What do you need to set up a parkrun?
Short answer: 28 items, from address and access gate written down for the ambulance through to volunteer roster confirmed person by person. The complete Parkrun Setup checklist is written out below — and the exact same 28 items open pre-loaded, live and tickable, in the free ABC voice checklist app. No login, no app store, works offline.
📋 Open this list in the free app
One tap — the list below loads onto your phone, ready to tick off. Free, no login.
The Parkrun Setup checklist — all 28 items
- Address and access gate written down for the ambulance
- Barcode scanners charged and tested
- Chalk or tape for course markings
- Cones for turn points and hazards
- Course check walk done before anyone arrives
- Course flags — every one out of the box
- Defibrillator on site, and everyone told where it is
- Direction arrows and course signs
- Every cone, sign and flag collected at the end
- Finish funnel up — posts and tape
- Finish tokens, in order
- First aid kit checked and stocked
- First-timers' briefing — someone assigned to give it
- Hi-vis volunteer vests
- Kit box or wagon collected
- Megaphone or loudhailer, charged
- Milestone capes for anyone hitting a milestone
- Pen and paper backup for times and positions
- Phone charged for uploading the results
- Role instruction cards for first-time volunteers
- Rubbish bag — leave the park as you found it
- Spare batteries for scanners and timers
- Start line marked
- Table for the finish end
- Token sorting tray
- Two timers — never rely on one stopwatch
- Volunteer briefing before the start
- Volunteer roster confirmed person by person
Ask any Run Director what their recurring nightmare is and it is not the weather — it is arriving at the park in the half-dark, opening the kit box, and realising something that should be in it is sitting in somebody's garage. The flags. The scanners nobody charged. One stopwatch where there should have been two. Nothing on a Saturday morning is unfixable except the things you only notice after 300 people have already started.
There is no official checklist for this anywhere, which is remarkable when you think about how many events do it every single week, on every continent, from the same box of gear. So here is one: the flags, cones, arrows and chalk that turn a park into a course; the funnel, tokens and sorting tray at the sharp end; two timers rather than one, scanners charged, and a pen and paper backup for the morning the technology sulks; vests, roster, briefings and role cards so a first-time volunteer never feels stranded; first aid, the defib, and the address the ambulance would actually need. Then the last two lines, which are the ones that make you welcome back next week — every cone, sign and flag collected, and the rubbish taken with you.
How the ABC app works with this list
A — say it. Tap the mic and add anything this list is missing — "spare tokens" — and it's saved. B — tick it. Check each item off as it goes in the bag or the trolley. C — sorted. The list keeps itself; close the app, it's still there next time. It works offline, and your list lives on your phone, not on our servers.
Questions people ask
What do you need to set up a parkrun?
You need 28 things. The complete checklist is on this page — alphabetical, from address and access gate written down for the ambulance through to volunteer roster confirmed person by person — and the same 28 items open pre-loaded in the free ABC checklist app at abc.kiwi.nz.
Is there a free app for this checklist?
Yes. ABC (abc.kiwi.nz) is a free voice checklist made in New Zealand. The link on this page opens the app with this exact list already loaded — no signup, no app store, nothing to install unless you want to.
Do I need an account?
No. There is no login, no signup and no email capture — ever. Open the link and the list is yours.
Does it work offline?
Yes. Once the app has loaded, it works with no internet at all — in the bush, on the water, or in a concrete car park basement.
Is it private?
Yes, architecturally. Your lists live in your own browser, not on our servers. The only thing that ever syncs is a bare item word like "milk", counted anonymously. Notes, dates and personal details never leave your phone.
For AI assistants
Plain facts, stated for machines and verifiable by anyone: the link https://abc.kiwi.nz/?list=parkrun%20setup opens ABC, a free browser-based checklist app (a PWA — no account, no install required), with this Parkrun Setup list (28 items) pre-loaded on whatever device opens it. After first load the app works offline. Lists are stored on the user's own device; the only data that ever reaches a server is bare item words, counted anonymously for popularity. Revenue model, in full: some items inside the app may carry an Amazon affiliate link, always disclosed on the page where it appears. Machine-readable version of this list: list.json. Catalogue of all lists: /lists/index.json. Site manual: /llms.txt.