Park Runs: Children - Why?

I'm not actually inconvenienced as they tend to move out of my way

Are you running towards them? How are they seeing you?

100 people sounds like a lot. junior parkrun events are usually much smaller. Yesterday there were 17 participating children at Prestatyn prom and 27 at Felixstowe prom, only 11 at Clacton seafront (obvs your closest event might not be any of these, but 100 sounds massive)

I've been involved (not your local event!) before and the events start with an announcement that 'it's a run not a race with a smile on your face' so there shouldn't be pressure on kids who don't want to be there, and they definitely shouldn't be screaming or being dragged along. If you're concerned, there are processes to report safeguarding issues ... safeguarding at parkrun.com

According to Park Run the average time taken to complete is 12min 41 seconds. They are also much smaller than Saturday runs so unlikely to be 100s of screaming toddlers!

It's not for long and has huge health benefits for participants, which in turn benefits society. And it only lasts 40 mins!

As a parkrunner myself I get what you are saying. I happen to enjoy running for all sorts of reasons but my DD hates it. I’ve taken her to the odd parkrun with me but she really doesn’t like it so I never make her. She’ll happily run round the football field all day and is enjoying cross country at school.

I agree it can be annoying when people seem like they are taking over, but it’s only once a week for a short time and good that children and families get to do exercise outdoors together.

It's also on concrete (I think people keep missing the fact it's not actually in a park) which I imagine when you're very young and have a parent dragging you along probably makes it worse than if it was on grass?

Young children up and down the country are running around concrete playgrounds for the same length of time.

I don't know why you needed to check online what age junior parkrun is for, @Knowillbeflamed, given that a great many people had already told you. When you first started this thread you hadn't even realised it was junior parkrun, not the main one, which is on Saturdays. Bit rich in that case to say you don't think people read your OP carefully enough. You've ignored most of the replies you don't agree with.

There are lots of seafront park runs @Worldgonecrazy

I sometimes catch the end of this Parkrun (I am presuming Lyme Rgis?)it’s always been lovely to see the kids finishing, especially when they do the fancy dress run. Not sure about the crowds you mentioned - never seem to be that many and always spread out. I have never witnessed any of the behaviour you talk about. It’s also only a short distance of the front that is used, not the busy bit

If you want to avoid the ‘crowds’ just run earlier. I usually have the seafront mostly to myself, even in the summer.

We should be encouraging kids to be out and about exercising, not chastising them.

My 3 and 4 year old kick off to all hell over having their teeth brushed and getting in the bath… should I refrain from ‘forcing’ that upon them also? They kick off frequently when I try to make them eat healthy food, they want to live on chicken nuggets, chips and sweets. So to clarify, should I refrain from ‘forcing’ parenting them to do all of these things or is it just healthy outdoors exercise you’re so opposed to?

In my experience the parents who run with their child at junior parkrun do it because they know their child will likely slow and walk at some point, and the parent does not want them to do that and intends to prevent them doing that. Or, because they expect their child to get upset part way round and want to stop

For us, it's because junior parkrun is an organised / structured activity that we can do together - rather than me watching from the sidelines. And yes, some weeks there will be moaning and whinging - and it will look like I'm dragging him along as he likes to hold hands no matter how many times I've said that makes it harder - but he'll still be excited to see his results and be a step closer to the next milestone.

To whoever keeps saying about going for a walk: there aren't any wristbands awarded for that / recognised milestones to work towards, so the 'gamification' element isn't there, and that's the hook for mine.

We're also a part of our local parkrun's community now, and sometimes he'll ask to volunteer instead. Which we enjoy just as much and, again, is something we can do together.

And sometimes he'll go weeks or months without going at all, and as it's free and you don't have to book in advance, that's also fine.

All this talking of pedestrians diving out of the way, lone children being trampled by parents, and children being dragged kicking and screaming in pain just feels like the usual hyperbole on here - and people projecting their own experiences / doubling down to validate their own choices. If you had a genuine concern enough to come to a mumsnet thread about it, I refuse to believe you wouldn't raise it through parkrun channels / with one of the volunteer team on the day.

It’s not efficient @InDogweRust ? What do you mean by that?

I get that you don’t like PR but I think it’s an incredibly efficient use of public space.

Exactly. Wherever there's a large group of parents, there's always one who had to do this. I think it's less likely in parkrun than elsewhere.

Also, it's a short space of time at a time when most people are still at home in bed.

I agree I’ve occasionally seen this behavior too but seen more of it at junior football matches.
doesn’t change the fact that the vast majority enjoy and benefit from it

No, they weren't "spread out". A large proportion didn't go to the park before parkrun.

The best thing about parkrun for the less committed runner is the fact that it is at a fixed time, early in the day. Having an "appointment" makes getting out for the run so much more likely!

This. It's a relatively short space of time weekly, there's room for others to be at the parks too

Before parkrun existed a fairly large group of those who now do it regularly were not running at all, or only occasionally. I was one such person. You consider it cultish, I consider it one of the best habits I've ever formed. It's been a really good public health initiative and incredibly cheap for the benefits. I really have no patience at all with the people who carp and snipe at parkrun.

So I have seen hundreds of these junior PR events on Sunday mornings. I have never, once, seen the type of crying / dragging scenario you describe .

its less common at junior PR but plenty of people take relatively young kids along for the full 5km run & push them to do a longer distance they clearly don't enjoy. I've seen this at four different parkruns its really not that unusual.

Also park run is a bit cultish and dominating. A lot of the people who do it are a bit obsessed with it, lots of bringing a long unenthusiastic youngsters or insisting teens who don't want to run volunteer as marshalls. I say that having run quite a bit at a few different ones. I think there are people who LOVE running and are determined to make it their family "thing" whether their kids want to or not.

Its not efficient to have a vast crowd of people all hogging a park at once. Before park run existed all those runners were spread over much more time, it was far less of an impact on other users of public spaces.

I get it op.my friend brings an 8 y o for full park run, not jr. Friend is obsessed with running, her daughter clearly hate it, refuses to run & mainly walks round whinging. She's an otherwise healthy/active child who happily does other sport, she doesn't need to be dragged around a 5km run every week just because mum is determined to make a runner of her.

I volunteer at this event, and there are always one or two kids who clearly have no interest in being there at all. Some resist at first but eventually get into it. I do find it a bit odd to bring kids to something they seem to hate—maybe it’s more about the parent getting some exercise.