Every Saturday at 7am, thousands of Brisbane locals lace up and head to a park for a free 5km timed run or walk. parkrun is one of the best community traditions the city has — friendly, free forever, and welcoming whether you're chasing a PB or strolling with the pram. Here's everything you need to start.
parkrun is a free, weekly, timed 5km event held on Saturday mornings in parks all over the world. There's no cost, no entry form, and no pressure — you can run, jog, walk, push a pram or bring a dog (on lead). You scan a barcode at the finish line, your time is emailed to you, and you can track your progress over months and years. Brisbane has more than 25 parkrun events across the city, all started by volunteers and run by volunteers.
Your barcode works at every parkrun event in the world, so register once and you're set forever.
Most Brisbane parkruns start at 7am sharp. Popular long-running events include:
Pick one near home for your first time — turning up at 6:55am is much easier when you haven't driven 30 minutes. Use the FindMyPark map to see which parks near you have parkrun events listed under What's On.
Arrive 10–15 minutes early. Look for the people in high-vis vests — they're the volunteers and they're very friendly. There's a brief first-timers' welcome around 6:50am where they explain the course. The run starts at 7am sharp, you complete the 5km loop or out-and-back, and at the finish you're handed a small token with your finishing position. You then queue up to scan your barcode + the token, and your time is emailed to you within an hour or two.
No-one cares how fast you go. There are 4-year-olds and 80-year-olds, prams, walking groups and elite runners — all in the same event.
Kids over 4 can run with a parent. Under-11s must be within arm's reach of an adult the whole way. Prams are welcome at flat events — New Farm, South Bank and Wynnum are pram-friendly. There's also junior parkrun on Sunday mornings — a 2km event for kids aged 4–14, designed to be fun rather than competitive.
parkrun has a milestone system: 25 runs (white shirt), 50 (red), 100 (black), 250 (green), 500 (purple). They post the shirt to you when you tick the number. Most regulars get hooked on the milestone game — it's a small but powerful motivator on the cold winter mornings when you'd rather stay in bed.
FindMyPark is a free interactive map of every Brisbane park with BBQs, playgrounds, dog areas and more.
Open the map →