As much as they hate to say it’s a race, they still give you a time and position. These are merely statistics that people work and train hard for, no reason to remove it.
I'm an OAP parkrunner and my times have ranged from 19:41 to 39:22 (which ironically is exactly double my PB) and I used to love to check out other runners in my age group and try to do better but all that is lost now. I can't even find many of them. I emailed parkrun and got this reply: "How do we search under someone's name since the changes were made last week? I realise that by clicking on a Finisher's name they will come up, but if you want to Search for someone, and can't recall when they last ran, how can you find them in the first place? There's a large number of runners whose times I like to keep regular tabs on because I am competitive. Surely this hasn't been eradicated along with all the other stuff???" parkrun Support (parkrun Support) Feb 13, 2024, 14:45 GMT Hi, Thanks for getting in touch. The search function has been removed as part of our ongoing data protection improvements. Regards Jane Head of Support | parkrun
don't like this new decision. we know it is all inclusive because we have park walkers who are fairly new. I am not fast by any means but love all the stats and seeing our top locals doing well.
I have to say, I’ve always loved the support I’ve had from people I’ve met at parkrun. I’d say I’m fairly well known locally, and that’s through the likes of Parkrun. Without it, I wouldn’t have anywhere near as much support or motivation
Something few people mention is that Parkrun stats can also be extremely important and motivating for those with disorders such as OCD or ADHD, it can be really helpful for some seeing a visible structure and being able to monitor progress, shame they’ve done this really.
I think it's a bad idea. If they say it's not supposed to be competitive then why bother to time it and hand out positional tokens. I thought being competitive was all about encouraging people to do better.
This made me lose motivation to go for course records resulting in not wanting to do parkrun at all. This decision will lose much more faster runners and will make a lot more people less motivated to turn up. Disgraceful from parkrun.
@@hamwhacker because a right wing think tank whipped up the daily Mail and a bunch of online trolls and backed Parkrun onto a corner and now nobody’s happy. What else could they do keep getting attacked by Sharon Davies and co and get their volunteers to check people’s gender when scanning barcodes?
Nothing screams competition more than listing everyone's times in finishing order. Scraping out the age grade and category things removes some fun and motivation for folk like us in our 50s who are way past pbs but still competitive against our age group peers. Complete nonsense from parkrun. They're losing the plot.
As a 16-17 minute runner I was planning on targeting a few of the smaller ones to try and snatch a course record - don't see why they had to ruin that, why would it matter to the slow runners what the course record is anyway
Fast runners don't bother me. As an over 60, I'm not that delusional into thinking I can run as fast as a 25-30 year old. I just compare my age grading, nudging 75% now and still pushing😂😂
@61js I did my first parkrun in a while the other week and I'm pretty sure they kept the age grading right? I thought they were doing away with it too so if they've kept it that's a plus - I suppose we're in the same boat though, when an experienced runner comes along and runs 14 minutes and absolutely thrashes me, I don't become insecure and stop attending, if that's their reasoning then they shouldn't let anyone run if they're going to lap people because it'll somehow turn new runners away 🤷♂️
Ridiculous decision. They may as well remove timing and positions as well. In fact, why even bother making it 5k? People may as well just meet up, run for a bit. Go home.
Parkrun is removing interest this way. It will be less attractive for people who are at least little bit competitive and therefore less inclusive overall. We'll see :). Weird decision in my opinion.
These changes are really bad news. As an older runner (76), I get my weekly motivation by doing well in relation to my age group. Now all those stats have been removed it will be far less interesting and motivational. I may even stop doing parkrun.
The main Park Run rationale makes no sense: Concern that fast runners participating will put other runners off taking part...? Last I checked some fairly handy athletes run the London Marathon - and that seems to be a fairly popular event with other runners.
Yes I thought that too. We feel almost ashamed to be straight white male due to this far left wing agenda! Seems to be affecting women in this case most which is sad.
Now something as simple as park run has got political, when will it end. I've never come close to winning a park run and I don't see anything wrong with the current format
What really annoys me about this situation is that a lot of people who have such a strong opinion probably never volunteer at the event. Personally it doesn't overly bother me (and I have done a lot of parkruns - 326!), but what bothers me is that I rarely see the faster runners, let alone elites, ever volunteer. If they are going to moan so much about parkrun, then at least volunteer and give back to the community as the event is meant to be focused on.
