parkrun thread
4 lurkers |
505 watchers
18 Sep
5:48pm, 18 Sep 2024
4,473 posts
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iRicey
As always anyone who is unhappy is welcome to a refund.
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18 Sep
6:45pm, 18 Sep 2024
112 posts
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Meep Meep
iRicey wrote: As always anyone who is unhappy is welcome to a refund. Volunteer EDs and RDs get stressed over this. This comment doesn't really do anything to help with that. |
18 Sep
8:42pm, 18 Sep 2024
640 posts
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LouiseRuns 🌹🇬🇧 🇪🇺
I think one of the problems is the contradiction between parkrun HQ's view of volunteers and the view of local groups. I don't think we should shame people into volunteering, but I do think it's reasonable to say there is an expectation that, where possible, people will volunteer 3 times a year, as it was when I first started (it's what got me into volunteering). And the idea that all volunteering is equal. It's not. It doesn't matter if I get 50 people volunteering to pace if I haven't got a timer. And it is possible to have too many volunteers. If we're asking people to give up their run to volunteer as a marshal (even though we're not supposed to phrase it as 'giving up a run'...) and then we suddenly loads of offers for marshals it seems more reasonable to me to offer some of them the chance to volunteer another day, or stand down, rather than overload the marshal points - I know a number of our regular volunteers would like to run, and would feel their time was being wasted if they were doubled up.
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18 Sep
9:01pm, 18 Sep 2024
69,824 posts
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LindsD
Totally agree (but then we are on the same core team  )
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18 Sep
9:04pm, 18 Sep 2024
3,873 posts
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GeneHunt59
We still need a timekeeper, 4 marshals & 5 scanners. Often don't fill our roster till Friday. Recently we filled roster by the Wednesday, but that is very rare for us.
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18 Sep
9:15pm, 18 Sep 2024
9,056 posts
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Fizz :-)
I know volunteering has to be voluntary, but I don’t have any problems with expectations of three per year (yes, I know that was a number totally plucked out of thin air!) or one per ten runs as being reasonable. (Not on a core team, haven’t achieved three per year or 1 in ten for a while) I wonder if a global policy that a parkrun will cancel if it doesn’t have enough volunteers by 6pm Thursday would help? |
18 Sep
9:41pm, 18 Sep 2024
20,735 posts
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Gooner
I've volunteered 9 times and ran 61 (since 2010) but it has been a little while so feel that I will have to stick my name down again soon, however I only get to run them twice in every 8 weeks generally due to shifts (also assuming we have no plans or the better half doesn't want to run one) and as such, whilst I feel guilty for not doing it more, I also feel that I would like to run them on the few chances I get.
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18 Sep
11:06pm, 18 Sep 2024
10,667 posts
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BaronessBL
I was speaking to someone from parkrun HQ earlier this year and asked if the volunteer roster (the public facing one) could have some positions showing that they were essential and the event wouldn't go ahead without them eg Tail walker could perhaps have the word ESSENTIAL in the box or be in red or something until it is filled. I was told that they would never do that because parkrun doesn't want potential volunteers to feel that some roles are less important. But unfortunately with that attitude we could get any number of people offering to write a report or sort the tokens but most weeks struggle for timekeepers and marshals (ie the volunteer roles that mean you can't run at the event as well.)
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19 Sep
8:56am, 19 Sep 2024
4,474 posts
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iRicey
Meep Meep wrote: iRicey wrote:As always anyone who is unhappy is welcome to a refund. Volunteer EDs and RDs get stressed over this. This comment doesn't really do anything to help with that. My comment was aimed at someone who has the audacity to complain when a free event doesn't happen, citing booking a hotel/flight, long journey - not at a hardworking core team member trying to fill out essential roster roles in a timely manner. But point taken, I will return to lurking. |
19 Sep
9:18am, 19 Sep 2024
4,022 posts
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Big_G
I wouldn’t complain to anyone at all on the core team, or make any snarky comment on Facebook, or suggest the team should have done something differently if an event is cancelled. But also, being disappointed is a natural reaction if a parkrun someone was hoping to do as a tourist doesn’t go ahead for whatever reason. For info, my volunteer rate isn’t great. 277 events run, 25 volunteers. When I’m injured, I tend to volunteer more, so there are occasions if I’m on a long injury-free streak where the volunteer:run ratio looks worse than that. Not that anyone has ever asked me to justify this, but in my own head I do quite a lot of volunteering for my club, and also I’m a listening volunteer at Samaritans, and I guess I have a (admittedly undefined) volunteer time budget in my head. When I heard that RD go on a rant about volunteers before the event started, the reason it left a bad taste is in isolation an RD may think it’s bad that a person never volunteers, and I get that, but also we have no idea what else may be going on in that person’s life. Personally, I wouldn’t want to make anyone feel guilty for not volunteering if there’s a risk that they then may no longer attend parkrun at all. |
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