parkrunners old and new come and chat all things parkrun.

[cinnamongreyhound]

Starting a new thread at FiftyNineOhEight's request. Come and get comfy and talk all things parkrun, anyone thinking of starting out on your parkrun journey we have loads of experience between us so come and ask.

Very sad news, such a loss.

I am so cross at this decision.

There is a fund for maintenance it's called council tax. And since when did any of the revenue for race entries go on maintenance.
Grumble.

Is there more to this? Had Little Stoke parkrun been having communication difficulties with the Council? Who exactly is being charged, how will they pay?

Ah, Facebook has just done a "memories of 3 years ago" thing for me - I had just completed my 5th parkrun and was dreaming of the day when I could make it in under 30 minutes....

I couldn't believe they'd passed it . I hope no other councils get any silly ideas.

Little Stoke parkrun and junior parkrun will close now. Hopefully losing a local amenity run for free and appreciated by so many will dissuade other local councils from following suit.

There had been lots of talks Melanie, including a suggestion that they charge for the car park like other councils do but Little Stoke council wanted to charge parkrun directly (and solely, no-one else using the park would be charged. This included the local junior football team who turn up en mass once a week too) and as the rule is that parkrun has to be free, that meant that there is no way that the event can continue once the council insisted.

So, so sad for Little Stoke. I actually got a bit choked up this morning when I thought about our community having to disband.
Watching our community develop and grow has been the absolute best thing about this past year.

parkrun is so much more than a run in the park.

It is sad but also so maddening, I feel so angry about it! Totally agree with you feetheart the thought of someone trying to close down MY parkrun feels me with sadness and I'd fight tooth and nail! What are they thinking? Blatherskite is totally right, they could charge for parking which would charge everyone but they have issues with parkrun clearly and they want to charge them directly. I think mainly because they see parkrun as an organisation that can pay whereas a football team is different but clearly don't understand that parkrun are not a massive corporation making loads of profit. And lastqueenofscotland exactly! That's what their council tax is for and that covers wear and tear from everyone every day not just a few people once a week.

These 'grants' that the PC keep mentioning are bogus too. They keep saying they'd fill them out and parkrun just have to sign them but are refusing, trying to make it look like it's parkrun being difficult, but the grants they are talking about don't exist. The county council (next step up) have confirmed this. You cannot have a grant to pay for "wear and tear" on the park when that's what the council gets council tax for!

blath I didn't understand the grant thing when the councillor was talking about it on the news. It certainly sounded fishy.

It's ridiculous, parks are supposed to be worn and torn! Brockenhurst moves into town in the summer to avoid wear and tear, but the winter venue is in a National Park and there are ground nesting birds, deer, ponies, rare endangered plants... Not a bit of grass and some swings! And no mention of charging, although there are donation machines in the car park now - but even that's only a please would you mind not a You Must!

After 2 years of using a fragile bit of bar code paper I have finally ordered my whizzy plastic bar code with ICE details. No more scrumpled up bits of paper in my running legging pockets.

meglet - the barcode scanner volunteers will thank you mightily :)

Hello...I have a couple of questions before I venture out for my first parkrun

I have registered, printed my barcodes and also ordered the plasitc card. What is the process on the morning? For example, when I arrive what do I do with my bar code? Then what do I do at the end of the run...do they need my barcode again? How exactly am I timed?

I'm going alone so I like to be prepared!

Hello JohnnySisAlive. You don't actually need your barcode until the end of the run. I usually stash mine in a pocket or my phone. After you cross the finish line you'll be given a finish token which you take to the people scanning - they scan your barcode and the finish token. That ties up your barcode with your finish position and time (there are timekeepers who time everyone crossing the line) They'll take your finish token from you and after that it's waiting to get your results through and maybe a cake after.

If you get there a little early to get your bearings, there'll be a first timers briefing where they'll talk you through the barcodes and the actual course.

johnny this week you should probably aim to arrive early, especially if driving, it could be busy. There will be a pre-run brief around 8:50 letting runners know of any problems with the course, milestone runs etc. Some runs take first time runners aside and go through it with them. You won't need to sign in or show your barcode before the run. Check with an volunteer in hi-vis how many laps you need to do.

When everyone lines up don't stand with the speedy ones at the front (unless you are already fast), best to hold back and start in the middle.

When you finish a volunteer will stopwatch you when you run through the finishing tunnel and at the end of that tunnel you will be handed a barcode with a position number on it. Make sure you stay in position when you walk through the finishing tunnel because everyone needs to stay in order.

Once you've got your finishing barcode queue up at one of the tables and a volunteer will blip your personal bar code alongside your finishing barcode, they match these up later to confirm your time and position. Our parkrun times are emailed through around lunchtime.

I think that's it. And have fun!

Hi Johnny and welcome aboard!

Get there in good time - There will be a pre-run brief that explains procedures, or feel free to have a quick chat with one of the volunteers, who will be wearing high-viz vests.

You won't need your barcode till the end, so put it somewhere safe ( like a zipped pocket).

Everyone starts at the same time, and the timekeepers will press "GO" on their stopwatch. As you cross the finish line, the timekeepers will press a button that records the time, and you will be given a position token. At that point you need to retrieve your barcode, take it and the position token to the scanner, who zaps both these. Then you go and have a cup of tea and a natter with the others.

Later that day, the magic parkrun elves will have matched up the info from the stopwatch, the barcodes and the position tokens, and will send you an email (or text if you've registered for that) telling you your official time. You can then spend hours looking at the results, event history, age graded percentages, and work out how long it'll be till you've earned a milestone T shirt

Melanie - that last sentence is so, so true.
It's our 1st anniversary tomorrow and I have spent all week (when not making a Mad Hatter's hat or ranting about short-sighted parish councillors) pouring over parkrun stats and loving it :o

Enjoy it Johnny but be prepared to get addicted very quickly!

That's brill. Thanks everyone.
I've the choice of 2/3 runs local to me, but only know one of them well, so might stick with that one first.
I'll probably skip tomorrow and head out the following Saturday. I'll post back here afterwards

I have my second parkrun tomorrow :) well third actually but I marshalled last week.

Looking forward to it but nervous too... Have done a few runs since the last one. Don't care if I beat my time I just want to run it all again without stopping!

I bought a dryfit running jacket yesterday so I am totally prepared :)

[Sad] I've done 2 runs since park run last weekend. I had a slight niggle in my knee right at the end of my last run (couldn't even call it a pain) but today it aches and I get a sharp pain at the top of my kneecap going up or down stairs. I've booked an appointment with a physio for a week on Tuesday but guess I need to rest my knee till then. I could cry! I was just starting to really enjoy my runs.

Enjoy Johnny5isAlive!

Hope everyone else has a lovely parkrun, I will be thinking of you all!

It's currently raining. It's going to be muddy tomorrow :(

Mud is good tigga

See you in the morning feet sorry I will not be in costume - it has been one of those weeks

Hope the rain stops - it was such a lovely day last year for your inaugural!

and the chat reminds me, where on earth is my barcode? I have volunteered so often lately that I don't know where it is!