It’s a fair point. I’ve volunteered a lot of times personally, but yes I don’t see many others at the front volunteering! Although Whitstable they seem to :)
For me I think absolutely sucks. I do park run and find the stats fascinating. I'm 52 and have improved my times over the past 2 years. It's the stats that have pushed me onto my pb of 18.39. It's the stats that make me want to improve and beat my own personal times. I'm not competing against anyone else just my own personal goals. I just think it's a shame.
Agree 100% Cole! The running community is genuinely so kind and supportive of each other, everyone is just getting it done. No need to change a concept that provided a great community and event for runners of all abilities!
It's a real shame that they're removing the fastest finisher and age grade stats. Nobody is offended by having these stats published and it certainly doesn't put people off taking part. It's a completely unnecessary change.
A small minority is offended or pretends to be and they try to force their opinion upon us. In a few years these gender warriors may start to ruin trail runs as well.
The end result affects everyone, so I think it's fair that men can talk about it. It's unfortunate that the solution in this case was the nuclear option. One aspect of inclusivity that can be considered is allowing people of different motivations to show up to parkrun. Now they are setting themselves up to cater to the subset that aren't primarily motivated stats. It might not be the majority, but it's still a loss. Personally, I'm not affected by this change, but this is a debate that we need to have and will continue to come up in sporting contexts. Going genderless is a disservice to women's sports. We split the categories for a reason.
You make some very good points. I saw someone with the idea that we allow people when signing up to parkrun whether they’re included in stats or not which I guess is an option, but I guess people want to compare themselves to everyone not just the people who allow themselves to be compared to, so I guess it’s a bit flawed. I didn’t realise how much of a debate this would raise!… but thank you for being amicable with your ideas 😄
I think the biggest backlash could be in junior parkrun as kids are very competitive. If it reduces participation at that level it's a very bad thing. Parkrun HQ seem utterly divorced from the local events which reflect the original spirit of parkrun far more than they do now. They've got too big and are hooked on government grants at any cost.
Unfortunately PR have chosen to hide the stats instead of tackling the Trans issue head on also cloaked by suggesting that parkrun is off-putting to many new park runners. I do not think this is the case but they do need to be fair to the womens category and not include trans in the women's category. It is ruining female spirt if they can not win on an increasing basis. I am a 56 year old male who took up running I'm lockdown and managed to get my age category record after a lot of hard work. I usually come about 4th and love to cheer on all the other runners of all abilities. I looked up to the person with the most parkrun wins or the course record holder knowing it would never be me. It motivated me and challenged me to improve. I think Park Run are disgraceful not tackling the Trans issue head on instead sweeping the issue under the carpet hiding all the stats and people's hard earned achievements. Sad day for parkrun.
This is the day parkrun jumped the shark. I'll still do parkrun, I bet most of the local teams are as unimpressed as the rest of us. However from now on I have no interest in anything parkrun HQ or their sponsors may say and I certainly won't make another donation.
I personally love park run and use it as a time trial to see if I have progressed or regressed. Don't run it too often but a few times a year is great for me ❤🎉
I remember one parkrun sprinting for the finish aware of someone gaining on me. I was almost done approaching the funnel when I heard a frantic shout "Don't slow, don't slow!". I staggered across the line just a second ahead of the man behind me. When I checked the results I found he had got a PB trying to wind me in. Of course it's a race.
What’s inclusive about not catering for faster runners? We all run for our own reasons: health, social, challenge, competition… whatever, but now those who are motivated by the competitive element and the data have had it taken away.
All that has changed is that two data items have been removed from the home page of each venue. The fastest time by a male and the fastest time by a female. Nothing else has changed so far as I am aware. All the results are exactly the same with age categories and percentages etc. What's the problem? If you want to judge whether it's a fast course, just look at some of the results
What a heap of nonsense, I don't have an parkrun records but I always look at sub 17min and first Finishers list, always like looking at course records, parkrun is flying it, leave it as it is, great community spirit
I get that you're scared of being 'cancelled', but that's exactly the reason this mess still exists. I often get posts deleted by youtube, when I talk about this (as carefully as possible), because it's pretty heavily censored. I loved seeing Sharron Davies chiming in, that woman is an absolute champ when it comes to this topic.
Tbh on this topic especially, I’m not sure I hold much of an opinion at all. It doesn’t affect me as I didn’t follow the stats too closely, but I have benefitted from them in terms of people knowing who I am, and then following the channel etc etc. but yes, it’s tricky to be too polar with opinions without getting ‘cancelled’
100% this - the more people let this go, the more areas of society it will infiltrate and start to affect. At some stage, objective biological truth has to matter.
