Park Runs: Children - Why?

It's not formal. It's a group of excited kids running or walking round a park, with or without their parents, encouraged and watched over by volunteers. It's about as informal as it's possible for exercise to be. You don't even need to register your child if you don't want to, although most children do enjoy monitoring how many parkruns they've done, how close they are to getting the next wristband, and some get into the whole competing-against-self aspect of trying to improve their times.

@cardibach

the fact you didn’t do any exercise is completely on you.
lots of us don’t actually enjoy exercise but we do it anyway because it’s essential to keeping fit and well, and it’s good for kids to understand this too.

My DD occasionally whines about going, but then what you don't see is her playing wonderfully after she's finished, in the playground for an hour afterwards, once the endorphins hit. She then comes home and is happy to eat whatever I put in front of her and her whole mood seems better for the day, for having that fresh air and exercise at the start, despite her protests. I do think its good to encourage exercise, even if its met with some resistance. Toddlers can't do parkrun, they have to be four.

I’m idly reading it and replying to posts on a Sunday afternoon after rearranging the furniture. I’m not particularly invested. I just get irritated by the kind of behaviour that meant I did no exercise at all for literally decades. My objection is to forcing kids to do a type of exercise they clearly hate. Try to find something they like - or at the very least, dislike less. That way you may help them to set themselves up for an active life rather than the opposite.

I said my child complains. I didn't say I drag her along crying. If she wants to walk it that's fine. But if she does complain I gently cajole her around the course.

Exercise yes. Running 2k in a formal (if not necessarily competitive event), no. There are lots of ways to exercise.

I take what the OP said with a very large pinch of salt. If there were dozens of children crying and being dragged round, that parkrun should be reported to HQ, but I simply don't believe that there were. It certainly doesn't reflect what our local junior parkrun is like. Yes, you get the odd pushy parent. Unfortunately you see them in all activities. That's not parkrun's fault.

Nobody is suggesting banning Junior ParkRun. Just saying it’s daft to make kids do it if it hurts them and they hate it. Same as it was daft to make the injured rider continue.

@cardibach

walking does not get the heart rate up and burn calories in the way running does so for many of us it’s not sufficient exercise.

Did you read what the OP reported? Children being dragged along while crying and saying they are in pain? Now I’m happy to accept that’s not the majority of runners, but it’s those ones we are discussing, not the happy walking chatters.

@cardibach is your objection about running in general, kids being forced to run or junior parkrun. You seem very invested in this and wondered why?

And I hated PE which involved being forced to do things I disliked intensely so much I was inactive for literal decades. I’m active now, but I had to find things I liked and get over the barrier that I believed I hated it all. I sometimes moaned a bit about a family walk, but I never felt so viscerally angry and embarrassed about it. Hence I now enjoy it. Making a child run when they hate it enough to cry will not result in them enjoying it in 99% of cases.

I have two children. My eldest does hours of sport a week, would do something e try day if I let her (she's annoyed I won't let her go to the gym today as she has a bit of a niggle).

My youngest is 7 and given the choice he won't do any sport. He's able to, there's no physical reason why not, he'd just rather sit at home. We have a deal that he has to do one type of sport a week. Sometimes that's junior parkrun, sometimes he'll go climbing with me, sometimes we'll go swimming as a family. He'll mostly enjoy doing these things once he's there but it takes time to get into it.

I'm not asking much, he doesn't have to join a club or a team or spend hours- just something to keep him a bit active. Once he's out doing any of these activities he's usually there for hours (in the playground after park run etc). No activity is not an option though.

For the 27467382636842826th time - go for a walk?

Children cry all the time? Really?
Yes, sometimes they kick off about something they have to do and you just have to roll with that. Park run is not one of those things.

It absolutely is ok for kids to fit in with their parents. But the time for that 8s not when you are trying to encourage them to make being active part of their life for ever. They need to enjoy that.

Walking is free. Playing in the park is free. How many more times does this have to be pointed out?

The OP is by the sea. Maybe read a little bit.

This!!

Bloody hell. A junior park run is 2k and they can walk as well as run. Some posters are making it sound like kids are being forced to run a 10k every week. Unless a child has disabilities or are unwell they should not have any issue with jogging just over a mile on a Sunday morning- it's not far at all.

It’s 2km. This is not a long way. It’s good exercise.

my children don’t like learning their spelling, times tables or tidying their bedroom. Some things are important. Exercise is one of them.

@Areolaborealis

i don’t think you need to be “mentally and physically prepared” - park run isn’t very far, it’s not like these kids are being tasked with running a marathon

I quoted exactly what op said…

One of the worst examples of parenting I’ve seen is at a riding stables. An experienced young teen came off a horse in the early part of an hour private. Crying out of shock but also saying her shoulder hurt. Parent screaming at her to get back on the horse and finish the lesson as it had cost her. Young teen eventually relented but was clearly in pain. Young instructor suggested several times to parent she should have her checked out medically. Instructor told to do her job.

I saw young teen a couple of weeks at the stables later in a sling…

I complained to the stable owner - the instructor should not have let her back on the horse but was clearly terrified of the parent. I got shrugged shoulders at my complaint - that’s just how the parent is apparently. I suggested their insurance company may take a different view…

Based on this, I think we should ban kids from horse riding if we are banning junior parkrun. Deal?

If the kids enjoy running fair enough but if they are clearly not enjoying it then I agree with you.

It's probably so they can be insufferable show offs on their socials.