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Comments Disabled said:
Completed my first ever Parkrun yesterday - 4 and a half years after first registering!
I did turn up to one in January, only to find it cancelled due to ice.
Glad I finally did it, great atmosphere and impressed by how well organised it was.
Well done on your first parkrun. They are incredibly well organised and you'll find this consistently whichever event you go to.I did turn up to one in January, only to find it cancelled due to ice.
Glad I finally did it, great atmosphere and impressed by how well organised it was.
I had to pop into work on Saturday morning so I made it worth my while and went to Sheffield to do Hillsbrough parkrun. It was my 148th parkrun and my 50th different event, which in elite parkrun circles would be known as a 'half Cowell'.
When I first started parkrunning I never thought I'd do so many, but those numbers are still modest compared to many. It's noticeable now how much busier runs are these days and how many milestone t-shirts you see at each event.
I've found another motivational tool in my 5k app. It shows my average time as 26:16 and now I want to try and keep on the positive side of it. I failed by a couple of seconds on Saturday with a time of 26:18! Tough course though and I probably overperformed slightly for my current level of fitness, it was my least favourite type of course - 3 laps with a sneaky hill which feels gentle on the first ascent so you attack it twice and then really suffer on the last run. Nice park and people though.
resolve10 said:
I've found another motivational tool in my 5k app. It shows my average time as 26:16 and now I want to try and keep on the positive side of it. I failed by a couple of seconds on Saturday with a time of 26:18! Tough course though and I probably overperformed slightly for my current level of fitness, it was my least favourite type of course - 3 laps with a sneaky hill which feels gentle on the first ascent so you attack it twice and then really suffer on the last run. Nice park and people though.
We have someone who has tailwalked a couple of times but not scanned as she doesn't want to reduce her average time 
We had our 4th biggest turnout on Saturday, which was something of a surprise as the bigger ones have always been when big localish races have been on. 221 isn't a huge field for many parkruns but when we've been getting 80 or 90 over the winter it felt very busy. May have to rejig our finish funnel a bit. We're not supposed to put stakes in the ground so thinking of getting some freestanding posts so we can use tape instead of just cones to encourage people to actually stay in the funnel. We even had one person went round the back of the timer rather than through the 2 very obvious orange cones that mark the finish line.
Nice weather for it though, especially as I was in horizontal snow in Helsinki the day before
Managed to get another PB on my #13 park run on Saturday. 26:10 sec.
Usual large turnout with 610 runners.
I was right with the 26min pacer for almost the last 1/2 of the course. He was great. Shouting out pace and distance to go.. But alas, the last 500m are all up hill and i couldn't maintain pace.
Maybe next time
Usual large turnout with 610 runners.
I was right with the 26min pacer for almost the last 1/2 of the course. He was great. Shouting out pace and distance to go.. But alas, the last 500m are all up hill and i couldn't maintain pace.
Maybe next time
RizzoTheRat said:
We have someone who has tailwalked a couple of times but not scanned as she doesn't want to reduce her average time
Haha, I think I'd rather rack up the number of parkruns than worry about the average time! Fair play to her though!zorba_the_greek said:
Managed to get another PB on my #13 park run on Saturday. 26:10 sec.
Nice work. You'd have done it on a flat course no doubt. 
resolve10 said:
RizzoTheRat said:
We have someone who has tailwalked a couple of times but not scanned as she doesn't want to reduce her average time
Haha, I think I'd rather rack up the number of parkruns than worry about the average time! Fair play to her though!Me too, I've tail walked or done slow pacing when I'm injured or the day before a race, don't care what my average is.
Last week I did Victoria Dock, my friend who was scanning said the leader was a long way ahead and went the wrong way (not sure how, there were plenty of marshals and it's a quite straightforward route), the vols shouted to him and instead of going the right way, he swore a lot and stomped off!
john2443 said:
resolve10 said:
RizzoTheRat said:
We have someone who has tailwalked a couple of times but not scanned as she doesn't want to reduce her average time
Haha, I think I'd rather rack up the number of parkruns than worry about the average time! Fair play to her though!Me too, I've tail walked or done slow pacing when I'm injured or the day before a race, don't care what my average is.
