To think Parkrun should have an hour cut-off

[SummerAsh]

200+ participants, all but two completed in under 54 minutes… but the last two women ambled around chatting and took over 1 hour 10 minutes.

I appreciate that Parkrun should be inclusive, but that’s taking the piss, and unfair on the 20 or so volunteers who give up the first part of their Saturday mornings…. It’s hard enough getting volunteers as it is, without expecting everyone to be saintly martyrs with endless patience.

To complete in an hour requires a pace of 3.1 mph (I.e 5km = 3.1 miles)… According to Google, that’s a casual walking pace.

AIBU to think that if you can’t or won’t complete a park”run” at even a casual walking pace, then parkrun isn’t for you. I think that an hour cut off is more than accommodating enough, and an appropriate line to draw.

Otherwise, what is reasonable? Is it reasonable to accommodate a 90-year old taking 3 hours with their zimmer? If not, where the line if not an hour.

Agree with you. If you can't run, you shouldn't be doing ParkRUN, the walkers annoy me so much.

As the official website says the walkers are welcome and that there is no time limit, shouldn’t you take your irritation elsewhere?

Well Park Run definitely isn't for you then, as they actively encourage walkers to come along. Why do they annoy you? I always start nearer the front so that I don't have to weave around the walkers or slower runners. They are perfectly entitled to be there.

Trust me, we all think it.

It's only the view of arseholes and cunts that you aren't welcome at parkrun if you aren't letting them get away in time for elevenses.

Thankfully such people are very much in the minority.

I don't think 5 km/hr is all that slow, to be honest. Someone who gets to their local park for 9am on a Saturday and does a steady 5 km walk for an hour is deserving of support.

Those last 2 women ambling and chatting beat the thousands who were still lying in bed at 10 am on Saturday morning and got no exercise that day.

This is how I feel. I've been working up to trying a parkrun for some time now, having been out of fitness or exercise for a long time. A few friends do them and they've been egging me on to give it a go. I've literally been discussing it with one of them over dinner earlier this evening.

I don't think I'll bother. I can understand where the OP is coming from, but if that is the case I don't see why parkrun make such a big deal about not having an end time or the fact that if you can't run you can walk, at least for part of the distance. I wouldn't want to go and then feel that all the volunteers are smiling at me through gritted teeth and hoping I never come back.

I did the swimarhon which is 5k in 1 hour and 2 minutes, yes I have previously swam at a very high level. It's about 72 seconds per 100 metres.

The original post says over an hour and 10 minutes.

I have seen swimmers do it in 55-56 minutes, but they used ro churn out 50k a week in training.

Stop being involved in Parkrun @SummerAsh there's plenty of other running events you can volunteer for that aren't as inclusive as parkrun.
For the cancer surviors and other people on complex health journeys who are running as much as they can and finishing with a 45min-59min time, the 1h10min amblers are providing a welcome and confidence boosting service. The fact that there is no cutioff and that this is gloriously and beautifully upheld is what allows someone who feels their runnijg pace is barely faster than a walk to nevertheless take part. That 10 minutes beyond your proposed 1hr cutoff is quite literally lifesaving but not for the people who do the course at a walk - for the people who are trying their best to run but would soon get disheartened and stop coming if they were always last and felt shamed for holding everyone up from their post-event cuppa. If fully inclusive participation isn't what motivates you then you are volunteering for the wrong thing

If they walked at 5 kph they’d do it in an hour so that’s fine…

I’m sorry you feel like that. Please don’t let my views stop you as I’m clearly in the minority. Also, i wasn’t referring to someone like you who is clearly trying their best and making an effort… There are very few people, even very unfit people, who make an effort who would take over an hour.

My issue is with those who the few who treat it as a Saturday morning stroll and take way over an hour, not with those who genuinely need that long. And if there is as someone who did, such as someone with cerebral palsy as mentioned in an earlier post, I wouldn’t begrudge that… As a result, I’ve changed my mind and don’t think an hour limit should be applied… That doesn’t mean I think it’s right for people to treat parkrun as a Saturday morning stroll.

It is not a ‘casual’ pace but moderate to bridk. But no, an extra 15 minutes? While o don’t know why one would participate in a park run if they can’t actually run, I’d give this some latitude. And if volunteers don’t like it shame on them - they can quit.

As a runner & volunteer myself, I do agree OP!

However, reading some of the comments on here about someone participating with disabilities or after Couch to 5K, I think the key point for me is that there shouldn’t be a time limit but maybe it’s not suitable for people who just want a leisurely stroll.

I’ve volunteered where we had a small group of people who chatted the whole way round & constantly stopped to take photos and took well over an hour - now that was really annoying when everyone else has finished and we were standing around watching them take yet another photo of the scenery !! But on the flipside, it’s amazing to see people doing their first ever park run who want to get into running even if they are having to walk and they get a lot of support behind them

The bottom line for me is that it is ‘ParkRun’ and not ‘ParkWalk’ so participants should be attempting to run as least some of it. If you want a chat and stroll, you don’t need to do the park run!!

As @User565635 demonstrates, you have a range of attitudes wherever you have a group of people together and some people just aren’t very nice.. Please don’t be put off though, potential parkrunners. The general culture at parkrun is inclusive, encouraging and welcoming and, as a couple of us have pointed out, there are likely to be some 1hr + walkers there so anyone walking or running faster than that just doesn’t need to worry about anyone thinking they are ‘too slow’ because those people will be behind them.

I'm glad to see you have taken on board what we have been saying, I agree with you now. As a tail walker we once had someone stop to take photographs along the way, not the odd one but at least one every 100m or so. And not whilst moving but actually taking time to frame the shot and on some occasions lying down to get the perfect angle. I definitely think people like that should do their walk outside of parkrun. They can even do it at the same time as parkrun if they like the atmosphere but I think they should make it clear to the tail walkers they are not in parkrun and not to wait for them.

I’ve volunteered and the session takes as long as it takes. But I’m quite easy going.

I agree, OP, but fwiw a time limit would still not impact the people you are talking about, who are not challenging themselves to complete in a good time for them (walking or running) but who are treating it like an adult crèche. The park is open to walking and chatting at all other times!

And on that note, I think those who are crying inclusivity should also consider other park users who may want to exercise not in a parkrun and who have to wait for the event to clear off. 1hr plus set up and pack down is reasonable.

There is an argument that parkrun inconveniences other park users (let’s not go there on this thread maybe) but I don’t think that applies when you have let’s say 4 walkers still on a course, one or two remaining marshals and a finish funnel.

I agree there should be an agreed cutoff time, although may vary according to each park run. A hillier one could take longer than a flat one, for example, or depends the speed of the cohort participating. Maybe 1.5 hours max.

If it takes more than ab hour then it’s not a run. Cant these people just go for a walk in their own time?

They encourage walkers to join.

They literally have a section for parkwalk on their website
parkwalk

parkwalk FAQS

There's even a volunteer role of parkwalker It has been created to demonstrate that walking at parkrun is both encouraged and valued.

I’m going to have to crack slightly and say that if I were the walker at the back with the tail walker I would probably try to walk as quickly as I could (I would feel quite self conscious about the situation although I know rationally that I wouldn’t need to). I do think that taking photos in that scenario is actually a strange behaviour. I have taken the odd photo ever during a parkrun but there have been people behind me. So perhaps I can see some of the op’s point about ambling but I do think that there are very few amblers in the real world of parkrun. The vast majority are trying to get some exercise and improve their time and for some of those people the parkrun does take over an hour.