Parkrunners, assemble!

[Zerothree]

Hahahaha I like parkrun but this thread is amazing. A few of my pet peeves:

• Front of the pack runners who take themselves way too seriously (push to the front, treat it like a proper race, discourteous when overtaking, disregard for the people still finishing, etc). I'm a sub17:30 5k runner when I cba and these types give "speedier" runners a bad name.
• People who have done 100s of parkrun and are there every single week but never volunteer, especially when that event routinely struggles for volunteers. I get that people have different personal circumstances but for most, if you go to your local parkrun every week surely you can volunteer once or twice a year!
• Excessive Parkrun tourism (2 hours+ drives and/or flights just to tick off a parkrun), alphabet, all that culty nonsense. Especially when it's middle-aged blokes who are mostly doing it so they can post on Instagram for their other internet friends, embarrassing.
• The middle-aged men - who are usually mid-pack runners - who take parkrun way too seriously and are full of self-importance. If you've volunteered enough times, you will have probably come across these types. Most likely to be rude to marshalls, most likely to complain about something trivial, first to moan if there's an error in the results. Proper losers

 

[Millennial Pink]

The volunteering has been a point of contention for years, but HQ haven't really made any moves to improve things. I've heard something fairly vague more recently about how parkrun are going to support event teams more, but I'm not sure if they've said how.

The runs local to me are struggling for volunteers every week. Three events have either cancelled or threatened to cancel at the last minute because they can't fill the roster. Cancellations seem to be the only tool teams have left now to try and get volunteers in. It's quite depressing really. Years ago, run briefs would include things like 'if everyone volunteers X times per year the roster would be full' but they've been discouraged from doing that (possibly rightly).

I appreciate that not everyone can or should be guilt-tripped into volunteering, but the events don't run themselves. A local event cancelled a few months ago and a woman on the FB page complained that they 'hadn't asked for volunteers properly' - WTF?! God forbid participants take it upon themselves to check the roster or sign up for the volunteer emails.

There were a few comments on the last thread that I found interesting about the push for more walkers and the extended event finished times that discourage people from volunteering. I completely empathise with not wanting to wait for an hour and a half in the pissing rain, or god forbid needing the loo if you're timekeeping.

 

[runrun321]

Maybe people don’t want to be there for an hour and half on a Saturday morning especially if there are walkers at the back.
Our parkruns start at either 7 or 8am in Australia. Since Covid, parkruns have struggled to attract help and participants here because people have re-evaluated how they want to spend their time.
I also found that when I have volunteered the regular organisers have been very rude to me. So why would I offer to help them again

 

[aimz_yeah]

I wouldn't worry. I've never seen it and I'm not disputing @emmer_moans 's mums ability but average walking speed is around 20 minutes per mile, 42 minutes for a 5k is 13:30 minutes per mile so she is super super speedy and an exception!

Our local parkrun has people who take well over an hour to finish. Check the results of your local one and see what the finish times look like - if the last person came home in under 45 minutes maybe it's not for you, but if you're seeing 55/60 minutes then it will probably be a fun experience to try

Thank you for this. I have previously looked at times and I would be near end but probably not last.

But TBH I think parkrun has always felt like something I should do rather than really wanting to do it. I'm not a really social person and am very self conscious doing sports/exercise around others. So I'm not sure what I would get out of it.
I have a large half marathon next year so may try a few parkruns to get used to running with more people but this thread has confirmed it isn't something I need to be doing

 

[Millennial Pink]

Thank you for this. I have previously looked at times and I would be near end but probably not last.

But TBH I think parkrun has always felt like something I should do rather than really wanting to do it. I'm not a really social person and am very self conscious doing sports/exercise around others. So I'm not sure what I would get out of it.
I have a large half marathon next year so may try a few parkruns to get used to running with more people but this thread has confirmed it isn't something I need to be doing

TBH, parkrun is quite good in that regard because there is such a wide variety of participants you get used to every running gait, breathing pattern, body shape, effort level etc quickly. I generally don't care what I look like exercising to other people now, I've reached that zen DGAF stage.

I remember being very nervous for my first parkrun as I hadn't done any races before and was worried about getting the finish token bit wrong somehow. The volunteers keep you right in that regard.

 

[RunRunRun]

I can’t find it anywhere (and I’m not sure how I came across it originally) but years ago (pre 2015 at least) there was a blog post I read which was by someone who had been really involved since the early days but got disillusioned. This was in part due to how they were positioning themselves as not for profit, but having subsidiary companies that were profit making.

It made me a bit suspicious of the HQ function of parkrun.

