As hundreds of runners completed the Sandringham parkrun on Jan. 25, they were celebrated by one very special guest—King Charles. The monarch pulled up to a special edition of the Sandringham parkrun (a 5K), which served as a fundraiser for the Move Against Cancer Foundation.
great to see HRH 👑 helping to celebrate your 1st birthday. If Sir does shout outs, then perhaps he can do one for the 5K Your Way World Cancer Day 2025 meet ups that are being run / walked in February with @MOVEcharity at various @parkrunUK #WorldCancerDay2025 pic.twitter.com/H4gTPQEyv1
— Matthew Wing (@mattwang22) January 26, 2025
Pictured wearing cream trousers, a grey tie and a brown winter pea coat, the King did not get the memo to show up in the latest max-cushioned trainers and didn’t end up physically running in the event. The monarch was spending time at his country home in Norfolk, U.K., when he decided to stop by to shock a group of parkrunners. Although Charles didn’t lace up, he was more than happy to pose for photographs (later shared on parkrun’s official X account.)
If you’re unfamiliar with parkrun, it’s a free, community-based 5K event held in parks and open spaces worldwide every Saturday morning. The Sandringham parkrun in Norfolk, U.K., holds the Move Against Cancer fundraiser on the last Saturday of each month, where all donations and proceeds go toward people and families impacted by cancer.
January 25 was a special day for the local event, as it marked the first anniversary of the run’s Move Against Cancer fundraiser. “Not every day you get royal approval at parkrun,” parkrun ambassador Sophie Hansell told the BBC. “I was just in shock, I think I stood with my mouth agape for a minute.”
@MOVEcharity Do you think we can add a VERY SPECIAL +1 to our monthly numbers submitted for today?!? 👑😱🩵 pic.twitter.com/0yzmB2ryib
— Sandringham 5k Your Way – Move Against Cancer (@Sandringham5KYW) January 25, 2025
The King reportedly decided to attend the event after a volunteer at Sandringham parkrun had written him a letter with an invitation to the anniversary. More than two dozen runners had gathered in a nearby café when the King snuck in to surprise them through the kitchen door.
“He was really engaging,” Hansell told the BBC. “I think a lot of the people who spoke to him said that he seemed to understand what it was like [cancer], and so he could really talk on the level of people’s treatment and their recovery. As much as you can empathize from an outsider’s perspective, it is completely different having gone through it yourself.”
Parkrun is a free and community-based 5K event held in parks and open spaces worldwide every Saturday morning. Photo: Jonathan Deamer/WC
The British Royal Family was recently affected by cancer, as the King’s daughter-in-law Kate Middleton underwent preventative chemotherapy in early 2024 after an abdominal surgery detected cancer. She announced she was in remission late last year.
Although King Charles didn’t lace them up, we’d love to see him tackle a 5K in the future and become the first active British monarch to take on a race.