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.

I’m sure all 12 of you are not needed to stay.

There are a small number of disbaled people on ours. I is unlikely someone would take three hours, but I think just over an hour is ok. Don't you think people will be dissuaded if they are under pressure?

Agreed. You sound like the sort of volunteer who would put people who want to try park run for the first time off. I thought it was supposed to be encouraging and inclusive. You sound really mean. I think good on these women for giving it a go.

I am the slowest runner in the world.

It is people like you who have stopped me wanting to have a go at Parkrun.

This is the second thread in a fairly short period complaining about slow finishers in Parkrun. If I were a newbie contemplating walking or running at a Parkrun, it wouldn’t be giving me the most welcoming of vibes to realise that there are gimlet-participants complaining that the slow finishers are inconveniencing the volunteers.

YANBU

I wonder how many people here have marshalled, particularly amongst those calling for inclusivity at any timeframe/cost.

It's hard to get marshalls because people are busy on Saturdays. It's even harder to get marshalls for an open ended activity.

1hr is plenty. Parkrun is not the only opportunity for people to go on guided walks - the ramblers assocation and many others put on walks with different speeds/abilities.

Standing around for an extra 20-30 minutes in the rain for someone to amble in, puts most people off marshalling.

Sensible parkruns send most marshalls home at the 1hr mark and just leave the tail walkers and one person to time/collection token.

Says it all.
you’re totally the wrong person for the job.
goes against their principles.
doubt they’d be happy with such a ‘volunteer’

OP stop volunteering for Parkrun. You are a terrible volunteer

Do you believe that elderly and disabled people are less worthy of taking part in social community events than those who are younger and more privileged? Should they just stay at home, out of sight, seeing and talking to nobody, and accept that enjoyable activities are just not for them?

If we were talking about the Olympics or similar, I would completely agree that they're for the elites; but Parkrun is meant to be fun and inclusive for everybody who wants to take part.

Even the 'ambling' around doesn't necessarily mean that people are dawdling for the sake of it - and certainly not purely for the purpose of annoying the marshals. For some people, their level of health and fitness simply will not allow them to run all the way, so it's either take it slowly or not be able to do it at all... and as for fitness, how are they ever going to get fitter if they're turned away at the start as 'not good enough'?

Yabu. Don't be a dick.
An hour cut off would prevent some people taking part.

And yes, I've tail walked, marshalled the later posts and done close down many times. I'll wait until the last person is done.

Im a parkrun volunteer. Always volunteer, never actually run or walk it. I couldn't care less how long people take to get round. Yes sometimes it's cold and wet but I know what I signed up for. If some volunteers need to get away or are particularly vulnerable to the cold or standing for a long time we work out a way of letting them go but the core group of us stay until the last one finishes and we never pack the finish area away untill the very last participant has crossed the line.

Either volunteer to create a welcoming and inclusive parkrun for all or don't volunteer.

Yes, it’s says “And it specifically states ‘walk, jog or run’.”

Taking an hour - which I have no issue with - ’is a casually paced walk. So I’m fine with the principles… But some people take the piss.

She's not a terrible volunteer. She's just asking for people to respect her time.

Most people calling her this are those who expect others to make way for them, to wait for them, to put them before the own volunteer's time.

Our park run really struggles to get volunteers - and this is partly why.

No volunteers = no parkrun - then everyone suffers.

Some people seem to prefer this rather than think that they should actual put a bit of effort into it, rather than chatting and dawdling.

Wow...I really don't think Park Run is for you with that attitude. You should be ashamed. I have run at quite a few Park Run locations and I have met participants who are blind, others who are terminally ill, recovering from cancer, amputees and people living with all manner of disabilities. Making everyone feel welcome is what makes Park Run what it is.

Of course they all need to stay. Everyone in the finish area team will need to stay (although they’d probably just go down to one scanner) and all the marshals need to stay until the tail has passed them. At a small parkrun that’s maybe 15 people. At a big one it’ll be twice that.

‘Most volunteers’ !!?
are you a volunteer?
i am and you are not speaking for me.

I don't think that's particularly in the spirit of parkrun but we're all different.

Are you complaining as a participant, volunteer or park user?

as far as I am aware park run is inclusive so I feel you are being unreasonable here

this.

ooo aren't you Miss Judgy Running Pants
here's a thought. If you don't like it, don't do it.

I agree with this. My run club never volunteers anymore because the time it took started to get out of hand since they started encouraging everyone to do it regardless of ability /time taken.

You keep saying an hour to complete - 3-20 min miles - is ‘casually paced’. It really isn’t. 20 min miles are a brisk walk, whatever the website you’ve looked at says. I would t walk parkrun because I do feel it should be for runners (however slow) despite the ethos - but also as due to a knee issue I can’t sustain 20 min miles and I feel I’d take too long. That’s not what parkrun information says though.

You clearly aren’t fine with the principles because you just said if you are really unfit or unwell are time wasting and entitled.

I honestly can’t think of a hobby which requires one to be snarky about people taking 15 minutes longer to complete an inclusive exercise group and looks down on other people who participate because they are socially isolated or consider people who are slower by reasons of health or age to be “taking the piss”.

I’m glad I don’t know what a suitable hobby is for someone with these personality traits as it’s a hobby I would seek to avoid.

In the end I think this really does depend on the parkrun - some are definitely more for the runners - so vast majority finished by 45mins. Someone coming in at 70 mins would be an issue here and I don't think they'd do it twice.

Others have a much wider range of abilities - so only half finished by 40 mins and lots over the 1hr mark, so it's clearer for everyone that it's going to be that timeframe.

As long as people here calling for inclusivity are making that happen by volunteering themselves rather than just being all talk, then well and good. If you're not prepared to stand around in the cold and rain for a few hours then I don't think you can criticise others.

I doubt it though - they'll be too busy, need to pick up the kids from football, do the shopping etc. to stand around for a couple of hours so that Fred and Bert can have a good chat about the football whilst they meander through the course.