Sharing real stories: Laura went from walking to running the whole 5km

A couple of years ago, my now-husband kept inviting me to attend parkrun on a Saturday morning. He is a very keen runner but running had never been an activity I really enjoyed. Reluctantly, I went along a few times and walked most of the 5km.  

With some help from cardio tennis and an encouraging parkrun friend, I went from walking to running the whole 5km. Since running my first parkrun, I now barely miss a week and recently completed 100 parkruns across 40 different locations – including all the parkruns across Cardinia Shire, City of Casey and City of Greater Dandenong.  

Parkrun is a wonderful community initiative that is volunteer-led and completely free to participate in. We have fun exploring different parkrun locations and bringing the dog along, where possible. I’d encourage everyone to give it a go and find your local parkrun.  

It doesn’t matter if you run, jog or walk – go at your own pace. I never thought I’d be running 5km each week! 

Laura – Health Promotion Practitioner, Monash Health.

This story is proudly shared as part of our Make a Move Make a Difference campaign.