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?

@DoNotScrapeMyDataBishes in that instance I would complain to parkrun HQ or the council. Local parkrun directors are volunteers so you will get people with different attitides and amoumts of time but they should deal with serious incidents. If they can't or won't parkrun HQ should escalate it internally.

I don't hate runners. I run. My running doesn't inconvenience other people. Park runs do.

It’s a couple of hours, once a week for hundreds of people.
My enjoyment of the park with my children when they were small was far more impacted by the entitled and incompetent dog owners at all hours. I’m assuming tnat hasn’t changed in the intervening decades.

I don't run, however, the park is a free and open space for everyone to enjoy. One group of users shouldn't be more or less important or valid than another. Let the runners run. Choose you time to visit during or outside of this time as you are free to do so. Get there early and get your parking space.That our green spaces are used and enjoyed is to be celebrated.

I disagree. The majority of the runners finish within 30-40 minutes and the remaining runners/walkers won’t be going at speeds fast enough to get in your way suddenly.

I struggle to believe this is the only time you, and the others you mention can get there.

I'm in the middle. It is only a short while on a Saturday morning. On the other hand it does sound rather obnoxious especially the runner swearing at people.

I think you are being a little silly OP, you know the time it starts, and you know the route they take. Its exactly the same every week. Even going 30 mins later will mean its quieter in the park.

Our parkrun is one of the biggest in the country, often 800-1000 runners. My family often come too and play in the playground etc while I'm doing it. It's a nightmare to park at 9am, but 70% of the cars are gone by 10am.

You have obviously not done it.
I think it is one of the friendliest, most-inspiring and inclusive of any activity I have ever attended. It’s free and largely run by volunteers. Thank goodness there are still some community-minded people left in the country.

You’re right, some dog walkers are a menace.

edited to add some

Yes yabu.

Its 90 minutes once a week at the same time each week. Easy to avoid if you want to.

Should other uses of parks also be curtailed to suit others who may or many not within use the park at that specific time? Football? Rugby?

Our Parkrun director asks the runners to respect other park users in the announcement before the start.
As for the 'cult of running' - just wtf?

The word I used was "equivalent." The organisation makes it respectable but the outcome is the same as evidenced by the original post.

It’s a couple of hours once a week so hardly restricting other people’s use seeing as they have the many other hours each week to use the park, you might have a point if it was a daily park run or if it went on all day each week. I’d imagine if I had a severe fear of dogs I’d ever be able to use a park, but I don’t think I’d be reasonable wanting to make parks dog free for a couple of hours once a week purely for my benefit.

Like Trump on January 6. These petty dictators love a megaphone.

It's only 90 mins a week.
Some parkrunners are twats (idiot parking and tutting at anyone in their way), but the majority of us aren't. The run director always reminds us we don't have exclusive use of the park.

That's the best thing I've read in ages. So dramatic and OTT. Parkrun is so ASBO.

All of the parkruns i ve ever done, use a small amount of the parks paths, surely its not beyond the wit of man to walk somewhere else in the park.

Running 5k is a huge challenge for many people, they simply haven't the puff to ask you politely to move, maybe just be aware of your surroundings and act accordingly? the bulk of the runners will be past you within a few minutes.

Given the demands on the NHS and our ever increasing waist lines, getting people out walking or running a 5k is quite a social good

Parkrun is always at 9am on a Saturday. Wherever in the world it's held. So YABU to expect it to be different in your local park.

But agree, they absolutely should not be dominating the whole place and if you (or anyone else) want to be in the park at 9am you should be able to do that without being annoyed by them.

I don't do parkrun any more but the ones I've been to have made it clear to people taking part that they don't have exclusive use of the space. One that was near me changed its route (and the parking) after complaints to keep it more separate from other park users. So have you approached the organisers? Or complained to whoever owns/runs the park? You shouldn't have to do it but maybe they need to make a change.

Ours are at 7am (Aus, not UK), and there are three local locations in our small city as ParkRun has become so popular.

Most people just avoid for that bit of time or go elsewhere. I think any free activity that encourages being active is fantastic. I know whole families who go together.

I do agree the increasing number of road blocking events like marathons are annoying, but they (apparently) bring in a lot of money so they're not going to stop.

Actually it was a pp who said people (not just me) should avoid at Parkrun time because 9.30 is still early for most people.

I only take the dog to this park once or twice a month. What I took issue with was the swearing at the elderly couple for not jumping out the way.

The runners are not more important than others, regardless of whether they can choose a different time of the day or not. I'm sure that couple have paid their fair share of council tax too!

If there are 400 acres, the route and time is known every week, then why on earth don’t you plan accordingly. In 400 acres, there must be space?

I volunteered at our local PR which is in a similar, very large park, and was astonished that every week there a couple of miserable people who thought that they owned a public spot and would sometimes deliberately get in the way - stand in the shape of an x in the middle of the path to make a point.

Fortunately, the council thought they were crazy and selfish. In any given point, there is usually a couple of minutes when it is busy, but once the fast runners pass, it is fine.

The Holyrood Parkrun starts at 09.30. Not sure if it's because of the number of tourists wanting to join and having to find their way there

Football in parks is played on marked-out pitches, used for that purpose. Park runs commandeer the paths that the public use, making them unusable.

If park runners ran round and round a football pitch, that would be a reasonable compromise.

i live directly overlooking the start of a huge parkrun. One of the biggest in the country. I’ve run it many times myself. This morning I watched it with a cup of tea.

of course runners should be courteous. But that’s the same for everyone, all the time right? Park runners are reminded constantly to be courteous. I have never seen anyone not be tbh.

I think YABU SO unreasonable it’s untrue. It’s one hour a week. One hour! Park runners are just as entitled to a parking space as you. They are just as entitled to use the park as you.

Simple solutions. Go earlier. Go later. Go to a different park on Saturdays.

I have seen a discussion on this with local councillors as technically it is a deprivation of community assets, which is one reason things like festivals and food events need to tread carefully.

ultimately people need to be respectful of each other and that’s the problem. People being twats.