to not understand the level of fuss about the Stoke Gifford Parkrun?

[Lucydogz]

I appreciate that, ideally, Parkruns should be free, but can't understand the level of fuss about Stoke Gifford proposing a £1 charge for this. I pay more than that to park my car when I do a parkrun in my town. Football clubs pay to use parks, as do other organisations, and parks really need the money. Well over 100 runners go on 'my' run, and it does increase wear and tear on the ground.

There isn't a cafe there that I've ever seen at Little Stoke. If the council set one up, they'd make a killing at the end of the parkrun each week.

They wouldn't even need to set up a cafe - they could license one of the coffee vans to rock up just for the events, and make money for nothing.

I wish they would - I do like a cup of tea and some cake at the end of a parkrun!

How do they propose to charge? What if you turn up and just have a run? Don't time me - I'm just here for a jog :) if it's danaging the ground ask for donations by all means, but voluntary ones only - it's against the idea of the scheme to have an obligatory charge.

I understand the concerns of Parkrun and their members however I think local councils are getting so cash strapped we will see this more often

I run in my local park - sometimes I run on my own and it's free - twice a week I run with my bootcamp and I pay £2:50 to do so (because I work harder in a group) - I don't see the issue in paying £1 to join an organised event

They're not proposing a £1 charge now. They want to charge Parkrun as an organisation (which is a not for profit) and run locally entirely by volunteers.

I've seen their accounts and it's not a cash strapped parish council and the council weren't claiming this as they knew they couldn't get away with saying this is the case. Also, they couldn't specify what damage the Parkrun had caused and what this unspecified damage would cost to repair!

The paths in the park do need repairing but because of tree root growth, not the Parkrunners. They will need repairing whether the Parkrun is there or not.

I think the problem is people hear "300 runners every week" and it all sounds so obvious that there must be additional maintenance costs and just believe the council's spiel. Except that even 300 runners every week will make barely a scrap of difference to a proper path. Damage that does occur is more likely due to weathering or other things like the tree roots mentioned.

I thought all along that it had more to do with numbers - they just want it gone. I don't know the area but the park doesn't look that big on the map. And people are really annoying about the way they park their cars. Even at my parkrun there is a really decent car park but people park miles apart from each other and where you could get 10 cars in a row you can only fit about 7. Then they park on the approach roads. However, it's probably all self-contained and it probably just means parkrunners annoying other parkrunners (and a few military fitness people and the odd football match takes place at the same time). So local residents probably don't see any impact unless they want to walk their dog at 9am.

It seems to me that the junior parkrun could probably stay as it's shorter and probably fewer people, but the main 5k run needs to move.

But the council could have dealt with this so differently, avoided all the upset and managed a move to another venue with no unpleasantness. I'm not good at winning hearts and minds, but this really takes the biscuit in mishandling!

The problem with 'someone setting up another parkrun' to reduce numbers at Little Stoke is that it wouldn't work. The original parkrun was Bushy. Two other parkruns were set up fairly close by and number continued to increase at Bushy, as well as at the new two.

When I set up my local one, it didn't take numbers away from the nearest parkruns. It just doesn't work like that.

With all this publicity I am planning to take my DS to a little Parkrun this weekend. I feel I am perfectly entitled to use a public park and will do so.

Yes starting a new parkrun is like building new roads - in the same way you get more cars, you get more parkrunners. Although if they are close enough together and one is really hilly and the other isn't, maybe it would make a difference :)

Apparently another venue near Little Stoke is being looked at - but it's a nature reserve so there is some disquiet about that - although I think it might be one of those nature reserves that are created when a huge housing development is built. So maybe not so sensitive in terms of wildlife.

I often think Rye Harbour would be a great venue for a parkrun - huge car park (though approach road is a bit narrow) and flat tarmac paths. But it's quite sensitive for wildlife I think and you can't restrict numbers of runners.

It's a small council with a small tax-base and most of the parkrunners are from outside. What they spend on the park they cannot spend on something else. They are right.

No, they are not right. They don't actually HAVE any rights over the runners.

Of course they aren't right. Parks are free to the public.

If council won't consider other forms of compensation to the park (like litter picking) that really is pants. PRs do a lot of good. They make people want their local park to be a nice one, which is fabulous in itself, too.

...safe, non-competitive environment.

It seems very competitive to me because they put names of people with their times on a website in order of fastest to slowest.

People who don't understand parkrun, go to your local one 5 weeks in a row. You'll get it then

But I don't want my name & time published on a website. Actually, I don't want to know my time at all. The nearest PR is 20 minute drive away. So that would be an extra hour out of my day to run a shorter distance than I like to get comparison information I don't want...

Can people just turn up & run the same route & not put their name down to be recorded? I'm guessing no due to insurance. Or I could give a fake name. Else I might enjoy the group atmosphere if I ever live near one. Suppose I could enjoy volunteering to help run it.

it's against the idea of the scheme to have an obligatory charge.

That may be the running group's scheme, but why should they impose it on the council? It's not their scheme.

Then parkrun obviously isn't for you lljkk if you aren't interested in knowing yiur time and position etc. You run for enjoyment and against yourself, there is no competing unless you want to..

Can people just turn up & run the same route & not pur their name down to be recorded? yes. Your position is just marked as 'unknown' with no details other than that.

Perhaps all seaside towns or the Peak District should charge people to enter their space....or London....perhaps the council should be more creative in using footfall to increase buisness turnover.

does it matter if the three hundred runners run over the period of one hour or one week? I doubt the wear and tear on the path would be much different. In that case it makes no sense. Perhaps walking groups round the county should Pay , local children on a school outing? Geocachers?

Exactly Head, 4 hours maximum a month is hardly a huge amount.

I am very glad my local parkrun is free, they should all be free.

Yes starting a new parkrun is like building new roads - in the same way you get more cars, you get more parkrunners.

Surely that's a good thing though, more people taking up exercise, often with their children, and also a group activity builds a sense of community. I know there are some downsides, but more people doing pr is overwhelmingly for the good.

Llkjj you are over thinking Park run

Fair enough. It'd be a hassle to get to, so hence why I thought hard about it.
Maybe it appeals to some kind of primal instinct people have to run in groups, I hadn't thought about that.

lljkk But I don't want my name & time published on a website

Yes, as a PP has said, you can run and not register, then go through the finish and be put down as an 'unknown'. If you want to see what time you did, just remember what position you finished in and look at the results on the website. If you don't, don't.

But parkrun is great in that, if you register and remember your barcode each week, you can compare stats for your own runs. I'm not fast, so I don't bother with position, but I know that I got my fastest time in 2014 and I've not beaten it yet. I also know that I got a faster time on a hilly course than a flat course (weird). I can see how many parkruns I've done and how many more I need to do to hit a milestone (50, 100, 250), plus how many different parkruns I've done. There are loads of different things you can look at on the parkrun website.

Seaside towns and the peak district get local revenue from tourism.
If you want to blame someone blame austerity measures and the cuts to councils from central government.
They've started charging children for transport to their special schools and there has been less of a fuss made.