The 5 K run in popular fiction: Reading about parkrun and couch to 5 K
Recent years have witnessed great interest in mass-participation running events (1), and organisations such as parkrun and fitness programmes like Couch to 5 K, have been instrumental in enabling participation for inexperienced runners. Concomitant with this has been a number of fictional works whic...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2023-02-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Sports and Active Living |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fspor.2023.1031934/full |
| _version_ | 1811165369994313728 |
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| author | Ellen Turner |
| author_facet | Ellen Turner |
| author_sort | Ellen Turner |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Recent years have witnessed great interest in mass-participation running events (1), and organisations such as parkrun and fitness programmes like Couch to 5 K, have been instrumental in enabling participation for inexperienced runners. Concomitant with this has been a number of fictional works which centre on the 5 K run. I contend that exploring fictional texts can offer a fresh take on how movements such as parkrun and Couch to 5 K have entered the popular imagination. The four texts explored are Wake's Saturday Morning Park Run (2020), Park's A Run in the Park (2019), Boleyn's Coming Home to Cariad Cove (2022), and James's I Follow You (2020). The analysis is arranged thematically around the categories of health promotion, individual transformation, and community building. I argue that these texts frequently operate as health promotion tools and can help familiarise would-be runners with how parkrun and Couch to 5 K work. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-10T15:37:14Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-f53a3acdacb24ec4ae12c71b0f9055e1 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2624-9367 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-10T15:37:14Z |
| publishDate | 2023-02-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Sports and Active Living |
| spelling | doaj.art-f53a3acdacb24ec4ae12c71b0f9055e12023-02-13T05:04:40ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Sports and Active Living2624-93672023-02-01510.3389/fspor.2023.10319341031934The 5 K run in popular fiction: Reading about parkrun and couch to 5 KEllen TurnerRecent years have witnessed great interest in mass-participation running events (1), and organisations such as parkrun and fitness programmes like Couch to 5 K, have been instrumental in enabling participation for inexperienced runners. Concomitant with this has been a number of fictional works which centre on the 5 K run. I contend that exploring fictional texts can offer a fresh take on how movements such as parkrun and Couch to 5 K have entered the popular imagination. The four texts explored are Wake's Saturday Morning Park Run (2020), Park's A Run in the Park (2019), Boleyn's Coming Home to Cariad Cove (2022), and James's I Follow You (2020). The analysis is arranged thematically around the categories of health promotion, individual transformation, and community building. I argue that these texts frequently operate as health promotion tools and can help familiarise would-be runners with how parkrun and Couch to 5 K work.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fspor.2023.1031934/fullrunningfiction (narrative)couch to 5Kparkrunhealth promotion |
| spellingShingle | Ellen Turner The 5 K run in popular fiction: Reading about parkrun and couch to 5 K Frontiers in Sports and Active Living running fiction (narrative) couch to 5K parkrun health promotion |
| title | The 5 K run in popular fiction: Reading about parkrun and couch to 5 K |
| title_full | The 5 K run in popular fiction: Reading about parkrun and couch to 5 K |
| title_fullStr | The 5 K run in popular fiction: Reading about parkrun and couch to 5 K |
| title_full_unstemmed | The 5 K run in popular fiction: Reading about parkrun and couch to 5 K |
| title_short | The 5 K run in popular fiction: Reading about parkrun and couch to 5 K |
| title_sort | 5 k run in popular fiction reading about parkrun and couch to 5 k |
| topic | running fiction (narrative) couch to 5K parkrun health promotion |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fspor.2023.1031934/full |
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