Parkrunners anonymous keep on running

[OhOneOhTwoOhThree]

As the last thread was filling up, here's a nice new one for parkrunners old and new

All parkrunners are welcome here!

yegods

Yes, everyone starts together. But you line up behind each other with the fast club runners at the front and the walkers at the back. One you have been a few times you work out who is roughly your speed, so you stand with them. People only get in each others way if they are running 3 or 4 abreast and chatting and not noticing runners around them (my course is 2.5 laps of the park, so the front runners almost always lap the normal runners). At my parkrun we have quite a few dogs (leashed), parents and children running together and buggy runners, and there is sometimes a bit of congestion at the start, as it's a bit narrow, but it quickly evens out.

The advantages of going to the same parkun (I guess) are you can build up your club points just by virtue of turning up regularly (one of our winners last year is a slow runner, but is there every week either running or volunteering). I'm in the top 10 women's points list for my parkrun and again I'm slower than some of the people further down, but go almost every week. You also get to know people - I've made some really nice friends (we only moved here a year ago), and it's a way of feeling part of the community. But parkrun tourism is also fun, you get to see different courses and meet other Mumsnetters.

If you want to say which parkruns are in striking distance for you we might be able to tell you something about them?

Yegods- Try one out and see if you like it. Each parkrun has a website with the weekly results so you can look up how many runners are likely to be at each and how fast people are, might help you decide which to do. They should all be friendly though !
Everyone starts in a group at 9 am. Arrive 10 minutes before ready to go !

yegods - Yes, everyone starts at the same time. At the bigger parkruns there may be a bit of jostling at the front when people first set off but everyone soon spreads out. It's just like running any organised run really.

If you have so many options so close (lucky you) I would certainly try them all. Each parkrun has it's own character which is influenced by it's course and the number of people running so you may find that you hate one but really, really love another and you'll never know if you don't try.

Visiting new parkruns is not only allowed - it's positively encouraged. I rearranged my holiday last week so that I could be close to a parkrun on Saturday morning and try a new course. You register just once on the parkrun website at www.parkrun.org.uk/ and will be emailed a barcode which you need to print out (and laminate/wrap in sellotape if you can) and take to whichever parkrun you are visiting. It'll be scanned at the end of each run and your results uploaded to the website.

In my experience at the handful of course I've tried, everyone is wonderfully welcoming and friendly. Just turn up, say hi and have a run :)

Thats for all the great advice!

OhOne without making it too obvious where I live, I'm picking between Cheltenham, 2 FoD ones or if I were feeling more adventurous, maybe into Wales (Pontypool), Worcester, Bristol, but they might be too far to drive.

I haven't been 'running' very long at all, and usually like to be finished and home by 7-8am. It has made it hardbto run in term time, but now I have an incentive to make runs at 9am.

We have many, many people who use our parkrun as part of their C25K training and will run/walk the whole course. Everyone is still there cheering them on at the end just like they were for the first runners through. It's a wonderfully supportive place to run.

It sounds so much more friendly than Women Institute, I only got as far as their websites before deciding that wasn't for me!

I think this parkrun thing looks like it could be fun.

As your questions have been answered I won't repeat but parkrun really is very friendly and for everyone. I reckon you should try all three and then pick your favourite. It's nice to be a regular at a parkrun as you build up a lovely group of friends. We are within 7 miles of another and some people alternate but I love being at mine week in week out.

Yay blatherskite! I'm sure you'll be great, keep meaning to check mine and see if I'm now down as ED :)

Yes, definitely very friendly. I've been to a few different parkruns now, from Norfolk to Yorkshire and in between, and while they have been different shapes and sizes, they have all been friendly

parkrun is now eating into my mid-week too as I have my friend coming over tonight to show me how to do the results update. I'm cooking her dinner as payment.

Have spoken to next week's RD (who is also the ED) and we've decided that I might as well charge all the kit and just bring it over early on Saturday so he gets a very easy week this week and I get to learn how to do it all :)

Blathers, you basically ARE parkrun

It's no co-incidence that 'parkrunners anonymous' was my suggestion for a thread title Thursday

It's all very easy, a lot of the RD's leave it until Saturday morning and not all charge the scanner! I also have the email and results page book marked on my phone and laptop so rarely use the parkrun laptop other than Saturday morning results processing :)

The timer has been plugged in all day and still isn't showing as fully charged! The scanners are done though and I'm told the new back up timer arrived today as the old one has a bust button. We also have new barcodes - for some reason ours stopped at 524 and we had 527 runners last week!

Panic over. The light went out. It's charged and all is well :)

We don't charge our timers

I think different parkruns have different timers cinnamon. Ours is a hulking great black thing which needs plugging into the mains between runs. We also have a stop watch style thing with a battery as a back up timer. I think the newer runs just have the stop watch thing.

Yeah we're only just over a year old, there are three possible ones on the software when you upload :)

LOL at timer one upsmanship !

My timer is bigger than yours

I am on my way to London for the weekend. I'm staying with a friend who lives in surrey and offered to take me to bushy Parkrun tomorrow. She's just texted me to ask if I still want to go because it's raining !!! Can you tell shes a tennis player .??

I'd love to do Bushy! Even in the rain :)

I remember turning up for an outdoor runners strength class in the rain and being told my the instructor that her husband had asked her why she was going as it was tipping it down and surely no-one would turn up.

She replied with "DH, they're runners, of course they'll be there"

Indeed. I'm not just a runner, I'm scottish

I don't like marshalling in the rain but running in the rain is fine, I got soaked today!!!

Looks like we are going to get wet tomorrow for the first time ever in Sunny Scunthorpe

I think the steep bit just hot muddy gain tonight