To think the National Trust should not let Park Run volunteers marshal the cars at a NT property

[ParkRunIdiots]

So rocked up a very large NT property with lots of parkland at about 9:25 today.

had gone through the payment control bit, then you drive for about another mile (no joke) to the car park. Just before the car park all traffic stopped in a traffic jam caused by two Park Run people in pink vests who would not let any cars through.

So I sat there and say there and sat there, not a single car moved through. I could see the runners approaching from the right, at times there were gaps in the runners but still no car was allowed through. After ten minutes still no car had been allowed to pass. Several cars behind me did a 20 point turn and left.

Then I realised that the runners weren’t even crossing the road as I’d originally assumed, they turned right and ran alongside the road edge, which has a massive Green verge they could run on . So in my mind no need to stop any car. Or if some risk assessment has deemed it too dangerous to have the cars beside the runners then it means there’s no access to the car park for about 45 mins, in which case the NT property needs to open later!

the runners were all strung out, no big wide bunch/crowd, so single file or in pairs.

anyway I honked at this point. One pink vest guy had obviously been waiting for this moment and charged up, ran past me and bollocked the car behind me who was mid 20 point turn and leaving. That driver grassed me up so the park run guy came and condescendingly told me “when there’s a gap” we will let a car through. I said it was ridiculous, that there had been plenty of gaps, nobody had been allowed through and the runners weren’t even on the road!

At which point he told me if I didn’t like it I could leave!

then the other marshal let some of us through, even though there were still runners running alongside the verge the same as there had been for the last ten minutes! I think they were letting cars through in groups of 5 or 6 as some had gone through just before I got stopped. Again when there were runners there! So nothing to do with gaps!

diagram for an idea.

I do feel like emailing the NT and telling them they need to have an NT person there overseeing it, and preventing the Parkrun people been rude to other users.

I may be slightly anti park run after my (on lead, walking to heel) dog was trampled on and tripped over by several park runners on the inaugural run of my local new park run on a narrow public bridleway and they shouted at me for been there with a dog (even though I’d stepped into the mud at the side). Still not forgiven them for that.

No, that sounds about right. Very best of luck.

@ParkRunIdiots I do hope something comes of it, as there seems to very little joined-up thinking between the NT/Clumber Park, and the Parkrun folk. They need to know that they are having a negative effect on regular park visitors with this.

Thank you though for giving me a reason to go to the Park for the first time in ages! (Shan't be going on a Saturday morning though....) 🌲😍

Let us know any updates 🙂

@LighthouseTheme According to the clumber map at least, the park run car parking would be on the paddocks from your description (blue), what is now the main car park is cow pastures.(yellow). Conflict area in red. To turn in to the yellow car park you cross the park run route. Given that the NT can't even remember to open the barrier to the car park some days(and once people are queued up at the barrier there's not really space to turn around) the level of organisation to avoid this conflict is probably beyond them!

As an aside, they sometimes do clumber spaniel meet ups at clumber, we once encountered a group of about 40 as we were walking round the lake.

Yes @MetaMette - your annotated map is great! And that is how I understand it to be happening - and what I was told yesterday and would seem to have been @ParkRunIdiots' experience. It looks to be the absolute antithesis of Parkrun and regular visitors NOT encountered one another; being forced to drive alongside the route, and across the route that the participants take to get to Bark Café and Start line - and of course the marshal(s) and PR spokesperson on here not helping.

The Clumber Spaniel show could only really take place in the Park I would say - very appropriate! I remember seeing it one time as well. They are lovely dogs and it is so nice that they have been rescued from near-extinction. They are a bit more solid than all the other spaniels I think - and my Mother's certainly was - the big soppy floppy boy 😍

Glad you enjoyed the trip. Yes, I’ll update if I hear anything back.

@MetaMette ’s annotated map seems spot on though I never saw the blue cross car park. But from what was said in the race directors post and photo the sign said “park run car park” so it’s possible that I took no notice as such a sign would make me think it was the car park for park run only.

if as the park run director says no cars are allowed to the main car park while anyone is one red line strip I can’t imagine there will be many gaps where cars will get through. Especially with it being a two lap circuit and hundreds of people at very differing speeds.

Yes, this is the thing - 300+ people at different speeds on two lap 5k course.... I should imagine there would always be someone on that stretch between the start of the first and finish of the last, I am sure they cannot restrict access to the now Main car park (event field) for that whole period of time.

The parking on the Paddocks (the blue cross, and I imagine where the sign on the photo was pointing - and I agree, it gives the impression of being for PR only) would be - you would think - for the PR only, as they are otherwise pushing people further and further away from the places where they might spend money (let alone the other issues I was told about re. the re-configuration in the Turning Yard and Laundry Yard. People will only be going that way for the loos!) Talk about alienating the customer base....

Ok, have had a reply from NT Clumber. Basically, very sorry for my experience, etc. glad to have feedback. They’re from now on going to station a volunteer opposite the Estates rd (not sure where that is) to inform drivers of alternate parking and warn that if going to the Pastures there could be a hold up due to Park Run. Which seems better than the previous experience of been directed (by signs and cones) to the Pastures (and into the park run).

Oh and a friend went to the Clumber park run two days ago to actually do the park run. She ignored the cones and went to the old (accessible) car park but said she could see exactly what I meant by how you’d think that you weren’t supposed to go past the cones. She thought it was daft that cars were been channeled up to the park run (so it was still happening this weekend just gone by the sounds of it).

Well I guess that's progress....

Sounds ridiculous (and as I thought)!

[But I'm not clear on why she went to the old Main Car Park, when she was there to do the Park Run....? Although of course, the P/Runners are not, I suppose, obliged to park in the Paddocks, just generally directed/expected to.]

Think she was just checking for me what the car park situation is there for sure.

Only taken nearly 2 years but they’ve changed the route for safety reasons and to ensure that the run route doesn’t clash with visitors driving to the main car park 👍😁.

I always said there’s so much space at the park that there was no need to have the route across/alongside the main vehicle route to the carpark thus stopping traffic for most of the duration.

Better late than never!