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Dec 2017
1:19pm, 7 Dec 2017
3,500 posts
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larkim
Good to see you dipping in over here Tim - you'll find plenty to keep you interested on this thread and other ones!
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Dec 2017
1:21pm, 7 Dec 2017
226 posts
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Dowse
Worcester attracts some very fast runners (including a junior that holds the parkrun record I think). I would normally expect to finish inside top 10 at a run that size, but my best was 13th with an 18:41. It is very flat, the only negatives are the three 180 degree turns and the sections on gravel/grass. I do suspect the course is a little short, not massively though.
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Dec 2017
1:41pm, 7 Dec 2017
6,136 posts
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The_Saint
Obviously you have to exercise caution with statements based on GPS but there does seem to be a congregation of values around 3.0 miles but when you zoom in there are a lot of trees. However 180 turns have that problem of magnifying a problem by two if they are in the wrong place.
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Dec 2017
1:53pm, 7 Dec 2017
2 posts
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timgrose
The thing with Worcester Pitchcroft and this analysis is that it is suggesting runners can do relatively much better there compared to road races than in any other parkrun. That could be still the case if say the course was well over 5K but all downhill with a following wind! A short course is a possible reason why things are coming out as they are of course. There was a similar discussion about Fulham Palace a while back. Hugh Jones went and measured it "properly" and, sure enough, some distance was added although perhaps not as much some GPS traces had indicated. Anyway the point was that the GPS traces pointed to a possible problem.
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Dec 2017
1:59pm, 7 Dec 2017
6,785 posts
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Ceratonia
On the subject of slow courses, Millom had only one runner under 30 minutes a fortnight ago ("winning" with a time of 29:36), and only one under 28 minutes on the most recent run. Earlier in November, the first lady had a time of 39 minutes.
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Dec 2017
2:01pm, 7 Dec 2017
6,786 posts
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Ceratonia
The data would seem to strongly suggest that Worcester is short - it's such a huge outlier relatively to hundreds of other courses clustered together.
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Dec 2017
2:03pm, 7 Dec 2017
6,137 posts
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The_Saint
Agreed, the main problem with GPS from my observations is user error e.g. a real conversation.
Punter : "This course is long on my watch"
Me: Did you stop your watch when you went over the finish line?
Punter: "No - would that matter?"
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Dec 2017
7:00pm, 7 Dec 2017
3,379 posts
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57.5 Degrees of Pain
There is also the issue of alternative courses. Many are deliberately long and by definition often used when conditions are poor. The two highest SSS parkruns I have done were both long alternates (due to flooding) and in awful weather. Those regular courses are quite benign. This may of course be more of a factor in the west of Scotland than in calmer weather areas.
Victoria (Glasgow) is another with a reputation for being short that appears high in the list. It would be a quick course but is tricky to run fast with the numbers they get now.
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Dec 2017
7:11pm, 8 Dec 2017
5,198 posts
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Jovi Runner
Im celebrating my parkrun 10 year anniversary tomorrow. Down in that there London town for the weekend so will be going to Highbury Fields.
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Dec 2017
9:51pm, 8 Dec 2017
289 posts
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Mr J
Well done Jovi
I am running my 400th parkrun at Stratford Upon Avon.
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parkrun Café
Dec 2024