Discussion
mfmman said:
Thanks, although the climb is three times not twice I'll have you know!
(says he, contradicting the guy with sub 19m times
)
Ha! I couldn't remember how many laps the course is as I last ran it 3 years ago. Painful memories have tricked me into believing it was fewer times than reality! (says he, contradicting the guy with sub 19m times
)
We'll take your word for it as the most recent victim to go "Up Pomphrey" as the locals say.
RC1807 said:
I did only my 2nd ParkRun on Satuday, as they don't exist in Luxembourg.
I joined the one in Poole and was surprised to see in my notification email later that day that 709 people took part in Poole on Saturday morning!
Poole is generally number 2 or 3 in the country each week on an attendance basis. Bushy is normally 1 with Poole and Southampton swapping places for 2nd or 3rd after that.I joined the one in Poole and was surprised to see in my notification email later that day that 709 people took part in Poole on Saturday morning!
I move to the Netherlands next week, emailed parkrun HQ to see if anyone has looked at starting them over there and if so could they put me in touch with them, but it seems it's not on the plan at the moment, although it is somewhere they'd like to start in the future.
I'm on 226 at the moment, looks like it'll be a long time to my next t-shirt
I'm on 226 at the moment, looks like it'll be a long time to my next t-shirt
RizzoTheRat said:
I move to the Netherlands next week, emailed parkrun HQ to see if anyone has looked at starting them over there and if so could they put me in touch with them, but it seems it's not on the plan at the moment, although it is somewhere they'd like to start in the future.
It's strange, to me at least, where there are parkruns abroad and where there aren't. Typically, it's countries where there are loads of British ex-pats which trigger international events to launch. I was in Hong Kong quite recently, where there's a huge running movement and more British ex-pats than you could shake a stick at, but no parkrun...I took a friend of mine, who now lives in Tokyo, with me to a parkrun whilst he was visiting the UK and he loved the concept. I'm trying to push him to get involved in the early talks of parkrun Japan.
I believe that due to the costs involved in going into a new country they focus on ones where there is the potential for lots of events/interest to set them up in a short space of time and an interest in the natives to attend them i.e. Germany.
For example, France has a handful of events and some of them struggle to break double digits let alone three digits which is potentially not a good return on investment (for want of a better term). Whilst the ex-pats set them up in France, the natives are seemingly not interested in going and the number of events in France hasn't mushroomed like the UK.
All you can do is email HQ and add your name to the list of people who are interested in setting up an event so when the time comes they have plenty of people to contact.
For example, France has a handful of events and some of them struggle to break double digits let alone three digits which is potentially not a good return on investment (for want of a better term). Whilst the ex-pats set them up in France, the natives are seemingly not interested in going and the number of events in France hasn't mushroomed like the UK.
All you can do is email HQ and add your name to the list of people who are interested in setting up an event so when the time comes they have plenty of people to contact.
Edited by KTF on Tuesday 24th July 11:58
Yeah, I replied to say feel free to keep my e-mail on file and let me know if it's coming and I can help. In the mean time I'll just have to try and do a tourist parkrun once a month or so.
Agree about France, about half the people at the Paris one we did were British tourists, and I think there were about 9 of us running a the one we did in Bordeaux. Dunno how much it costs to set up a new one but it's a significant investment in time from a lot of people, let alone the equipment costs.
Agree about France, about half the people at the Paris one we did were British tourists, and I think there were about 9 of us running a the one we did in Bordeaux. Dunno how much it costs to set up a new one but it's a significant investment in time from a lot of people, let alone the equipment costs.
In the UK its £3k (+ the cost of an AED if you dont have one close to the event) which is raised via donations from local businesses, running clubs, etc.
The non-HQ time aspect is free as you have the event team on the ground dealing with raising the money, collecting the details to get the event off the ground. Sitting above them is a parkrun ambassador who oversees the activation process, gives advice to the event team and is the liaison between the event team and HQ.
Some events can activate in months, others rumble on for years with no real progress, it all depends on the enthusiasm of the person who wants to set one up.
I dont know how much it costs to setup an overseas event but they are looking to reduce it as much as possible. This is why all the German events use the parkrun app for timekeeping and scanning as it saves HQ the cost of sending out stopwatches, scanners and laptops (the app sends the results to the events mailbox then you upload them to webfms instead of pulling the data from the devices) plus the logistics of dealing with broken ones, etc. I believe this model will be used for all new country events with the (very) long term aim to wean existing events off the physical stopwatches and scanners.
The non-HQ time aspect is free as you have the event team on the ground dealing with raising the money, collecting the details to get the event off the ground. Sitting above them is a parkrun ambassador who oversees the activation process, gives advice to the event team and is the liaison between the event team and HQ.
Some events can activate in months, others rumble on for years with no real progress, it all depends on the enthusiasm of the person who wants to set one up.
