Parkrun's First Photo Shows Zero GPS Watches on Wrists

Parkrun started in 2004 at Bushy Park with 13 runners and zero wearables. The original photo just resurfaced, and not a single GPS watch is visible. That tells you everything about how fast the running tech market exploded in two decades.

Last weekend, Bushy Park logged over 1,500 finishers. A conservative estimate puts around 1,000 Garmins on those wrists alone. That does not count Coros, Polar, Apple Watch, or Whoop users rounding out the field.

Garmin dominates the parkrun crowd for a reason. The Forerunner and Fenix lines handle 5K pace tracking, heart rate zones, and auto-lap splits without any setup faff. Coros Pace 3 is closing the gap at a lower price point, but Garmin's ecosystem and Connect app keep most runners locked in.

From zero devices in 2004 to a sea of GPS watches in 2024. Not a bad run for a free Saturday morning 5K.