Mile End parkrun now hosts GP-linked health runs weekly

On Saturday mornings in east London, a regular 5k around Mile End Park has become part of local health provision, as Mile End parkrun works with nearby GP practices so that patients referred through social prescribing can walk, jog, run or volunteer alongside their clinicians in a free, routine event that sits between formal treatment and everyday life.

The link has built up over several years: since the Royal College of General Practitioners and parkrun launched their “parkrun practice” initiative in 2018, Tower Hamlets surgeries have steadily joined, and by early 2025 fourteen practices and more than 30 multi-professional staff are connected to Mile End parkrun, turning what was once simply a community run into a regular meeting point for prescribed activity, informal check-ins and conversations about long-term health.

A typical week starts long before the stopwatches. Practice receptionists and social prescribing link workers talk to people living with conditions such as type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, low mood or social isolation and, where appropriate, suggest the local parkrun as one option within a wider plan. For some, that means aiming to walk the full 5k; for others, it may involve volunteering on the finish funnel, marshalling a corner of the course or simply coming along to watch, with the understanding that attendance itself counts as progress.

By the time participants gather near the start line, the mix of roles is hard to distinguish. Among parents with buggies, teenagers, retirees and club runners are GPs, nurses, reception staff and link workers wearing the same trainers and waterproofs as everyone else. Some have arrived with patients they know from consultations during the week; others have arranged to meet people who are nervous about coming alone. Afterwards, small groups drift towards the nearest café, where health goals and test results sit alongside talk of family, work and football.

The model is part of a wider national shift. Guidance from the National Academy for Social Prescribing in February 2025 notes that more than 1,800 GP practices across the country now identify as “parkrun practices”, meaning they actively promote local events to patients and may take part themselves. National advocates frame this as a practical way to make physical activity, social contact and volunteering available in a single package, particularly for people who struggle to afford gym memberships or organised sport.

Public opinion appears broadly aligned with that approach. Research highlighted by parkrun UK in early 2025 reported that around two in three Britons think it is a good idea for GPs to prescribe parkrun, with most of those respondents also agreeing it could help ease pressure on the NHS by supporting prevention and self-management. For Mile End and other London events, that backing matters because it suggests that patients who are offered a “social prescription” for parkrun are less likely to see it as a fringe idea and more as a legitimate part of their care.

The local context in Tower Hamlets gives the partnership additional weight. Clinicians writing about their experience of Mile End parkrun describe the borough as one with significant deprivation, high levels of inactivity and marked health inequalities, including high rates of diabetes, cardiovascular disease, obesity and mental health problems. In that setting, a completely free, weekly event within walking distance for many residents can play a modest but meaningful role in reducing barriers to activity at a time when travel and leisure costs are rising.

From a patient perspective, the benefits often turn on details that do not appear in medical notes. Someone who has been advised to be more active after a heart attack may find it easier to turn up knowing that staff from their practice will also be there, or that there is no requirement to complete the whole course or attend every week. People who are anxious about being judged on speed or appearance can join steadily growing groups of walkers and run–walkers, normalising slower paces and demonstrating that helping at the finish line can be as valued as crossing it.

For staff, participation can blur the line between professional and personal wellbeing. GPs and nurses attending Mile End parkrun report that running or walking with patients helps them look after their own health, see people outside a clinical setting and build trust that can carry back into consultations. When colleagues from several practices attend together, the event doubles as an informal peer-support network, offering a space to decompress after busy weeks while modelling the behaviours they encourage in others.

Equity is an explicit concern for organisers and clinicians alike. Outreach through social prescribing link workers, community groups and local authority partners aims to ensure that people who might benefit most – including those on low incomes, in overcrowded housing or living with multiple conditions – know that they are welcome and that walking, jogging, using mobility aids or volunteering are all legitimate ways to participate. The flexibility of the format, with no booking and no requirement to finish, helps accommodate fluctuating health and caring responsibilities that can make more rigid programmes difficult to sustain.

As London’s health system continues to invest in social prescribing through 2025, Mile End parkrun offers a concrete example of how an existing community event can double as a low-cost health setting without losing its informal character. For some residents, the measure of success will be clinical – improved blood pressure, lower blood sugar, steadier mood. For others, it will be simpler: a reason to get out of the house on a Saturday, familiar faces at the park, and the sense that looking after health can sometimes feel more like joining a local gathering than attending an appointment.

12 December 2025 07:15 By London Health News Desk