Every Saturday morning, as the clock strikes 9 am, over 50,000 eager runners set off on a 5km journey around their local park. The Parkrun phenomenon, which originally began as a small gathering among a group of friends, has now boosted 400 events across the UK and numerous others globally. These events, fueled   by the dedication of thousands of volunteers, offer a free and inclusive opportunity for individuals of all ages   and abilities to participate. Runners range from four-year-olds to grandparents whose finishing times vary greatly, spanning from Andrew Baddeley’s world record of 13 minutes and 48 seconds to leisurely strolls lasting over an hour.

Parkru n is succeeding where London’s Olympic “legacy” has failed. Ten years ago on Monday, it was announced that the Games of the 30th Olympics would be held in London. Planning documents promised that the lasting legacy of the Games would be to move a nation of sport lovers away from their couches. The population would be fitter, healthier and produce more winners. This obviously has not happened. The number of adults doing weekly sport did rise, by nearly 2 million in the run-up to 2012, but the general population had already been growing faster than this number. Worse yet, the numbers are now falling at an accelerating rate. The opposition claims primary school pupils doing at least two hours of sport a week have been nearly halved. Obesity has risen among adults and children alike. Official retrospections (回顾) continue to speculate as to why London 2012 failed to “inspire a generation”. The success of Parkrun can offer us some answers.

Parkrun is not a race but a time trial: Your only competitor is the clock. Its concept welcomes everybody. There is as much joy for a puffed-out (上气不接下气) first-timer being clapped over the line as there is for the sport’s top talent. The Olympic bidders, by contrast, wanted to get more people doing sports and to produce more elite athletes. The dual aim was mixed up: The stress on success over taking part was off-putting to newcomers.

Indeed, there is something a little weird in the state getting involved in the planning of such a fundamentally “grassroots” concept as community sports associations. If there is a role for government, it should really be in getting involved in providing common public goods — making sure that there is space for playing fields and the money to pave tennis and netball courts, and encouraging the provision of all these activities in schools. But successive governments are to blame for selling green spaces, squeezing money from local authorities and declining attention on sport in education. Instead of wordy, worthy strategies, future governments need to do more to provide the conditions for sport to thrive. Or at least not make them worse.

Tennis at NYC Parks

Our courts are as varied as our city; some are quiet, and some are very busy. Some are clay courts, and some are hard courts. Some offer lessons or year-round play. We recommend visiting a court before you play, to understand the culture of your local tennis community and to make sure that the court is right for you.

A permit is needed to use an outdoor court from the first Saturday in April to the Sunday before Thanksgiving. Full-season permits for adults, ages 18 to 61, cost only $100 a year, and discounts are available for seniors, kids, and teens. You can purchase a new tennis permit online, or if you have purchased a permit in the past, you can easily renew your permit.

Seasonal tennis permits are issued on an annual basis, and may be used for unlimited play during the tennis season for which they were issued in one-hour increments for singles play and two-hour increments for doubles play. In the event a seasonal tennis permit is lost, a duplicate (复制的) permit may be obtained for $15. Seasonal tennis permits may not be transferred or resold.

Don’t need a full-season permit? You can purchase a single-play permit for $15. A single-play permit allows you to play at any tennis court for one hour.

City courts that are not in use are available for walk-on play, but at popular courts, you may want to reserve a court in advance. Many courts allow users to sign up on-site for same-day reservations. At a few popular courts, we allow players to make online reservations up to seven days in advance.

Before heading to a court, make sure that you wear smooth-soled tennis shoes, and use a maximum of six tennis balls on each court. Most courts are open from 8:00 a. m. to dusk, except Central Park where courts open at 7:00 a. m. and Randall’s Island where courts open at 7:00 a. m. and close at 7:00 p. m.

Figure skating (花样滑冰) got its name from the designs, or “figures”, that are made on century. Very complicated and elaborate (精美的) patterns invented by the skater were drawn on the ice with the skater’s blades (冰刃). Some designs that were created included rosettes (花结), stars and crosses. 【小题1】 .

The only year special figures took place in the Olympics was in 1908. Nikolai Panin of Russia won the event and was Russia’s first Olympic Champion.

Figures were the most important part of the original Olympic figure skating events. 【小题2】 For that reason, the general public was not all that excited about watching figure skating at the first Olympics.

In the mid-1930s, Olympic Champion Sonja Henie, increased the popularity of figure skating, 【小题3】. Her beauty and athletic ballet style increased figure skating’s popularity worldwide.

How has figure skating changed since it first started thousands of years ago, and why?

Ice skating began about 4, 000 years ago in Finland. 【小题4】. The first skates were made of flattened bone that was tied to the bottom of the feet. In the 13th century, the Dutch invented steel blades with edges (刃). In the Netherlands, all classes of people skated. James II introduced ice skating to the British noblemen in the late 1600s. Queen Victoria also enjoyed ice skating.

Today, ice skating can actually be done year-round since there are indoor ice arenas all over the world. 【小题5】, even though the majority of ice skaters are children and teens