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?

It isn't about using it instead it is about everyone being able to use it. If I am walking through the park with my husband I'm not preventing anyone else using it, 500 people running 4, 5 or 6 abreast are preventing other people using it. The OP was suggesting parkrun shouldn't take priority and that is the point, not banning it but accepting they don't have priority.

Are parkrunners just so entitled that they won't pay a small amount to hire a better venue

parkrun is a free timed weekly 5k. It's not about being entitled, it's a free event.

Why can't dog walkers pay to hire a dog field?

Park runs are sometimes cancelled because of events like Pub in the Park, in which large parts of the park are unavailable to the public for 4 days. I.E a total of 100 hours or more, or 2 years worth of Park Run (assuming that the Park run lasts 1 hour per week[. Just saying. Plus Regattas, Circus, Children's Fair, May Fayre, Scouts stuff, Other running events etc.
Just saying.

Why do I need to stand to one side for the runners? Why can't they run to one side of me like every other runner who I pass in the park on any other day?

Here are some images from my local park run Facebook page. Unlike your experience, this park run uses the main circular pathway round the park. (This is officially part of the city's cycle path network, incidentally.)

Runners begin to gather and block the paths at least 30 minutes before the event starts. As many as 500 people take part, so imagine trying to push a wheelchair or bike through.
(You can probably tell from the photos, but the boggy terrain around here means you need to use the path.) "Officials" rope off the path so you don't feel you are "allowed" to use it.

Maybe there are park runs where runners coexist happily with other park users but here it's definitely a takeover.

Your local parkrun will have a facebook page and an admin who you can message privately, if you have fb yourself and need to complain about your local parkrun or report any incidents.

They are usually good at posting reminders about parkrun etiquette if needed. Thankfully, there's not been many.

@Iwasafool

Are parkrunners just so entitled that they won't pay a small amount to hire a better venue

It's a free event. Some people can't afford to pay. Are you so entitled that you won't allow them to attend a free fitness group in a public place for 1% of the week? Also, aren't there better venues to take a walk than on the ParkRun route, whilst it's being run? Why do you assume that the runners agree with you that a sports facility is a 'better venue' than a park? Is is called 'SportsFacilityRun'?

Your reasoning fails because you can only see one side: your own.

If I am walking through the park with my husband I'm not preventing anyone else using it, 500 people running 4, 5 or 6 abreast are preventing other people using it

I've not been to every parkrun in the country (there are around 750 of them, possibly more these days) so I am sure some parks are more suitable than others, but in most cases there is room for runners and other park users. I tend to avoid parks in the week because of all the dogs, so it's swings and roundabouts. At least there's 30 minutes on a Saturday morning when I can run in peace!

There are plenty of other events that take place in parks and prevent others using them during those periods, eg fayres, cycle events, dog shows!

Our park has two sections so the dog walkers can use the other side of it. Or they join in!

And couples who walk along holding hands block the paths as well...

It's not mythical. It happens at our local one all the time. Perhaps because parkrun goes up the slope of the main path so runners look at the ground not in front of them and run at the walkers. Sometimes you need to actually stop walking and stand there waiting for them to see you!

Why not join in if you are there every Saturday?

It's not mythical. It happens at our local one all the time. Perhaps because parkrun goes up the slope of the main path so runners look at the ground not in front of them and run at the walkers. Sometimes you need to actually stop walking and stand there waiting for them to see you

There are dizzy and entitled people everywhere. Yesterday I didn't do parkrun, I did a organised hike instead and was on a narrow path with a cyclist coming towards me. He made no effort to slow down and when I said "we can't just disappear" he had the cheek to say I had no manners!

Arseholes will be arseholes, it has nothing to do with being a parkrunner.

I wonder if any of the complainers on this thread have actually mentioned anything to their local ParkRun organisers, or if they just enjoy seething at strangers from their armchair when they're bored.

I don't do the ParkRun, but I'm happy to stand aside for the brief moments when my path and theirs crosses, and if any of them are rude to me, I would assume it's individuals swerving the guidelines, rather than trying to take down the whole event.

There's a lot of imbalance on this thread. Lots of people who love a whinge, but aren't willing to see other perspectives.

Where do you people all live that you've only got one park?

No, the onus is on dog owners. Kids wouldn't be scared of dogs, if owners did their jobs and trained their fashion accessories properly!

But this is about parkrun, not dogs. Although it's always the dog owners who moan about parkrun.

If people want to overtake then they can do so like when you drive, keep left and overtake on the right when it's clear.

I suppose there are parks and parks. My town has a few but some are tiny (though big enough to walk a smaller dog).

I've done, I think, about 20 different parkruns. At none of them has there been enough people to cause any problems to other users of the space.

Now, I'm sure there are ones where people get in each other's way, but - again - for at most 30 minutes or so before the event starts and the field stretches out and I'm also such such huge parkruns will be very much in the minority.

If that causes a bit of bother to other people, I honestly don't really care. Getting that number of people out and active is a huge win.

The route will be the same each week and the time is the same. Other parkusers, if they are so upset by a bunch of people going for a run or a walk, can easily go somewhere else, go at a different time or maybe, they could join in.

If people want to overtake then they can do so like when you drive, keep left and overtake on the right when it's clear

A MNer after my own heart! YES KEEP LEFT!

although my parkrun asks participants to keep right

it shouldn't
but neither should dog owners take over public spaces and let their dogs literally spoil the green areas.

there should be consideration from all sides.

Keep right? That's going to confuse the public!

Every runbriefing reminds runners they share that park and don't have priority. Unfortunately some people (all people, not just runners) are selfish. We have trouble with a dog walker who deliberately let's his dog run around the runners legs and a dance school who think they should have exclusive use of the carpark.

From your PP, runners dot have priority for the carpark, they just get their first, the same as in any parking situation.

It's a shame some people spoil it, but it is overwhelmingly a force for good.

Also, it's 30 mins once a week!

so, if you don’t want parkrun banned, what practical solution do you want in place to counter the problem you perceive?

Because I don't feel the need to join a gang in order to go for a run.

Saturday afternoons would be a really convenient time for me to swim, but both pools around here have that designated as family swim time. That means only a quarter of the pool is available for lane swimming, and if I use it I am at risk of being splashed or having pool toys thrown at me by small children, plus it's very congested and loud. If I was like you, I would say that despite it being a time that lots of people can have a good experience for a short period, the fact that it forces me to either choose a time that isn't family swim or to share the space with a larger group is wrong and should be banned, because it sometimes inconveniences me. Presumably your view would be that parents should stop being so selfish and find somewhere else to take their children swimming. It's the same logic.

I presume this is what runners are doing. I don't think many runners overtake someone if it is not clear. And your suggestion is using more than 1/2 the path.
Only if there a physical barrier down the middle will you be able to stop people using the whole path.