parkrun Canada's 10th Anniversary and celebrations Saturday August 22 2026
parkrun Canada has been hosting volunteer-led 5k run / walk events across Canada for 10 years as of this Saturday August 22! If you are thinking of joining for the first time ever, there are two parkruns in Toronto (Budapest Park 8am and Downsview Park 9am) and many more around the horseshoe including Missisauga, Oakville, Pickering, Newmarket and others.
Every week hundreds of people across the GTA get up on Saturday morning and head to the start line for the briefing, and traverse the course for an official time.
This is a really warm and welcoming community of people, every pace from competetive to walker is encouraged, and kids and dogs are welcome too.
I often see people posting about finding run clubs that welcome all paces, and although this isn't a club per se, if you've never checked out an event, this will be such a great weekend to do it.
(There are 60+ events in 9 provinces so if you are reading this from away, check out the options where you are.)
Personally, I am too slow for a real run club, but the commitment to head to parkrun each Saturday has helped me run more than 30 5ks in the last year. And I've met people from all over the world this summer who made a point to parkrun while they were visiting Toronto. Just a big fan, want to see all the parkruns grow and succeed. You can volunteer too!