Vikki’s A to Z of parkruns

Vikki Skipper, one of our GCSE Maths tutors, has completed an A to Z of parkruns which has seen her travel around the UK and Europe to complete a 5k parkrun in a town or city beginning with every letter of the alphabet.

Vikki’s has a passion for running which inspired her to take on the challenge that started in Armley in Leeds, followed by Barnsley, and which lead her to travel to places further afield such as Caffarella in Rome, Haga in Sweden, Mount Etna in Sicily and Lough Key in Ireland. Vikki completed the challenge in Zamek w Marlborku in Poland in March 2020 on her birthday where she was cheered on by local supporters who sang ‘Happy Birthday’ to her in Polish.

Vikki has completed over 380 parkruns since starting in 2011. Most of those have taken place at Locke Park in Barnsley which is one of the hardest courses due to the park’s hilly landscape. She started touring with parkruns two years ago and her next challenge is to reach 500 runs.
Her passion for parkruns doesn’t end there. Before the COVID-19 pandemic Vikki regularly volunteered at the Barnsley junior parkrun to inspire young people to keep running.

Vikki said: “I decided to do the challenge because I love visiting different parkrun locations and I made a pact with myself that I would never miss a parkrun. I finished the challenge in Poland one week before the UK went into lockdown and I was so relieved that I managed to complete it.

“I love everything about parkruns and I even plan my holidays around them! They are a great way to keep fit, they are flexible and free to take part in. The people you meet are so welcoming, motivating and inspiring. Throughout lockdown I’ve been doing virtual parkruns around my local area so that I can keep fit for when they open up again.”