Legacy impacts of the pandemic on the recruitment of new participants at parkrun in Scotland

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic reduced physical activity during lockdown and had legacy impacts differentially affecting specific demographics. Key knowledge gaps remain in relation to the legacy impacts on rural communities which can require specific health intervention plans. Active leisure events like parkrun promote community exercise. Participation at parkrun was lower when events resumed after lockdown with disproportionate losses of females and those in deprived areas. It is unclear how the pandemic impacted recruitment at parkrun. This study compared the demographics of new participants at parkrun events in Scotland in the years before and after the pandemic. The study found a significant reduction in new participants, with more populated areas more resilient to losses, suggesting rural communities are engaging in more crowd avoidance post- pandemic. The age of new participants declined post- pandemic and the gender ratio shifted towards males. Prior to the pandemic the finishing time of new participants had been slowing, as parkrun became more inclusive, but the pandemic reversed this trend resulting in disproportionate losses of the least fit. The study also suggests the pandemic could have introduced a new barrier to engaging in physical activity, fear of catching COVID, which disproportionately affected women in rural communities.