Ireland is now the most popular place for parkrun worldwide, with around 9% of the population now registered.
Parkrun sees people of all ages and abilities gather on Saturday morning to run or walk a 5km route.
The junior parkrun, which is a shorter 2km run for children aged four to 14 and their families, takes place on Sunday mornings.
There are currently 112 5k events in Ireland, and 42 junior events, making 154 in total.
Midleton Greenway parkrun near Cork and Belcamp junior parkrun in Dublin started this month.
The parkrun movement began in London in 2004 when Paul Sinton-Hewitt started a run as a time trial between a small group of friends in Bushy Park in London.
It has since grown into a global phenomenon, with more than 10 million people registered and events taking place in over 2,600 communities worldwide every weekend.
In Ireland, it has been a runaway success. Last year, there were more than half a million finishes at parkrun events across Ireland, with more than 100,000 junior parkruns.
Parkrun first came to the island of Ireland at the Waterworks in Belfast in November 2010. Two years later, it started in the Republic of Ireland. The first Malahide parkrun took place in November 2012.
In Mullingar, Co Westmeath, one of the flattest routes in Ireland, the parkrun has grown from strength to strength. It started in 2016, and organisers say that before the Covid pandemic, it had around 80 regular runners.
The event now has around 200 runners attending every week to run the 5km route along the Royal Canal and the old rail trail.
"It's beautiful, fantastic, what a venue," declared Paul Cameron Smith as he crossed the finish line.
The first timer, originally from South Africa, completed his first parkrun in Mullingar today.
"I did about ten or 15 back in Johannesburg but this is my first one here in Ireland," he said.
Mr Smith said he enjoys the camaraderie of the parkrun.
"Runners throughout the world get to unite on a Saturday morning, exercise and enjoy it. Even though it's far away from home, it feels like home," he added.
Rev Wallace Moore recently moved to Mullingar where he is Minister of Mullingar and Corboy Presbyterian Churches. He did his first parkrun in Mullingar in recent weeks and has been coming back ever since.
"I've just moved from Newtownards to Mullingar in the last few weeks. It's nice and flat and for a novice for me, who doesn't run very much it's been great," he said.
"Because I've just moved to Mullingar and I want to meet people, it's been great, the people are wonderful."
Blanaid Adamson is event director in Mullingar and believes in the event's main goal, which is providing an accessible, inclusive, and non-competitive running event for people of all ages and abilities.
"It's not a competition, this isn't a racing club," she said.
"Come out and walk it or crawl it. The people at the start are just as important as the walker who come in at the end," she added.
"I know it's called parkrun but it isn't about running, it's about moving, it's about fun and it's about community," she said.
Sharon Healy from Enfield is among those who attended the first ever parkrun in Mullingar.
"In 2016 I started here. I love it. The years have gone by so quickly. Everyone is so friendly and it gets you up and out on a Saturday morning," she said.
Her son Kayden, who has been taking part since 2018, agrees.
"It makes you do something at the weekends, instead of staying in bed," he said.
Mel Leahy is another participant who has been there since the start and he said he gets as much from volunteering at the parkrun as he does from running it.
"I've probably 260 done. I just love coming in and I volunteer too. You get as much from it as give," he said.
Bernie Duff travels from Donadea in Co Kildare to Mullingar for the parkrun and urges people to take it up.
The grandmother, who has been taking part since 2016, said it is great to see new participants progress from walking and then completing the full 5k
"It's the business, just do it," she said.
