19/10/2026
๐ Behind the scenes: How we manage 1,000+ finishers at Albert Melbourne parkrun
Ever wondered how we manage to get more than 1,000 people across the finish line, through our funnels and into the hands of our finish token volunteers without everything grinding to a halt?
Itโs a system weโve developed and refined over many years, borrowing ideas from other large parkruns and making a few innovations of our own. Importantly, every role is easy and fun. There is a lot of redundancy built in to ensure that there is no pressure on any one role. You might also notice in the video that every volunteer has a name tag. We find this makes the whole experience more friendly and helps our Run Directors to call everyone by their name.
Hereโs how it works!
โฑ๏ธ 1. Two timekeepers
They both do the same job but call out numbers to each other to help keep in sync. At the end, we just use whichever file is more accurate.
๐ 2. Two funnels, lots of switching
The first thing to understand is that we donโt fill one funnel before switching to the other.
Instead, we switch whenever we need to prevent a queue building back towards the finish line.
With more than 1,000 participants, we might switch funnels 20 times. Sometimes there are only 20 people between switches, sometimes 100.
The most common reason for switching is that someone stops or slows down in a funnel, causing everyone behind them to back up towards the finish line. Rather than trying to resolve the problem immediately, we simply switch to the other funnel.
We send group A down one funnel, with a volunteer marshal at the front. When that queue starts getting close to the finish line, we switch and send group B down the other funnel.
When that queue starts building, we switch back and send group C down the first funnel.
And so on!
This means that each funnel can contain several separate groups of finishers.
For example, on a particularly busy morning:
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๏ธ Left funnel: A, C, E, G, I, K
โก๏ธ Right funnel: B, D, F, H, J, L
Each group is separated by a volunteer, so we always know where one group ends and the next begins.
Our Funnel Manager 1 is switching the funnels and Funnel Manager 2 is cordinating the Funnel Manger Number 1s, handing them a letter card as they go into the funnel. As people progress along the funnel, our Funnel Marshal 2 volunteers are positioned on the outside of the funnels, telling people to keep moving, stay in order and not to leave the funnel. Our Funnel Marshal 3s are doing a similar job to Marshal 2 but they are positioned near the end, where they help keep people in the funnel while they are waiting.
At Albert Melbourne parkrun, our funnels are very long, about 200m. We have an enormous park and plenty of room to extend these even further if we ever needed.
๐ถ 3. The Marshal 1 volunteers
We like to have around 10 volunteers assigned to the Marshal 1 role.
Each carries a letter card and leads a group into the funnel. When they reach the finish token end, they hand their letter card to Funnel Manager 3 and then return to the start of the funnel to collect another group.
Itโs a continuous rotation.
We borrowed the general idea from Bushy parkrun in London, which uses letter cards to separate groups. However, Bushy gives the card to the last participant in each group.
We decided weโd rather keep the cards in the hands of volunteers and position those volunteers at the front of each group.
๐ฆ 4. Bringing the groups back together
At the other end of the funnels, our Funnel Manager 3 has a very important job.
They control which funnel is open, allowing one group at a time to pass through to the finish token volunteers.
When the last person in a group passes, they close that funnel and open the other.
Usually, the gaps between groups are obvious. When things get really busy, the letter cards carried by our marshals make it easy to identify the next group.
For example, the funnel manager might be letting group J through to collect their finish tokens when the volunteer leading group K appears in the other funnel.
They hold group K until thereโs a large gap or when the marshal holding letter L gets to them. They would hold group L and let group K go through to the finish token volunteers.
The result is that, although finishers have been divided between two funnels, everyone arrives at the finish tokens in the correct order.
๐ข 5. Number checking: Our error correction system
This is a completely separate system from the letter cards.
We used to have a volunteer follow a particular finisher all the way from the timekeepers to the finish tokens, checking that their finishing position matched their token.
The problem was that, with very large numbers, hundreds of people could pass through the funnel before we discovered a mistake.
So we introduced number checking every 50 finishers.
Number Checker 1, positioned near the finish line, gives a numbered card to every 50th finisher, regardless of which funnel they enter.
