Parkrunners, assemble!

[instanonsense]

Ohh I’ve been waiting for this thread! I personally like parkrun and I’m lucky enough to have a few where we live. I like to run down, do parkrun and then run home so I’ve done a longish run without having to think of a route. However I don’t really push myself to go as fast as I probably could and enjoy having a chat with people from my running club while I’m there.

The faster people who take it so seriously do really bother me though, especially those who you see on the results have done a several hundred runs and have never volunteered or did it once back in 2016. I think if you’re gonna run it that often the least you can do is volunteer even if it’s just 2 or 3 times a year. An event close to me which regularly has 500+ people attend had to cancel recently because they couldn’t get enough volunteers which I think is a pretty poor show

There’s loads else I could say but that’s my two penneth for now!

Why should faster runners volunteer more than slower runners? As a naturally faster runner I feel unwelcome at parkrun. I think parkrun is anti-fast runners - walkers are definitely more welcome than us.

Parkrun isn’t inclusive at all. It’s cliquey and cult-like.

 

[forthelifeofriley]

I think parkrun will now only let you name after the park, rather than the town / place, so the name might have to change

 

[Gym&Tonic]

The last time I did it I got really annoyed with a family in front of me. Mum, dad and two young children a boy and a girl. Dad was obviously a run wanker and desperately wanted to be near the front of the pack but the kids (and his wife) were struggling to keep up with him. Instead of just running ahead and letting them to get on with it he’d stop when they did and stand in the middle of the course wait for them to catch up and they’d all run together as a group before he ended up miles ahead again and stopped to wait for them and they kept getting in everyone’s fucking way!

 

[Fifah1907]

Thanks for this thread. I am relatively new to running and my 5k is sllllooooowwww. I keep feeling like I should try park run but I'm embarrassed to. But this thread has shown me I'm not missing much!

They’re not all bad! But yeah….some are weird. If there are any Yorkshire tattlers, Hull parkrun has my heart as my favourite one and not just cos it’s flat and rapid so my last 4 PBs have been there

 

[WeepingCassandra]

I promise I'm not trying to sound like an arse, but it's probably going to come across like it.

What's the problem with gatekeeping parkrun by putting a suggested time limit on a course? Sure, the organisation is trying encourage physical activity. But it's foremost aim is to encourage running in some format (whether that's running, jogging, walk/run, buggy running). Either keep that or change the name and make the whole event last the entirety of a Saturday morning so that anyone who wants to can come along.

I think @RunRunRun is spot on, but sadly I suspect there wouldn't be much support for that, from PB chasers or PR HQ themselves, given that they don't agree with permanent course marking signs in parks. I've never volunteered for a few reasons but the largest one is that I simply don't want to be standing in the cold for 2 hours on a Saturday morning. (I don't make it to PR that often, tbf).

When I was pregnant I deliberately didn't start with the rest of the pack and made it clear to the tailwalker that I wasn't taking part in the event officially as I knew I wouldn't finish under an hour. I just walked in the public area following the same route and giving way to faster moving traffic.

 

[Humblebrag]

Some weirdo on the tourist page is on holiday in France planning on a 300 mile journey to Germany to do a parkrun on Saturday, christ, can they not enjoy the holiday

 

[WeepingCassandra]

You’re missing the point. Yes the info is out there but when someone on an anonymous forum claims to have come X position in Y time and includes specific course details it could be easy to find out that persons info which could be used against them. People have been doxxed on here before by giving out too much personal info.

Exactly, if I say I ran Leamington Spa parkrun yesterday in a time of around 21 minutes (I didn't, I don't even know if LS has a parkrun, and have never been to LS) it's not hard to figure out I could be one of 4 or so people.

 

[Gym&Tonic]

A dog stopped before the first corner today to do a poo (attached to one of the walkers). They do pick their moments

Last time I did my local one a woman actually tripped over her Labrador and needed medical help.

 

[EffingDust]

Yep, same one about the walking. I'm all for inclusively and don't mind walkers at events generally, but over an hour in a storm and they're complaining about the volunteer? Absolutely not.

There was a post the other week where a tourist felt 'shamed' about an RD mentioning volunteering.

