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Jan 2022
8:02pm, 6 Jan 2022
13,251 posts
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chunkywizard
I looked at the stats for volunteers at Juniors on a blog once and we had something like 1500 volunteers for the team, it’s the same people week in, week out.
By the way, I have 1 of my two marshals. She isn’t exactly a newbie, this will be her 22nd volunteer.
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Jan 2022
9:52pm, 6 Jan 2022
9,195 posts
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BaronessBL
We have had two of our volunteers (same household, regulars & stalwarts one in fact who only volunteers never runs) pull out today because another member of their household has a positive covid test. I had offered to do a vol role that also allowed me to run but I think I'll be doing that and something like tokens or scanning now as well. Suspect many parkruns will have this situation for a few weeks yet.
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Jan 2022
10:19am, 7 Jan 2022
55,831 posts
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Velociraptor
I would have liked a run this weekend but have volunteered to tail walk instead. No halo, because my local event asked me first about volunteering but I'm going somewhere else so that I don't have to do a standing-around role in the rain.
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Jan 2022
10:41am, 7 Jan 2022
1,972 posts
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Looby Loo
I volunteer a lot 64% ratio. Mostly because we do pack up. I was at a different one recently and they went round the gathered before the run with a clipboard asking for volunteers. I thought this was a good way of grabbing those who don’t ever think of volunteering.
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Jan 2022
10:49am, 7 Jan 2022
173 posts
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JJJ
For people who are tired of asking for vols - do you do it yourself every week?
We started like that but now have 4 people who take it in turns to do Vol Recruitment which means they don't get fed up with it.
We recruit as many different ways as we can - Facebook, Whiteboard (walk round at 8.50 holding it in front of people!), webpage, DofE, run brief and finally threaten to not have timers, token, scanners - only done that once, it seemed to get the message through!
We need about 10 non running vols plus RD, also running VC, setup/breakdown, extra scanners.
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Jan 2022
10:51am, 7 Jan 2022
8,710 posts
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sallykate
We always include a request for volunteers at the beginning of the run briefing, after thanking that week's volunteers.
Lately we seem to be relying on two appeals each week, which isn't ideal.
Our junior parkrun often has to ask for volunteers just before the run but they need many more marshals than we do and parents accompanying their children are often willing to step up and marshal while the kids run.
I should be able to participate tomorrow - doing half as a C25K run/walk then walking the rest.
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Jan 2022
10:56am, 7 Jan 2022
21,649 posts
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Bazoaxe
My offer was declined as they had filled the rota before I e-mailed 
I have said put me down for next week though as that is almost empty
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Jan 2022
11:00am, 7 Jan 2022
6,248 posts
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jennyh
I volunteer a lot 64% ratio. Mostly because we do pack up. I was at a different one recently and they went round the gathered before the run with a clipboard asking for volunteers. I thought this was a good way of grabbing those who don’t ever think of volunteering.
Our parkrun used to do that years ago (with limited success). I tried reviving this just before Christmas - I asked one of the chaps from our club, who is very enthusiastic and who has the gift of the gab to try to persuade people to sign up. On a day where we had 687 runners - our highest since the restart - that exercise yielded just two volunteers.
It's really difficult not to feel dispirited by those numbers. I was really hacked off a few weeks before Christmas, when a parkrunner commented on our volunteer appeal - to ask if people could volunteer at another local parkrun as they had said they may have to cancel if they had enough volunteers, and he really wanted to run there...
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Jan 2022
11:03am, 7 Jan 2022
16,454 posts
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larkim
Do any parkruns have a "post run" volunteer encouragement activity? Asking for volunteers at the run briefing always feels like it is badly timed, whereas if someone were patrolling the scanners etc they'd probably scoop up a few people at the end who had forgotten that on the startline it sounded like a good idea.
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Jan 2022
11:12am, 7 Jan 2022
3,281 posts
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Groundhog
I am being a bit selfish and volunteering for set up so I can run. I would like to get to my 500th run and I'm on 496, so 500 at the end of January. After that I will be less obsessed with running all the time and I'd quite like a go at timing and more RD duties.
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