To think ParkRun need to consider banning racers?

[justletusrun]

My local parkrun has been overtaken by drama this week, after some men attended and basically turned the entire thing into a glorified race for themselves. They were pushing people out of the way, swearing at them and shouting at them to let them through.

I always thought the point of parkrun was to go and enjoy a 5k run and some socialising after. But it seems that across the country they’re being overtaken by people who are obsessed with “winning” it and getting the PB as a “chip time”.

i understand the sense of achievement you get from getting a PB, but I don’t think parkrun is the place to do it. Myself and many other women who have been attending for years are now considering not going again because it is so unpleasant.

AIBU to say they need to clamp down on this, before it becomes a big men’s club?

That's not what chipped timing is.

That is NOT chip timing.

I thought it was for everyone to run in their own way?
You seem to be saying parkrun isn’t for some people.

Park runners are a different breed. They seem to believe that because they choose to gather in huge groups and take over the park, everyone else should kowtow to their presence.

Bollocks. Parkrunners are as diverse as people who do other hobbies.

you are being very rude about some runners. It’s not for you to know why anyone runs at parkrun, it’s meant to be for everyone

Parkrunners do not take over a park. They use a specifc route at a specific time agreed with the owner of the land. They are not allowed to deviate from the agreed route unleas there is prior agreement with the landowner. I have watched Mr Monkey undergo weeks of negotiations to agree an alternative route for our local parkrun in a few weeks when the park is being used for an event.

Just not the slow runners, eh?

Of course it ia for slow runners, that is why there is a tail walker. And fast runners may also be, at times, slow runners. The regular tail waller at our local parkrun is someone who was a fast runner but is still recovering from illness so the tail walker role alllows them some exercise

Can't you see the irony in your posts? Surely this is a wind up now.

The arrogance of dictating who you believe parkrun should and shouldn't be for. You're just as bad as the idiots who annoyed you by behaving inappropriately this morning.

Parkrun is for everyone, period, as long as they respect other parkrunners and park users. Arrogant individuals come in all forms, it's not exclusive to faster runners.

Why’re you being goady again, OP? The problem you encountered wasn’t fast runners it was a small group of faster, antisocial / verbally abusive runners.

Oh come on!

1 hour on a Saturday morning is hardly taking over.
The health of our country on the whole is DIRE. Anything that gets people moving should be supported.

And all city races have to post their road closures in advance.

Eh? Who said it wasn’t for slow runners.

It’s for everyone.

It’s for everyone to individually choose to run it in the way they want. Rudeness is unacceptable and registering as a woman when you are a biological male is unacceptable.

Bar that, it’s whatever you want to make of it.
Everyone welcome.
Wear what you want
Race it
Slow run it
Try for a winners recognition
try for a PB
Job around socially
It’s for everyone.

Parkrun is a timed run. The behaviour you encountered was unacceptable, but your attitude that athletes shouldn’t run a park run and that runners shouldn’t try and get a PB at a park is just bizarre.

Lucy Charles Barclay runs our local parkruns occasionally. She’s Ironman World Champion. Why shouldn’t she run if it fits with her training plan? Why shouldn’t I try and get a PB as long as I am not behaving rudely to other parkrunners?

Obviously people shouldn’t be swearing or shoving.

Also, people who know they are slower than many others shouldn’t be starting at the front - is that what you did?

The park is for everyone, not just you, runners are enjoying the park too.

PR takes up about 1 hour once a week.. & a very small part of it at that, 100s of 1000s of people get out and about, staying fit and healthy.

Oh & where do you think people in a running club will hold their races? they don't all have athletics tracks.

People are very selfish, wanting a public space entirely for themselves 24/7

Park run is for everyone.

They should remove the arseholes from the results though. I got pushed out of the way in the finish funnel by some dick. I complained to the RD and he gave us both exactly the same time. It wasn’t even that good of a time.

HRTFT but I suspect you didn't position yourself considerately at the start line. Slower rummers atr supposed to stand further back. At our park run we have people carrying boards with paces on at the staft line and you stand by the one which matches yoir speed of running so this sort of thinh doesn't happen. I also find the assumption that all the fast competitive runners are men to be very patronising.

I don’t use a park myself. I was thinking of others that will do.

And, that once upon a time there was no running en masse in a park. A park was just for walking around in.
People who wanted to run had to join a running club. And did.

I can see the benefits for people health wise. I do.

I suppose it is the sense of righteousness that goes with it I find difficulty with. Owning a public space for over an hour makes it essentially not one for that time. I know you will say you share it. But given the numbers of some park runs, not really.

@Monty36 The parkrun doesn’t own the WHOLE space unless you are saying they take over all of the paths, the playground and all the grassy areas too. They use a specific route and at all the ones I’ve been to the runners are told to keep to one side of the path and there are marshals to remind you to keep over. The vast majority of runners respect anyone using the same route at the same time.

It's for everyone - maybe except arrogant, entitled arsholes!

It is for everyone except for women who want a fair race should they want to race.

I'm a woman, have done many and have had a fair race each time.

That’s great.

280 course winners in the female category were won by biological men. So no, not all women have a fair race.

It should be for everyone to have a fair race, should hey want to race shouldn’t it.

It costs money to join a running club. Parkrun is free, and as a result it is responsible for making running accessible to thousands upon thousands of people who never would have considered it an option before. Doctors actually 'prescribe' parkrun as a means of improving mental health and/or improving fitness.

The notion that a community event, held for approximately 1 hour a week, takes over a whole park and makes it inaccessible for others during that time is madness. It's no different to a funfair 'taking over' a park for a period of time (often days on end). Surely that's worse than 1 hour a week, at a time where parks are generally not heaving with other park users (we're taking 9am on a Saturday, not 2pm). Obviously a funfair doesn't have all the health benefits that parkrun does either.

The positives of parkrun far outweigh the negatives. There are other places for people to walk for that 1 hour a week if they don't like it. Or take your walk at 10:30 instead? It really isn't hard to make alternative plans if you don't wish to share the park with hundreds of runners for 1 hour a week.

And, that once upon a time there was no running en masse in a park. A park was just for walking around in.
People who wanted to run had to join a running club. And did.

Where do you think these running clubs ran?