#003 / I’ll come to you
Tuesday the 22nd of September, 2026
Welcome to The Participate Playbook, #003.
I’ll come to you
In January 2012, I’d been involved in parkrun for five years, working there for one-and-a-bit, and had just been promoted to UK Country Manager. This effectively meant that I was responsible for all aspects of parkrun UK operations, which at that time numbered around 100 5k events (plus Bushy juniors) and 15,000 weekly participants.
At that same time, we were experiencing all kinds of challenges associated with rapid growth. An ever-increasing volunteer community, the need to maintain a level of consistency across all events and, as Country Manager, it was my responsibility to decide where we drew the line between what mattered and what didn’t. If we were too distant and controlling we’d lose support, but if we were too relaxed and accommodating we’d end up with an unscalable and unsustainable organisation.
A particularly good example of this was a decision we’d just made about participating with dogs … in that participants were now limited to only one dog per person (previously you could run with multiple, which seems bonkers looking back from here).
In fact, dog rules must be just about the most contentious topic in parkrun history, and have gone from ...
No leads and as many dogs as you like, to
Any type of lead and as many dogs as you like (not that controversial), to
Any type of lead and one dog per person (reasonably controversial), to
Short hand-held leads and one dog per person (super controversial)
Who knows if there are any more steps to come on that journey of increasing controversy, but ‘dogs at parkrun’ is probably worthy of a Playbook all of its own!
Anyway, the reaction to that decision, amongst many other reactions to many other decisions, was a lesson I very much needed at the time. And whilst I was confident that it was 100% the right thing to do, and anyone I spoke to in person was easily convinced, with thousands of parkrunners all across the UK I realised I needed to get out there and meet them in person.
We didn’t have much money, so hiring a car for an entire month, not to mention a couple of plane flights, and a whole load of hotel rooms, was quite a financial investment. Nevertheless, convinced of my mission, I set off on what became a 3,000 mile journey, travelling as far north as Inverness, as west as Belfast and south as Killerton House in Devon. And Danny joined me for the first leg, which took in various Scottish parkrun communities, one of which centred around the brilliant Strathclyde parkrun.
Danny (left) and me, with Strathclyde parkrun's amazing Event Director, Ally Robb. October 2012.
Although, by a slight quirk, I’d actually spent the first three years of my life in Strathclyde, in this context I was very much not Scottish, and very much not creating a great impression by very much telling Scottish parkrunners what to do.
I think it’s fair to say that the initial stages of our first meeting were a little tense, with both parties being incredibly passionate and knowledgeable about parkrun, but neither fully understanding the other. Plus the Strathclyde team was particularly passionate about the multi-dog participation concept, and particularly disappointed in the already-actioned change. Think HQ v local team, staff v volunteers, or England v Scotland, there were many angles from which confrontation could be the default position.
Ultimately however, we sat down in a room together, took the time to chat the whole thing through, found common ground, and developed our understanding not only of the challenges facing parkrun at that time, but those ahead were we to significantly grow.
And I’d be lying if I didn’t admit it took a few social drinks that evening to really get everything over the line, but after a period of bilateral discussions (the likes of which Chris would have been incredibly proud of), we became friends for life and lived happily ever after.
Scottish parkrun legends Pat Smith (left), John Smith (back row centre, not the one mentioned in #002), and Moira Smith (one from the left, not all Scottish parkrunners are called Smith), with Helen, Rosie, and Aston. At Drumpellier Country Park parkrun, in 2019, seven years after our first meeting at Strathclyde.
Comment
I’m not remotely exaggerating when I say I don’t think I could have navigated the 12 years that followed that trip without the UK-wide relationships it created. It helped me understand the communities I served, and helped them understand my values as the leader of their organisation.
Far too often we see diktats coming down from above or out from the centre, with very little consideration of the people who are tasked with delivery or those impacted by the detail. We see top-down governance, values communicated in words not actions, and a disregard from real human interaction.
So from that point on, I tried my best to not only make time for people, but make the effort to go to them, and carried that through my parkrun leadership journey.
We may often feel too busy, but if we’re looking to achieve the greatest return on investment of our time, then starting with I’ll come to you is about as impactful a strategy as there is.
Thanks so much to Danny and the brilliant With Me Now community for their support of The Participate Playbook.
Check out the world’s number one parkrun podcast, With Me Now.
Tom Williams
Co-Founder, Participate World
participateworld.org
The Participate Playbook newsletter reflects Tom Williams' personal experience and recollections from his time at parkrun. It is not an official parkrun position or record, and any errors are unintentional. Tom writes as an independent consultant through Participate World Limited, and neither he nor the company are affiliated with, employed by, or representatives of parkrun Global or any of its group companies.
