition of 𝐑𝐮𝐧 𝐏𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐃𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐥𝐚𝐬.
‘𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘙𝘶𝘯 𝘗𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘋𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘭𝘢𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘗𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘋𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘭𝘢𝘴, 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴 (2𝘬𝘮, 5𝘬𝘮, 10𝘬𝘮 & 21.1𝘬𝘮) 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘳𝘶𝘯/𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘬 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘍𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘔𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘉𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥!’
We asked ourselves, ‘why limit ourselves to Cairns parkrunners?’, so we created ‘𝐓𝐞𝐚𝐦 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐫𝐮𝐧’, open to parkies from everywhere. And what a success it was.
Although Team parkrun was created well into the registration phase — after many parkies had already signed up individually or with other teams — we still finished with 𝟒𝟕 𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐬. By far the largest Club team, earning us a $𝟐𝟎𝟎 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐳𝐞 for our chosen charity: 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐫𝐮𝐧 𝐃𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐛 𝐀𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐥. Yay!
And there were a gazillion other not-Team-parkrun parkies scattered among the 𝟐,𝟓𝟎𝟎 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝟏𝟖𝟐 𝐯𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐫𝐬. We’re pretty proud of our parkrun family.
The idea of Team parkrun was simple: give parkrunners a team, a homebase and another opportunity to promote parkrun. We’ve all experienced that warm, welcoming buzz when touristing at parkruns around the world, and we wanted to recreate a little of that at Run Port Douglas.
So, 𝐓𝐞𝐚𝐦 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐫𝐮𝐧 𝐇𝐐 was born — a marquee in prime position beside the Finish Funnel, adequately stocked with Zooper Doopers (of course), assorted post-run sugar fixes and chairs for weary legs. And let’s not forget the fabulous cheer squad, armed with motivational signs and well-exercised vocal cords.
🧚♀️ 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫: 𝐂𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐧𝐬 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐫𝐮𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐫, 𝐂𝐨-𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐃𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫 & 𝐏𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐅𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐲 𝐊𝐚𝐥𝐲𝐫𝐚 Kay Tee 𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐬𝐨𝐧 spouted the following words in true parkrun spirit!
‘𝘓𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘳𝘶𝘯, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘢 𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘦, …𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘥𝘢𝘭𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳! 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘥𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘶𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩. 𝘛𝘦𝘢𝘮 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘳𝘶𝘯 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘱 𝘪𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘶𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘷𝘰𝘭𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘦𝘳…𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘗𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘋𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘭𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘰𝘸𝘯 ‘𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘬 𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘭’, 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘴𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘲𝘶𝘦 𝘍𝘰𝘶𝘳-𝘔𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘉𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩, 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘛𝘦𝘢𝘮 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘳𝘶𝘯 𝘏𝘘 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦. 𝘖𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘎𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘙𝘶𝘯 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘰𝘳 (𝘮𝘦!) 𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘳𝘺 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘵, 𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘙𝘋 𝘷𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵… 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘤 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘳𝘺 𝘥𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘰𝘮𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩-5 𝘰𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘢𝘸𝘦𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦’.
🏃 𝟐𝐤𝐦: 𝐀𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐫𝐮𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐫 & 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐫𝐮𝐧 𝐯𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐫 Jenni 𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐬𝐨𝐧 summed up what made the event special:
‘𝘊𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦, 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘴, 𝘸𝘪𝘥𝘦-𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘥 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘥𝘴, 𝘦𝘹𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘤 𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘦, 𝘦𝘹𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘐’𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘥𝘰’.
🏃 𝟓𝐤𝐦: 𝐓𝐞𝐚𝐦 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐫𝐮𝐧 𝐋𝐢𝐞𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐭, 𝐒𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐌𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐚 𝐠𝐮𝐫𝐮, 𝐂𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐧𝐬 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐫𝐮𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐫 & 𝐯𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐞-𝐞𝐱𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐞 Sofia Stoli volunteered the following:
‘𝘎𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩 𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘨𝘺 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘥𝘢𝘺! 𝘈𝘮𝘢𝘻𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵. 𝘔𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 (𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭) 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘴 & 𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘮𝘢𝘫𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘳 𝘳𝘶𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘯 𝘶𝘯𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨.’
