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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To ask a man to move at parkrun

262 replies

brownbear201 · 02/11/2024 23:45

I am curious as to what you all think of this incident I had whilst running a parkrun this morning. The parkrun I was running was quite a narrow parkrun- it’s an out and back and you run down a track. The track itself is not very wide and faster runners come back towards slower runners on the return if that makes sense. As I was running earlier I was behind a man running with a dog. He was young-ish probably in his early twenties. He wasn’t going super slowly or anything but I wanted to go faster and overtake. However, there were faster runners coming towards me. As he had a dog I couldn’t get past him, if he hadn’t had a dog I would have been able to squeeze past. To be fair he had the dog on a very short fixed lead and was as far left as he could get but because the dog was running at his side I couldn’t get past. I said to him as I was coming up from behind him “Can you move your dog over please?” And he replied “Can you be patient like everyone else?” I ignored him saying this and I was eventually able to overtake him and I heard him muttering about impatient people and just ignored him. A short while later I pulled over to the side to catch my breath- I was out of the way whilst I did this as past the narrow section. He then ran past me again and said “You’ve gotten far considering you were so desperate to get past” I didn’t say anything back to him. Was I right to just ignore him? He wasn’t big or intimidating looking by any means and he didn’t shout but it was the way he looked at me that left me a bit unsettled. AIBU? Was I wrong to ask him to move?

OP posts:
TeenLifeMum · 02/11/2024 23:50

I hate that when I did park run. I love dogs but not at park run. It’s about going at a comfortable pace and not about waiting for someone selfishly blocking the whole path. IMO that’s not park run etiquette.

MrsSchnickelfritz · 02/11/2024 23:50

Ywbu. You say he was as far left as he could get with his dog on a short lead. What did you expect him to do? Where did you expect him to go? It's parkrun not the Olympics. You absolutely should have been patient.

MrsSchnickelfritz · 02/11/2024 23:53

TeenLifeMum · 02/11/2024 23:50

I hate that when I did park run. I love dogs but not at park run. It’s about going at a comfortable pace and not about waiting for someone selfishly blocking the whole path. IMO that’s not park run etiquette.

See, I think trying to get past someone on a narrow path is against parkrun etiquette personally. You don't even have sole use of the path at parkrun, what if that had been someone out for a walk with their dog? You can't expect an unobstructed run at parkrun.

Onthesideofthespiders · 02/11/2024 23:53

But you wanted him to move and then you had to stop to catch your breath? Maybe just be patient then.

AutumnLeaves24 · 02/11/2024 23:55

You got him to move so you could go
psst, then stopped because you were out of breath. You'd have annoyed me too. Learn to pace yourself. Would you have have asked him to move if he'd had a child with him instead of a dog??

if dogs are allowed there, then yes you were annoying & rude telling him to move his dog over when he already had it next to him on a short lead.

TeenLifeMum · 02/11/2024 23:56

MrsSchnickelfritz · 02/11/2024 23:53

See, I think trying to get past someone on a narrow path is against parkrun etiquette personally. You don't even have sole use of the path at parkrun, what if that had been someone out for a walk with their dog? You can't expect an unobstructed run at parkrun.

Someone walking their dog is different to a park runner with a dog imo. We always let faster runners through on the longer narrow bits.

MartinCrieffsLemon · 02/11/2024 23:58

I'd have made a snide comment too if you'd been so impatient you couldn't just wait for the path to widen out again and then you stopped for breath not long after...

You looked like a twit making an issue because you didn't like dogs

He was doing all he could to be the least obstructive

Jlort · 02/11/2024 23:59

Surely a reverse? Otherwise you're a tit. People are allowed to run with their dogs and he was being sensible. You were rude!

setmestraightplease · 03/11/2024 00:00

No, you absolutelyweren't wrong to ask him to move - why are you doubting yourself?

@TeenLifeMum It’s about going at a comfortable pace and not about waiting for someone selfishly blocking the whole path. IMO that’s not park run etiquette.
Exactly!

