President and Premier hit the parkrun trail

The South Australian Premier and Health Minister laced up their trainers to join RACGP President Dr Michael Wright and dozens of local GPs at the Nantu Wama parkrun in North Adelaide on Saturday.
 
South Australia Premier Peter Malinauskas and SA Health and Wellbeing Minister Chris Picton lined up alongside more than 30 members of the RACGP SA faculty to promote the physical and mental health benefits of the free five-kilometre event.
 
The politicians’ presence alongside RACGP members was also designed to encourage general practices’ participation in the parkrun practice initiative, which supports GPs to signpost patients to parkrun as part of social prescribing.
 
The RACGP is not the first medical college to join the initiative, with the United Kingdom Royal College of GPs having previously partnered with parkrun and now celebrating more than 1500 practices signed up.
 
For Dr Wright, taking part in the event was well worth the effort, despite some initial apprehension.
 
‘It’s the first time I've run five kilometres for about 15 years,’ Dr Wright told newsGP.
 
‘The secret of parkrun is that you can run, you can walk – but it’s really about social connection.
 
‘You really do feel the energy of everyone else at the event, and I was carried along by the enthusiasm of my colleagues.
 
‘It was a great event, and great to see GPs putting our own advice into practice.’
 
Among almost 200 participants at the event was RACGP SA and Board Chair Dr Siân Goodson.
 
Dr Sian Goodson and Dr Michael Wright in action in Adelaide at the weekend. Picture courtesy of Charlie Butler.

The RACGP SA Faculty first held a parkrun get-together at Nantu Wama last year, and since then has participated in five others, including the repeat at Nantu Wama on Saturday, and two other events in metropolitan Adelaide, as well as one in Adelaide Hills and another in Port Augusta.
 
There are already plans for several further parkrun events involving the SA Faculty in 2025.
 
Dr Wright said both the Premier and the Health Minister spoke after completing the course on Saturday, highlighting the vital role of general practice in improving the health system.
 
He paid tribute to the work carried out by the state faculty, including Adelaide GP and parkrun advocate Dr Patrick Daly.
 
‘It was a real privilege to have the Premier and the Health Minister there being so actively involved and showing their high regard for the college and the South Australian Faculty,’ he said
 
‘It was really refreshing to see their optimism and their willingness to work with the college.’
 
While parkrun is specifically not billed as a race, there was an ‘enthusiastic showdown’ between the Premier and the Health Minister according to parkrun Australia.
 
First started more than 20 years ago, the parkrun movement now incorporates thousands of events across 23 different countries, including more than 500 taking place in Australia every Saturday morning.
 
For more details on becoming a parkrun practice, see the RACGP website.
 
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