🏃 𝟏𝟎𝐤𝐦: Words from ‘𝐀 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐲 𝐚𝐭 𝐏𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐃𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐥𝐚𝐬, 𝐨𝐫: 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐈 𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐚𝐝𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐞 & 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐝’, by 𝐂𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐧𝐬 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐫𝐮𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐫, 𝐑𝐮𝐧 𝐃𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫 & 𝐒𝐮𝐩𝐞𝐫-𝐯𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐞 Clifford Jones:
‘𝘙𝘶𝘯 𝘗𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘋𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘭𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳, 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘷𝘰𝘭𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘳𝘶𝘯 𝘶𝘱 𝘵𝘰 21𝘬𝘮 𝘢𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘢𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘳 𝘍𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘔𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘉𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩.
𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘋𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘴, 𝘏𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘯 & 𝘒𝘢𝘭𝘺𝘳𝘢, 𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘢 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘳𝘶𝘯 𝘛𝘦𝘢𝘮 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵, 𝘮𝘺 “𝘣𝘰𝘺 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘴” 𝘪𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘧𝘦𝘸 𝘣𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘩 𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘺 𝘱𝘩𝘺𝘴𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭-𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 – 𝘐 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘱 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺.
𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘺 𝘥𝘦𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘭: 𝘪𝘵’𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘺 𝘢𝘨𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘳𝘶𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘳, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘶𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘶𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 5𝘬𝘮… 𝘕𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺, 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘦 𝘳𝘶𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘸 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘰𝘯 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘪𝘯. 𝘔𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘤𝘰𝘣𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘮𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥.
𝘖𝘯 𝘚𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘥𝘢𝘺, 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘺 𝘶𝘴𝘶𝘢𝘭 𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘳𝘶𝘯 (𝘊𝘢𝘪𝘳𝘯𝘴), 𝘐 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘰 𝘗𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘋𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘭𝘢𝘴. 𝘈𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘰𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘮-𝘶𝘱, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮 𝘮𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘪𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴, 𝘐 𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘱 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘥.
𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦, 𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘧𝘶𝘯𝘯𝘺 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘬𝘦𝘱𝘵 𝘮𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭 𝘸𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘩𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘍𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘔𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘉𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭 3𝘬𝘮 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥-𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘶𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥-𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 5𝘬𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘥 2𝘬𝘮 𝘳𝘶𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘬𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘶𝘴. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘯𝘰 𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘢 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘳𝘶𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦, 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘶𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳.
𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭, 𝘴𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘤 𝘵𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘵: 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘴𝘦, 𝘤𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘥-𝘶𝘱 𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘺 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘴𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘮𝘴𝘺 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦.
𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘭𝘭, 𝘪𝘵’𝘴 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘱𝘪𝘤 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘧𝘭𝘢𝘸𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭. 12/10, 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘬 𝘮𝘺 𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯.’
🏃 𝟐𝟏.𝟏𝐤𝐦: 𝐂𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐧𝐬 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐫𝐮𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐫 & 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐫𝐮𝐧 𝐯𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐫 Ingrid Hadland captured the excitement of the whole experience:
‘𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘺𝘦𝘵 𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘵 𝘣𝘶𝘴 𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘳𝘦-𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘷𝘪𝘣𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘭, 𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘊𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘦. …𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧𝘧 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘙𝘶𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘗𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘦, 𝘳𝘶𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘱𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘗𝘢𝘭𝘮 𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘯… 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘖𝘔𝘎 𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘭 (𝘍𝘭𝘢𝘨𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘧𝘧 𝘏𝘪𝘭𝘭) 𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘴! 𝘛𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦𝘦𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘸 & 𝘫𝘰𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 (𝘶𝘱 𝘵𝘩𝘦 **𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦** 𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘭), 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘰 𝘴𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘭: 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘜𝘒, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘯𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱 𝘯𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘐 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘸 𝘶𝘱: & 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳, 𝘢 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘳𝘶𝘯 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘳. 𝘉𝘰𝘵𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘶𝘴 𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵 (𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘳𝘶𝘯)…’
Although Run Port Douglas clashed with our regular parkrunday on Saturday 5 September 2026, we scrounged enough (old) parkrun flags to decorate HQ and left a collection of loyal Core Teamsters and other vollies back at Cairns parkrun to keep the home fires burning.
Overall, putting 𝐓𝐞𝐚𝐦 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐫𝐮𝐧 together for such a significant event was exhilarating. It brought parkies together, gave us a very visible parkrun presence, raised money for the parkrun Defib Appeal and, most importantly, added another layer of fun to an already brilliant event.
𝐖𝐞’𝐥𝐥 𝐝𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐛𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐓𝐞𝐚𝐦 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐫𝐮𝐧 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧.
A big thank you to Bade and his team from Run Port Douglas for making this happen.
✍: Helen Stoli, Co-Conspirator of Team parkrun, Co-Event Director Cairns parkrun
