Reality Rules Parkrun Launch 3 October 2026

He set up a time trial for his club mates.

There is nothing wrong with doing something non competitive or doing something for your mental health, but these were competitive club runners and the whole point was that it was timed.

If they wanted to just run together there are club runs every week. Initially it was called ‘Bushy Park Time Trial’ and it was first incorporated as U.K. Time Trials Ltd.

But you don’t need to know the history to observe that they publicly share course times and ranking.

I don’t know why you are bothering to argue that black is white.

How many times does it have to be said that they don’t need to share everyone’s times, but they do because participants clearly value the ability to compare?

There was a American TRA being interviewed on a show saying he’d be happy for his daughter to lose to a TIM in sports because she already had so much privilege and it’s not a big deal if she loses. Wonder if his daughter feels the same way…l

Defending parkrun’s decision is like saying women should ignore sex discrimination against them for a good cause.

Every argument I have seen so far has supported sex discrimination for a good cause. But apparently feminists are the problem.

I’m so bored of some of the ridiculous arguments that are being used to defend the indefensible.
It’s not just a “fun run”.
If it is, take away all the published results. There’s be an outcry. We’d see how many men see it as a “fun run” then.

Some of these tired arguments are like the “I have a gender neutral toilet at home” one that still gets wheeled out, even though it’s very five years ago.

What this issue has flagged up is that there are a huge number of misogynists about and an equal number of handmaidens willing to throw their own sex under the bus. Very depressing.

Couldn’t agree more, @Doowoddy

And yet, there are published rankings such as first finishers. And there are categories.

When you have those, whatever argument people present cannot change the reality - it has been set up to be competitive. Regardless of any denial.

The guy who set up parkrun was coming back from injury and was suffering from depression so he set up a fun run to meet up with his friends who were competing in races. It was set up to be for a fun get together and for mental health reasons.

You again fail to acknowledge that the act of releasing first finishers, any ranking at all, and the presence of any categories makes Parkrun a competition.

They can deny it all they want, it doesn’t change the accurate description of Parkrun having a competitive element. Therefore it is discriminating against female people by not following the EA2010 when they need to.

This important point seems to have been lost by the 'competing against yourself' advocates. I don't run myself but I wonder if it is yet another of those things that we only realise as we get older and can't quite grasp when we are at the age when we seem invincible.

But running clubs don’t hold competitions, they are where athletes go for training. You need to enter competitions in order to run competitively against other athletes.

Like the clubs that the Parkrun founders were members of when they set up a time trial for fellow club members?

If they wanted to drop the competitive time trial aspect they are free to do that, but they obviously understand that participants value it. I don't think their policies have anything to do with inclusion - it's just that creating sex categories is a hassle and lack of sex categories has little negative impact on competitive men.

Absolutely there are competitive running clubs that welcome men who wish to run competitively against women. The great thing about these clubs is that they are open and upfront about the competitive element - so men who claim they are women can run against actual women and compete away to their heart's content.

If anyone wishes to run competitively, they are the appropriate clubs for them; don't need to exclude women...

If a man wishes to compete against women competitively then competitive running clubs are the place for him.

There are plenty of competitive running clubs around awaiting your application.

Sure. But Jeska demonstrates how well that can go down.

https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/styal-prisons-most-notorious-inmates-22586876

In 2021, he was held at Styal women's prison.

Ultimately, it is meaningless … to you.

To others, it is not meaningless at all.

Changing the topic slightly, has anyone tried approaching their local councils about this?

Mostly these are held in public parks so the council will have to grant permission, usually subject to certain safeguards and conditions.

Councils have various equality duties - the public sector equality duty is stronger than the equality act - so might be an avenue to go down.

It seems perfectly reasonable to be that where it's a timed run it should have a fair women's category not just a mens.

R.e. timing issues, I don't think they apply much to the start of the races or smaller ones. It's also more about rankings than the times. I.e. women want to rank first if they come first.

In reality, all parkrun times are unofficial and, imo, there are various timing issues which affect slower runners.

Yes! At one of my local ones they have markers at the start saying e.g. "20min", "25min", "30min" etc. so that the faster runners are at the front of the pack and not trying to get past the slow people on a narrow track Of course, this means they don't have as far to run! Plus if it's busy the slower people can take a while to get started, while the sprinters are already haring off. This part doesn't really bother me, mind you, as I'm not trying to win, but it does count against the slower runners time-wise.

No one is asking ParkRun to say ‘no’ to transwomen. We are just asking them to
clarify that runners should register according to their sex.

could it be that this precedent is part of the reason why Parkrun are so loathe to say 'no' to transwomen.

Bloody hell

Don't forget that the women's fastest time for the Aberystwyth Parkrun is held by a man who is currently in prison for attempted murder of a UK Athletics official he had been in a dispute with over his eligibility to compete as a female athlete when he was born male.

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/05/23/transgender-murder-parkrun/

All sporting achievements are meaningless really. But a lot of people still want them to be measured and recorded, so why not measure and record them in meaningful ways?