To ask a man to move at parkrun

[brownbear201]

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?

@Butchyrestingface that's fine, of course. I'm talking about the Parkrun - as is OP.

Why? Parkrun doesn’t cordon off areas of the park for its exclusive use, does it?

Depends on the Parkrun. Ours has priority (albeit not exclusive) use of the first 3km of course and the finish line. Others take place on private land that opens to the wider public later in the day.

As am I! I am saying it's pointless to make such a request since it won't solve the issue the OP having to navigate her way round dogs on the path. And also would be really petty, since the only result would be getting back at someone she's crossed words with.

Excuse me please is quite normal when you are stuck behind soneone , walking , running, parkrun

But so many men are arrogant

Interesting! In my local, they're on the public paths - would need to look at who has priority. Not that I run, or have dogs.

If you hadn't then stopped to recover I'd say you had a point - ie. any PB you were aiming for that necessitated having to get past someone ASAP would still be on, but the fact it made no difference to your time and as PP said, you couldn't pace yourself, does make you seem impatient.

That said, the dog would have annoyed me.

Haven't done the park run for years but from what I remember when I did is that they take place in public spaces and the organisers would always mention to give way to dog walkers or members of the public while participating on the run. Unless this has changed, I'm not understanding the posters who are saying park runs are no place for a dog, irrespective of whether the man and his dog mentioned in the op's post were participating in the run, or just on a walk.

Wtf? If parkrun isn't for someone who just didn't estimate her running pace correctly once, there would be no-one there.

Dog had a right to be there and the OP had a right to ask to pass them, it was a complete non-issue. And yet, he decided to loudly turn it into one, when she was outside if the the running path.

Gender is relevant, a woman would be far less likely to have a loud dig at the OP for this.

You yourself said:

To be fair he had the dog on a very short fixed lead and was as far left as he could get

So if he put the dog to his left he would have been further out to the right himself and in your way.

If he was as far over as he could get and the dog was on a short fixed lead (this is great, by the way, long leads are so dangerous) then there was no room to pass them. Such is the way of paths that are too narrow.

I think a polite "excuse me please" can be acceptable if the path is wide and everyone can pass each other comfortably with just a bit of shifting. If the path is as narrow as this you're just going to have to slow down until it gets wide enough again (which it sounds like it did, fairly shortly).

Couldn’t you have gone onto the grass to overtake him or are runners only allowed on the path? I think you were a bit cheeky, it’s Parkrun not a marathon. It’s a bit like when someone drives right behind you and does a dodgy overtake just to end up right in front of you at the next red light

If he was taking up the whole path, then excuse me would have been fine.

But there was room for other runners to pass and so he obviously wasn’t taking up the whole path.

All OP has to do was wait for the other runners to pass, before overtaking.

Some paths can get very narrow and even without a dog, it’s normal to wait for someone else to pass you before overtaking the person in front.

He was 100% in the wrong.

My local parkrun is through woods so it’s a trail run with narrow sections of track and as he was taking part in the run and not a random dog walker, he should have stopped and made way for you as a faster runner.

That’s the standard parkrun etiquette that we remind everyone about before the start of the race. (I often act as Run Director.)

I’d mention it to the run director so they can either have a quiet word with him or make sure they remind everyone of the rules before the start of the race next week.

It's a parkrun, not a dog walk. Clue is in the name.

I think we're talking at cross purposes @Butchyrestingface

At the Parkruns I've been to, other park users tend to keep away from the paths used by the Parkrun for the duration. It's way too crowded with runners for an enjoyable walk. especially along a narrow section as the OP describes.

The purpose of contacting the organisers is to address the general issue of this particular course being too narrow for Parkrunners to be running with dogs.

Fair enough. There does seem to be some variation in the set-up of the Parkruns from place to place.

I think that the fact you weren't fit enough to complete the run without stopping means that you probably should have just been patient. If you were looking to secure a PB then it would be different, but it sounds like you were just looking to complete the run at any pace - which is fine. It does mean that there was no need for you to inconvenience someone else though when there was little to gain from doing so. I would have thought what he said, but I wouldn't have said it.

Hold on... Let's get this straight?

You are running, in a public shared space and a stranger who is doing everything he can not to be an inconvenience is barked at by you to move over?

I would have told you to F off. Entitled.

I parkrun with a dog and can get him in front of me in these circumstances, but the pulling over bit, you asked for.

It's park run, it's not that serious.

He's got a valid point. Bursting to get past, but then stopping because you've over-exerted? I agree with him that it made you look a bit silly.

So, you got grumpy at someone going too slowly, got by them, then had to stop to catch your breath? On a 5k? I don’t think your ability matches your confidence

Well having your stride interrupted makes it harder to pace and more exhausting than going at your natural rhythm so I won't hold that against her

I disagree. Anyone who decides to bring a dog to a running event should go out of their way to ensure the dog is not in the way of actual people running. The entitlement of dog owners continues to baffle me. OP I think you were right, and actually very restrained - I'd have said a lot more.

Yes but that also applies to him, given she expected him to stop and let her pass?

As a runenr I know my ideal run is where I get to set my own pace all the way round and don't have to deviate from my path or think about anyone else at any point but unfortunately that's not how public spaces work, and sometimes you have to slow down even when you don't want to.

Its a park run though, not a competitive event. There are plenty of races where there are no dogs allowed. At park run you csn run with buggies, with children of any age and with dogs on a short lead It's a fun event.

It's quite clear that people aren't reading the OP's description of the path very well. The man was as far over to the left as he could be and the dog was on a short fixed lead - that IS ensuring the dog isn't in the way of anyone else. OP still couldn't pass them which to me suggests the path was too narrow for overtaking of any sort, and it wasn't anyone's fault.