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.

Our Parkrun is one of the more difficult ones as it’s a trail run through woods hugging the coastline and so visitors often take their time to stop and admire the views at different points, and who can blame them? No, taking an extra 15 mins is really no big deal at all.

No, my beef is with the illegal campers who park their camper vans in the top car park where the run starts and ends. There’s notices saying “ No Overnight Camping” but they just ignore them. 🤦🏻‍♀️

I have been known to knock on their van door and ask them to move to the other car park as we’re about to start gathering for Parkrun. 😂

Totally agree with you! I volunteer often and some people just casually stroll round having a chat keeping everyone who’s volunteering standing and waiting - often in the cold and the rain. I’m all for people being slow if they’re trying their best, but a casual bimble… no. Do that in your own time, or maybe volunteer instead of you just want to get out for some social interaction.

A normal casual walk time is an hour. That’s 20 mins a mile speed. A relatively strident walk time is 45mins. A morbidly obese person making an effort could do a parkrun in an hour. There is no need to facilitate someone to casually stroll. They can do it in their own time.

I think you’ve entirely missed the point of parkrun

Ridiculous suggestion. If you want events with a cut off, go pay to enter them! There are thousands, year round. Parkrun is for everyone. I volunteer regularly with my daughter; sometimes I run (times vary depending on injuries and fitness, 29-40 mins). Surplus scanners and funnel managers can head off early if they need to, but usually we are just chatting. I love the tailwalking job, it's a nice walk around our very beautiful park. We collect up the signs and marshalls on the way round and anyone still there at the end goes for coffee and cake afterwards. It's a lovely morning and I'd hate to change it.

Park run is to promote movement and community. If it's not for you and you want to do things faster than go find something more suited.

I may be mistaken, but wasn't the whole idea of Parkrun originally to encourage and support the kind of people who might find it a real challenge and out of their comfort zone? The keen experienced, highly-competent and highly-motivated fast runners just continue to keep doing it on their own, according to what suits their ability and desired training regime - as they have always done.

It seems a bit odd to seize on something that is designed for ordinary people of all abilities to participate in and then complain that they aren't brilliant at it - it would be a bit like Sarah Brightman turning up to karaoke night at the Coach & Horses and being shocked and irritated to discover that none of the people 'performing' there are remotely as good as she is.

IME, this varies a lot by course.

In my area, there are two that are pretty close to each other. One is nearly entirely flat, and having tail walked it dozens of times as well as marshalled, it's very rare for it go over an hour. The times I can recall involved someone needing assistance - either an elderly person become disoriented or confused during it or we've had small groups new to parkrun who underestimate the difficulty, became disheartened and needed encouragement.

There is another one with two laps that includes a significant hill for much of the course. It's acknowledged that while the same distance, that one is significantly harder and takes longer. It's fairly normal there for the tailwalker to go over an hour.

As pp mentioned, these things can be checked before attending.

Yes, it can be frustrating when marshalling or at the finish area waiting for the tail walker when there is a long gap, I can see the appeal, but in practicality how would this work? Would the marshals just pack up and leave rather than wait for the tail walker? Is the tail walker just going to be left behind - that could cause issues if there's an incident.

There must be some cut off in practice though? What if someone were to stop for a coffee halfway round, surely all the volunteers wouldn’t wait for them?

IME, the cafes are usually at the start/finish areas and the tail walkers aren't going to wait for someone who has gone off the route unless we have reason to believe they are in need of help.

Volunteering isn’t for you. Just leave it to those who enjoy being there and doing that role.

I've heard people say there should be a 2k senior parkrun like the juniors but I think that's quite patronising as there are plenty of over 70s who can do 5k in well under an hour. In fact one of the parkruns near me has a 90 year old who can do it in under an hour most weeks. Also at Ormeau parkrun in Belfast there was a lady in her 90s (Grace) who did it in 48 minutes the week I visited!

Google tells me it takes the average person 45 to 60 min to walk 5k
However I would imagine if you are elderly or disabled this may be longer.
I would hate to see people pushed out due to physical weakness of an event that could really help
If the volunteers get fed up then they will stop volunteering but I guess most volunteers want to help.