That and more recently all the covid denying that they were all doing. And the putting gender ahead of sex and denying it matters.

Oh and Nick Pearson being dodgy as duck.

 

[muffinheeler]

I really like parkrun but definitely agree with some of the observations on here. I'm also a junior parkrun RD and it winds me up no end when we struggle for volunteers and the same parents come to watch their kids and never once volunteer. I guarantee they'd be the first ones to complain if we had to cancel due to lack of volunteers.

I do also enjoy a bit of tourism, but due to my personal circumstances I tend not to go further than an hour from home, unless I'm away somewhere and there's one close.

I'm not sure I agree that as a whole parkrun is cliquey, certainly this isn't my experience of the parkruns I've been to, but I'm not dismissing anyone's individual experiences.

I think it's a case of it overall being a positive thing to exist, but also not being able to please everyone all the time.

*Edited to add the word "junior"

 

[emmer_moans]

It sounds like it is a bit of luck as to how well it is run in your area.

 

[WeTalkAboutBruno]

Tbh I just don't like runners, I think that's where my dislike of parkrun stems from. Smug bores.

 

[GossipMongoose]

Some are really cliquey. Some are really fast. Some are really competitive. Others are more relaxed. Some are more diverse in terms of running ability. Some are more family oriented. Some are more dog friendly. It’s worth shopping around for one that suits you, if it’s something that you are interested in.

There are lots of positives to the Parkrun movement but there are definite downsides, as listed on this thread.

 

[WeTalkAboutBruno]

Some are really cliquey. Some are really fast. Some are really competitive. Others are more relaxed. Some are more diverse in terms of running ability. Some are more family oriented. Some are more dog friendly. It’s worth shopping around for one that suits you, if it’s something that you are interested in.

There are lots of positives to the Parkrun movement but there are definite downsides, as listed on this thread.

I agree. And I'm glad there's finally a forum to talk about this. I said earlier that any time anyone tries to criticise parkrun they get hoards of people vehemently defending it. It's great to see other people share my feelings.

 

[chickenlittle65]

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.

Sorry, that was bad wording on my part. What I meant was that at a couple of the local parkruns to me there seems to be a lot of faster runners who do their run and leave as soon as they’ve done every week. I don’t think it would be the worst thing in the world to help out now and again, even if it was once every 6 months or so; a bit of give and take. Or if they’ve finished they could help out with barcode scanning. Not saying that this is a hard and fast rule, and or that everyone should be volunteering every couple of weeks, but it’s nice to give back every once in a while. And it was just an observation of a couple of parkruns local to me

 

[Northernscumpet]

My local one is friendly and very mixed ability wise, we get some tourists but not loads but I've found others (and my tourism is rare and only if I'm already going to be in a different place on a Saturday and it fits the schedule) far less pleasant. I can't be doing with the obsessive tourism, challenges and the idea of flying JUST to do a parkrun is bonkers to me. I know people who have done it but yeah....absolutely not.

 

[runningbutnotinfluencing]

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.

 

[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.

 

[Humblebrag]

There's a tiny Island off the West coast of Ireland called Inis Meainn that normally has about 20 runners which will have around 300 tourist weirdo's arriving tomorrow morning at the behest of some facebook weirdo

 

[muffinheeler]

There's a tiny Island off the West coast of Ireland called Inis Meainn that normally has about 20 runners which will have around 300 tourist weirdo's arriving tomorrow morning at the behest of some facebook weirdo

I saw that on the tourism group. That's just far too much effort for me. I hope the upside is that they'll all spend a bit of money whilst they're there and contribute to the local economy.

 

[Humblebrag]

I saw that on the tourism group. That's just far too much effort for me. I hope the upside is that they'll all spend a bit of money whilst they're there and contribute to the local economy.

All with their funny t-shirts with all the events they visited listed on the back

 

[Camperfan]

I did not even realise before this thread people were so devoted to park run, to the extent it shapes their life or is an actual hobby in itself.
Soooo, who did parkrun this morning? How was it?

 

[Baby Giraffe]

I did not even realise before this thread people were so devoted to park run, to the extent it shapes their life or is an actual hobby in itself.
Soooo, who did parkrun this morning? How was it?

I do parkrun occasionally and do quite enjoy doing it if there’s one nearby on a weekend away as it gets me up and I see some of the area without me having to plan a route. That said, it’s almost a year since I did one and I keep well away from the nutters that refer to Saturday as parkrun day (don’t use an upper case P or th3 world might end) and print their own t-shirts. I follow a parkrun page on Facebook for the comedy value, there’s some absolute obsessive there, it’s hilarious.