Park Runs: Children - Why?

[Knowillbeflamed]

There’s a park run every Sunday near me. They jog along the pavement by the seafront taking the whole damn thing up so no one else can even walk along it.

Honestly, I don’t get running. But, what I understand even less is dragging young children along?! Yes, the older one’s (10+) seem to enjoy it but there’s at least 5x more that seem wayyyy to young - toddlers, very young kids - who hate it. They’re dragged along by their parents, literally kicking and screaming and crying.

AIBU to think if your kid hates running that much or patently doesn’t want to be there, that you do NOT force it on them?! Just because you like running doesn’t mean you force it on them. Find them an activity they enjoy.

PS. Yes I am annoyed by the sheer ignorance of 100+ people taking up that much space and forcing others to dive out the way - but mostly it’s the shrill screams of toddlers being forced to run that drives me bonkers. Someone will pop up and say ‘they love it,’ but I’m sorry - kids screaming ‘it hurts’ ‘I don’t want to’ whilst their parents drag them along by their wrist just angers me. And it’s not one parent one week - it’s multiple different parents on various weeks.

@mondaytosunday believe me, plenty of seasoned runners do runs they hate/don't enjoy.

Why would it be either Parkrun or gaming and crisps? Can you not come up with anything else? How boring.

And yes, sometimes Minecraft is absolutely fine.

You’re obviously speaking from a position of privilege as all your alternative examples cost money - and a lot more time. They also don’t have a community element. In this era of social isolation and loneliness there’s something to be said for that too.

Many kids as they get older start volunteering for their junior park run, including ones who don’t make friends easily.

YABU with bells on!

I’ve been the moaning kid on hikes (that I now take my own kids and grandkids on) so I’m not suggesting for a minute that we should only do what kids want to do but there is a big difference between a bit of occasional moaning and a child consistently saying ‘I’m not enjoying this and I don’t want to do it any more’ but being ignored because it’s something the parent wants to do.

Kids crying and clearly struggling because they’re in pain / struggling to breathe but being pulled along or shouted at by parents (to be clear I’m talking about behaviour I’ve seen while volunteering at park run, not anything my parents did to me) is very different to ‘oh mum this is rubbish’ and mum saying things like ‘you’re doing so well, we can slow down if you want to, not far now, we can see the dog / get an ice cream at the end’.

Just because you don't "get it" OP doesn't mean other people don't. Sounds more like just a giant whinge from yourself that it's upsetting your dog walk. Go have your swim when it's on instead.

Junior parkrun is only 2k and for age 4 and up. That is a completely appropriate distance for this age, but the first time you run it you will struggle. I don't have a problem with parents pushing their kids to get past that.

My son has been running junior parkrun since he was 4 or 5, and if it was up to him he never would have completed that first run because he just would have stopped when he got out of breath. Now he is 10 he can run 2k effortlessly in just over 7 minutes, and 5k in 23 minutes. This fitness and stamina carries over into other sports and activities from football to hiking to playing It Empire at school. He gets so much confidence and enjoyment from these activities, and he loves competing at athletics.

Many of his friends have tried junior parkrun over the years. Most give up after one or two runs because it is hard at first and their parents don't want to be pushy. This absolutely carries through into other areas too - the same kids get out of breath during games, fall behind when walking, mess around during PE etc. Obviously it isn't really about parkrun - it is about whatever you consider important, and what you let your children opt out of.

I will say you are right about a few parents being tedious. This morning some were so busy braying at each other that no-one could hear the race coordinator, and one idiot had given their child a recorder to burble away on during the warm-up .

Don't forget the small dogs on a 10ft extending lead.

Haha!

A whole bunch of adults who’ll never run again, after being dragged out of bed at a weekend for years to go running with their folks.

Makes being dragged out of bed to sit in a freezing Catholic Church on a Sunday morning seem like a breeze. Atheism was the (perhaps inevitable) response.

Yeah, kids hate things that are good for them. Good parents make them do it anyway. Can't be fucked with this notion that they can always choose what they do!

my older DS won’t do any kind of exercise or fresh air at all without some kind of encouragement

does that mean I should just say “that’ll allright love just play computer games all day”? We do have a deal in that if he does some exercise I will leave him to it-
homework and planned outings aside- for the rest of the day

(if he does the pr and ends up walking most of it I’m entirely happy with that)

The one I attend is on around the rugby pitch, the next two nearest - one on a beach and one on a nature reserve. The only one in a park is the Junior one because its level ground

Also if you’re a single working parent, taking your child on the park run at weekends might be the only way of getting some exercise.
I would say, however, that some parkrunners could be a bit more accepting of parents who take kids along in pushchairs. I took DC then age 3 in the aforementioned running pram once and got some snooty old bloke telling me they were too big for a buggy and should be running!

Oh my gosh another thread moaning about park run. There really are some strange people in this world.

It's junior park run on a Sunday. It's brilliant that parents are encouraging their children to be active and taking the time to get them outdoors.

What do you mean you don't 'get' running? What's not to get? Are you a bit hard of thinking.

Of course Minecraft is fine sometimes! But not all day.

Parkrun is free, it might fit into everyone’s schedule because it’s so early, it might be something older siblings enjoy as well (park probably not great), kids might moan just as much going to the park or other alternatives.

Things like swimming, horse riding, cycling and climbing walls cost money, take longer and can’t often be done at convenient times. My kids will only spend about 10
min at the park in Jan because they get cold/ everything is wet/ muddy etc. Then they moan to go for a drink/ go home and older siblings won’t come at all. Plus I bet you most families do these as well as the occasional parkrun.

And at heart if park run works for a family I don’t think it should be stopped just because maybe one child moans a little bit (especially if ultimately they enjoy it) that’s not how families work.

Bring them along on a Saturday, we have a few parents who run pushing their all terrain kids buggies , we move aside no problem

Err OP, lose the entitlement.

Sunday Parkrun is a free sporty social event for kids.

Every alternative sport you suggest costs money. You may be able to afford horse riding (!) but some people can't

Do you have a hangover? Is that the problem?

You "dont get running" yet you have suggested gymnastics for kids which is known to be punishingly competitive and rife with eating disorders?

😂😂

Yep! But remember on MN children must rule the home, plus they’re toddlers until about 23.

I think you're being a bit miserable, it's the same time every week and you know about it so avoid the area for 30 minutes.

After reading this, I've just persuaded my DS 11 to join up and will coax my DD 5 in to it too!

I absolutely loathe and detest running and quietly get irritated by the ones on our coastal path who barrage through without politeness.

However, park run is a great idea. It keeps everyone on one, safe place to do their thing and if kids are there, it's even better because they're out in fresh air, getting exercise. How can anyone get annoyed by that? It's just a an hour or two a week so avoid the park thay day if it annoys you?

Horse riding? Costs a fortune!!!

100%

Mine both do parkrun, sometimes they whinge, especially the older one because she doesn't want her little brother to catch up with her in numbers done.

We make them do it because they are so much nicer when they've had a run, they usually enjoy it while they're doing it and there's no exercise that doesn't involve some grumping about starting... 9am (or 9.30) is a good time to get some of the fidgets out and start the day well.

Starting to see why so many posters on mumsnet are at the end of their tether with awful teens who they cannot say no to.

The last thing I want to be doing on a Sunday morning in this weather is getting up and going out running! I do, because I believe it is good for all of us.

I don't drag my kids around crying though. There is a bit of complaining from one of them and she is not forced to run, I always walk with her if she prefers. I gently cajole her.