May 3, 2026

Every Saturday the Ahrens Park parkrun relies on volunteers – timers, scanners, chip distributors, tail walkers and course marshals.  The goal is to limit volunteers to one shift per month so they can walk/run the other days. If you are interested in volunteering, send an IM to Bill Menner, organizer. Parkrun is looking for a few volunteers for this coming week (May 9).
The month-old Ahrens Park parkrun, a 5K free walk/run that promotes community wellness, has adjusted its route (now going three laps around the park to avoid the soccer fields where the new school will be built) and its starting time at 8 a.m., beginning Saturday, May 2.

The weekly Grinnell event, one of two in Iowa, 98 in the U.S. and 2,500 worldwide, launched the first weekend of April. It will start at 8 a.m. on Saturdays from May through September to reflect warmer temperatures. The course will also become a three-lap event around the park, avoiding the soccer fields to the north where the new elementary school is being built.

Bill Menner said an average of 35 people have attended the first few Saturdays of Grinnell’s parkrun — including out-of-state visitors from Washington D.C., Illinois and Minnesota. He said there is a parkrun culture to visit as many different venues as possible.

The event has a presence online and on Facebook. Regular updates can be found at https://www.parkrun.us/ahrenspark/ or https://www.facebook.com/AhrensParkparkrun.

The most recent Park Run featured 38 walkers and runners, one of whom, Menner reports, was visiting from London and finished his 237th parkrun in his 82nd different location.