Wait…tourist like the ones who travel to different park runs??

people actually travel about to far-flung parkruns to WALK them?

no disrespect to walkers, I couldn’t used to run for a bus, but come on. If you want to go on holiday to walk go to a beauty spot

 

[Melian]

They really should have deleted the first report and left it.

It's the summer. I've seen many parkruns struggle over the summer because their core team are away.

 

[Millennial Pink]

Pah. I’ve got some love for these comments but also some disagreement.

I’m all in for the parkrun tourism / going places for a daytrip via a parkrun / Christmas parkruns etc. I don’t run the same parkrun weekly so I don’t use it for 5k benchmarking but I do like it for a competitive (ish) paced run. Otherwise my running is too easy to just skip out of targeted pace

I’ve no interest in chasing specific numbered events however, that’s just irrelevant and designed by someone who thought of it.

I do enjoy the tourism. I've been to loads of random little places that I would never have thought to bother with otherwise and had a lovely time. I think it's one of those things: if you get it, you get it and if you don't non-tourists just think we're nuts

The number challenge thing- I was genuinely taken aback when that parkrun (was it Wimbledon Common?) was overrun with tourists for their fibonacci or Nelson or whatever the hell it was. I really thought that maybe about 30 tourists across the country even knew what it was. I avoid the Nelson ones like the plague now, I hate crowds.

 

[Millyve]

I’ve only just got into park run, I’ve two within a short driving distance of me and have chosen the quieter one, I’ve enjoyed them all and will be keeping it up most weeks when I can…. But this thread has taken me to the tourist Facebook page…. omg woah.

 

[Lastqueenofscotland]

Just slightly suspect to me that both the RDs have simultaneously said no more. If one didn’t want to do it there might have been a logical handover and then time to train someone up. I strongly suspect they’ve been at the sharp end of an HQ telling off and can’t be bothered organising an event with that in mind

 

[orange club biscuit]

I’ve decided to give parkrun a rare miss tomorrow because it’s going to be 0c and sleet here! Probably considered child cruelty to drag the 3yo out in her buggy around the local ‘winter course’ which is basically like school xc - no thanks

 

[Melian]

Hardly a snowflake thing not to volunteer. I think (and as we’ve discussed previously) some events have more welcoming teams than others. There’s three main parkruns where I am and there’s one I like to run but I’ve never volunteered again at after the first time because no one on the core team spoke to me properly, just chucked the high vis at me and put me in the furthest away (least desirable) marshal spot. The runners were ace, but it was a bit flat and dull. The other two I split my volunteering time between, they’re both lovely core teams and some of us have a coffee after token sorting, which is nice.

Thats sad. The two I volunteered at the weekend I felt so welcomed.

That parkrun that wrote that run report - I've seen it where other parkruns have written something but it's been done in a way to encourage people and was generally "these are the positives of volunteering"

 

[*twinkletwinkle*]

I’ve stumbled across a mad facebook group where a tshirt has been printed for people to wear on their 250th run. You can book it for your run and someone posts it out for you to wear

 

[*twinkletwinkle*]

There was someone at my parkrun who had customised their 50 shirt into a 150 shirt

 

[Fifah1907]

My niece did her first (ish, she did 2 of the 3 laps but then wanted a shot in the play park instead ) park run today aged 3! Very proud aunty 🩷

 

[Millennial Pink]

I think I know the one you mean, started with a B, maybe? That's going to annoy me. The only other one I can think of was Wythall which shut down after one event, landowners were concerned about damage being done to the course. I don't understand the obsession with the first to be a Regionnaire again, either. Just wait a few weeks if you want to go, you'll get parked easier and won't have to get round a whole load of weirdos clogging up the course.

 

[Bonbon76]

Did my first park run yesterday, I’m pretty fit but I’m not a runner and it showed I did enjoy it so want to go again, as long as childcare allows.

Any tips to improve? Probably do more running

Definitely a good place to start! I'd start trying one other run in the week and parkrun and then gradually run twice a week and parkrun. If you're not a runner I wouldn't even think about pace yet, just make your other runs feel really easy and push a bit more at parkrun for now.