To think Parkrun shouldn't take priority over the rest of the public?

[MaryRoze]

9.30am every Saturday, our biggest park is inundated with Parkrunners. There are hundreds of them.

They take up the 3 biggest car parks (including the one at the start of the dog walking trail), meaning I need to park at the furthest away one. Not a problem except I can't get to the furthest away one because volunteers stop the traffic to let the runners go past.

Once I get parked, I'm pushed to the side of all the main paths because they're running 3 or 4 abreast. I try to go down the muddier gravel paths, but they're down there too. An older couple today got a "fuck sake" because they couldn't move out of one runners way quick enough.

Parents are being stopped from crossing the path between car park and playground with their kids because the runners are passing by.

I get that Parkrun is fantastic for people's physical health and mental health, and it's clearly very popular but AIBU to think they need to be courteous of other park users too?

I just don't go about life in a binary way! What sensible person does

A person who wants to make a clear point.

Same. If I don't have to get up for DS's football then buggered if I'm getting out of bed! I'd much rather run at 10pm than 8am.
I am a keen and competitive runner (drove to a race yesterday....shoot me!) but have only done 4 or 5 parkrun.

Or someone who thrives on division. Very fashionable.

To the person who said what has age got to do with the elderly couple who were sworn at for not getting out of the way - it takes longer to move out of the way and if an 80 year old falls over the injuries can be catastrophic in comparison to a 20 year old. So a bit of mutual respect wouldn't go amiss.

My partner is a very fit 75 but if you push him he's prone to falling.

Well quite apart from the fact that you don't know that about me, and yes I know about those benefits, it's one of the main reasons I moved here...

The park is for everyone. That's the point you seem to be missing.

Park run lasts 1-1.5 hours a week. Events are maybe 1 or 2 days a month. When people do in the park what they like to do.

The park is there for your quiet contemplation the other 90% of the time.

Definitely worth sending them a message, especially about the swearing at old people. Or to the council.

I used to do parkrun every week and I remember once we got a strongly worded reminder because some runners were being inconsiderate.

You would commit assault because someone was walking in front of you during a community fun run? Have you considered therapy?

OK.

It's pathetic, isn't it? It's not even a race. It's always men of a certain age. I remember finishing before one once and he went on and on about how he had a race tomorrow so was "taking it easy". Lol I really don't care.

All Scottish parkruns start at 9.30am, as you've probably gathered by now.

Well no, that’s a bit wrong. I’m not middle class nor am I a wannabe middle class.

my reasons for doing it are:

improve physical and mental health

to run the same course at a safe time, I enjoy the togetherness and wouldn’t do the run on my own when the park is full of other non runners

To get a time and compare to previous times I have achieved, getting a PB is a big buzz

The park is a pleasant environment

it is free

I also prefer to run on my own - I’m not a competitive run, I just enjoy it for fun.

I like it to be a solitary thing.

No objection to others doing park run though.

8am in Cape Town.

Uhh, nope. I’d much rather Parkrun started later. 9am on a Saturday I’d rather be drinking a coffee and reading the news in bed! I know plenty of runners who feel the same. I assume 9am was picked to be less intrusive to others.

I did a parkrun in one of the most impoverished areas of Glasgow. A woman was hanging around beforehand, scruffy in jeans and jacket, looking frankly like she'd had a rough night on some dodgy smack – seriously.

Run started and she powered ahead, jeans and all, and finished way before I did. I shouldn't have judged her appearance – but parkrun is clearly not just for 'wannabe middle class people'.

When you can train a dog to piss and shit in a toilet do come back and tell us how you made it happen.

In a world with so many problems, park run is not something I can really get irate about.

It isn't one runner, do you really imagine that all the people on here who have encountered rude entitled park runners are talking about the same person? It is an attitude that doesn't seem unusual with the runners and it isn't just the swearing, it is the running in groups so they block the whole path, someone earlier said they just walk on the grass but that isn't always easy for the disabled but hey who cares if you push a vulnerable person out of the way.

I couldn't care less about the car parking, I couldn't care less how many are thee I just wish they realised the park isn't theirs and they would show a bit of respect to other park users.

700+ people run in my PR and I’ve never noticed anyone being rude or inconsiderate @Iwasafool so I think, in my experience, PRers are less arseholian than the general population.

Perhaps you aren't one of the unfortunate people who can't get out of their way fast enough. As for the general public I can't remember anyone deliberately pushing him out of the way so I find the park runners more arseholian than the general population which is interesting as for the rest of the week they are part of the general population. I wonder what comes over them when they are on their run?

Except my point is it isn't available 90% of the time.

But I can tell you who gets guaranteed user/focus time....

The group Park Runners!! And loathe be me to get in their way!

Totally agree.

We’ve had parkrun in our local park for years. It snakes along the main paths so we’re forced to walk through the grass (not a problem) but we have to cross the main path to get to the children’s playground. It turned into weekly altercations of them refusing to run around us walking across the path or hurling horrific abuse, no allowance for small children or old people.

Oh @DysonSphere PR is there less than 1% of the time. I think you might be happier out in the countryside because expecting to have a park all to yourself at any time is just ridiculous.

Maybe Parkrunners become like parents on the school run. I live relatively close to a school and many parents dropping off their little darlings behave like arseholes, when I'm sure they are not as entitled elsewhere. I can imagine parkrunners getting a bit in the zone and behaving in a similar way.

I think people in general need to be more considerate.

When I had very small children, I found runners who refused to break their stride for anyone annoying. Now I’ve started running, I find dog walkers who let their dog ample unpredictably in your path (or actually approach you) annoying. I personally find cycle paths on the pavement annoying as often children or elderly people (who have lived their lives without these existing) walk into the cycle path and get injured by cyclists who don’t seem to be anticipating them.

Equally, I’m sure cyclists find those pedestrians annoying, when it’s not massively safe in the roads for them.