Elspeth Bleakley has been a unit leader for over 25 years and has been involved as a member of Girlguiding since 1988. Since taking part in her first parkrun back in 2017, Elspeth has been keen to get her unit, the 176th Edinburgh Brownies, engaged with the event. They have now taken over 3 parkruns at Vogrie Country Park, as well as a junior parkrun at The Meadows. We spoke to Elspeth about the benefits of parkrun in guiding. 

How many Vogrie parkruns have the Brownies now taken over and cheered on? 

We’ve taken over 3 Vogrie parkruns while on camp there in 2022, 2023 and 2025. That means we’ve filled almost all the volunteer slots for that week. The first one was my first time as run director and now I do it regularly as part of the core team at The Meadows junior parkrun. It was also one of my leaders’ first times ever volunteering and now she’s a regular at Oriam and almost on 100 volunteers (as well as 70 odd runs). In addition to the 3 Vogrie parkruns, we have done one junior parkrun takeover at The Meadows. This was before I was run director there but the RD that day was a Brownie mum at the time. 

Do the Brownies enjoy attending and volunteering at parkrun? 

Yes they’ve loved it, both those who’ve taken part in the run itself or volunteered. They’ve had a huge amount of support, appreciation and general praise from the parkrunners too. Many of the jobs are vital but perfectly possible for Brownies or leaders who’ve never done them before to do, for example timing, handing out finish tokens, scanning those tokens and barcodes so the results can be created and checking all the numbers match. 

What benefits do you feel volunteering at parkrun has on the Brownies? 

From my point of view, it shows them that even though they’re kids they can make a big positive difference and put on a big event like that almost by themselves. I think it’s also important for them to see the huge range of people who take part in parkrun from the walkers, families, friends chatting as they run, speedy and slower runners of all ages and sizes and just how friendly, sociable and accessible it is to everyone. The latest takeover we did, we had the largest number of Brownies yet wanting to do the run. One of the volunteer positions we took over was tailwalker which means it’s your job to bring up the tail, encourage everyone but especially those at the back and make sure everyone safely finishes ahead of you. Along with the marshals, you’re the eyes and ears out on the course. 

Does Girlguiding play a big part when the girls do junior parkrun/parkrun takeovers or are they more just focused on the running? 

For the 3 takeovers we’ve done at Vogrie, we’ve all been in uniform and the parkrunners have really embraced the fact that it’s Brownies providing most of the volunteer positions and they’ve been super appreciative and grateful to the girls. So yes, I’d say we’re giving a very visible and positive impression of Girlguiding. We’ve also heard lots of stories from parkrunners about when they were in the Brownies. When we did the takeover at The Meadows, we had several leaders and Brownies volunteering but it was more about taking part and running in your uniform and loads of girls from all sections did that. That was about 2019 I think.  

What have the Brownies said about taking part in parkrun? 

Speaking about taking part in the most recent parkrun takeover at Vogrie on 8 March, one girl said: “It was my first parkrun running today at Vogrie and it was fun but tiring. I feel proud of myself.” 

Another girl said: “I really liked handing out the tokens because I got to speak to the runners after the run and make them feel better when they were all sweaty.” 

A third girl added: “I really liked being a marshal and cheering the runners on, it made me feel nice.” 

How long have you been taking part in parkrun? 

I did my first parkrun in 2017 but my husband and many friends were involved long before that. When I did start going, I wished I’d started a lot earlier as it’s such a friendly and inclusive community. I’m now heading towards 200 runs, including many abroad when on holiday, and well over 100 volunteers. 

How long have you been involved in guiding? 

Since I was a Brownie in 1988 really. I was a Brownie, Guide and young leader, then I’ve been a leader for over 25 years so far.