If you don't want to volunteer at a parkrun, the point of which is to be inclusive for everyone, regardless of pace.... then don't volunteer. Please. Sit on your arse and be grumpy at something else.

Many of us are more than happy to see someone who takes 1 hour plus going round.

But somebody does finish last.

No one who runs the whole way around a parkrun is going to take any more than 45 mins.

I fit into the ill category, I have rheumatoid arthritis and a lung issue, I can be fine one moment and not fine the next. I’ve had several people encourage me to do park run with them and I’m always told it’s very inclusive of all abilities and I can walk slowly if I need to. It’s volunteers who’ve encouraged me to try. I’ve been told I need to stop letting my anxiety stop me taking part in things and that parkrun is as a social thing etc.

This thread has cemented my decision to not bother and I’m ok with that. I have more than enough experience of people letting me know Im pissing them off for not being as fast as they want me to be and telling me that I shouldn’t be doing that activity. I don’t need to add another thing to stress about.

I'm sorry to hear that. We are lucky then to have a group of willing volunteers, parkrun and our running club were both set up in the area by the same person, a former public health nurse who lived locally. She wanted to encourage exercise as a means to be social and develop community spirit as well as the physical health aspect. We have a beautiful park, and other local sports groups are very supportive in volunteering too.

@WhosGotTheKeysToMyBimma no one is there for three hours with our team, the people who do course check/setup and safety inspection at 8am are not expected to take it down at 10.30/11. We stagger the work between us. People give the time they can. We had a brilliant runner who would run the course at 8.30am to see if it was ok before he continued on his long run... He rarely did the parkrun itself.

I just don't think it's reasonable to set limits on an event like parkrun. It's not meant to be about the speed, it's about taking part.

All of this. Thank you.

I could barely walk at a brisk pace when I started training, for various reasons. When I joined the local club I never imagined I'd be able to run round a track: I asked the coach if he would mind if I tried it and just walked if I couldn't do anything else.

God bless the man, he actually got me running and my knees have improved as a result.

Please, please don't let the arseholes stop you getting out.

At my parkrun you would be absolutely welcome, no matter how long you take to get round.

Parkrun specifically states there is no time limit and that it is fine to walk. 3mph is an average walking pace, that means there are people whose normal walking pace is faster and people whose normal walking pace is slower. Anybody who volunteers for this event should read the rules and understand it’s not guaranteed to be over within an hour.

If you dislike the Parkrun rules then set up your own event, you can specify a time limit which disqualifies people, such as the disabled, older or chronically ill, who walk at a pace below the average. If everybody feels as you say I am sure it will overtake the success of Parkrun very quickly, so what’s stopping you?

Wow you are very rude!
You know nothing about these people, maybe they used to run marathons and following an accident or illness can only walk slowly at the rear but this is a personal challenge for them and a way to feel part of something still…
Whatever their reason I’m sure they don’t intend to come in and keep everyone waiting.. they’re walking at a pace they can manage and honestly an extra 10 minutes is really not worth getting your knickers in a twist over ! (You said they came in after 1 hour 10 minutes)
I think people shouldn't volunteer if they begrudge people taking part if they can’t keep up. I mean I doubt they stopped and had a picnic or did their knitting half way round.

Oh thank god you've turned up to tell us this, because it is really not made clear on Park Run's website. In fact it pretty much states the opposite. Perhaps one of us should contact them to ask them to be more clear about who is and isn't ready for Park Run yet.

Please don't let this put you off. Go to it with your friends, take the time you need to walk it. You will enjoy it. And most runs are inclusive, noone complains about how long people are taking.

Really? Every time I have marshalled been told to get there early, and then by the time you get to the finish no one has ever said I can leave.

@WilliamTopazMcGonagallPoorPoetFromDundeeBeItTold no parkrun started as a time trial for fit club runners.

But I don’t think a Marshall would be upset to see an elderly or disabled person doing over an hour. It’s the young but bone idle sorts that are taking the piss that are irritating I find.

I take the idea that nobody finishes last in a different way - not a literal ‘nobody crosses the line after everyone else’ because of course that’s nonsense. I understand it to mean it’s not a race so where you are in the finishing stakes is irrelevant. So you may be the last one over the line but you aren’t last in a competitive sense because the competition is with yourself (if it’s there at all) not the rest of the field.