{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,3]],"date-time":"2026-10-03T09:55:17Z","timestamp":1791021317480,"version":"4.1.0"},"reference-count":66,"publisher":"Oxford University Press (OUP)","issue":"3","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,5,21]],"date-time":"2024-05-21T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1716249600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/academic.oup.com\/pages\/standard-publication-reuse-rights"}],"funder":[{"name":"Centre for Sports Engineering Research"},{"DOI":"10.13039\/100010035","name":"Sheffield Hallam University","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100010035","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2024,6,1]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>Social support is a well-established determinant of mental wellbeing. Community initiatives, which combine a purposeful activity with social connection, may be appropriate to promote the mental wellbeing of middle-aged men in Ireland\u2014a group at risk of poor mental wellbeing due to social isolation. parkrun offers free, weekly, 5km run or walk events in 22 countries. This study aims to explore the social experience of parkrun participation for middle-aged men in Ireland and considers how social connections made at parkrun relate to mental wellbeing. Online semi-structured interviews were conducted in 2022\/23 with 39 men aged 45\u201364 years, who run, walk or volunteer at parkrun in Ireland, recruited purposively in rural and urban communities. Men with a range of parkrun experience gave interviews lasting a mean of 32\u00a0minutes. Interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim. Reflexive thematic analysis resulted in three themes and ten subthemes. The men described parkrun as offering a welcoming and supportive environment (Theme 1). Men at parkrun could choose the level of social connections, building strong or weak social ties to provide social support and improve mental wellbeing (Theme 2). Social engagement with parkrun evolved following repeated participation (Theme 3). The results suggest that parkrun is a suitable community initiative for middle-aged men at risk of poor mental wellbeing due to social isolation. Social connections were developed after repeated participation in parkrun and these connections improved subjective mental wellbeing. The findings from this study could be used to design new initiatives for mental health promotion.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1093\/heapro\/daae045","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,5,14]],"date-time":"2024-05-14T16:39:14Z","timestamp":1715704754000},"source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":12,"title":["\u2018My parkrun friends.\u2019 A qualitative study of social experiences of men at parkrun in Ireland"],"prefix":"10.1093","volume":"39","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6471-2160","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Allison","family":"Dunne","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Advanced Wellbeing Research Centre,\u00a0Sheffield Hallam University , Olympic Legacy Park, 2 Old Hall Road, Sheffield, S9 3TU , UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2716-4681","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Helen","family":"Quirk","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Sheffield Centre for Health and Related Research (SCHARR), School of Medicine and Population Health, University of Sheffield , 30 Regent Street, Sheffield, S1 4DA , UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Alice","family":"Bullas","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Advanced Wellbeing Research Centre,\u00a0Sheffield Hallam University , Olympic Legacy Park, 2 Old Hall Road, Sheffield, S9 3TU , UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Steve","family":"Haake","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Advanced Wellbeing Research Centre,\u00a0Sheffield Hallam University , Olympic Legacy Park, 2 Old Hall Road, Sheffield, S9 3TU , UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"286","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,5,21]]},"reference":[{"key":"2024052110435516400_CIT0001","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"9875","DOI":"10.3390\/ijerph18189875","article-title":"The impact of retirement on happiness and loneliness in Poland\u2014evidence from panel data","volume":"18","author":"Abramowska-Kmon","year":"2021","journal-title":"International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health"},{"key":"2024052110435516400_CIT0002","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"861107","DOI":"10.3389\/fpsyg.2022.861107","article-title":"Challenges and approaches to green social prescribing during and in the aftermath of COVID-19: a qualitative study","volume":"13","author":"Alison","year":"2022","journal-title":"Frontiers in Psychology"},{"key":"2024052110435516400_CIT0003","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1080\/24733938.2023.2249426","article-title":"Walking football for health\u2014physiological response to playing and characteristics of the players","volume":"26","author":"Andersson","year":"2023","journal-title":"Science and Medicine in Football"},{"key":"2024052110435516400_CIT0004","first-page":"20","article-title":"More than a place to do woodwork: a case study of a community-based Men\u2019s Shed","volume":"6","author":"Ballinger","year":"2008","journal-title":"Journal of Men\u2019s Health (Amsterdam)"},{"key":"2024052110435516400_CIT0005","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1007\/978-3-030-23455-3","volume-title":"Implementing Mental Health Promotion","author":"Barry","year":"2019","edition":"nd edition"},{"key":"2024052110435516400_CIT0006","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e041102","DOI":"10.1136\/bmjopen-2020-041102","article-title":"Community-centred interventions for improving public mental health among adults from ethnic minority populations in the UK: a scoping review","volume":"11","author":"Baskin","year":"2021","journal-title":"BMJ Open"},{"key":"2024052110435516400_CIT0007","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"843","DOI":"10.1016\/S0277-9536(00)00065-4","article-title":"From social integration to health: Durkheim in the new millennium","volume":"51","author":"Berkman","year":"2000","journal-title":"Social Science & Medicine"},{"key":"2024052110435516400_CIT0009","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"37","DOI":"10.1002\/capr.12360","article-title":"Can I use TA? 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