To have been really put off Parkrun by this

[rookiemere]

I'll start by saying I love parkrun. I've done over 130 of them and it's a real treat to discover a new one when we're away on holiday.

Everyone there is lovely and welcoming and it's such a great way to start Saturdays with a 5km run.

I am also older, fat and slow, but this is fine as I'm not there to win it.

So last Saturday headed to one of my usual parkruns with a friend. There was a traffic incident so many people didn't make it. This meant that rather than being in the back 10 or so I ended up being the last person bar the tail runner. Again all fine and someone has to be there.

However for the last km or so as I went past people who were dispersing made a big point of clapping loudly and shouting on encouragement. Obviously meant to be supportive, but I've run so many of the damn things and I just like to be invisible rather than the obviously last, slow ploddy person who people want to help.

I'm actually really nervous about going again, it upset me so much. I could go to one with more runners and then I should be less likely to be right at the back, but its a further drive and the whole thing has knocked my confidence and I don't know what to do.

I was put off going to my local one by the fact someone takes a photograph of everyone as they finish and posts it on the fb page. Nope.

You love it.
You’ve enjoyed it 130 times.
You didn’t enjoy one (for reasons that are totally understandable, but you know we’re intended kindly).
You know that the one was a specific circumstance that (a) isn’t that likely to happen again and (b) if it does you can make your own decision in the circumstance not to go ahead.

And yet…

You want to chuck it in.

I did one of the early Race for Lifes (women only) and the difference to other races, even fun runs, containing men, was amazing. No-one charging off at the start- in fact I was fairly nippy at 5K then in my 20s and was actually leading for a bit! I think I came in the first 100 runners anyway - unheard of for me. It was quite refreshing not to have all that testosterone around.

Perhaps instead of doing park runs, if the local ones don't have the sort of atmosphere you enjoy, try to find a nice running group instead. I am blessed with several for women only locally and they are so supportive, sociable and chatty and cater for such a range of ability, much more so than tradiitonal athletics clubs, while still having very good qualified coaches.

I came to post this, the cheering for the last group in paired workouts is one of the reasons I’m considering not renewing my CF membership. I just want to get my head down and do my own workout. I realise that probably makes me a bit miserable and unsuited to the camaraderie element of CF!

I was that kid. Back then it was horrible to be noticed for being slow and clumsy because it wasn't going to be kind comments. At parkrun it is kindly meant. Fast runners know one day they will be slow or injured. Many are genuinely delighted to see more people getting active and visibly improving from week to week.

I hear you OP. I went to a park run a few times because I thought it would be a fun, non competitive thing, but that wasn’t my experience. The were lots of runners from local running clubs, all jostling for position at the front, and it really didn’t help that the route doubled back on itself at the half way mark - so those of us towards the back had to run past the ones at the front who had finished a while back and were now clapping and cheering all of us from their vantage point. I just wanted a quiet jog/walk, at my own pace, with no competitiveness, audience or forced jollity. To make matters worse I then got my ‘score’ emailed to me showing where I’d come in the 300-odd runners taking part

Lots of people love them though, so maybe it’s just about finding one that’s right for you.

I don’t think it’s very Daily Mail at all, you’re just using that as a lazy stereotype for all that is bad. What’s it stopped you enjoying? My local park has lots of runners on a Saturday morning who aren’t doing Parkrun, they don’t seem too bothered. The megaphone is used to tell everyone that Parkrunners do not have priority and they should be giving way to other park users. Marshals are volunteers- I’ve never seen any petty dictatorship but if you do complain.

coralling people into lanes and columns like they're running the fucking Olympics

I don’t think you know what Parkrun is

Thanks to everyone who has commented.

I do generally love Parkrun and there's no way I push myself as much when I'm running solo.

Thanks also to the person who commented that this is one parkrun out of 130, and that's what I will try to hold on to.

I do think there will be a time when I will routinely be last or second last and at that point I thought I'd change to volunteering only - but was kind of hoping that would be when I'm around retirement age rather than now age 52.

They aren't imposing themselves, said parks have agreed to host the events! They have to for liability reasons. Are you imposing yourself if your friend invites you to their house and you....turn up?!?

