Today we’d like to introduce you to Micaela McMullan.
Hi Micaela, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
Purcell Parkrun is part of the larger global Parkrun organization, a nonprofit founded in the United Kingdom to build community through movement. Every Saturday at 9 a.m., volunteers around the world come together in local parks to organize a free, 5K event that welcomes everyone, regardless of pace or experience. Walking is not only welcome, but encouraged. Each Parkrun also has a local café where participants gather for coffee afterward, which is an important part of the community we’re building.
I relocated to Harrisonburg for college in 2014 and have lived here ever since. I’ve always been passionate about getting involved in my community, but one community I struggled to find my place in was the running community. Most of the groups I tried were faster than I could comfortably run, so I mostly ran by myself.
That changed in January 2024, when my friend Tom Rogers mentioned that he wanted to start an all-paces-welcome running group called Parkrun and needed some help getting it off the ground. I jumped at the opportunity! Tom is from Wales and had participated in Parkrun many times before. At the time, the closest Parkrun events to us were in Richmond and the DC metro area, so we felt there was a great opportunity to bring one to the Shenandoah Valley. I had never even heard of the global Parkrun organization before Tom introduced me to it. I just knew that a low-pressure, welcoming, low-barrier running community was something I felt strongly our community needed.
After a few months of preparation, we officially launched Purcell Parkrun in May 2024. We chose Purcell Park because of its proximity to downtown and JMU. We also designed our route as two identical loops, which lowers the barrier to entry even further – if someone isn’t up for a full 5K, they can join us for half of the distance and still finish back at the start/finish area with everyone else. Harrisonburg Parks and Recreation was supportive from the beginning, and we’re lucky to have such a great team maintaining our parks and providing services throughout the city. Their support has been an important part of making Parkrun possible.
Once we got off the ground, Tom and I brought a few more people in to help share the work of organizing each weekend. We now have a team of eight Run Directors (in addition to Tom and myself) who rotate through the volunteer roles and make the event happen each Saturday. Having that team has been huge in keeping the event sustainable and ensuring that no one person has to take on too much of the work.
Our team also makes a real effort to welcome newcomers and create the kind of community that makes Purcell Parkrun special. We now average around 30 finishers each week, and if you ask any of our regulars, many will tell you that Parkrun has become an essential part of their weekend routine! People have made close friendships through meeting each other at Parkrun, and it’s been especially rewarding to watch people accomplish fitness goals they once thought were out of reach.
One of my favorite stories is about someone who joined us early on with no intention of running at all. She came primarily to walk while her adult children ran. Little by little, she started running a bit more each week. Eventually, she decided to train for and run the Harrisonburg Half Marathon! Stories like hers are exactly why I love Parkrun. It’s not really about running a 5K; it’s about creating a place where people feel comfortable showing up at any ability level, finding their people, and building community through being active.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
For the most part, it has been a much smoother road than I expected! Other Parkrun locations have told me about challenges they’ve faced with local parks and recreation departments or finding a strong volunteer base. We’ve been very fortunate to have strong support from Harrisonburg Parks and Recreation from the beginning.
Early on, filling the volunteer roster took some effort – we have about four to six volunteer roles to fill in addition to the Run Director each weekend. In the beginning, Tom and I mostly filled those roles with friends and family while we built a base of regular attendees who we could eventually ask to volunteer occasionally. It didn’t take long, though, before people started offering to volunteer instead of running, and we’ve been able to consistently fill the roster with a great variety of people every weekend since.
This year, Tom decided to step back from the co-Event Director role he shared with me. That could have been a significant challenge, since it left me taking on the higher-level logistics and planning responsibilities on my own. But, in line with almost every other experience I’ve had with this team, it really hasn’t been! Tom is still part of our rotating team of Run Directors who share the day-of responsibilities, and the team has been incredibly strong and willing to step up wherever needed. Their support has made the transition very smooth.
Overall, we’ve had very few major challenges in starting and sustaining our event. I think that speaks to the community we have here in Harrisonburg. Between the quality of Purcell Park, the support we’ve received from Harrisonburg Parks and Recreation, and the community’s willingness to show up, participate, and volunteer, Parkrun has been incredibly well supported. We’ve been really lucky to have so many people willing to help make it happen.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
Outside of Parkrun, I work in the tech industry! I got my start working in data analytics and database management, and now manage customer relationships for users of an email marketing platform. I like that my technical background makes me helpful to my customers, and I like the balance between technical yet people-facing work.
What do you like best about our city? What do you like least?
I love how much Harrisonburg lives up to it’s name of the Friendly City. People are very intentional about building community here, and I think that’s a huge part of what has made Purcell Parkrun such a success here. Other businesses in town have been very supportive too which I’ve loved to see – for example, Kevin Gibson from VAMomentum has been supportive since day one, and in turn we’ve had people get their start in running by joining Purcell Parkrun and later go on to participate in VAMomentum races. Drifters Cafe enthusiastically agreed to be our cafe of choice for our post 5k coffee, and as a result, most weekends we have 15+ participants go to Drifters for food and drinks as a group. I love seeing that connected element of our community!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.parkrun.us/purcell/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/purcellparkrun/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/purcellparkrun/
