parkrun defending their position

[Funtime2]

I used to be a parkrunner and do not understand how parkrun can defend their position of allowing trans identfying males into the female category.

I read that 280 published race winners in the female category are actually men identifying as women. How is this fair to women? Some women don’t care about this but some women do, just as some men take it as a race and care about the rankings and some men don’t

The other option of course is they could stop the timing, stop recording winners and records?

AIBU to genuinely not understand why parkrun claim not to be a race when they time the runners, publish times by category, rank times and runners, and have record holders by category.

So have people who want timings take part in actual races and leave parkrun alone.

You're right that parkrun isn't competitive - and the people who treat it like a chip-timed race with world record attempts hanging in the balance are annoying and embarrassing - but the app happily tracks your stats, and if parkrun are going to bother to split the stats into male and female then of course this matters!

Can you go and set up your own non-timed non-recorded non-categorised runpark event and leave parkrun alone.

People want timings to see how they've done though. To see their timing and how they did compared to last week, and compete only against themselves. Not everyone has a stopwatch, and nor should they be expected to go out and get one if they don't.
Completely agree that Parkrun should be left alone though, but by the competitive ones trying to bend it their way. Wish they'd piss off and leave everyone else alone.

It is a chip timed race though. This is so bizarre. You get the chips, the times, the stats and the records and the shout outs in the local paper but then you get comments like yours suggesting they are weird for partaking in the manner it is designed for and originally set up for.

What parkrun are you attending that's chipped?!

barcoded, same difference

Exactly . Everyone knows what someone means when they say chip timed.

I'm confused too 😕
Chips?

It's not the same difference - chipped means the timing is exact, parkrun times are good approximations.

My point, @Funtime2 is that I was agreeing with you - whilst the timings are approximations, the fact that they bother to create stats means that it does matter that people are split accurately and appropriately

Cross posted
Clearly not everyone knows

Yep, when you say chip timed it means you have a chip to give a precise time.

Can you go and set up your own timed, recorded and categorised event and leave parkrun alone as what is was meant to be? A fun run?

It’s a way of measuring someone’s time. From start to finish using tech rather than someone just using their own watch.

Everyone has a watch or a phone. That's what we did before 'parkrun'.

Yes, and there are no cups at Park Run to my knowledge. As I said earlier it would be interesting to know how many have ever actually been!

A chip (often attached to a race bib) triggers automated timing points which accurately track your running time - it measures when you cross the start and finish lines, and sometimes points along the way. It accounts for things like how long it was before you actually crossed the start line, rather than a rough timing.

Chip-timing is a very specific thing in paid for events though. The timing at parkrun is me and a 15yo doing their bronze DofE award volunteering, with mobile phones, going "tap tap tap" as people cross a patch of grass marked with some cones. And you may have mistakenly run two laps of our three lap course and be almost a mile short of the 3.1 mile route, I wouldn't know. You still get that as your time for the parkrun.

I have been - I meant it has short hand to explain it was their official timing )whether approximate or not). Not people just submitting their own times. Sorry will be more accurate with terminology in the future

Cups?! Stupid autocorrect. Should have said chips! 😁

Even if they did, you're taking away the community element there.
People go as they want to be part of a community event and maybe get fit alongside others.
As someone said upthread, you might as well go do it round your garden instead with a couple of mates.
Bye bye parkrun
Well done.

How? The community element is still there! How does parkrun taking timings remove the 'community element'? I'd really love you to explain that.

Well done

Blame men for that. But I suspect you are resorting to the first rule of misogyny. Women are responsible for men's actions. Blame the men. Not feminists.

Can someone - if they have the guts - please explain to me how not timing people to the second removes 'the community element'? I thought the community element was running together. Not the 'timing'. I've heard of hyperbole but this thread is next level ridiculous.

What about the community element amongst the volunteers working together to get the times out as accurately as possible? What about that small social interaction when you get your barcode scanned? Also the numbers would plummet and there would be much fewer community members to interact with.

Is there no community element of volunteers cheering people on? Marshalling people? Looking out for people? Do you need to use a clock to the second just to get 'community element'?

We don't need to be 'barcode scanned'. We are not chocolate bars or cans of beans at the checkout. As a human, being 'barcode scanned' is pretty darned insulting.