From Reluctant Runner to Global parkrun Tourist: Sue Freegard's 300+ Venue Journey

After a short pause (and a few behind-the-scenes technical podcasting hurdles!), I’m so excited to be back with a truly global parkrun story — and this one is worth the wait.

This week, I’m joined by Sue from South Africa, whose parkrun journey didn’t exactly start with love at first run…

In fact, Sue was a very reluctant parkrunner at the beginning.

But everything changed when she and her husband took a gap year travelling across APAC — including Australia, New Zealand and Malaysia — and discovered a whole new side to parkrun:
 > community
 > connection
 > and a growing obsession with parkrun tourism and challenges

Fast forward to today, and Sue has:
 🏃‍♀️ Completed 334 parkruns
🌍 Visited 300 different parkrun locations
🙌 Volunteered 167 times across 165 venues

In this episode, we explore:

 How parkrun can go from “not for me” to a life-changing habit  The magic of parkrun tourism across continents  The role of community when travelling the world  Why volunteering becomes just as meaningful as running  And what keeps Sue coming back week after week, location after location 

This is a story about transformation, adventure, and the unexpected joy of saying “yes” to something new.

If you’ve ever been curious about parkrun — or needed a little nudge to try a new event — this episode might just be it.

🎧 Tune in and join us on this global parkrun journey.

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