The events will be supported by a targeted social media campaign to address and break down barriers faced by women and girls when accessing activity.
Using real life case studies from across the country, the campaign will help show parkrun is for everyone, no matter their age, background, fitness level or gender.
Last year, 2.4 million parkruns were completed by 440,000 women and girls across the globe and almost 100,000 women and girls carried out just under half a million volunteer roles at parkrun events.
Despite these positive numbers, the female share of parkrun finishers has dropped by around 3% compared to pre-pandemic, with This Girl Can research showing practical barriers such as childcare obligations add to concerns such as fear of judgement.
With more than 1,000 parkruns every weekend in the UK, Parkrun’s global head of health and wellbeing, Chrissie Wellington, is hoping to welcome many new faces on 5 March.
“Insight, including that generated by Sport England, reveals stark gender differences in physical activity participation and overall health and wellbeing, and that these have been exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic,” she said.
“We are proud that parkrun engages around 120,000 women and girls every single weekend across the world, but we also know that many still face barriers to taking part.
“These relate to fear of walking or running in public, not wanting to attend an event alone, not knowing what to expect or worries about not being fit enough.
“We are working really hard, with partners like Sport England, to remove many of these barriers, and make parkrun as accessible as possible to as many people as possible, and IWD parkrun 2022 is an important part of these efforts.
“We really look forward to marking this important occasion and using it as a platform to celebrate female participation at parkrun and help us impact the lives of many more women and girls in the UK and around the world.”
