Christof, who led his first ever parkrun as Event Director early last month said: “As a deaf person, I find running and walking very beneficial since it brings such positive mental health benefits especially during and after lockdown.
“Admittedly, I didn’t do many parkruns before lockdown as I felt a lack of motivation to run, but now as a 56 year old deaf man with 250+ parkruns to date, I can say that I love parkrun and ticking off all the challenges and achievements it brings.
“Every year in May, Deaf Awareness Week is held to raise awareness about the Deaf community, our culture, language, and history.
“It is also a time to celebrate Deaf identity, promote Deaf culture, and advocate for equal communication and access for the Deaf and hard of hearing.
“I especially wanted parkrun to be part of this experience which is why I was motivated to raise awareness at Battersea parkrun on Saturday 3 May.”
Christof is one of the 11 million strong parkrun community and spent time at the end of parkrun raising awareness of BSL and teaching fellow parkrunners some key phrases, he explained: “I was motivated to raise some deaf awareness in my briefing before the parkrun started and make an open invitation to the parkrunners to join the Deaf community in the local café afterwards to ask any questions they may have about deafness, learn a few British Sign Language (BSL) signs, and hopefully come away with some confidence and knowledge about how Deaf people can be empowered in the parkrun society more than before.
“I did the run director briefing in BSL with the voiceover done by Claire Dallison-Hawkins and there was an opportunity for the runners to learn the parkrun sign in BSL and I encouraged everyone to repeat the parkrun BSL sign again during the briefing.
“The runners were so good at repeating the parkrun BSL sign, I even paused my briefing to take a photo of them all doing it from the top of the ladder I was stood on!)
parkrun is important to Christof and he has some great memories of his Saturday mornings, he added: “I have several memorable parkrun moments that have led me to where I am today and the presence of BSL at parkruns has been so valuable.
“For instance, I’ve met a few new faces coming forward offering to sign BSL for me when I struggled to understand the information at some parkruns, which in turn has been appreciated and invaluable.
“My hopes for parkrun are that it will become more deaf friendly and visual which I believe would benefit both deaf and hearing parkrunners.”
You can find your nearest parkrun, to run, walk, jog or volunteer at parkrun.com