Last week I did Victoria Dock, my friend who was scanning said the leader was a long way ahead and went the wrong way (not sure how, there were plenty of marshals and it's a quite straightforward route), the vols shouted to him and instead of going the right way, he swore a lot and stomped off!
What are peoples opinion on people treating parkrun like a race? They need to get the best time etc. I haven’t done one but a few mates were talking about who do them and they said some of the behaviour is a bit off for what should be a fun run as such. Pushing, full race kit super shoes moaning about slow runners etc.
Doesn’t sound fun to me and if you are taking it that seriously pay and do a proper race I think.
It’s kind of even put me off trying a park run.
Doesn’t sound fun to me and if you are taking it that seriously pay and do a proper race I think.
It’s kind of even put me off trying a park run.
keo said:
What are peoples opinion on people treating parkrun like a race? They need to get the best time etc. I haven’t done one but a few mates were talking about who do them and they said some of the behaviour is a bit off for what should be a fun run as such. Pushing, full race kit super shoes moaning about slow runners etc.
Doesn’t sound fun to me and if you are taking it that seriously pay and do a proper race I think.
It’s kind of even put me off trying a parkrun.
If you haven't been, how do you know? Just give it a go. There may be a few people who're over competitive but very few, we don't have a problem with our 600 finishers.Doesn’t sound fun to me and if you are taking it that seriously pay and do a proper race I think.
It’s kind of even put me off trying a parkrun.
keo said:
What are peoples opinion on people treating parkrun like a race? They need to get the best time etc. I haven’t done one but a few mates were talking about who do them and they said some of the behaviour is a bit off for what should be a fun run as such. Pushing, full race kit super shoes moaning about slow runners etc.
Doesn’t sound fun to me and if you are taking it that seriously pay and do a proper race I think.
It’s kind of even put me off trying a park run.
It's a bit like track days in some respects. You'll have people who turn up in fully prepped cars moaning about slower drivers in standard road cars, but it's usually because those drivers aren't used to trackdays and get in the way through poor lines or poor driving, it's rare that the faster driver is just trying to bully people out of the way for no reason. Doesn’t sound fun to me and if you are taking it that seriously pay and do a proper race I think.
It’s kind of even put me off trying a park run.
I see it at almost every parkrun, people running 40 minutes but chatting 3 or 4 abreast on a narrow 3-lap course, or starting very near the front. Sometimes if you're even remotely competitive you'll feel really good on the day and want to push for a good time, and coming across these people can be frustrating.
There are sometimes the odd person who thinks everybody should make way to let them pass, but that's a very rare occurence.
Alex@POD said:
I see it at almost every parkrun, people running 40 minutes but chatting 3 or 4 abreast on a narrow 3-lap course, or starting very near the front. Sometimes if you're even remotely competitive you'll feel really good on the day and want to push for a good time, and coming across these people can be frustrating.
To be fair I've seen that a race. Our local big race day (27k runners so proper organised event) was on a few weeks back, and I saw groups walking 3 or 4 abreast near the start who had started way up the field in both the 5k and 10kparkrun are really pushing the idea that it's about getting people in to running, rather than being about the quick ones, which I think is fair as it's a lot less intimidating than entering a race for a new/slow runner. I can see how that could be frustrating for quicker runners on some courses, ie narrow ones, where quick people might get held up by slower people not thinking about leaving room for people to pass. Then you get some slower people that complain about quicker runners shouting, but to my mind a quick "keep right" to let me know there someone quicker coming up from behind makes perfect sense.
148 parkruns and I've never seen any pushing or shoving.
I don't see a problem using parkrun to push yourself to a PB. It's trickier than it used to be due to higher attendances, but as long as you start in the right part of the pack you should be running similar pace to the people around you.
I do find the 'keep left' a bit entitled and annoying. I've witnessed people shout it where there was ample space to pass anyway but it came across like they just wanted to let everyone around them know they were on the last lap.
I don't see a problem using parkrun to push yourself to a PB. It's trickier than it used to be due to higher attendances, but as long as you start in the right part of the pack you should be running similar pace to the people around you.
