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.

So I parked at 6, which was the only non disabled car park I saw a sign to.

traffic jam was near no 7 the cricket pitch.

the car park near the cycle centre is no 8 and even says accessible parking on the map.

looking at the map it seems there is another car park, never saw any signage for that today, but it still looks like you’d have to drive past the point where the hold up was to get to it.

I don’t know Clumber that well. When I last went to the visitor facilities the layout was totally different, this would have been 20 years ago. I do not know I can drive straight on when the road is traffic coned off. 🤷‍♀️. If I had known I would have squeezed through the gap in the cones and gone and parked there. Are you really sure that’s allowed? Even with no blue badge?

I go 3 times per week at least, yes you can absolutely park there! On very busy days they like to keep it for people who cannot navigate the grass too well but absolutely you can park there. There are 6 dedicated disabled spots but the rest is totally normal parking

Thank you, I’ll definitely use that if I ever go back on a Saturday. I’m actually not very good walking on grass due to an ankle issue. I had assumed it was blue badge only. When I last went to that end of Clumber the big grass car park didn’t exist and if the cycle centre car park was full people used to park either side of the road leading up to it.

There's always cars parked on limetree ave when we visit- particularly campervans.
We've found the carpark at the bottom is a bit hit and miss as to whether you can park in it or not. We often end up on the field. Carpark though has loads of accessible parking so not sure why they close it to others.
There's plenty of space by the cricket pitch for park runners and cars.

I miss the days when you used to be able to drive down numerous little grass tracks off Limetree Ave and find a deserted clearing and park there for the day.

Op had paid entry and couldn't access the site. I too would have been marked. Nowhere does it state that ops dov was off lead.

OP, next time you need to park in #6 which is left immediately after the entrance/pay point.

If you try to get to #17 (which is where I think you were heading) then yes, you are stopped as the runners/walkers have to cross the entrance to that car park.

10 minutes wait? Really? You’re still wound up about that. On a Saturday morning when you’re not in a rush. I think YABU. Get the proverbial mn grip. Parkrun is an institution worth waiting for.

I think you might be right, maybe it was 17 I parked in not 6. Massive big green field? In that case I never saw car park 6! Which would have been a better location as I just wanted to go off road cycling the other side of Limetree Ave from the visitor bit.

I never saw any runners crossing a road through, they were just going alongside the road (at the bit where they’d stopped us). When I got to the bit where you turn right into the car park I didn’t see any runners, not sure if that was just a timing issue. I passed some between the stopping point and the field entrance

I thought the same although I see it was not

I think it’s more been annoyed at what I perceived to be an unnecessary ten min wait, nobody was crossing the road so i didn’t see why there was a hold up.

even if they do reckon there’s some sort of safety issue then maybe it ought to be like a stop/go board system. Runners get a minute, cars get a minute, repeat. I wouldn’t expect runners to wait ten minutes for cars, so not sure why it’s ok the other way round. If everyone has a minute “go” then nobody gets held up for too long.

Seems fair to me. But would probably require an NT person overseeing it to avoid Park Run marshal bias.

and if the park runners are upset it buggers their Strava segments up maybe they need to plot a 5k route which doesn’t go near a car park or road. There are miles and miles of off road tracks and paths they could use.

Looking at the route map and description you seem to have been not far from the finish, at just the wrong time. Most of our Parkrunners finish in between 25 and 35 minutes, so assuming this Parkrun is similar you'd have hit the absolute peak of people passing that point.

Weighing up Clumber Park's 307 runners and walkers today getting fresh air and exercise that they may not have done if it weren't a) free and b) sociable against a few people waiting a few minutes to park, I think YABU overall, but just something to bear in mind for next time, just avoid arriving between 9.20 and 9.40.

There are miles and miles of off road tracks and paths they could use.

In response to this, yes in an ideal world, and most Parkruns do avoid roads like the plague.

That said, the inclusive aspect means that routes are (as much as is feasible) plotted to include people who might be less steady on their feet, visually impaired runners with guides and those with kids and running pushchairs. It's not possible at all Parkruns, but where it is, then veering away from that would reduce the amount of people who can take part.

I’ve just found the route map on the park run website. Where they were was actually after the finish line! They were walking back to the car park! Which explains why they were slow jogging/walking, I thought they must be the really slow ones at the back! So to be honest that makes me crosser. Why does all the traffic get stopped for them to walk back to the car park!

it also says this on their site “Please remember that the parkrun uses shared paths. For the continued success of the event, please give way to other park users. This won't hurt your time, it won't stop you from getting a PB and it will make sure everyone continues to enjoy the event.”

They are volunteers, giving their time up to facilitate an event which is always free and allows millions of people to get and stay fit in a supportive and welcoming atmosphere. I think moaning about a ten minute wait for that is well, churlish. So I’ll say again, get a grip.

I’ve just found the route map on the park run website. Where they were was actually after the finish line! They were walking back to the car park! Which explains why they were slow jogging/walking, I thought they must be the really slow ones at the back! So to be honest that makes me crosser. Why does all the traffic get stopped for them to walk back to the car park!

It's a two lap course so likely at 9:25am they were on their way round for the second lap. It does sound like a timing issue, a lot of the faster runners would have finished by then and by 9:35am even the slower walkers should have been past the car park.

Whilst it's really frustrating to have to wait please don't be cross at the volunteers as without them parkrun just wouldn't happen. Because they volunteer (rather than being permanent NT staff) they are probably more cautious about letting cars through as they won't want to risk causing an accident.

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).

Read that back again.

You've lost me now OP, I assumed you were stopped by the bike symbol, trying to get to the car park in the field on the right, having just passed the car park others have mentioned.

As for giving way to other users, AFAIK that applies to walkers etc, not motorists (given so few Parkruns share space with motorists).

Anyway, whatever, you've grumbled to NT and Parkrun and you've dragged your wasted 10 minutes into over 12 hours of being annoyed about it, so it's probably time to move on now?

Thank you @ChicoryDip, I envisaged it as 1 lap course but 2 makes more sense.

No I was on the road above/running parallel to where the bike symbol is.

Yabu an x point turn us always an odd number or you can never drive away and there is so much bluster in this I expect a lot of licence has been used in your description. Parkrun is brilliant, turn up earlier next well in your trainers, you can bring your dog to most parkruns too.

Sorry, i don’t understand your first sentence. I’ve done parkrun in the past. My fibula shattered through too much running when training for a half marathon so my running days are long gone. I can barely walk now.

Ain't this the truth. My local town had an event and the volunteer Marshalls would let anyone local pass unless they had the password!! There wasn't a fucking password, just let us through to our homes ya melts!

Your dog was trampled on @VeronicaSawyer89 ? Really? Park run is ridiculously dog friendly.

I live 40m from the start finish of a parkrun, I’ve run quite a few myself, and dogs are 100% welcome.