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?

Bushey Park and Richmond Park are both Royal Parks, and host ParkRuns. In fact, the first ever ParkRun was in Bushey Park. What is your point?

For 5 minutes at the start. Oh noes.

My ParkRun is not crowded and it is on wide paths. I rarely see more than one or two other walkers at that time in the morning. Compared to 120+ runners. For 45 minutes. .

Yanbu. Two park runs near me are like this. Clumber Park a bit national trust place is a prime example and like what happened to you OP the volunteers stop all traffic coming in and you have to sit in a traffic jam for ten plus minutes. You can’t get to any car park. It’s beyond rude and entitled, i wouldn’t expect to impact on someone like that, why is their activity more important than mine? I find their attitude beyond belief. Why can’t they plan a route in the 3000 acre park which doesn’t cross roads to the car park? Especially as they go round twice so there barely any gaps to be waved through for 45 mins.

the other one closer to me is a there and back route on a narrow (think 3ft) footpath. I was walking along it the first ever week it ran,,,,so no idea it was a thing. It was like being charged at by a herd of wildebeest. I walked in the narrow strip of grass off the path. Still being physically jostled by runners desperate to get past me. Lost count of how many people ran into and tripped over my small dog who was terrified (on a short lead), people kept swearing at me when they tripped over the dog. I’ve never been back there on a Saturday and it was my regular Saturday morning walk for years.

its all very well people say well go later. But when I work full time I have a busy schedule at weekends, shopping to be done, all gym classes, or meeting friends, etc. so getting up and walking the dog asap is normal. Likewise i don’t want to get up earlier (7am) and walk at 8am because you know it’s the weekend!

im genuinely not trying to misconstrue you @DysonSphere I genuinely LOVE “my” park and the way it is so well used by so many people. I think it’s sad that you think it should be preserved in aspic for one particular type of user. I like to see everyone enjoying it.

as for royal parks, I don’t know about PR but I assume you’d disapprove of this? 😳 https://www.royalparkshalf.com/

The entitlement of Park Runners is legendary here. Only a few, but enough to bother everyone else. I broadly support it, but individuals can spoil it for everyone.

How many people are you getting at each event??
Our local parkrun is the 5k version on Saturdays, and junior parkrun on Sundays. I regularly volunteer at the Saturday one and can verify that at 8.40, there're approx 20 -25 volunteers and almost no runners. There have been people setting up the course before that but not in a way that would impede anyone going for a walk or children playing. From 8.55 - 9.45, agree, it is generally very busy (300-500 runners) By 9.45 the runners are slower and very spread out, you'd easily be able to cross a path. So that's about 50 minutes when it's very crowded. Packing up is usually done by 10.15 and again is not a hindrance to other park users.

Junior parkrun is literally 8.55-9.30, and probably all packed up and gone by 9.45, so it would be a massive exaggeration to say that the park is unusable for "most of the morning, both days"
Across both days I'd think there was maybe 1hr 10 min that would be extremely busy and I'd be surprised if your parkrun was much different, especially if it's flat, that means most people will be finished quicker.

Swearing, rudeness and pushing or shouting is obviously inconsiderate and unacceptable, but simply hosting events that are free to enter and over within an hour is not outrageously unsociable imo.

I completely agree. I am tired of other people ruining my peaceful enjoyment of our nearest park.

Every Sunday morning the car park is full of parents with their children. They get there before me and hog the nearest parking spaces. Then they walk on the paths I want to use and sometimes I have to move aside for prams and running children. Fuming.

why should parks be 'peaceful'? The Victorians - who built nearly all of them - always meant them to be used for recreational purposes.

Doesn't look inclusive where I am not sure where they are hiding all those people who aren't running.

I think the whole "it's one hour a week" thing is overlooking that runners run in the park every day, no one interferes with them. Other groups can use the park every day but on Saturday morning the runners prevent that, at least they do in small parks like ours. That is the difference, we don't have old slow people sessions, dog walker sessions, children playing sessions, that prevent runners running. Park runners do prevent those things.

I find it weird some dog owners with limited time are so rigid about where they walk their dog. It must be at the same time and route as the park run. Just walk out of the door and go in the other direction. Dogs can be walked anywhere. They don't need a park. Put them on a lead and take it hem somewhere else

Sandringham Royal Park also has a parkrun.

They have them wherever there is a keen team of local volunteers, a suitable risk assessed course and a land owner willing to give permission and yes, land owners willing to give permission do include the Royal Parks.

Although I think it is true that the founder did not ask Bushy Park originally but as they grew they had the discussion and the park was supportive.

I practically grew up in that park and was never in a position where I couldn't cross a path because of hundreds of runners and certainly was never sworn at. Might have been slightly after that picture was taken but was quite a while ago.

You could equally say go and run somewhere else.

Doesn't look inclusive where I am not sure where they are hiding all those people who aren't running..

At the back? Volunteering? Yes, walkers and volunteers are the minority but they are there.

I think parkrun is perhaps a victim of it own success in some places. Where there are about 100 people it is not that much of a bother but I do get that 400+ people close to the start on a narrow path would be intimidating especially when some of them are entitled and rude. How should parkrun go about limiting the numbers though?

The organisers could say something in their promotional material to the effect that PRs take place in a public place so runners are politely asked to be thoughtful and courteous to other park users.

Parkrun for kids is a great way of instilling good community exercise habits from a young age, and a quick look at my local junior parkrun results page shows that it lasts between 12 and 22 minutes. There literally will be kids there who will burden the NHS less during their lives because they've started out right with regular exercise such as this.

So, sorry they get to the car park before you - there's possibly a way to avoid that 🤔 - but it's definitely for the greater good imo.

Yes all the messages are around inclusivity and it being an event rather than a race.

There was a massive drama in the parkrun community a few months ago because all the stats were removed. It was all a big cover up to stop men claiming women's records but it was to prove a point that it's a get together not a race or competition

They say this in every run brief and it's on the courses website that we should give way to other park users

How would a person use a parking space but not hog it? Couldn't you be classed as hogging a space, if your car was in it, and someone else came, wanting to use it?

Just looked it up - 830 runners at Clapham Common this morning - its not a big space - and the run goes round the perimeter paths of most of it and along a narrow pavement at one point - its just not safe for that number of runners so I've stopped going.

I think there was sarcasm in that post... 😉
Perhaps @lemonmeringueno3 you should have been fumming not fuming! 😂

Parks should only be used by people doing what I like doing, and they should travel by public transport so I can park easily.

Aah, but then you'd have the runners congregating in the other direction anyway, and getting in someone else's way of a quiet dog walk.

I run regularly and enjoy parkrun when I can make it. There are two within cycling distance for me and both are popular with easily over 300 participants per week. More when the students are around.

Every week at the briefing, the run director reminds runners we do not have sole use of the paths, stay on the right unless yoire overtaking, be courteous etc. The vast majority abode these rules.

No one should be sworn at, and the fault lies with the small number of inconsiderate runners, not parkrun itself.

The parking however, is first come first serve.