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?

Actually, dogs evolved from wolves, and wolves are persistence hunters. Aside from breeds that we have completely crippled via selective breeding, dogs are built for long distance. Many traditional breed purposes require endurance (terrier, working, gun dog, scent hound, personal guard). Even some sighthounds are more capable than people think they are.

Humans aren't really meant to run at one speed either, but with a bit of training, it's fine. 5k is nothing to a healthy dog.

Is it a park used solely for the park run at this time, or can anyone with their dog also walk on these paths? Can you see the problem. The paths are probably public parks so anyone can use them.

The OP was rude and impatient. Had she not tried so hard to overtake, perhaps she wouldn't have had to stop to catch her breath.

Hopefully this is a little lesson in being less selfish and judgemental and more patient.

If you are at the point where you are having to physically stop to rest during the 5k there is no need to ask people to move out of your way.

There are parts of parkrun that are congested and slower / narrower but the paths tend to widen out and the pack spreads out dramatically soon enough. You find your rhythm and push yourself to go faster when there is clear air in front of you, if you are invested in getting a PB.

Depends how she asked. Totally fine to say excuse me please. Commenting on her catching her breath later, totally not in line with park run ethos.

to be honest if you can't run 5k without needing to stop and catch your breath then you're running too fast.

maybe he shouldn't have had the dog alongside him -but maybe you shouldn't have bothered overtaking in the first place?

Actually the parkrun rules state that the dog must be at your side at all times.

There were runners able to get by in the opposite direction so he wasn't taking up too much space

The OP needs to enter a competitive race if she doesn't want to run in the conditions of a fun community event. She did not go there with the correct spirit.

If you are at the point where you are having to physically stop to rest during the 5k there is no need to ask people to move out of your way.

I disagree. I ran a cross country race yesterday. There were plenty of people allowing others to pass, or letting runners know they wanted to pass. There were quite a few who stopped (maybe lost a shoe, maybe after 4 miles of mud despite feeling quite strong to start just ran out of steam on the last bastard hill).
This was a club event ie. most are not new to running, run with a club and have probably raced quite a bit.

OP needing to stop is not relevant to the dog man situation.

I can’t stand park runners. Went for a walk in my park at the wrong time one weekend with my dogs (both on leads) only to be met with a stampede of runners taking up a path the width of a country road. I had my bum up against a wall and my dogs in by my legs. Got yelled at for being in the way, people shouting at me to move - I couldn’t move. No courtesy, no thank you for giving them right of way when the path was big enough for anyone else who happened to be in the park and not participating that morning. The temptation to stick my leg out and watch an sweaty entitled prat trip over it……

You should contact the organisers. They would be appalled to learn of this behaviour (being yelled at etc).
Participants are reminded every week that they share the space with other park users.

You were unfortunate to be using the same path at the exact same time as "the stampede" as the group usually spreads out very quickly. Unless it is a HUGE parkrun in which case I'm surprised you were not aware it was happening. That doesn't excuse poor negations of course.

I wouldn’t bother. I emailed after having a very similar experience and got a patronising response saying we ALL had to learn to share the space. A lot of cyclists in the area complain about the park runners on the shared use path, they stand round in groups before they’ve started and don’t move at all even when ringing your bell, etc. they don’t care.

You sound very entitled, be patient.

I understand where you are coming from. People blocking the pavements with dogs should be more considerate. I often walk and encounter people who have dogs on extending leads blocking the pavement. In the dark the leass can be difficult to see. Roads are busy where i liv and sometimes when walking towards people with dogs they expect you to walk in the road instead of moving their dog over. Rude and inconsiderate.

That’s what happen, shortly after overtaking, OP stopped to catch her breathe, OP has already explained this, so why is it not inline with park run ethos?
The fact that she stopped shortly after is relevant.

You might hate dogs being there, but they're allowed so 🤷🏻‍♀️ it's a park, not Harrods.

complaining about a dog in a park is pretty pathetic, but if that's how you feel take it up with the park run people, not individuals doing something they're allowed.

@setmestraightplease

seriously??

try reading your posts on this thread, it's bloody obvious what mrsTP's point is!

He wasn't blocking the path. She said that they were sticking to the left.

Him commenting isn’t in line with park run ethos. She’s total allowed to push herself and realise she’s pushed too hard. Running is a learning curve and criticism isn’t welcome from other runners.

He didn’t raise his voice and he wasn’t insulting, he commented.If someone’s going to be impatient, then the other person may comment.That’s just life, no big drama.

Yep. Although you’re not the world’s slowest, shittest runner, because I’m pretty sure that’s me. It’s weird because I look like I’d be faster. I slow-jog the whole thing apart from a tiny sprint at the very end which I always try to do because it’s my one tiny chance to overtake maybe one person 😂.

There’s a parkrun near me which is basically an enormous hill you go up and down twice. It suits me quite well because all the fasties have to slow down whereas I can’t go any slower anyway 🤷‍♂️.

It sounds like you weren't exactly the best runner or the most gracious person in that park run.

An eye roll would cover that pointless point scoring. Not worth getting involved with.

Not at all what happened here though
Short leash. Right at the side of the road. Not in the dark. Going the same direction. Entitled runner expected him to move.

You were desperate to get passed then stopped to get your breath, seemed an unnecessary stress but all for people giving space to others in runs. Feeling unsettled seems an over reaction.

We've got it all here:
Dogs
Dogs on leads
Dogs on leads but not under control
Stampedes
parkrun itself
Runners not knowing how to run

I think what the OP did was fine. Nothing wrong in asking if you want to go faster for a bit and I've run-walked in intervals on a parkrun before, so exchanged places with people running at a slower steady pace.

Normally I'm a slower person so I try to make way for faster runners, but sometimes it's not possible and people do have to wait.

The thing with parkrun is that it's about being part of a collective event, so you are sharing a space and everyone has to make room and allowances for everyone else. I don't think he was very pleasant about it.