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.

My dad used to drag me round his races when I was little. I didn't have to run, but just stood in a cold muddy field waiting. I hated it at first but grew to love it as other adults would look after me and they had kids that I made friends with. When I went to secondary I started running, loved it and eventually made it to the England team.

When my kids were little I didn't push them into running, but they grew up around it and both are now great runners.

I think parkrun is great, it normalises exercise and gets families out of the house (although with my menopausal body it is way to early in the morning). I hope it inspires the next generation of athletes 😀!

I voted YABU for the 'dragging kicking and screaming' and 'diving' out of the way 🤣🤣

Far too much hyperbole for me on a Sunday morning.

<<Grabs more coffee>>

I am a fat parent and I do park run with my kids. We don't eat processed junk either (apart from what Caterlink feeds them for their school lunches, which honestly I suspect isn't UPF free or organic! 😅)

There can be many reasons for weight gain. Many fat people are active and make exercise part of their routine.

The park run takes 30 - 45 minutes out of the week

you can go any other time in the week to the park if you hate it that much.

YABVU you don’t own the park others can use it too

So kids should all be horse riding or paying for other expensive lessons rather than doing communal exercise for free. FFS.

Yes, some parents are assholes. They are probably also assholes at soft play, children's parties, and competitive show jumping or whatever you prefer.

No reason to blame lovely junior park run 😁

All of these activities you have mentioned cost money. Junior parkrun is a free and accessible activity for everyone. Those ten year olds that are happily running were, in most cases, the younger child that was being “dragged” along by the parents at some point. Do you have children? The easy option on a Sunday morning would be to give your child an iPad or switch the tv on then go back to bed and ignore them for a few hours. As a parent, getting up on a Sunday morning with whinging children and taking them to the local park for 9am for a 20 minute run, which they are resisting, is hard work. But we do it because it’s good for them, it’s instills good habits, and it pays dividends when they are older and have healthy attitudes rather than sitting on their arse watching tv or gaming all day. Perhaps if your parents had encouraged a bit more physical activity when you were younger you might “get it”.

Is it e coursing them if they hate it? I get that they are doing some exercise right then, but being forced into exercise I hated put me off all exercise for decades. The choice isn't running or sitting in front of the TV stuffing in sugary treats. There's also a walk in the park, cycling, swimming, team games...

*encouraging.
We bed editing in the app

*need.
I rest my case 🙄

My DS wasn't "sporty", not very good at football, no confidence etc. But we took him to junior parkrun every Sunday. When he got to secondary school and started doing proper athletics, to his astonishment he found he could beat the huge majority of his classmates. This increased his confidence no end.

I agree OP.
Kids should be encouraged to do exercise they enjoy, not forced to do something they clearly hate just because their parents like it.

I like running, I’ve been running regularly for decades, but my kids don’t. However, they’re both sporty, so when they were younger we were always out and about, in the park, playing football, cycling, climbing trees, playing hide and seek - exercise and fresh air in a way they actually enjoyed. I would never have dragged them out running with me.

And if it means she refuses to do any exercise for years once you can't force her to go? It's really short sighted to insist on a form of exercise someone hates. Find something she likes.

To be fair, very few 14 year olds do it. Once you get to 11, you can run 5k PR on your own so most graduate to that. We get them occasionally when they need a time trial for something like the London Mini Marathon. They get a talking to about taking care of the little ones.

As a parent of a child with a disability, it's great to know he can still take part. I would love to move him up to 5k, but unfortunately it's a bit far.

Neither does going for a walk in the park. Cycling is a one off cost for a bike shown many kids have.

So park run is the only alternative to obesity? It's not even enough to have any effect on it to be honest.

Exactly. When I was a kid “park run” didn’t exist, but I was forced into plenty of team sports at school, which I hated. It put me off exercise for years. I just assumed I wasn’t an exercise person, and as soon as I left school I did nothing. It wasn’t until my mid 20s that I discovered aerobics could be fun, and then a few years later I started running. If I hadn’t been forced to play hockey in the rain for years, I might have found a type of exercise I enjoyed a bit sooner.

Good for you.

Why reply if you're not the sort of parent I was clearly referring to?

Walking?
Kick about in the park?
Swimming in the sea?
Beach combing?

I think YABU about parkrun, it's only an hour a week and something you could easily avoid.
But I do agree that children (especially younger ones) shouldn't be forced to do something they really hate / that's causing them serious discomfort. I've witnessed a child actually vomiting at the end of parkrun due to over-exertion (reported it to the RD), and several others being berated by parents for not trying hard enough.
I run with my youngest (12) and eldest (13) runs with my DH (too fast for me) - youngest needs a bit of encouragement sometimes but feels proud when he's done it. We sometimes even stop off for an ice cream / hot chocolate after a run but it's never a bribe as such. I always stress that when it's no longer fun, or too hard going, we should just walk or head back home.

YANBU. I hated running in PE and my parents dragging me out on a damp and cold Sunday morning to run through a muddy park would have been hell for me. There are many other physical activities that are cheap or free and can be enjoyed as a family - cycling, walking, hiking, swimming, climbing, skating, badminton.

@mitogoshigg can you really truly not think of any other forms of exercise that are free?

@Knowillbeflamed

for goodness sake, so what if it’s more for the parents?! it does kids to do stuff that others like, and it’s not all just about them.
and it won’t have hurt, the child will just have been trying it on. Running is a completely normal thing for the human body to do.

I clicked YABU, only because you left dogs out of your post. YANBU about kids and Park Runs, but dogs should be left out of Park Runs. I know of a Park Run, where dogs are banned, but some runners bring them anyway.

You should pick - gymnastics, swimming, cycling, skating, horse riding

check your privilege @Knowillbeflamed
every one of those sports costs money

horse riding FFS 🤦‍♀️