I’ve known about parkrun and junior parkrun for a while – it’s a big thing in London where I spend four days a week, and it’s something that’s often come up in conversations with parents in Norwich where I am an MP.

I’m always humbled by the efforts of everyone who organises these types of community initiatives and I think it’s fair to say that pretty much everywhere you go, parkrun and junior parkrun are a genuine ‘thing’ in communities.

I was really pleased to be invited along to Norwich junior parkrun by the core volunteer team there recently, but I have to admit I wasn’t sure how to approach it and I was actually pretty nervous when the big day arrived.

Would I have to run? How would it look if I finished in front of a child? Or worse still, what if it got competitive and I was out-sprinted to the finish line by a seven-year-old in fancy dress who wasn’t even out of breath? I do have a reputation to uphold you know, as the defending champion of the Parliamentary Pancake Race!

So imagine my relief when I arrived and discovered I didn’t have to actually run…

Seriously though, everything I had heard about junior parkrun was positive. Fun, free, non-competitive and a great way to get young people to enjoy physical activity. And it was even better to see it in real life.

It’s so different to how I remember things like PE sessions at school and competitive team-based sport. I’m sure much has changed since then, but for children lacking confidence, those sessions were almost like an object lesson in how to put the majority of young people off participating. To me, junior parkrun is like the antithesis of all that. No-one is judged, there’s no compulsion, everyone is welcome to take part and is encouraged.

The parkrun movement touches so many bases – from helping to build more cohesive communities, through to combating isolation and improving health. The challenge is that ‘decision makers’ may only have one or two of those things in their remit and sometimes can’t – or won’t – see the bigger picture. It’s the job of people like me as an MP to try to tie some of these things together.

Concepts such as parkrun and junior parkrun also give life to our public spaces and deepen our appreciation of them. Parks are the gardens of the people and it’s great to know that they are being used in this way to bring communities together.

I would like to say that on that morning I was up at 6am, limbering up whilst getting some last minute running tips on the phone from Paula Radcliffe because I still thought I would be running. What actually happened though was that I slept through my alarm and had to dash out of the house to get there in time.

I share a home in Norwich with a family and tried to gently persuade their 11-year-old daughter into coming along, but obviously didn’t do a very good job selling it to her as she remained resolutely glued to her iPad. The poor girl knows I’ve been in the Army and probably thought I was instructing her to come on a twenty-mile yomp across rough terrain with a backpack on.

But there is a happy ending to this. When I got back, I showed her some pictures of the event on my phone and she’s now keen to go along another time with a friend. What I learnt from that was that the fun, social aspect of it all really matters to children. And it’s not just the children who benefit. The volunteers clearly get a lot out of it too – friendships are made and teams are built.

The main thing I took away from junior parkrun was how, if it’s done right, something so simple can bring pleasure, get kids healthier and happier and also bring people together. I also have to say I got a real kick out of larking about with the children – the perfect antidote to a week in the slightly surreal world of Parliament!

Thank you to everyone who was there on the day I went along, and to the tens of thousands of people nationally who make parkrun happen.

Clive Lewis MP