parkrun defending their position

'I mean', you literally didn't. Why does a community event need volunteers with a stopwatch? It's just a run around the park. No timings needed. Volunteers can cheer on people. They don't need to record timings. So you 'literally' have not explained anything except you think community elements only exist if there is a stopwatch. Nothing else matters.

I'm being pragmatic. If someone somewhere is competing as a woman even though they were born a man, that dilutes the results. Same if someone is competing in the wrong age group. There's nothing you can do about that because age gradings are international but it is a tiny number of people. It really is completely different to having an Identifiable person who has taken part as a woman when they shouldn't have done.

However, I think age gradings are based on elite performances and at least they will now be checked.

Parkrun times can be used as qualifying times for other events. If these spaces are given out to men who pretend to be women based on their Parkrun times, actual women lose out. Because how can women compete with Parkrun times set by men become the baseline for women?

But let's not upset the men. Especially the men who get really upset when their cheating is pointed out to them. Because "Who cares!!!!"

As a human, being 'barcode scanned' is pretty darned insulting

WTF 😂

How? The community element is still there! How does parkrun taking timings remove the 'community element'? I'd really love you to explain that

I mean, I literally did. I said that some want a race that's community based, emphasis on everyone being able to join in, without telling newcomers who may have never done it before and feeling nervous that they have to have a stopwatch to time themselves or whatever.
It's just extra levels of stress towards what's supposed to be a chilled community race in the park.
So many reasons people could be put off. Not to mention the volunteers having this level of crap thrown at them.

Is there no community element of volunteers cheering people on? Marshalling people? Looking out for people? Do you need to use a clock to the second just to get 'community element'?

We don't need to be 'barcode scanned'. We are not chocolate bars or cans of beans at the checkout. As a human, being 'barcode scanned' is pretty darned insulting.

What about the community element amongst the volunteers working together to get the times out as accurately as possible? What about that small social interaction when you get your barcode scanned? Also the numbers would plummet and there would be much fewer community members to interact with.

Can someone - if they have the guts - please explain to me how not timing people to the second removes 'the community element'? I thought the community element was running together. Not the 'timing'. I've heard of hyperbole but this thread is next level ridiculous.

How? The community element is still there! How does parkrun taking timings remove the 'community element'? I'd really love you to explain that.

Well done

Blame men for that. But I suspect you are resorting to the first rule of misogyny. Women are responsible for men's actions. Blame the men. Not feminists.

Even if they did, you're taking away the community element there.
People go as they want to be part of a community event and maybe get fit alongside others.
As someone said upthread, you might as well go do it round your garden instead with a couple of mates.
Bye bye parkrun
Well done.

Cups?! Stupid autocorrect. Should have said chips! 😁

I have been - I meant it has short hand to explain it was their official timing )whether approximate or not). Not people just submitting their own times. Sorry will be more accurate with terminology in the future

Chip-timing is a very specific thing in paid for events though. The timing at parkrun is me and a 15yo doing their bronze DofE award volunteering, with mobile phones, going "tap tap tap" as people cross a patch of grass marked with some cones. And you may have mistakenly run two laps of our three lap course and be almost a mile short of the 3.1 mile route, I wouldn't know. You still get that as your time for the parkrun.

A chip (often attached to a race bib) triggers automated timing points which accurately track your running time - it measures when you cross the start and finish lines, and sometimes points along the way. It accounts for things like how long it was before you actually crossed the start line, rather than a rough timing.

Yes, and there are no cups at Park Run to my knowledge. As I said earlier it would be interesting to know how many have ever actually been!

Everyone has a watch or a phone. That's what we did before 'parkrun'.

It’s a way of measuring someone’s time. From start to finish using tech rather than someone just using their own watch.

Can you go and set up your own timed, recorded and categorised event and leave parkrun alone as what is was meant to be? A fun run?

Yep, when you say chip timed it means you have a chip to give a precise time.

Cross posted
Clearly not everyone knows

It's not the same difference - chipped means the timing is exact, parkrun times are good approximations.

My point, @Funtime2 is that I was agreeing with you - whilst the timings are approximations, the fact that they bother to create stats means that it does matter that people are split accurately and appropriately

I'm confused too 😕
Chips?

Exactly . Everyone knows what someone means when they say chip timed.

What parkrun are you attending that's chipped?!