Reality Rules Parkrun Launch 3 October 2026

[IwantToRetire]

Today was another Parkrun Saturday and like every weekend the achievements by women was demoted by men running in the female category.

We are hoping to change this! In only a few weeks time, we will debut Reality Rules Runners UK at Parkrun. We hope that many hundreds (hopefully thousands) of you will join us to send a clear and strong statement to Parkrun about the huge support there is for fairness and sex-based categories at their events.

All sports events are responsible for putting on fair events. This includes free, volunteer run, community events like Parkrun.

So please tell people about Reality Rules Runners UK, as we are hoping to attract lots more supporters before our debut at Parkrun on 3 October.

Thank you! 🙏

https://realityrulesrunnersuk.substack.com/p/another-parkrun-down-only-a-few-weeks

Came across this by chance, so dont know more than this!

They are also on X for anyone on X https://x.com/RRRunnersUK

ParkRun could switch to an ‘open’ and ‘female’ category system (same as cycling) and set the clear expectation that the female category is for biological females only.

As noted, ParkRun sets rules (eg around age categories, PEDs) but does not have any way of enforcing them. That’s fine - no one expects a free, volunteer-run, organisation to have an enforcement system, appeals system etc. it’s about setting the rules and expectations and hoping that people do the decent thing and abide by them.

ParkRun isn’t a running club, it’s an event series. Lots of clubs run at ParkRun, and from the scant information provided this new one intends to too.

But parkrun very blatantly aren't prioritising inclusivity over competition. They are just prioritising men over women. I

n sport, women who identify as trans have the choice of taking testosterone and being uncompetitive as men or forgoing hormone treatment and competing as women., but somehow these options are not acceptable for men. (Which tells you everything you need to know about who is being treated as a woman and who is being treated as a man. Can't damage that male ego).

If they wanted to prioritise inclusivity parkrun could provide the results in a different way, but they clearly don't want to lose the very competitive men who take part in parkrun.

When a man is first female finisher every week everyone knows what is going on. Running speed is very outing. All that is happening is that male pride is being prioritised over female inclusion. (No change there then).

When you allow men to compete in the women's category it makes a mockery of women's participation in sport. You are saying that the category does not exist because women have different physiology and are just as entitled to take part in competitive sport as men, but because it is an afterthought and a concession to the silly ladies and their silly idea that women's sport is as important as men's sport. There is nothing inclusive about this what so ever.

You know how transactivists behave at protests.

And so women should just not have rights? They should put up with discriminatory practices?

On this subject, lots of middle ground suggestions have been made - additional gender categories, an open category, dropping the public sharing of individual results.

but just feel that parkrun is perhaps a place where making everyone feel welcome is the most important.

They aren't making everyone feel welcome though. They are making people in their tribe feel welcome. Which is fine, but not when they receive extensive public funding, both financially and in kind.

But ... your solution is for women to concede to men.

How is that the middle ground? Why is it that women coming in second, putting men first, is always the default?

What ‘purity spiral’ are you seeing here when you have a bunch of women saying ‘no, don’t give up on women’s rights because men are making threats and bullying’.

Is that a purity spiral?

It's not a purity spiral to say that women's rights are for women, and not for men.

If women's rights include men, they don't exist.

I don't feel empathy for everyone else, I have to admit.

I feel empathy for people whose predicament I feel worthy of empathy.

Cheaters, predators, liars - no, I don't feel empathy for them. Do you think that I should?

There is no middle ground, a category for women is for women, letting men compete in it stops it being a category for women.

There's no middle ground. You can either support women's right to have their own category or you do away with women's right to have their own category, there is no middle ground.
Just because 'trans' people might feel they're being excluded doesn't mean they are, you can't appease people who are factually wrong, there is no middle ground.

Anyone trying to make a case for there being one is just going to tie themselves into knots because you can't just create middle ground where it is not possible to have any.

Agree.

If you don’t like the way Parkrun is done, don’t participate. No one is forcing you or anyone else to be involved. Plenty of things take place in public spaces that I have no interest in, so I just go about my day. No dramas.

Just the little of matter of unlawful discrimination against women.

What other kinds of unlawful discrimination should we put up with in publicly funded spaces?

As a white person I'm not affected in any way by racism, so I'll just go on with my day and pay no attention to anyone who is being discriminated against because of their colour. No interest, No drama. Not for me.
As someone who has no kids, kids being abused has no effect on me whatsoever, so I'll just go about my day. No interest, No drama. Not for me
The list could go on and on,

Advocating for a ‘middle ground’ here indicates that you think both sides have a reasonable point.

But that’s blatantly not the case. Why would it ever be okay for men to take part in women’s sex specific categories? That’s a completely unreasonable ask.

In cases like this, they should just be told no.

I really came on here mainly to explain the mechanics of the protest. If you feel strongly then you could join it. They have a substack and a twitter account you can follow for full instructions for the week of 3rd October. I’ve been thinking to myself whether people who feel strongly the other way could or should make their own parkrun running group to counter it. I do think it is hard to come up with reasoned arguments to support self identity into gender catagories without taking into account feelings. If you do away with catagories altogether then only young men can compare their performances really.

I wouldn’t want to be run director if a protesting group turned up to my event which ever side of the issue they were protesting against.

It’s not a race, it’s simply for fun, people are taking it way too seriously! Perhaps they could add a trans category but as you self certify for parkrun you can just lie about sex anyway. The only person who you are cheating is yourself!

I managed to knock 15 minutes off my time from starting running until covid thwarted my progress, nothing to do with anyone else but me. I really should return to it!

Out of interest, how would you feel about a 20 year old registering as a 7 year old and running in junior ParkRun?

So as TIMs don’t show any empathy to women, they are not decent human beings? Why are you not telling TIM to have empathy for women? Why should women “be the bigger person”?

If I were in a trans community forum then I would be making that argument. Good luck to me though, I think they would pile on me harder than you guys have if I said the same things as I have been saying here. I did once say something on a public forum to defend the ‘Get the L out ‘ lesbians at pride. Something along the lines of ‘Why do they feel they need to do this - there must be some reason, they are feeling excluded from pride’. It wasn’t pretty.

I don't understand what would be wrong with a Female (biological sex) category and an Open category.

@CroatiaSailing , is there a good reason why you don't think that includes, everyone in a way that is fair and easy to understand? Genuine question.

So therefore demonstrating why a lot of women do not show empathy when it comes to TIM. Maybe women are just “matching the energy”. The days of #bekind are over thanks to the bullying tactics shown by the “trans community”, they only have themselves to blame. If this makes some men sad “too bad, so sad, never mind” as they say.

If it helps, women's protests tend to involve embroidered banners, sometimes T shirts, and occasionally a bit of singing. The worst you might expect is someone a bit flat or tremulous on the high notes.

Trans activists protests ... yes, I can imagine being scared of those.

But you aren’t, are you?

You're here. Telling women that they need to give their rights up to men who are bullying them.

Not only that, but telling us we should feel empathy towards these men (though these men have shown not a single shred of empathy in the other direction).

How about we just say … your demands are completely unreasonable, so the answers no.

What’s wrong with that?

I do think it is hard to come up with reasoned arguments to support self identity into gender catagories without taking into account feelings.

That's because there are no reasoned arguments to prioritise men over women. It's as simple as that.

@Rollingpinofdoom OK, but I am not stereotyping all trans people as being like that. I know not all gender critical women are like it as I am one myself.

@AimsAndObjectives from my point of view there would be nothing wrong with that. I can understand though that some trans people don’t want be outed and feel strongly that they want to be recognised by their self identified gender and they believe in gender ideology so would feel unwelcome in this scenario.