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?

I don’t think an hour a week counts

Because it’s not the women and kids pushing and swearing at people?

Absolutely it was too small but from what I'm reading the selfish aggressive behaviour is not unusual.

It isn't really just an hour though is it. People arrive before the run, hang around after the run blocking paths.

So you want people to not be allowed the be in the parks?

The rudeness you described is unacceptable, but like I said, it's not your place to decide how or where other people run.

Is there a reason for your strong feelings on this, perhaps they make you feel embarrassed or slow? If so that's your issue, not theirs.

No I don't want big groups of people preventing everyone else using and enjoying the park.

it can depending how it’s managed. If people feel it’s preventing them use it, it’s probably closer to two hours disruption a week (half hour each side, parking etc) which if you add up over the year could be a reasonable amount of time local people are unable to use the asset they pay for.

There’s a good chance if enough complain the council will pull the plug because they don’t want the grief. So it’s in park runs interest to manage the twats

TBF Plenty of women are competitive, my DD has done 18min PR's, with some in her club sub 17.... believe me, this really pisses off the blokes with small willy's
No one can condone pushing shouting etc, but neither she nor i have seen that in dozens of runs we've done.

The thing that is an issue is other park users, seemingly blocking the course out of spite, usually with a dog on an extendable lead!

Exactly.

They're between a rock and a hard place with that, though. When you sign up for parkrun, you can give any name you want and it's entirely up to the individual whether to sign up as F or M. There are no ID checks at parkrun.

Should we ban football as well then? Both our local parks have football pitches and you can't get near them when the teams are playing. Cars parked all over the place, loads of people round the pitch.

Pushing, swearing, shouting is definitely not acceptable.

We are always reminded at parkrun that we don't have exclusive rights to the path, always be considerate to other users.

Parkrun is not the place for extreme competitiveness.

Yes, we have that too. Cricket in the summer. Open air fitness classes at various times all year round. Every school holiday there are playschemes for children. Various organised events at other times that take over much of the park. Giving the local community a place to exercise is one of the key functions of a park.

You get idiots wherever you go. It's not just men, and it's not just fast runners.

There's absolutely nothing wrong with someone pushing themselves to their absolute best if that's what they want to get out of parkrun, just like there's nothing wrong with a social chatty run/walk if that's what you're looking to get out of it. There is, if course, something wrong with shoving people and swearing at them.

The issues you describe are clearly on a multi-lap course. I see it both ways though. Sometimes front runners can barge their way through with little consideration for other people. Other times, it's slower runners bunching up and not allowing front runners a smooth easy overtake.

I'm a middle of the pack runner who is not afraid to bellow "keep left" when people in front of me are trotting along 3 or 4 abreast when faster runners are clearly trying to safety make their way past us all. Equally I would have no qualms pointing out if I felt a faster runner was trying to bully their way through.

If everyone showed a little more consideration for other people, the world would be a happier place. That's definitely not just a parkrun issue. Welcome to life in 2026, where so many people sadly seem to think the world revolves around them.

When I first heard about it, I thought it was a great idea until I found out they do timings

If people want to track their own time, great

But it makes a mockery of it being for fun and relaxation if they're keeping track and it puts people in competitive mode

I thought it might be a good way to keep up with running just once a week as I don't do it generally but it doesn't sound like a fun run anyway to me

I don't see the point in Park Run records as they allow men to run as women, so I've got no chance of ever achieving a record because I'm female.

At my parkrun we need to do laps, so the fastest do have to come around while the slowest are still in the way.
There's also usually children's football going on and dog walkers too.

I'm not aware of much bad behaviour at all.

The running club people are generally friendly and encouraging.

I think the key issue is that really good runners use parkrun for a sociable warm up or cool down. They're not the ones shoving and shouting. That's just some knob heads.

Parkrun definitely did start as an event for keen runners to get a regular 5km time. You do run harder in a crowd, and I should think there was a bit of a social side to it too.
I think the problem is that it is now seen as primarily a social event for people who want to have a gentle jog and a chat, and who think that anyone that wants to push themselves is a selfish wanker, spoiling the vibe.
The clash of the two groups has only got worse as the numbers grow.
My local parkrun used to have around 200 participants which was fine. As long as the slower runners weren’t dicks and kept over to the side there was plenty of room for them and for faster runners to lap them without any need for conflict. There are now regularly 500+ participants and just not enough room.

There is one fast runner who shouts things like ‘well done everyone’ or other encouraging phrases which alerts you to him coming by but without him being aggressive.

My husband would totally do that. Due to my poor balance even with the gentlest of pushes I am likely to hit the floor and he is fiercely protective of me, obviously gentle pushes are unavoidable and often unintentional but if he thought for a minute it was deliberare the person responsible would be answering to him and the guy who runs our parkrun would be notified and strongly advised to ban them.

Which is honestly silly really. ID checks can be done via an app and you can submit you passport if you want to be neither the M/F category or in a general of you don’t want to.

I think there’s fault on both side
in any event where a race or a non competitive event
it’s common curtsy to be aware of other runners and let faster people past without the need for pushing
ours is a bit of a nightmare but generally ok

most people who just fancy a light jog or stroll and want to run 4 abreast hang back and set off towards the back
our volunteer marshals are quite good at sorting this
but people have no common sense there was a family with very small kids who want to be right at the front they were made to go to the back

I’d drop the organiser an email they need to manage the start better

Racing yes, pushing shouting and foul language no. The last of which should be reason enough to exclude them.

I've never seen anything like this at my local park run, thankfully, everyone is very friendly, even the fast runners (and we have some very fast ones!) are considerate. But YANBU to think people who behave like this should be banned. I don't know how this would be implemented though.

Only read OP's posts.

I think the title should be "To think ParkRun need to consider banning selfish, rude fuckers?"

It's not about the racing per se.

While parkrun is indeed not a competition, it is about personal improvement (and other things), so it's a fine line semantics wise.
My personal improvement could mean finishing before Nigel.

The really fast runners should place themselves at the front of the field so they don't get hemmed in. And obviously no one should be shoving, shouting and swearing. I'm sure the race director will take the matter very, very seriously.