Park Runs: Children - Why?

Go one more time to report the abusive parents to the RD, then change your route if seeing these crying children is bothering you so much. This also has the added bonus of keeping your unsuitable dogs away from being right on top of a children’s activity.

There you go, I’ve dealt with your ‘main objection’.

Why don’t you go at 8am or 10am or after? It’s a Sunday!

Why do you need to go at 9am?

Sounds like you enjoy barrelling through the runners with your 2 large scary dogs.

This is the biggest load of bullshit I've heard in a while.
Encouraging kids to exercise is hugely positive, and I don't know if you have had kids, or ever met one, but they complain all the fucking time about doing things and have to be told to do things they don't want to do. Because surprisingly parents do frequently know better and this is why children end up having hobbies or eating something other than sweets.
But it's nice to know you're issue is the welfare of the children and not your indulgent whining about other people inconveniencing you.

I take it from this that you have never attended junior parkrun. If you had, you would know that the picture the OP paints is unlike anything the regular parkrunners who've responded have ever seen.

Parkrun starts at 9am, or shortly thereafter, on a Saturday, and the vast majority of runners are finished and gone by 9.45am. I see plenty of runners in our local park all through the morning, including running in the park while parkrun is going on, apparently perfectly easily. I can't imagine parkrun happens in many very tiny parks where nobody else can get in while the parkrun is in progress. Our park isn't huge but there's plenty of room for everybody. You are worrying for nothing on this point.

I'll go against the grain here @Knowillbeflamed and say I agree.

Yes it's good for kids to exercise, my 5 year old loves climbing, parks, walks with interesting stuff to look at along the way. He has scooter and him and his friends play races or tag etc having a laugh. Gymnastics and swimming too when we can afford the classes. So we do all those things. But would I drag him out before 9am on a cold Sunday morning to go running if he didn't enjoy it? Would I fuck. He's already been to school all week, weekends are for him too. For stuff he enjoys and, heaven forbid, relaxing sometimes too.

I wonder how many parents physically dragging their screaming kids along finish up with a painstakingly posed photo for their social media...

And my point is that individuals CAN find another time. Parkrun can't.

And "weekend morning" is a very large stretch of time. The major pack of runners in parkrun are done in 45 minutes. That's a small proportion of the morning.

Junior park runs are over in about 15 mins, do you absolutely have to be there at that time to avoid having to dive out the way? I’m struggling to see how you can’t understand why people would take their kids? Physical exercise I don’t think I need to point out is very important and resilience are built up by regularly returning to the same activity and improving weekly. Sounds like you wanted a moan, thankfully no one seems to agree with you.

Take everything seriously..? I did use an 🤣 to show it was a light hearted comment

I was a runner too, till I woke up having a stroke…not related to running. Always kept fit, worked outdoors, ate well..no fast food etc so yeah, I know first hand being fit and active is no guarantee of health and long life. Now I’ve got neuropathy and a heart condition and everyone is astonished that I , fittest of the lot am now working my way through the medical dictionary, while the alcoholic, overweight slobs that are my friends saunter through life 🤣
My mother is still climbing ladders to pick her apples. Gardens, cooks, decorates all by herself..she even re felted her shed roof while I learn to walk and regain use of my arm

You are deliberately mis-interpreting what I wrote. My original point was that for a lot of people weekend mornings are the only convenient time to get out. That includes park-runners and individuals. The majority response from park-runners to people pointing out that their activity is negatively impacting them is to tell those other people to just find another time. It's not very self-aware, is it?

I must admit I did assume it was you @TunnocksOrDeath that you were talking about but instead it was you moaning on behalf of other people.

@Knowillbeflamed hi I'm a junior parkrun run director. If you have concerns that some children's welfare is being harmed ie they are literally being physically dragged and screaming in pain as you described then please ask to speak to the run director on the day. If you feel the response isn't satisfactory you can email the event team and ask for the event director to read it. (You can find this on the events Facebook page) run director and event directors have access to parkruns safeguarding team for advice. And event directors have to have up to date child protection training.

You don't get "a lot" of people saying this, you get a vocal minority.

One person can go to the park at 1pm on a Wednesday, depending on individual commitments. Getting a group of people at the same time is very different. Don't pretend it's the same thing.

It's interesting that you assume I need "my" quiet solitude. I'm doing my own sport at the weekend, Park Run doesn't affect me. I'm looking at this from the outside, and what I can see over and over again whenever the topic is raised is a lot of people who've been using public spaces for years, and sharing those spaces with others, with no problem saying that Park Run is ruining the space for them... and a load of Park Run devotees basically telling them to suck it up.

If it were actually practical and enjoy for most people to get out in the other 166 hours of the week, Park Run could operate at 1pm on Wednesdays and Thursdays with no reduction in participation, couldn't they? But they don't, because it isn't.

Half an hour - maybe an hour - twice a week. The rest of the other 166 hours a week you can have your quiet solitude.

People drop dead not running too. My dad and step mum are in their mid 70s and have both done sport all their life and still run a few times a week, although they're not immune to health issues they are fit and their joints are better than mine.

5k/2k is not a marathon. Everyone is going to die, but most hobby runners live longer, healthier lives and are not routinely dropping dead at 52.

Running..people drop dead running. In fact, the guy who made running a thing in the first place dropped dead of a heart attack aged 52. The first marathon runner dropped dead, too. Just saying 🤣

but to be so dismissive of people who were already using those spaces for exercise before you lot cane along and took over is just RUDE

And they still can. We're talking about a 20 minute window, and there is generally plenty of space for everyone anyway.

For some people, their Sunday morning is the only time they get to themselves all week, and a lot of them like to do it quietly, without a load of noise and fanfare and flags and finish lines and start zones and marshals and timers, and people blocking the paths

So the only place they can possibly go between 9 and 9.20 on a Sunday morning is the exact same place as the local junior parkrun?

Yeah right.

Most towns have more than one park.

And junior parkruns are small affairs. You might have a slight point if you eg lived near Battersea Park where the Saturday parkrun attracts 1000 runners a week (though it's a big park). I don't think there are many, if any, junior parkruns which attract more than 100 runners at the outside and most attract fewer than 50.

I agree. It's good for children to get outdoor exercise. It only lasts for about 30 mins for Junior Park Run. It would be nice for DC to run along seafront.