I do find the 'keep left' a bit entitled and annoying. I've witnessed people shout it where there was ample space to pass anyway but it came across like they just wanted to let everyone around them know they were on the last lap.
By chance most of the runs near me are 1 lap so there isn't the problem of overtaking "slower" runners. It annoys me a little when someone who is of a slower pace starts in the front row and makes people divert around them, it's just selfish in my opinion. Last week there was a walker who started in the front row and we nearly had a pileup because of it. Yes it's not a race but some common sense has to be used to put yourself roughly where you think your pace would be.
While I agree in principal that it makes sense to start in speed order, if someone slower is going for a PB it makes sense for them to start nearer the front.
I'm currently doing run/walk trying to get fit again after an injury induced layoff, this means I'm finishing around 30-32 minutes, but I'm starting off at about a 25-27 minute pace, and then walking a few minutes later, so people who started slower than me are then needing to overtake, which can also be tricky on a narrower course.
I'm currently doing run/walk trying to get fit again after an injury induced layoff, this means I'm finishing around 30-32 minutes, but I'm starting off at about a 25-27 minute pace, and then walking a few minutes later, so people who started slower than me are then needing to overtake, which can also be tricky on a narrower course.
RizzoTheRat said:
While I agree in principal that it makes sense to start in speed order, if someone slower is going for a PB it makes sense for them to start nearer the front.
I'm strongly of the opinion that parkrun is about participation and encouraging healthy habits. Thousands of people are now runners who wouldn't otherwise have ever thought of lacing up a pair of running shoes. The health and wellbeing benefits are immeasurable.I am aware that one of the main barriers to entry is the perception that parkrun is an event for experienced runners, and people don't want to feel out of place or come last. It's a misconception, because you can look at any particular parkrun result listing for any given week and find that someone probably walked it in 45-50 minutes, which is easily achievable for anyone in good health. Add in a bit of brisk walking or jogging and you're comfortably down to under 40 minutes.
All that said, it still should be for everyone and many people are motivated by improving their performance. It can be hugely frustrating when you start a parkrun and find 2 or 3 friends walking three abreast across a narrow path. It's just about awareness, I've walked a parkrun before but I would always make sure anyone behind me is able to pass easily. You can't really do anything about this issue because any rule would make parkrun feel less accessible.
resolve10 said:
It's just about awareness, I've walked a parkrun before but I would always make sure anyone behind me is able to pass easily. You can't really do anything about this issue because any rule would make parkrun feel less accessible.
To be fair, that's just dealing with people in general, the people walking 3 abreast are the same people who leave their trolley across the aisle while they read a label in the shops...And it goes the other way of course, they are also the same people who think everyone else should make way for them when they're on a fast run...
Just sometimes a general lack of awareness and common sense.
keo said:
What are peoples opinion on people treating parkrun like a race? They need to get the best time etc. I haven’t done one but a few mates were talking about who do them and they said some of the behaviour is a bit off for what should be a fun run as such. Pushing, full race kit super shoes moaning about slow runners etc.
Doesn’t sound fun to me and if you are taking it that seriously pay and do a proper race I think.
It’s kind of even put me off trying a park run.
Don’t let it put you off. 240 parkruns at 35 different events and I’ve never witnessed moaning about slower runners from overly serious participants.Doesn’t sound fun to me and if you are taking it that seriously pay and do a proper race I think.
It’s kind of even put me off trying a park run.
In my experience and what I’ve witnessed amongst my pals who are regulars, when you first start attending, the time is something to help you measure improvement and encourage you to keep coming back to try and beat it, but once they’ve done a few, most people don’t overly concern themselves with PBs and it’s much more about participation, seeing your mates and feeling better for having a bit of exercise.
resolve10 said:
RizzoTheRat said:
We have someone who has tailwalked a couple of times but not scanned as she doesn't want to reduce her average time
Haha, I think I'd rather rack up the number of parkruns than worry about the average time! Fair play to her though!Saturday I was at Loch Neaton parkrun, which going by the name is obviously in mid-Norfolk. A really tough run on wet grass and a strong headwind uphill meant my time wasn't where it should be but the fastest time was over 20 minutes hopefully the conditions explain my time. Oddly on the fastest & slowest parkruns list it's mid-table
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