I am newly obsessed with parkrun ama

[Parkrunobsessive]

Not incredibly experienced and this time last year if you had told me I would be doing it I wouldn't have believed you. Hoping this helps someone else to think about coming along.

[grafittiartist]

I LOVE parkrun!
The whole concept is brilliant- such a good idea. Glad you enjoy it too.

[Parkrunobsessive]

It is isn't it. I love as well that people can get involved volunteering too even if they never want to run/walk themselves.

[grafittiartist]

Yes- nobody has to be an elite runner, as it caters for everyone- volunteer, Walker, runner. And we get plenty of people just walking about and watching- a trip to the park.
Nearly Saturday :)

[Parkrunobsessive]

It's wonderfully inclusive.

I'm training to be run director for Juniors just now too. My whole weekend has become about parkrun now.

[Purplemond]

whats your pb ? do you stick to local one or travel around for a lot ?

[LochJessMonster]

I love pr - I was never a runner before I started and now I've done 3 half marathons this year!
I think its amazing that so many people give up their time to make this event happen, every Saturday. Its fantastic for people of all abilities.

[LochJessMonster]

I volunteer at my normal pr, have done lots of tourist ones and try to arrange my holidays so I can get a foreign pr in!

[QOD]

I don’t like it. Ours is massively competitive as the local running club do it most weeks too. It has ‘winners’ which made me feel like a loser
It IS inclusive - but 🏃🏻‍♀️ run like any other race event

[C1239]

I have often thought about going to a local park run but don’t feel fit enough to run the whole thing so always back out of going! Do some people go but do a mixture of walk/jog/running!? Is it a nice way to meet new people?

[myrtleWilson]

Apologies if this is you - but this is a great thread about someone discovering parkrun www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/3576500-To-be-upset-after-comment-from-friend

[fruitpastille]

Do you find it takes up most of your Saturday morning? By the time you ate home, showered etc. I do which makes me only do it occasionally.
Is it dominated by proper runners? I have a slow jogging friend who came nearly last and really didn't like the attention on her as she finished!

[fruitpastille]

@C1239 there are lots who walk/jog. You can look up the results for your local one online and see the times. Plenty are under 40 mins at mine.

[Egghead68]

I am slow and really don’t like all the “well done! You’re getting out there” type comments from people who’ve already finished and are heading home. I know they are well-meant but I find them so patronising.

[ThisIsAQuestion]

My local one is very inclusive. We always have walkers and nobody minds how long they take.

One thing I do notice at my local one is that it's usually the same people volunteering.
Is that the same everywhere I wonder?

[Egghead68]

I don't know. I try to volunteer once for every 10 or so runs.

[Blankspace4]

I’ve been a couple of times but found it a little cliquey - not in an intentional way as everyone was lovely but I just felt everyone knew eachother and I felt a bit awkward

How do you welcome newcomers and get them involved / encourage them to come back? I have to say it’s the sense of community that attracts me as well as the exercise which seems to get Saturday off to a good start. Maybe I need to try again.

[KeithLeMonde]

I'm an RD and got told last week that some less confident runners find our event cliquey. I'd love to hear ideas from anyone on how to avoid this. We do have a lot of regulars who know each other plus a local running club who show up en masse and can be a bit overwhelming - unfortunately that's not something we as a core team can avoid.

[QOD]

The running group that turn up en mass all
Wear their club shirts and announce the winner of park run every week on their Facebook page ...
They sometimes offer to pace the slow runners but still do it in club shirts thus making it obvious they are supporting (patronising) the slow ones

Once a year they take it over so the RD and Marshall’s and volunteers can have a go

[AuntieStella]

I love parkrun!

• do you do much tourism? Have you a cowl?
  
• have you completed any of the tourism challenges, (not just alphabet, also purates, Star Wars, Full Ponty etc)?
  

• how would you persuade people that it's not a running event really, rather a community 'get active' type event which welcomes all (and just happens to be running-based)?
  

• what was your most memorable one so far, and why?

[Kuponut]

Dislike our local one who basically make the park a no-go area for anyone else every weekend morning (junior one one day, adult one the other) - the behaviour of some of the runners is appalling - we mistakenly dared to go through there to get to the play area one morning with DD1 on her new bike with stabilizers, keeping right to the very edge of the path so as to allow the most possible space for the lycra louts - and they were diving all over her bike wheels and ended up knocking her off her bike in their quest to shave a second off their time... and the run organisers (it happened in front of a marshall as well) didn't even bother to check this distressed 4 year old child was OK. She's still very jumpy around groups of runners now.

The only people who did show any concern were some local dog walkers who'd witnessed endless incidents of this kind over the months and were desperately trying to resist being driven out of the park themselves with the behaviour.

Parkrun as the organisation didn't give a shit.

[CowCat]

What sort of training do you do to become a RD?

Were you a runner before you joined?

[AuntieStella]

Kuponut Complain like crazy - that sort of thing is utterly unacceptable

And don't just complain to parkrun, complain to the landowner (probably the council, if it's your local park). Parkruns cannot take place without the landowners consent, and if the event generates problems, then that permission can be withdrawn.

Can I apologise to you on belhakf of all typical parkrunners everywhere. I would be mortified if I thought that happened at my regular parkrun (and we station an extra marshall by the play area which is passed early on in the run, who shouts at runners to keep out of the way and helps corral DC if that is needed/wanted - play area is near the start, so it is a large pack, but it's done that way pr chisels because it is near the start, so everyone is all together and have passed and gone in less than 5mins)

I do however agree that some parkruns are getting too big for their sites. Especially if paths are narrow, because then they do area dominate and it can be for considerably longer than it takes to spread out, making sharing the space a bit easier.

[flashingbeacon]

Do you run between guide dogs and their owners?
Do you encourage runners to whole the whole path as walkers need to “mooove” ?
Have you ever knocked over an old man and carried on?
I’m sure you have op but my local park run make my bloody boil.
I spoke to the organiser who informed me that they were getting kids outside and exercising, what did I suggest they do instead? I swear I was polite because I assumed that they would want to know but nope using public parks FOR FREE en masse with no consideration for vulnerable people or even just people that don’t want to find themselves in the middle of a stampede is much more important because “kids have nothing to do otherwise”.