I dont know how much it costs to setup an overseas event but they are looking to reduce it as much as possible. This is why all the German events use the parkrun app for timekeeping and scanning as it saves HQ the cost of sending out stopwatches, scanners and laptops (the app sends the results to the events mailbox then you upload them to webfms instead of pulling the data from the devices) plus the logistics of dealing with broken ones, etc. I believe this model will be used for all new country events with the (very) long term aim to wean existing events off the physical stopwatches and scanners.
Edited by KTF on Tuesday 24th July 14:12
KTF said:
I dont know how much it costs to setup an overseas event but they are looking to reduce it as much as possible. This is why all the German events use the parkrun app for timekeeping and scanning
Ah, I did Frankfurt (Nidda) at the weekend and noticed they were apparently more teched up than the average UK event. That explains it! Thanks!
The total cost UK to set up an event used to be quoted as £6k, 3 raised locally and 3 paid by HQ, for a new country there must be a lot of stuff to be done before you get as far as setting up an event - sponsors, insurance, country manager, translating websites and instructions and issues like how to avoid needing French race health certificates.
HQ only have a small staff so don't have the time to work on lots of countries at once.
HQ only have a small staff so don't have the time to work on lots of countries at once.
As an ED, if I thought an event would attract less than 20 runners, there's no way I'd start it. It's stressful trying to find volunteers every week and the bigger the runner pool, the easier it is. A central tenet (albeit unwritten) is that if a parkrun works, it works. If it's proving really hard to start, something's not right with the basics, be it location, local desire, or enthusiasm of a core group to get it going. Sometimes you need to step back and see if your idea is really the best one, or if you need to change it up somehow.
Then there's the value consideration - the cost of the kit is the same (excepting the very big events that need multiples of stuff), so if you can focus energy on starting events that will grow into the 100's instead of the 10's, then from a worldwide perspective, you're getting more people out of the door, talking, building a community and having a jolly old time.
Then there's the value consideration - the cost of the kit is the same (excepting the very big events that need multiples of stuff), so if you can focus energy on starting events that will grow into the 100's instead of the 10's, then from a worldwide perspective, you're getting more people out of the door, talking, building a community and having a jolly old time.
Smitters said:
Stuff
I don't disagree with what you're saying, but it's difficult to measure.I've set up and been ED at 2 events, one started at 200, is now 500 and the other has always been around 35, so a bit above your suggested 20 but still small.
Agree that you're getting vols from a smaller pool, but you need less vols - fortunately the route is very easy at the small event so doesn't need lots of marshals so Taily, RD, Timer, Tokens, Scanner is about it and a fast runner will often scan.
It's small due to a combination of being in the middle of council estates and off road and hilly+, whether it's worth the investment is difficult to know, but I do know 3 stories from the small group of regulars where parkrun has had a very positive effect (helping with things like mental health, post addiction, autism) which as value for money for the council who part funded is a bargain...obviously there will be people at the big event who have had the same things and there it's a absolutely massive bargain!
It is nice at a small event where everyone talks to each other, when there are hundreds it becomes less personal.
It's difficult to know before you set it up how many people you'll get - apparently in Ireland some events they thought would be big aren't and some expected to be small are big because in a small place there's nothing else happening so the whole town turns up to run, vol, watch, drink coffee.
+I don't see why people don't want to do off road and hilly, it's much more interesting/beautiful/good training than up and down the prom or round a football pitch!
Latest episode of the With Me Now podcast now available.
I've got to admit that I like it more than I was expecting to whilst not being a fan of the original parkrun show, which I found quite inaccessible back in the day.
Comparing With Me Now against Free Weekly Timed, I think there's room for both. I've found listening to both in quick succession of each other subtly highlights their different agendas, with Free Weekly Timed definitely sounding like it's had the official stamp of approval from parkrun, despite being unofficial.
I'm enjoying the more free-flow nature of With Me Now, where it can be as long as it needs/wants to be, whereas the 29 minute nature of Free Weekly Timed usually means it's warming down just as its getting into its stride.
I've got to admit that I like it more than I was expecting to whilst not being a fan of the original parkrun show, which I found quite inaccessible back in the day.
Comparing With Me Now against Free Weekly Timed, I think there's room for both. I've found listening to both in quick succession of each other subtly highlights their different agendas, with Free Weekly Timed definitely sounding like it's had the official stamp of approval from parkrun, despite being unofficial.
I'm enjoying the more free-flow nature of With Me Now, where it can be as long as it needs/wants to be, whereas the 29 minute nature of Free Weekly Timed usually means it's warming down just as its getting into its stride.
Jimboka said:
I did my 100th 3 or 4 weeks ago. What is the procedure to get my Tee shirt please?! No email yet
Have you looked at the "club progress" link in your profile? It used to be done though there but I'm not sure if you have to wait for the e-mail now as they had a bit of a backlog with the change of sponsor.john2443 said:
Smitters said:
Stuff
More stuff.Pacing a mate to a hopeful PB (sub 22, mine's 20.3x sans buggy) on Saturday. I'm pushing a buggy on an offroad course. What could possibly go wrong, aside from my vomiting on my sons head at 4km four? I'll report back next week.
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