Let's talk about inaugural parkruns after they've happened.
314 watchers
May 2018
6:33pm, 10 May 2018
First-time poster!!
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appleby
I am concerned about the complete lack of environmental awareness parkrun seems to have. parkrun seems to actively promote tourism, e.g various sites on facebook and individual events often advertising on nearby events (hence touring) when there own event is cancelled without any thought about the environmental impact this may have. It is very rare that on the tourism sites and on individual parkrun pages that anything about getting to and from parkun sustainably is mentioned. Instead people, en masse seem to travel by car to parkruns, which are often 30-40 miles+ away. Some people also seem to fly internationally just to take part in parkruns - I dread to think of the co2 emissions that results from this. Don't get me wrong, I am not challenging people who are holiday and choose to take part in their nearest parkrun, it is the people who often travel by car by themselves, frequently on round trips of 100+ miles, who do not give any thought to the environmental impact they may be having who need to show more consideration. Why not take the train etc...? I also think parkrun needs to take much more responsibility in promoting sustainable travel to and from parkruns, as so many people, without consideration (yes I know there are exceptions) drive to their local parkrun, which os often only a 5-20 min jog away. |
May 2018
6:54pm, 10 May 2018
34,046 posts
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Hills of Death (HOD)
I have an hour rule I don’t travel more than an hour to a parkrun by car. If I’m going football in London I’ll do one on morning before kick off going on train. Best to run to them St Neots will be 0.8miles to start 😉
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May 2018
7:34pm, 10 May 2018
1,314 posts
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TomahawkMike
The more parkruns the better...
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May 2018
8:09pm, 10 May 2018
1,643 posts
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Sigh
Welcome appleby  My nearest parkrun is 7 miles away, I've cycled there on a few occasions, and many folks do run or cycle there. The course page also says: "Please, wherever possible walk, jog, cycle or use public transport when attending the event. If you do have to drive, please consider car-sharing to reduce our impact on both the environment and other park users. Please also watch out for other park users when arriving and leaving. Parking may be limited so try to arrive early." parkrun.org.uk |
May 2018
8:19pm, 10 May 2018
16,025 posts
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Dvorak
More responsibility in promoting sustainable travel to and from parkruns, appleby? What about the statement on all the parkrun course pages "Please, wherever possible walk, jog, cycle or use public transport when attending the event. If you do have to drive, please consider car-sharing to reduce our impact on both the environment and other park users". Actually, whilst there may be a debate about it to be had, I think it is a bit of a "motes and beams question" for example compare the impact of everyone who attended parkrun in the UK on a given Saturday against people going to just one shopping centre like Westfield or the Trafford Centre that same day. And, given that you appear to have joined Fetch just to raise this point, it has a whiff of trolling, which I can't be bothered to engage with further. |
May 2018
9:29pm, 10 May 2018
3,631 posts
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Curly45
I think there is as much effort by most people to jog, cycle or take public transport to most parkruns as there is for those people in the rest of their lives. We try to do it where we can, partly because I dont drive, but I know plenty of peeps who drive 1.5 miles to their nearest parkrun as they would their local shops. It is not parkrun's job to deal with this country's car culture and I think they do good work where they can (very good transport/run directions to most parkruns). Bedfont is trying to nudge people into cycling: facebook.com I am sure others do the same. I cant remember where I saw it, but I am fairly sure that most parkrunners do their local one and dont tourist around. That is the one they have registered as their "home" run. |
May 2018
9:35pm, 10 May 2018
14,516 posts
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northernslowcoach
I almost always travel by public transport to parkruns around me And there’s a few I haven’t done yet as I can’t get there by train/bus But I am happy to get a lift if offered
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May 2018
9:20am, 11 May 2018
4,029 posts
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WildeRover
Interestingly, in my experience it seems to be a fairly common theme on tourist discussions regarding which parkruns are do-able by public transport. Certain parkruns are tourist hotspots compared to others in an area because of their public transport links. I know that my home parkrun gets far less tourism than the other one in our city because one is within walking distance of the station...and ours, well it takes a lot of planning to get there by public transport. Also, a lot of tourists don't just travel to a parkrun, turn round and come back again. They combine their tourism with a general visit to that destination. Many of these people would have been doing day trips or weekends away anyway - it is just that parkrun helps them decide on a destination, or is incorporated around their visit. For example, I know of quite a few football fans who have run up a lot of tourism combined with their normal travel to away games. There are also a lot of people that combine their trip to their local parkrun with other errands that they would have been travelling for anyway. Find any parkrun located by a supermarket and you will see a contingent of slightly sweaty lycra clad shoppers at just after 10 on a Saturday morning. Are some journeys made unnecessarily just to visit another parkrun? Yes Could more people make the effort to get to their local parkrun in more sustainable ways? Yes Without parkrun would said people be making alternate unsustainable journeys anyway? For quite a few of them, probably So parkrun could be greener, but I don't accept that it is anywhere near as black as you paint. |
May 2018
10:23am, 11 May 2018
2,845 posts
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Eynsham Red
Parkrun is a health promoting event and yes tourism will increase the carbon footprint, but when compared against the numbers of people who travel some distance to watch sporting events mid-week and at weekends, or will fly abroad to get blitzed out of their skulls on stag/hen parties, I suspect parkrun footprint is negligible.
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May 2018
10:40am, 11 May 2018
19,322 posts
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fetcheveryone
I think it's tourism first, parkrun second. I've done 10 non-home parkruns, and they've all been as a result of some other reason for the trip. And whilst I don't doubt that there have been people who've taken international flights and then gone to a parkrun, and possibly even decided their destination based on having a nearby run to attend, it's hard to believe that anyone has flown hundreds of miles purely and simply to run for half an hour. On the other hand, people have definitely flown places in order to cheat at Conquercise. Fact. |
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