Parkrunners, assemble!

[EffingDust]

I think it’s good in principle, anything that gets people moving is good.

I don’t like how it’s become weirdly synonymous with running in some circles to the point you get the “oh you don’t do ANY parkruns??” Like no I just go for a run where and when I want to like a normal person.

“MY parkrun time is…” mate just say your 5k time

 

[WeepingCassandra]

I must be lucky. My parkrun is well run and pleasant. Volunteers don't have to do the whole shift.
Usually done in about an hour as we have 1 regular who has physical difficulties. Then off to cafe for a coffee. Some kind of cake about once a month as there are some keen bakers that must be bored Friday nights
Usually around 130 take part so not too busy.
My pet peeve though is people sprinting past in the last 50m when their time is still only going to be 35mins On a good day

Meh, I was always taught you finish strong. I did my first one back post baby today, 40 minutes and you damn well bet I sprinted that last 100m! So what if your time is over 35 minutes?

I’ve volunteered a few times at mine but I absolutely lost my shit as a tail walker once when there were a couple in their 50s I’d guess, decided mid way through the walk of 3 laps to go into the cafe that had opened at 9:30 and grab some breakfast and a hot drink. The we’re not fluent in English and I was trying to speak to them about it and told them that they’ve kind of counted themselves out of the event now and I continued. When we’d finished and packed the course up we always go into the cafe for breakfast and a cuppa but later on this couple came steaming in asking why we’d packed up and they actually reported up and we had to have a full investigation on us and our behaviour which was appalling from HQ! We were cleared and the situation was explained to them but these people or those who take 1hr 15 to walk it are reasons why volunteering sometimes declines as people have lives outside of Parkrun and it turns into a 2.5hr shift

That is ridiculous, we have a local at ours (who I think might have been politely asked to reconsider whether it was for them) who took over an hour and a half to walk the route, 2 laps and barely any hills or tricky terrain. But then equally like they say there's no advertised finish time and now parkrun HQ wants it to be as inclusive as possible... You can't have that and say people need to be finished in under an hour

 

[emmer_moans]

I'm just trying to figure out how a course record being published would put someone off coming to parkrun? Is that the main motivation around doing it? As a sport, I do find running quite inclusive, not just parkrun. The fast times are inspirational!

Exactly, and if records/stats trigger the individual runner surely they have the option not to check them after the run? My family run (I don't) and they are sad because my mum found she was being motivated by creeping up the finishing places and improving in her age and sex category. She'll still go but some of the motivation has gone. A lot of people like metrics. My brother also runs and loves adding his stats to his spreadsheet so he can geek out on trends, patterns and see where he can improve. It literally gets him out the house on a Saturday morning. Yet again an organisation has bowed down/wimped out to appease a vocal tiny minority and pisses off the majority in the process. Idiots.

 

[Baby Giraffe]

I’ve volunteered a few times at mine but I absolutely lost my shit as a tail walker once when there were a couple in their 50s I’d guess, decided mid way through the walk of 3 laps to go into the cafe that had opened at 9:30 and grab some breakfast and a hot drink. The we’re not fluent in English and I was trying to speak to them about it and told them that they’ve kind of counted themselves out of the event now and I continued. When we’d finished and packed the course up we always go into the cafe for breakfast and a cuppa but later on this couple came steaming in asking why we’d packed up and they actually reported up and we had to have a full investigation on us and our behaviour which was appalling from HQ! We were cleared and the situation was explained to them but these people or those who take 1hr 15 to walk it are reasons why volunteering sometimes declines as people have lives outside of Parkrun and it turns into a 2.5hr shift

I think it depends, that situation sounds ridiculous and your event clearly wasn’t to blame. In contrast, I was at an event a couple of years ago when a kid with quite a few disabilities walked the course on crutches with his very overweight and unfit mother. They were both really pushing hard but still took about an hour and a quarter. Loads of other participants went back to walk in with them and I’ve never heard cheers like it. Fully appreciate it made a longer shift for the volunteers but it was truly inspiring to be part of and not entitled like your example.

 

[PawsDog]

This is gonna give me life! I really do not like parkrun

 

[WeepingCassandra]

It’s an unpopular opinion but I agree. I do think events (at their discretion) should be able to have a cap, of which can be no less than an hour, which I swear used to be a thing when I first started being an RD (about 200 years ago?(

I know it's unpopular (especially on that group!) but I do feel quite strongly that if you can't walk a 5k in around an hour, then the distance is too far for you. I appreciate that people enjoy the community feel and the achievement/opportunity of getting a bit quicker each week and it's motivating for them but equally for me that is an activity that they should do on their own time.

 

[emmer_moans]

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!

