VOLUNTEER (OR JUST HANG OUT) AT THE FORT WARD PARKRUN

BY GEORGE SOLTES

PHOTOS BY GEORGE SOLTES AND COURTESY FORT WARD PARKRUN

The main trail at Fort Ward Park is quiet at 8:45 on a Saturday morning. A trio of cyclists, a solitary dogwalker and a strolling couple swinging a toddler between them have it pretty much to themselves.

Fifteen minutes later, though, a 5k racecourse has appeared, complete with a starting line, turnaround points and a finishing chute marked with colorful cones. After brief comments by the run director welcoming new participants and celebrating those achieving milestones, the runners—ranging from a duo of speedsters in front, to a man pushing three kids in an enormous stroller at the rear—are off.

The racers shout encouragement to each other as they repeatedly cross paths during the two-and-a-half circuits of the up-and-back route. The early finishers, after presenting a barcode to a volunteer to have their times recorded, welcome the remaining runners until all have completed the course. A volunteer “tail walker” is the last to cross the finish line. By 10:15 a.m., all evidence of the pop-up race is gone, and the volunteers and runners have headed out to meet for coffee at nearby Lynwood Center.

Another Fort Ward parkrun is in the books.

The first parkrun took place in 2004 at Bushy Park in Teddington, England, with 13 runners and five volunteers. From that humble start, the organization—based on the core principles that the events should be weekly, free and open to all who want to participate in any way they like—has grown to include more than 2,200 sites in 23 countries.

A one-time registration provides a personalized barcode which allows parkrunners to join any of the Saturday morning 5k events around the world. The emphasis is on persistence rather than speed, with recognition given for milestones, ranging from 25 to 1,000 parkruns completed. To date, the nonprofit has registered more than 9 million people.

Lee Nathan discovered parkrun in 2017, when his job took him and wife Amanda to Northern Ireland. “One of my coworkers in Belfast knew that I was a runner,” he said. “She let me know about parkrun and I just jumped into it. The local organizers welcomed us with open arms. We were like the American celebrities. We developed a running family there apart from our actual family that was thousands of miles away.”

The Nathans returned to the Seattle area and ultimately settled on Bainbridge Island in 2020. Despite the addition to the family of Belfast-born daughter Aila, Nathan felt that there was still something missing. “Being across the water from any parkruns, I felt the hole in my life,” he said, “and started to look at what the procedure was to start one here.”

After spending a year unsuccessfully lobbying the Bainbridge park district on his own, Nathan found allies in an unexpected place. While perusing fitness tracker Strava, he noticed a comment thread from retired BHS cross country coach Mike Shiach expressing interest in starting a Bainbridge parkrun. Upon further investigation, Nathan discovered that Mike’s son Ian, also a parkrun enthusiast, lived just two houses down. The neighbors teamed up, along with Mike and Amanda, and recruited another neighbor, long-time runner Dana Amore, who joined the cause despite having never heard of parkrun.

The newly filled-out core team began all over again. After an initial Battle Point Park proposal was rejected by the park district over parking concerns and Sakai Park was deemed impractical, the group turned its attention to the south side of the island, where it finally found its home. The inaugural Fort Ward parkrun took place in January 2023 and runs have been held every Saturday morning since.

Now, 70 parkruns in and counting, Bainbridge has developed its own local flavor. Fort Ward has “a lot of really cool side effects that we weren’t even anticipating,” said Ian Shiach. “It’s a great spectator-friendly course. You get to see all the other participants more than once, so families who are running or walking at different speeds get to see each other a bunch of times.”

Islanders and regional runners—one coming all the way from Neah Bay—are regulars at the Fort Ward runs. Additionally, parkrun tourists (yes, that’s a thing) occasionally pop up from around the world, some with the very specific goal of adding an F for the alphabet challenge, in which runners attempt to participate in a parkrun beginning with each letter of the alphabet.

“Everybody has their different reasons for doing parkrun,” Shiach said. “You’ve got really fast runners, you’ve got people who are just getting into running, you’ve got people who just like walking. For others, it’s the volunteering aspect and feeling like you’re part of the community.”

“Whichever of those things might be interesting to you,” he concluded, “you’re more than welcome. Bring your family, bring your friends, bring your dog.”

Learn more at parkrun.us/fortward