048: Parkrun Passions, Challenges, and PR Prowess aka Lockdown Success Story - Sarah chats to Eileen Jones

Harnessing Happiness with Sarah J Naylor is an upbeat, energetic, and inspiring podcast filled with joy and laughter, wisdom, philosophies, and positive psychology.

During this lively episode you’ll meet Eileen Jones, a journalist with a PR business in The Lake District (UK) and author of How parkrun Changed Our Lives.

As you will discover Eileen has been a runner since her early 30s when she used to run and enter fell races all over The Lake District.  That was until she found herself slowing down and no longer competing against anyone, to the point she was the last one back to be checked in by a waiting timekeeper when all other contestants had gone home.  It was around this time that her sister introduced her to parkrun which was a revelation to her – she was a part of something again.  And whilst it isn’t a race she could compete against others if she chose too.

She then discovered the excitement / motivation of being a parkrun tourist and went on to set up Fell Foot parkrun and then helped get a team together to run another in Ambleside.

Eileen extols the benefits of travelling the country and other parts of the world as part of the various parkrun challenges that are there to motivate and inspire via the 5K app that gathers data from parkrun results.  In fact, Eileen herself was instrumental in suggesting one of the challenges which sees you entering a parkrun with every letter of your name i.e., Sarah would need to run at an event starting with the letter S, 3 different ones with the letter A (you take surnames into account) and so on until you have completed them all, which of course is different for everyone. 

Together they discuss the wide variety of challenges, milestones and fun that can be had from this, free to take part in, weekly event that takes place every Saturday.

You can hear both Eileen’s and Sarah’s natural enthusiasm bursting out during this episode. 

As you listen you will discover how Eileen went about launching her book during lockdown when all the bookshops were closed.  She wanted to get the book to Bushey Park where it all started – she subsequently managed to arrange a relay of over 100 runners over 370 miles to get the book there within 7 days and extols the joy she felt in making these arrangements and seeing it all come together – in fact she states that it was one of the happiest days of her life when she was able to present the book to Paul Sinton-Hewitt and his wife at the end of the relay. 

This is a truly inspiring episode that will make you want to reach for your trainers and head off to your local parkrun, get hooked and become a tourist completing the wide variety of challenges that are out there to inspire and motivate you.

NB – parkrun can be walked as well as run. 

Sarah is naturally engaging, her energy infectious, and whether she is sharing her musings and ramblings about life in general, or having insightful discussions with her guests, as you tune in and listen, your energy levels will rise, a smile will spread across your face as your inner happiness is harnessed.

To find out more about Sarah J Naylor, her 1:1 coaching, her book ‘Shining a Light on You’, her digital ‘Manifest Your Dream Job’ courses, and her APE Mindset™, please visit: https://www.sarahjnaylor.com/