Number Checker 2, positioned just before the finish tokens, checks that the person carrying the card receives the corresponding finish token, or something very close to it.
If thereโs a discrepancy, we can correct it immediately.
Depending on the situation, Number Checker 2 can ask the finish token volunteers to pocket some tokens or call Number Checker 1 (on their phone) to have the timekeepers add the necessary clicks.
This system has been extremely effective. We very rarely have errors, and when we do, we can usually identify and correct them quickly.
๐๏ธ 6. Two finish token volunteers, doing exactly the same job
This is another area where we do things a little differently.
We donโt have a finish token volunteer and a finish token support volunteer.
Instead, we have two volunteers who take turns doing exactly the same job.
Volunteer 1 picks up the first 30 finish tokens.
Volunteer 2 picks up the next 30.
When Volunteer 1 hands out their 30th token, they take one step sideways and Volunteer 2 steps into their place, immediately continuing with the next token.
While Volunteer 2 is handing out their 30 tokens, Volunteer 1 prepares their next batch.
There are three big advantages:
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No need to pass batches of tokens between volunteers, reducing the risk of dropping them.
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Each volunteer gets a short rest after handing out 30 tokens.
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With a little coordination, the changeover takes virtually no time.
โฐ 7. The importance of speed
Having a long finish funnel can make things feel surprisingly relaxed at the finish token end.
But itโs important to understand that the funnel doesnโt create extra capacity. It just buys us time.
Ultimately, our finish token volunteers need to distribute tokens at the same rate that participants cross the finish line.
At Albert Melbourne, we can have around 10 minutes during which we average almost one person crossing the finish line every second.
That means our finish token volunteers need to hand out upto one token every second, for 10 minutes!
Thatโs why the two-person rotation is so important.
๐ฑ8. The barcode scanners
We position our barcode scanners a long way from the Finish tokens volunteers, about 200m. That gives plenty of space for queues to form. At Albert Melbourne parkrun we deliberately allow queues to form at the barcodes, we donโt want too many scanners. Why? Because queues encourage people to hang around. Many people collect their finish token and spend time talking. This is when we can approach people about volunteering. If the barcodes are scanned too quickly, the crowd disperses quickly and we miss the opportunity to talk to people about volunteering. Getting people to sign up to volunteer in-person is the most effective way to populate our roster. So 4 barcode scanners for 1000 finishers is about right for us.
๐ชฃ9. Finish Token Sorting
After people scan their finish token we have 10+ buckets, labelled 1-100, 101-200 etc. and ask them to put their tokens in the buckets. This does a rough sort. However, finish token sorting at our event is still a huge job. It typically takes a single person around 3 hours. Thankfully, this role has become very popular with people who like to make order out of chaos. However, we like to have someone local so that they can take the tokens home and then either bring them back or give them to the next Run Director during the week.
๐ฆบ10. Run Directors
You might have spotted in the video that we have 2 Run Directors. Again, this is to make sure that our volunteers have all the support they need. In general, one of the Run Directors will be near the finish while the other is near the end of the funnel and the barcode scanners. One of the Run Directors is designated as the key decision maker and they will handle any safety or safeguarding incidents. The other will help volunteers, recruit more volunteers for future weeks and generally keep things running smoothly.
๐ Itโs all about the volunteers
None of this would work without a fantastic team of volunteers who understand their roles and work together. We have a file that our volunteers are sent before the day and everyone gets a lanyard that explains their role.
The beauty of the system is that it doesnโt rely on having an enormous number of people in each funnel or waiting until a funnel is full.
Instead, we constantly adapt to whatโs happening at the finish line, using frequent funnel changes, volunteer marshals, number checking and rapid token distribution to keep everyone moving.
And while it might look complicated when written down, in practice itโs a remarkably smooth operation.
We hope this explanation is useful to other parkruns managing large numbers of finishers. Weโve learned plenty from other events over the years and are always happy to share what works for us.
And next time you finish at Albert Melbourne parkrun, spare a thought for the volunteers making sure that your finish time and finish token match! ๐
