After a whole lot of early mornings, extensive journey planning, occasional wrong turns and more post-parkrun breakfasts than anyone was counting, the Webbs have done it: their parkrun Alphabet Challenge is complete.
What began as an idea to collect parkruns beginning with different letters became a much bigger adventure. It took them around the UK and overseas, introduced them to new courses and communities, and provided a very good reason to set another painfully early Saturday alarm.
There were plenty of miles involved, but the real challenge happened between the runs: choosing events, organising journeys and finding a practical way to reach some of the alphabet’s more awkward letters. Completing the final Y brings all of that effort together in one brilliant milestone.
An A–Z adventure in their own words
The Webbs’ own description captures the journey perfectly:
“Our A–Z parkrun journey: a whole lot of early mornings, questionable life choices, getting lost, eating far too many Spoons breakfasts, and somehow convincing ourselves that running to complete the alphabet was a good idea!
“From A–Z, we visited some amazing places, met some lovely people and collected a LOT of parkrun memories along the way.”
That combination of running, travelling and laughing at the occasional questionable decision is exactly what made the challenge so memorable. Each event may have involved the familiar Saturday morning 5K, but no two trips were quite the same.
The Webbs have brought the full collection together in their A–Z parkrun journey video. Sound on is strongly recommended.
The big 2026 push
Carn Runners first shared an update on the Alphabet Challenge in May, when the Webbs were working through a packed series of trips to secure many of their remaining letters.
The documented 2026 journey included:
- 1 January — Delamere, Cheshire
- 3 January — Irchester, Northamptonshire
- 31 January — Jubilee, Bedford
- 21 February — Ashton Court, Bristol
- 14 March — Quakers Walk, Wiltshire
- 28 March — Widnes, Cheshire
- 11 April — Kraków, Poland
- 18 April — Zielony Jar, Poland
- 2 May — Rugby, Warwickshire
- 16 May — Five Arches, Somerset
- 23 May — Bushy Park
- 25 May — Oude Warande, the Netherlands
Those dates alone show how quickly the challenge gathered momentum. It was not simply a case of waiting for a suitable local event to come along. The remaining gaps demanded proper parkrun tourism, with weekends and overseas trips becoming opportunities to add another carefully selected letter.
From Bushy Park to international parkruns
The challenge produced an impressive variety of destinations. There were city parks, woodland settings and courses across several English counties, alongside international visits to Poland and the Netherlands.
Bushy Park was a particularly memorable addition. As the original home of parkrun, it is a special destination for many parkrun tourists and became another landmark stop on the Webbs’ route through the alphabet.
The trips to Kraków and Zielony Jar secured two very different Polish parkruns, while Oude Warande added the Netherlands to the growing list of countries visited. Wherever the next letter took them, the Webbs found the welcoming atmosphere that connects parkrun communities around the world.
The challenge also created memories that cannot be reduced to a checklist. Every journey brought its own people, surroundings, breakfast stops and stories. Even getting lost became part of the final A–Z collection.
Gibraltar leaves just one letter
By the summer, the alphabet was almost finished, but G and Y were still proving elusive.
G was eventually secured during a trip to Spain, when the Webbs crossed the border to take part in Gibraltar Botanical Gardens parkrun. The visit combined another international parkrun with one of the most important letters remaining on the list.
As covered in our Gibraltar parkrun report, completing G reduced the entire mission to one final target: Y.
After all the destinations already visited, it was fitting that the challenge should end with one of its trickier letters. There would be no quietly finishing the list at an event just down the road. Y required one more plan, one more journey and one final Saturday morning 5K.
From “just Y to go” to challenge complete
That last gap has now been filled.
The Webbs can finally look back at the complete alphabet rather than planning the next missing letter. It represents a huge amount of commitment—not only to the running, but to all the organisation that made each trip possible.
There is something wonderfully simple about an alphabet challenge when it is written down: find an event for each letter and complete them. In practice, it becomes a long-term travel puzzle involving calendars, maps, alarms, accommodation and the possibility that the route to breakfast may receive almost as much consideration as the route around the park.
Most importantly, the challenge gave the Webbs a reason to explore. From familiar UK destinations to parkruns in Poland, the Netherlands and Gibraltar, each new letter added another chapter to the story.
A brilliant parkrun milestone
The finished alphabet is an amazing achievement and a fitting reward for every early start, long journey and questionable life choice along the way.
Huge congratulations to the Webbs from everyone at Carn Runners. The letters may now be complete, but the collection of places, people and parkrun memories will last much longer.
A to Z: officially done. What a journey! 👏💙💛
