Free on Saturday around 9 a.m. and looking for fun?
You might consider checking out the Kingston Park 5k parkrun, local manifestation of the global parkrun phenomenon, first started in England and established locally as of 2022.
First established at Hamlet Park by Tom and Kelsey Anderson of Woodbury before transferring to Kingston when Hamlet saw construction, today’s Kingston Park parkrun is overseen by Patty Turner, Taylor Anderson, and a host of other volunteers. As of June 8 it had seen 97 runs take place.
“Tom Anderson started it,” Turner shared recently. “We had two parkruns in Minnesota, one in Chaska and one in Eagan. Tom and Kelsey live in Woodbury and wanted one nearer.”
With that in view, a parkrun was established in the southeast metro, open to any and everyone.
“We have walkers and we have runners,” Turner said. “It’s timed. Some people care about their times, they try to improve their personal best time. Others just want the exercise.”
Runners are given a token when they finish, which is scanned along with their personal bar code for personal times. The run goes from the Kingston Park parking lot off Indian Boulevard and uses a shared trail to Jamaica before turning around.
“When we’re done we usually go to HyVee for breakfast,” Turner said. “We tabulate results there.”
“You get an email with your run time, so people can keep track if they want to and ignore it if they want to,” Turner said.
Held year round with cancellation for things like lightning, the family friendly event has seen people stop in from abroad, as well as closer to the greater metro.
“I started in parkrun to get in shape,” a runner named Ken shared of the Saturday event. “ I was quite a bit overweight and wanted to get in shape,” he said. “Started walking, then ran. I started out finishing in 48 minutes and now about 25. My goal is to be fit by 60.”
Starting with Eagan parkrun, Ken had switched to Cottage Grove as the Eagan route could be slippery in winter.
Regarding the city, Turner said Cottage Grove has been supportive.
“Cottage Grove has been really supportive,” she said, adding they understood the event neither had nor charges money to participate.
Offering exercise fun and camaraderie, the Kingston Park 5k parkrun takes place weekly at 9 a.m., off Indian Boulevard.