Yeah op i agree, clapping and cheering the last people is one of those weird things that is supposed to make everyone feel good but the people it's aimed at always seem to hate it! I wouldn't let it put you off though as, like you say this was an exceptional occasion where you were last due to events beyond your control....it would be a pity to let 1 bad experience cancel out 129 good ones.

My DIL and I walk our Parkrun occasionally. First one I did I was deeply unfit and came to an area that loops around and back on to the main track that was about 1km. I told DIL I'd wait and meet her back there, but the guy at the bottom of the loop was really encouraging with 'you can do it, go on, take your time, you got this' type thing.
It did push me and I did do the loop and complete what was probably my slowest ever walk in an hour.
I'm still not the fastest, we walk it in about 45 minutes now, but personally I appreciate the encouragement.

What I don't enjoy are all the bloody dog walkers with them on long leads, despite instructions to the contrary, who always end up in the blooming way.

It's stopped me enjoying a run in my local park every Saturday morning for the last four or five years because there are hundreds of people crowding down various paths and clearings and some officious bloke shouting at everyone in the park through a megaphone (megaphones don't discriminate).

It's extremely Daily Mail - the tyranny of the majority - who think that their pleasure triumphs over the quiet enjoyment of everyone else, partly because they think what they are doing is inarguably for the good. You're doing it yourself in your post. "The marshals are volunteers". So what? They're still turning up in a public space and commandeering it for themselves tot eh disadvanteg of everyone else.

Complain? I am complaining, right here.

Sure I do. It's that annoying event that takes over our local park every week, where a series of annoying guys shout at everyone through a megaphone to "make sure they enter the funnel" properly and "have their barcode ready", so they can be properly catalogued, checked and coralled.

This gave me a chuckle! I don’t do park run but I know exactly what you mean by “Daily Mail energy” and wannabe middle managers 😂

Christ, calm down, it's not that bad. Most people just do the run then bugger off. I can see why 'you can do it' encouragement would be annoying for the last person though.

It's that "annoying" event that brings joy to around 350k people each week in the uk and has played a huge role in getting people off the sofa and doing some exercise.

Perhaps you could do it, a shot of endorphins will probably make you less grumpy about your local park being "taken over" by what, around 100 people for < 1 hour?

No, four or five hundred, starting at 8.15 or so (all the megaphone hi-vis people just looove getting there ridiculously early) and hanging around, clogging up all the facilities, until past 11 o'clock.

Park runs are just a drop in the ocean for what angers and frustrates you? Correct?

out of interest - do you have children?

Oh noes, people making use of a park for a postive benefit.

How awful.

"Clogging up the facilities"

😂

Out of interest - why are you asking if @MasterBeth has children @Doingprettywellthanks ? It's a very odd question.

Parkrun is a drop in the ocean compared to climate change, the energy crisis or systemic racism, sure.

I have grown-up children.

As I say, the tyranny of the majority. As long as you're having a good time, it doesn't matter how much you're spoiling it for everyone else, right?

Eek I'm due to do my first park run in a few weeks. Slightly put off now by the thought of being either cheered at patronisingly or yelled at by angry park users who don't want me buying a coffee afterwards.

I'm disabled and always at the back, I love the encouragement. In fact it's part of what got me walking again when the doctors told me I never would. Do you go for coffee after? You might see the volunteers intentions quite differently then.

I would also be challenging going your thoughts a little. What evidence is there to say everyone was focused on you and what evidence is there to say that might not be 100% fact. I would suggest that this was 1 parkrun and normally people don't focus just on you, they probably cheered and waved for everyone but being at the back you felt more focused on you as lesser numbers round you. They weren't packing up so perhaps you provided some light moment for them.

Remember we have no idea what others are thinking unless we ask so they may have been on autopilot clapping whilst thinking about getting kids ready for school on monday, they might be proud of you for finishing, they might be thinking hurry up i want to get home, they migjt be considering what shoes to buy, or simply I'm glad I'm not running today! The point is we have no idea!

Try to reduce your internal focus and focus on your surroundings instead, and your achievement. So it wasn't your best run, but you got up and did it, thats far more than others!