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Apr 2019
4:06pm, 29 Apr 2019
27,488 posts
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LindsD
PS we've been 'requiring' our back-up timers to install an app since day 1. Admittedly, it's usually the same people that do the job, or they borrow a phone that has the app, but still.
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Apr 2019
4:27pm, 29 Apr 2019
6,078 posts
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Jovi Runner
Given parkrun is supposed to be free for all time and completely accessible to all I personally don't think there should be an obligation to have a smartphone with a barcode on it or for using it for scanning. I certainly wouldn't have wanted to use my expensive smartphone standing outside for over an hour scanning people in yesterday's downpour. If parkrun want to provide every event with a snazzy smartphone that can do this all well and good but I'm personally not keen on using mine.
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Apr 2019
4:28pm, 29 Apr 2019
1,610 posts
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Will_Uyuni
Well my 14 year old daughter is a DofE volunteer every week now for a good few months and she is definitely in the old phone with no storage and absolutely no data camp (PAYG). I certainly won't be paying for her to volunteer which is what "app only" amounts to. She already can't marshall or tail as not old enough so her not being able to scan would reduce the number of available roles still further.
Rather a niche set of circumstances I grant you but it seems like a forced solution to a problem that doesn't really exist
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Apr 2019
4:33pm, 29 Apr 2019
16,551 posts
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Chrisity
Some of us don't have phones, what would we do?
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Apr 2019
4:34pm, 29 Apr 2019
4,960 posts
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Metro_Nome
To go back to Crisity's post a few pages back: "We always have someone writing down numbers for people whose barcodes don't scan, saves a lot of time messing about trying to get some to scan. If you are a regular who has forgotten their piece of paper but know your barcode they usually accept it, after all if you have a finishing token what is the problem unless you try to do that each week?"
The potential harm in this is exactly the type of situation that kicked off this whole discussion. One of those people then visits another parkrun which does obey the rules and won't manually input their barcode even though they remembered their number. They get upset and say "but my home parkrun does it" and add extra pressure to the volunteer. If they've always been told no before, this situation much less likely to arise.
Also it may work at your parkrun, but imagine the time it takes somewhere like Bushy where they have potentially hundreds of results to input manually
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Apr 2019
4:54pm, 29 Apr 2019
2,077 posts
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TomahawkMike
Metro_nome, yep, the rule is simple and everyone should follow it to avoid the burden on volunteers .
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Apr 2019
4:55pm, 29 Apr 2019
6 posts
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Neal
I went to a parkrun a couple of months ago where the briefing included the fact that if anyone had forgotten their barcode, they shouldn't worry, the people writing down the unscannables would take their name and the results processor would do their best to find their number and give them a time...
If a runner gets used to hearing that, is it any surprise that when they go to another parkrun and forget their barcode they expect the organisers to look after them?
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Apr 2019
5:03pm, 29 Apr 2019
26,535 posts
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LazyDaisy
There is No Way that's going to happen at a parkrun with 500 runners - not unless the RD wants to spend all day slaving over a hot laptop! In fact, if people come to me with a sodden, sweaty piece of paper which won't scan I have been known to say to them 'I'll put that in the bin for you, it'll never scan again, you'll need to print it out afresh'.
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Apr 2019
5:04pm, 29 Apr 2019
7 posts
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Neal
And I saw what seemed a more reasonable way to break the "no exceptions" rule last year: first time parkrunner at a small parkrun got his phone out with the barcode, scanner person turned him away and a member of the core team explained the way things worked, and made a point of saying he was breaking the rules, but would write down the runners details just this once, saying that as it was such a small parkrun the runner would be remembered.
Leaves the runner feeling that the team are going out of their way to be helpful, and that breaking the rules doesn't normally happen.
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Apr 2019
11:36am, 30 Apr 2019
74 posts
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JJJ
Data use from Virtual Volunteer - it's one email with a small data file so hardly uses any data. Can also be bluetoothed or plug a wire between phone and laptop.
Airplane mode is neccesary because if you get a phone call in the middle of timing the call interrupts the timing!
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parkrun Café
Dec 2024