parkrun thread
18 lurkers |
507 watchers
Jan 2018
11:05am, 31 Jan 2018
3,815 posts
|
larkim
I can fully understand someone who had got into the habit of taking a Saturday morning stroll at 9:15am on a particular route being peeved that all these runners suddenly turn up, but I agree with LD - peeved but tolerant is fine, but enough people seem to just want to make trouble on the basis of entitlement. The victim of its own success point is a huge risk to parkrun and does put the pressure on to find new venues or expand the number of local events when space starts to become an issue. I presume at the initial stage there is a view formed in terms of capacity of a venue so that there is a minimum threshold which needs to be catered for - but when local demand exceeds that capacity it does become an issue. I suppose there's a bit of natural selection that happens - runners choose not to run certain parkruns because they are too crowded etc - but that won't always be the answer. |
Jan 2018
11:36am, 31 Jan 2018
391 posts
|
Nessie
On the dry mouth at the start of a race/run, I found chewing a piece of gum keeps the saliva flowing just enough to get over that.
|
Jan 2018
11:59am, 31 Jan 2018
21,321 posts
|
LazyDaisy
I don't know larkim, when we started our parkrun we didn't think numbers would ever go above 150 'on a good day' 
|
Jan 2018
12:02pm, 31 Jan 2018
63,058 posts
|
Gobi
Ld - i am selective, there are places I just won't go back too
|
Jan 2018
12:04pm, 31 Jan 2018
2,398 posts
|
jdarun
I don't really understand the "victim of its own success" worries. At least, I suppose I do understand them, but disagree profoundly. The idea that lots of people wanting to go running in an organised fashion will mean...that....um...organised runs are cancelled all over the place? Does. Not. Compute. Much more likely, there will be more runs, variety of time and place and type....or else perhaps it will just naturally go out of fashion and the numbers will drop. |
|
Jan 2018
12:13pm, 31 Jan 2018
3,820 posts
|
larkim
I suppose I'm just thinking that a rapid and unexpected growth (either from the start, or at a later date) can push a run beyond its capacity - and if all other localities have been explored and rejected it might end up in a situation where the landowner simply has to say "this is no longer safe or sustainable - unless you can reduce the numbers, we have to withdraw our permission". I do think natural selection works in most cases - people visit, decide its too busy for them and find an alternative. And in many cases that results in new parkruns starting up in the same locality which reduces the pressure. |
|
Jan 2018
12:28pm, 31 Jan 2018
63,059 posts
|
Gobi
JD - some runs have got way too big for themselves and the local areas do not support more events. Add to that many runners wont move as they are territorial. I sometimes trot through the field if on a long run and you hear people of all abilities getting agitated at points about crowds, people standing in the wrong place. Flame me now - runners are not saints, we like to blame the cyclists the dog walkers the..... well anyone but ourselves. Many parkruns if they were real races would be capped with no entry on the day. |
Jan 2018
12:46pm, 31 Jan 2018
7,594 posts
|
becca7
These were points that I was making a few weeks back. fetcheveryone.com/forum__26887__2328__parkrun_thread
|
Jan 2018
12:57pm, 31 Jan 2018
15,352 posts
|
Dvorak
Good points, Gobi. I feel that for example the Glasgow ones are quite territorial. The two busiest ones at Pollok and Victoria can feel a bit crowded (and have car parking issues, albeit ones easily solved by parking a bit further away)* whereas Ruchill, Springburn and Tollcross could easily absorb another 300 runners a week across them. Thinking back to the start of Falkirk, I think we reckoned on getting a bit less than Strathclyde once established ie 100-150. Several years on it is typically 200-250 (sometimes more) whilst Strathclyde is 200-300. In a field of 277 (I was is the final quarter) at Christmas I briefly, and oddly felt claustrophobic at one point in the woods, surrounded by runners. I've heard similar from others, so I think upwards of 250 is around where Falkirk starts having runners self-select out. There is a new nearest parkrun now, but it is a rather different beast and has also been plagued by cancellations thus far, so one can't tell what effect it will have on numbers. *although at Pollok you then run the risk of being run over by parkrunners driving from the event. |
|
Jan 2018
12:59pm, 31 Jan 2018
3,822 posts
|
larkim
It'll surprise Gobi but I think he's spot on there on all counts!
|
Related Threads
-
parkrun Café
Jan 2025
-
Let's talk about inaugural parkruns after they've happened.
Jan 2025
-
Cambridge Parkrun
Dec 2024
-
Fake parkrun thread
Sep 2024
-
New parkruns
Jun 2024
-
Leamington Parkrun
Jun 2024
-
Australian parkruns
Jun 2024
-
parkrun pacing events
Jun 2024
-
Where is there a parkrun with caravan site nearby?
May 2024
-
Yorkshire parkrun gatherings
Mar 2024
