To think ParkRun need to consider banning racers?

Intrigued by the description of your area as that could apply to ours, but our parkrun very definitely is inclusive. We get fast runners and also some very slow plodders (e.g. me) at the back. Plenty of people running or walking with buggies and/or dogs and/or young kids. Plenty of decrepit older people (me again). I've never seen the behaviour the OP describes, but then our run directors always stress that we don't have exclusive use of the park so to be aware of other people and be considerate. If I did ever observe twattish behaviour I would make it known to the run director asap so she or he could act on it.

I've always found park runs full of rude and aggressive people, not all obviously but lots of them. Going for a walk with disabled husband became dangerous as he was pushed and jostled. Why can't they hire a venue instead of making parks no go areas?

The London marathon doesn’t involve the athletes lapping the slower runners and shoving them out of the way.

You are not being unreasonable to complain but this is a really tough call on the organizers. They put on a great event only for some to ruin it but most volunteers do not want to act as race police

I’m at park run most weeks with the kids, they leave me for dead! I’ve never witnessed that kind of behaviour but I’ve seen plenty of groups run three a breast or with a dog on a long lead that is not quite under control which is irritating, and no care that people are trying to pass (including me at quite a slow pace).

I don’t like Park Run, I went a couple of times but there was always someone who would slow themselves down to run alongside me shouting ‘motivation’ at me and pushing me to run faster. I don’t need that, I’ve been running longer distances that 5k since my teens, I run at my own pace and I’m not interested in being faster, it was supposed to be a gentle run.

Hmmm well regardless of what you say, lots of serious athletes do parkrun every week. It’s not about beating the amateurs, it’s about getting a good time, which is why the spelling contest example isn’t that good. Parkrun is free whereas most other races have a fee to enter. Also a lot of races eg London Marathon have both elites and amateur runners.

I’d like to ban the same bloody woman who brings her dog every week that barks and barks and barks incessantly for half an hour before and after the park run that starts outside my bedroom window. I’m not running at the moment and would Like to sleep beyond 8:30am.

I’ve got no idea. I’m not a park run organiser. But if I lived near a park and I was an athlete and I wanted to see how fast I could run around said park, I’d go on a quiet Tuesday morning, not on a busy Park Run day when it was full of amateurs. Unless, of course, I wanted other people to see how fast I was……

In case anyone forgot, parks are multi purpose by design.

Quite cheeky of dog walkers to get in the way of people enjoying a casual jog.

For me, it's just the entitlement that they matter above all other park users. I've been shouted up before because I've been walking with my dog and a park runner told me that they couldn't run past me because they were afraid of dogs and I was holding up their park run.

Probably because men do ruin a lot of things.

So the only solution therefore is to simply have everyone gets a time and that’s it. Job done. No categories and no competition. Don’t set it up as a race and then say it’s not a race.

But they don’t push and /or swear at 99% of park runs. The op states that she’s been going for years and it seems to be the first time she’s seen this crap behaviour. I’ve never seen it at the many park runs I’ve done.

Almost everyone at park run is trying to beat their time. It is timed for a reason. Almost everyone is racing, even if it's just against themselves. Almost everyone behaves fine. YANBU. Being fast isn't a license to behave how the fuck you want.

Gosh it all sounds very competitive for something that I thought was supposed to be a "fun" time for everyone no matter their standard.

I'm glad I don't involve myself with any competitive sport, it seems to bring out the devil in some people!

I'm interested in how you got from "there was an incident at my park run this week" to "park run everywhere is being ruined by competitive men".

Evidently they can’t be true at the same time, as OP states. The fast runners end up pushing and shoving to get past the slower ones. And of course if the course involves several laps, then it’s pointless starting the fast ones at the front, because inevitably they’ll catch up with the slow ones at the back.

Yes sport is about competition, but it also has to be a level playing field. You wouldn’t have a football league that contained Manchester City and Morecambe FC would you. What would be the point of that?

The YABU votes are probably due to the suggestion of the complete ban on racing, rather than a ban on antisocial behaviour. Absolutely anyone who shouts, swears and pushes others should be told to leave immediately. But the kids aiming for sub 20-minutes absolutely should be encouraged. Most park runs manage to handle this.

We have a couple of pro runners at our local one and a lioness. Parkrun is for everyone and that includes very fast people as well as slower walkers. You can't say its inclusive but also say faster runners shouldn't be allowed. They should definitely not be pushing and swearing though.
On the 'race' point, surely everyone races it in their own way. Nobody goes out to get slower every week? Everyone tries to get faster.

I think this comes down to etiquette and sportsmanship rather than whether it’s ok to run fast or not. Of course it’s good to try and get a PB if you want one and of course people of all abilities, including some very very able runners will run Parkrun. It not being ‘for’ one set of abilities over any other is one of its major strengths.

I’m a 30-odd minute runner and my sons are 16 and 20 minute runners respectively. I love that we can all do it together! (Well, start together…).

What is not ok is intimidating or being physical with other runners. That’s just shitty behaviour. Runners who think other people shouldn’t be in their way or shouldn’t be participating because they are slower are the ones who need to find another race to run!

They probably want to go because it’s free!

I love park run and haven’t seen this sort of behavior but I start and stay at the back. I would repost it if I did as the people in charge won’t know unless you tell them. The fast runners do pass us twice but the volenteers request when we move to the sides so that they have a clearer path. It’s a very inclusive event where I run with generally over 1000 runners/walkers. There are timings displayed at the start so pick your rough time and start around there and it all seems to work well. Have met several people I now walk/run with who do roughly the same time as me. When I first started the lovely back walkers chatted to me on and off and the fast ones who are leaving before I finish give us at the back well dones and claps and encouragement. I like having my times logged in the app and looking at the challenges I can do and I would imagine the fast runners feel the same.

I don’t think there’s anything wrong with wanting a PB but it’s not in the spirit of it to behave as they are.

And in real life, you know the difference.

Pushing and shoving and acting macho are all no go.

I agree there should be a clampdown but are the volunteers going to be up to this? It’s a real shame as this exists to make running accessible and they are stopping it from being so.