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parkrun thread

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Meep Meep 4 Mar 11:13am, 4 Mar 2025 184 posts	Quote Pin Meep Meep Allegedly*.
larkim 4 Mar 11:17am, 4 Mar 2025 26,799 posts	Quote Pin larkim Gone? Or left?
Dvorak 4 Mar 11:19am, 4 Mar 2025 28,581 posts	Quote Pin Dvorak Since it's announced on parkrun's FB, it seems pretty official. facebook.com
Dvorak 4 Mar 11:23am, 4 Mar 2025 28,582 posts	Quote Pin Dvorak Also a blog post, with the expected tributes. He will remain with parkrun until 31st July, 2025. parkrun.com
larkim 4 Mar 11:30am, 4 Mar 2025 26,800 posts	Quote Pin larkim 31st July end date, so nothing dramatic. Will be interesting to see who they recruit though. No doubt those with axes to grind will start their "advocacy" in advance ("They'd better get someone who understands..." "...stats" "...vegans" "...women's sport" "...trans rights" etc "or I will never run a parkrun again" etc etc) It's a tough gig to get right. The "product" doesn't ever develop beyond expanding locations, so it's all really about doing "the same as last year, just bigger".
Meep Meep 4 Mar 11:40am, 4 Mar 2025 185 posts	Quote Pin Meep Meep There were clearly challenges that played out in public, and I think probably some that didn't. Dunno about you, but the number of staff that jumped ship in the past 12 months gave me pause for thought.
larkim 4 Mar 12:04pm, 4 Mar 2025 26,802 posts	Quote Pin larkim Always difficult to read things into "changing of the guard" in organisations. Could be as simple as the relatively "new" organisation recruiting people in their late 30s / early 40s and now 10-15 years later they are looking at their next / final job before retirement. HQ is better when it is broadly anonymous; just quietly getting on with things, keeping the IT flowing, keeping the support going for the teams on the ground. If ever PSH disconnected himself from parkrun for any other reason than simply age catching up with him, that would be a "thing". But the paid officers I'm less concerned about.
Son of a Pronator Man 4 Mar 1:05pm, 4 Mar 2025 9,328 posts	Quote Pin Son of a Pronator Man Leaving at end of end of July is typical of a senior role. Long period of notice, gardening leave and compensation for loss of office. Are they working their notice or leaving immediately?
Meep Meep 4 Mar 6:31pm, 4 Mar 2025 186 posts	Quote Pin Meep Meep With respect Larkim I think you are too happy in life and your sceptic dial is currently turned well down. The CEO was hiding under a rock for a year, there has been quite a large amount of senior staff leave in a short time, social media has been a binfire, and the organisation has only just been keeping its head above water financially. Right now, people on socials are celebrating Russ's departure. I think that's a thing.
sLickster 4 Mar 6:44pm, 4 Mar 2025 1,961 posts	Quote Pin sLickster He did find in his early days in the role that the previous CEO had undisclosed paybacks from commercial partners. That all went away quite quickly and the other person soon found another CEO role elsewhere… Meanwhile the only constant really left is the founder PSH. Who a few years ago stood down as a parkrun trustee so he could keep his (£70k) paid ambassador role for parkrun, without there being a perceived conflict of interests usually deemed by the charity commission of such activities. If PSH retires then parkrun really does move on to its next incarnation.