@MrsSchnickelfritz It's parkrun not the Olympics. You absolutely should have been patient.
😂😂 why does OP have to be the one to make allowances? Why does the person with the dog not have to make allowances on a (human) parkrun?
Why does #bekind take precedence over #besensibleand use your commonsense

HeddaGarbled · 03/11/2024 00:00

So the reason you couldn’t get past him wasn’t just the dog but the faster runners coming towards you? In that case, I think you should have waited for a gap.

FrothyCothy · 03/11/2024 00:01

Agree with above - wait for a gap in oncoming runners or slow your pace so you didn’t need to overtake or stop.

GinAndJuice99 · 03/11/2024 00:02

YANBU. People running with dogs at Parkrun are kind of annoying. You shouldn't have to be patient to get past. He shouldn't have been holding you up

TheSmallAssassin · 03/11/2024 00:03

I think it was OK for you to ask and it would have been OK for him to say no. But he was a dick for being passive aggressive when you asked and making a snide remark when he passed you.

setmestraightplease · 03/11/2024 00:04

@HeddaGarbled So the reason you couldn’t get past him wasn’t just the dog but the faster runners coming towards you?

Perhaps read OP?

@brownbear201 As he had a dog I couldn’t get past him, if he hadn’t had a dog I would have been able to squeeze past.

MartinCrieffsLemon · 03/11/2024 00:05

setmestraightplease · 03/11/2024 00:04

@HeddaGarbled So the reason you couldn’t get past him wasn’t just the dog but the faster runners coming towards you?

Perhaps read OP?

@brownbear201 As he had a dog I couldn’t get past him, if he hadn’t had a dog I would have been able to squeeze past.

And also in the OP
However, there were faster runners coming towards me.

allthemiddlechildrenoftheworld · 03/11/2024 00:06

@brownbear201 so you are running in a park and he is also running in a park, albeit with his dog? yet apparently, park runners have all the rights to the park and you feel you have the right to bark at him? what would you have done if his dog had barked back at you?? even general members of the public get pissed off at parkrunners taking over the parks!!!

Jingleballs2 · 03/11/2024 00:07

I mean, when you stopped you were probably causing an obstruction as well. He was as far over as he could be, you were being unreasonable

MaggieBsBoat · 03/11/2024 00:08

You need to sort out your pacing.
If you needed to get past him but still had to stop to catch breath then that’s a pacing problem. Probably work on this rather than worry about his passive aggressive comment (which I would’ve been thinking also).

setmestraightplease · 03/11/2024 00:09

@MartinCrieffsLemon However, there were faster runners coming towards me.

OP says
if he hadn’t had a dog I would have been able to squeeze past.

MrsTerryPratchett · 03/11/2024 00:12

He was a bit of a tit but your pacing is alllllll wrong.

setmestraightplease · 03/11/2024 00:13

@Jingleballs2 I mean, when you stopped you were probably causing an obstruction as well.

How exactly would OP have been causing an obstruction??

setmestraightplease · 03/11/2024 00:15

@MrsTerryPratchett He was a bit of a tit but your pacing is alllllll wrong.

Why??

Is parkrun not about runners running at their own comfortable personal pace as opposed to racing against all the other participants??

MrsTerryPratchett · 03/11/2024 00:17

setmestraightplease · 03/11/2024 00:15

@MrsTerryPratchett He was a bit of a tit but your pacing is alllllll wrong.

Why??

Is parkrun not about runners running at their own comfortable personal pace as opposed to racing against all the other participants??

Because she ran past others then had to stop (not walk intervals - stop) to catch her breath. She'd be much better off doing a slower pace, or walk-run, rather than sprinting then stopping.

setmestraightplease · 03/11/2024 00:21

@MrsTerryPratchett Because she ran past others then had to stop (not walk intervals - stop) to catch her breath. She'd be much better off doing a slower pace, or walk-run, rather than sprinting then stopping.

But she's not holding anyone else up or delaying other runners.

Parkruns are also about learning about what you can do / what you want to do /what you need to learn to do

MartinCrieffsLemon · 03/11/2024 00:22

setmestraightplease · 03/11/2024 00:09

@MartinCrieffsLemon However, there were faster runners coming towards me.

OP says
if he hadn’t had a dog I would have been able to squeeze past.

And PP said
So the reason you couldn’t get past him wasn’t just the dog

Which is correct. It wasn't just the dog. It was the runners coming back towards them.