wellness
Where to Find the Best Parkrun Near You
Kansas City runners are heading to neighborhood parks for the free Saturday morning 5-kilometer events that have drawn steady crowds since expanding last year.
How we reported this
Kansas City now runs three parkrun events each Saturday morning across city parks, with the largest drawing 178 participants last month at one Midtown location.
The surge comes as local wellness programs push outdoor activity during the summer months when indoor gym attendance drops at facilities like the YMCA on Main Street. City data shows a 22 percent rise in park permits for group fitness from June 2025 to June 2026.
Loose Park and Penn Valley options
Loose Park on Ward Parkway hosts the 8 a.m. start on the first and third Saturdays, where runners follow a flat 5k loop past the rose garden and along the paths near 51st Street. Penn Valley Park near the Liberty Memorial offers its own weekly event at 9 a.m. every Saturday, starting from the east side parking area off Main Street and covering the hillier terrain around the memorial grounds.
Both sites belong to the Parkrun USA network, which logs results online the same day. The Loose Park course stays shaded for much of the route, while Penn Valley includes a short climb that local runners use for interval training on non-event days.
Numbers and next steps
Parkrun USA reported 14,300 total finishes across its Kansas City-area events in 2025, with an average of 142 runners per Saturday at the three local stops. Registration stays free through the Parkrun app or website, though volunteers ask participants to bring their own barcode tag after the first visit.
Check the Parkrun USA site each Thursday for any weather-related changes, then arrive 15 minutes early at either Loose Park or Penn Valley to sign the volunteer sheet if you want to help time the finish chute.