My mum does parkrun, she's asthmatic so she essentially began with powerwalks with short bursts of running. She says there were plenty others at the beginning of their running journey and plenty of people finished after her. She started off taking 42 mins to power walk it, has been doing it a year and can now actually run and get 31 mins consistently. Not everyone who goes does it quickly. Everyone has different health conditions and age so you should only compare your own time to your average.

I don't run myself yet (I've never liked the sensation of running), but I must admit my mum's success is tempting me to try...

 

[Hellojanuary]

I got a PB today!

 

[Lastqueenofscotland]

I agree it may be a big achievement but I think there has to be some give and take. Which is why I said at the events discretion they should be allowed to implement a cut off of no less than 1 hour. Should they see fit. Assuming me and millenial pink are talking about the same post, I know for a fact the event in question struggles for volunteers and is very dependent on DofE volunteers for the finish line roles (if regular runners volunteered more maybe they wouldn’t need to depend on children).
In circumstances yesterday when it was truly disgusting I can see how someone might have had a sense of humour failure and thought there should be a cut off. Not nice to hear, but we are human beings. I also think that in conditions like yesterday the RD should be able to implement an hour cut off for the sake of the volunteers, especially when several are actual children. I think so much effort to welcome slower runners means the well-being of the volunteers has been forgotten

 

[RunRunRun]

There are over 150 female course records held by males, and that’s without taking into account the many more finish positions taken by males. That’s why it matters. Not that this action does anything about that fact, it just hides it a bit.

 

[GalofHal]

Mild to compared to those who broke bones but I have a bite from parkrunning Saturday

Insect, dog or jealous rival?

 

[WeepingCassandra]

I feel like you're all missing the bigger point here.

Why the actual fuck would you want to make a 50 mile run a 53.1 mile run. Is 50 miles not enough XD

 

[NotGonnaLieToYou]

It was interesting to read this thread and glad to have found it. A lot of valid and interesting points raised.

I do wonder has parkrun become a victim of its own success? Parkrun was set up almost 19 years ago as a local community run by someone who wanted a bit of company but not the pressure of racing or having to go out hard. Now it has grown into something so much more, it has created a lot more work and expectation on individual parkruns. There's certainly an element of expecting "someone else" to do all the work, many people show up, run and go again. I've heard people say at my local - oh such a parkrun has pacers, such a parkrun has tea and cake after - but somehow they expect the RD or core team to organise that for them when they already have plenty to be doing. I will say the vast majority of participants are so nice - but certainly a good few don't volunteer or seem to understand that the event needs volunteers each and every week to go ahead. Like many other events, there are almost weekly shout outs for help and a lot of the same people volunteer much of the time. I think if parkrun focussed more on the "community" element rather that travelling the length and breathe of the country for the letter "F", there mightn't be so much pressure on the core teams.
I'm on the core team of my local parkrun, we get about 40-50 participants a week.

 

[orange club biscuit]

Something which I also really hate is the recent rise in amateur race photographers attending parkrun and taking hundreds of photos and posting them to Facebook every single week. I find it so invasive - fair enough if it’s a race, I kind of expect that but I really don’t want or expect dozens of awful zoomed in photos of myself jogging round my local parkrun in my county there’s a Facebook group full of these photographers and sometimes they upload 5 albums just for ONE parkrun

 

[NotGonnaLieToYou]

I'm marathon training at the minute, parkrun doesn't fit into my training schedule so I'm generally volunteering at it instead. My local had a full squad of helpers at the weekend so I decided to walk it. I walked with the tail runner for a bit and there was a group of women walking infront of us and I couldn't help overhear some of their conversation. 1 woman it was her first parkrun so the rest were telling her about it. They spoke about 2 regulars at our event and about how supportive and inspiring they are to them. The spoke about how they enjoy walking at parkrun and how inclusive and welcoming it is. At the half way mark I pushed on my pace and passed them out. But it was good to hear nice things being said about parkrun, especially when you are involved in it.

 

[Millyve]

I fell over on Saturday and fractured my wrist….. serves me right for partaking in some tourism.

 

[Baby Giraffe]

I have a friend who is running an ultra at the weekend. Apparently it goes close to a parkrun course. Sone idiot has asked if he can detour from his almost 50 mile route to do parkrun and then continue with the actual race so he doesn't lose his streak. Apparently its a deal breaker and if he can't do parkrun he won't do the race

 

[Lastqueenofscotland]

I feel it might become a bit of a snake that eats its own tail and in relentlessly trying to please everyone pleases a tiny minority and annoys and confuses and alienates it’s core users

 

[forthelifeofriley]

I run parkrun, a lot.

However, I go to my local one, enjoy a 5k, maybe have a chat with a few runners from my club, and go home again.

I have never understood the miles and miles people will travel on a Saturday morning to do a “challenge”

 

[eyethinkyousuck]

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

People are not responsible for the overly sensitive feelings of others. If they felt shamed when volunteering was mentioned then that’s on them because they know full well they add zero value to the event.