Park Runs: Children - Why?

Not the child's problem

Oh yay, it's been a few weeks since the last let's slag off parkrun post.

Parkrun and junior parkrun are a fabulous initiative, unlike many other sports money is not a barrier to taking part. Neither is speed, walkers are as welcome as runners, and disability is not an automatic barrier either.

Yes, and kids will also say they really really want to do an activity, then change their minds half way through!

Kids will often be crying one minute loving it the next.

But I must say the kids parkrun seems much more competitive than the adult one!

@Hwi

people can fall out of love. Grow apart. Have affairs.

are you really saying people should stay in really unhappy marriages for the sake of the kids??

Lots of parents force their dc to do things though, I find it quite funny seeing some rebel on my Sunday walk.

How did they get married if it was loveless? Also, do you expect this crazy 'love' to last until when? Do you not suppose for one minute that when the hormones settle, crazy love turns into something much better - real, quiet love. And no, children do not pick up on 'mummy lost sexual attraction to daddy' or vice versa. Children are self-centred. All they need is a civil, traditional, full family. Ask any psychologist worth their salary.

@Hwi

well it IS the right thing rather than be stuck in a loveless marriage

Is that the New Earswick one?

Most people don't walk fast enough for it to be effective physical exercise.

However, the effect on mental health is another matter.

Same here, it literally didn’t occur to me to exercise until I was 25 and was told by a doctor I was overweight and should do. I
took up running and never looked back. I wish I’d been encouraged to do sport by my parents and imm absolutely not going to
make the same mistake with my own

As long as you are convinced it is the right thing.

My parents did the opposite so I didn’t exercise growing up. Everyone is different, your way isn’t always the best way

Why are they too young to be doing it? Plenty of children will be fine to run 2k but won’t want to do it alone

Thats just an excuse though, an adult is unable to blame anyone but themselves for a lack of exercise if they are physically capable. Just as an adult can only blame themselves for not eating vegetables etc.

On the flip side... our parkrun recently closed because the course was too waterlogged too often, and we really miss it.

I don't get them running park run (although we have in the past, in the pushchair), but my toddlers could be kicking and screaming going to the park, or going to the restaurant, or going to nursery, or going to the shop, or - I imagine - going to parkrun.
And be completely fine the next time, or 5 min before the start of the activity, or 5 min after.

You can plan your life on the possibility of your toddler "not liking it".

I was going to make the same comment about the exercises you’ve listed - and that you do - being out of the price range of most of the parents.

Kicking a ball round is great for some toddlers, but not all; and a lot of parks prohibit ball games now.

I’m not sure parents should force their kids to do park run if they don’t want to, but equally; I’d imagine that the parents doing this as the minority.., most are probably kids who usually like it having a bad moment. That happens to everyone. Toddlers are changeable.

Mine plays tennis every Sunday morning. 95% of the time he absolutely loves it. 5% of the time he asks to go and then refuses to join in for the first 10 minutes. He’s not really a crier and it doesn’t affect anyone else, but it’s still a pain in the arse.

If a child is put off exercise by parents insisting they do parkrun even if they hate it, I would say the fault lies with their parents, not parkrun itself. It would be the same if a parent insisted on a child continuing with football training or swimming club or dance classes even if the child didn't like it. Parkrun itself could hardly be more encouraging and supportive of parkrunners of all ages. I speak from experience. I loathed PE at school and was put off all exercise as a result. I happen to enjoy walking and jogging round now, and I certainly enjoy having done it. Additionally, it's been designed to be manageable by people of all ages and all levels of fitness.

But I agree with others - many children would never venture out of their comfort zone, given the choice, but if given carefully judged encouragement, praise and so on, they will do it, and they will actually get a lot out if it. This is a good thing.

Children say they are in pain when they have a stitch.
Personally, I find it hard to believe that there were so many children being dragged round in tears. Unless OP watches the entire event every weekend, I also doubt very much that individual children are being put through this on a regular basis.

I hated running as a child. My parents never took me running. Love running as an adult. It took me a few weeks of finding it hard to start enjoying it though.

I draw a parallel with my child and his piano lessons that he asked for. Loved the first year or two, didn't make the progress he wanted to stopped trying. Asked to give up. I said no, stick at it. Another few years of half baked effort. Now in his teens, he loves it and practices every day. Sometimes, as parents, we have to convince children that something hard is worth sticking at for the end result.

You were the one who responded to my post which said that my child complained.

I do lots of exercise. I didn’t for decades because of the horrible experiences I had in Pe at school being forced to do things I hated. It took me ages to get over that and get past the idea that all exercise was vile and horrible. You really don’t want to instil that idea in your children.

What has that got to do with people’s responses to the OP about children she saw being dragged round crying? That’s what people are saying is daft. Making a child do a type of exercise they hate, not a child who isn’t massively enthusiastic. Though since children do normally like being active, I’d still say it was better long term to look for something they actively enjoy, rather than giving the impression exercise is something you endure.

We have loads of kids at ours who are happy to do the run (/walk) but still need a parent there for encouragement and to keep them on track. I think four still needs a parent even if there are marshals. But that doesn't mean they can't do parkrun. It's also a good way to build independence as once they know the route and aee a bit older they run alone.

Depends how fast you walk. You don’t really have to get your heart rate up much to be in that zone. The best way to burn calories is to build muscle tissue, not do a ton of cardio anyway.