As always, hope your injury eventually clears up Cole! I'm injured as well and I have to say cross training is getting a little stale. Can't wait for your full recovery
Maybe the solution could be simple. when you subscribe to ParkRun you can choose or not: A) I want to be included in runner's finisher list for that run B) I want to be in result list C) I want to be considered a man/woman and be in gender result list D) I declare I'm X year old and I want to be in age result list. In this way you can run "likes a Ghost" and disappear from statistics. Either you can have all the stats with people who want to share this
It’s been a fun run since 2008. Stats will still be published; I just feel bad for people whose life happiness is driven by their performance in a fun run.
One of the most motivational and best metrics has been removed, less of a reason to visit the local Parkrun sites. They have ruined it for the vast majority of the silent majority. Crazy!
I remember when my son was 10, a big part of his motivation for turning up with me to park run was trying to improve his time and move him self up his age category table, no harm in that. Im sure there are quite a few kids like him.
Likewise, same as me as a kid. Sad to know others won’t grow up with that. I always wanted to know who the ‘fastest’ was at each parkrun to see if I could conquer it!
Told my son this, he's now 17 and he can't believe it. These decisions seem to by the same type of people who decided a few years ago that they must stop publishing the local junior football teams scores and table each week, in case it upset the boys whose teams weren't doing that well, and also changed the local junior football tournament formats so there were no were no winners or losers so no one got upset! This is true, I don't know if that's still the case at the moment, I guess it is.
Awful decision by parkrun. Got 6 course records and it was a challenge every week to add another first place finish. The stats were great to scan through afterwards and check out the fastest times. Not attending tomorrow.
Parkrun among other things...it has essentially always been a time trial...the stats are important and not just for the very quickest...it effects all ages...so now you cant celebrate when someone breaks an age grade record at an event..for example my local parkrun had the over 75 category broken recently a great achievement and now they have just whipped the rug from underneath them a real pity
I use the fastest time as a general indicator of the nature of the parkrun. I’m by no means fast, but helps give an indicator of the nature of the course. Comparing this data with my own times gives me a much better idea of my likely time for the events, and helps me set personal challenges. Anyone who attends know these are not about winning, but personal fitness and challenges. The park walkers element is great, encourages people to join and supports those not able to run or just getting into it.
Check the 5 most recent results in "event history", they're still up, only one more click further away, and they will give you the same rough info but with more data points.
That also means the world records are removed, thats a big deal. I liked seeing where i was on the age group table for an event and trying to improve. The link from results pages is now removed.
Glad you shared your views on this Cole. I think Parkrun has made a poor decision. The politics around funding is difficult to navigate - and Parkrun has got caught up in it all!
transgenders should be a separate category across all sports as well as park runs . A human born male shouldn't be competing with females . Its a huge injustice
I liked glancing at the fastest 500, the club list times have gone - I don’t get that 😢🤦♂️. On reflection the format hasn’t changed since I started running early 2018.
After like 60 consecutive parkrun I did over 14 months period, today I just not looking forward to parkrun even though I never come first with 5k PB time of 21 mins. But I do admire talented runners who can do sub 17 like you Cole.. come on Cole. I also want to know who is the top athlete runners in my parkrun so something I can admire and respect and I turn motivate me to do better.. keep a few seconds closer to these top runners are my goals. Without record, there is no point and target time to focus on running. Of course, we all know that parkrun is not a race, so we can do moderate run and not full blowout run.. now maybe I just walk or not even attend anymore. 😢….. BOYCOTT Parkrun!!
It is a difficult topic, you want everyone to be able to take part and have fun with their sport in a way that's most comfortable for them. I don't think there's a clear answer yet with regards to trans participation. I know a number of trans women and on the whole, not many of them participate in competitive sports because they're scared to. A lot of spaces are still inherantly hostile to a lot of the LGBTQ community. There's just not enough trans women competing at the elite level for any proper studies to have been carried out yet on things like force production (obviously we're talking about women who have at least gone through hormonal transition), so there's still a lot we don't know about the effects of hormonal transition on the body, particularly the long term effects. I know trans women who have gone through hormonal treatment and basically had to start over from scratch with their sport because of the sheer loss of power they experienced and the adjustment that came with it. People come in so many different shapes and sizes and there have been multiple examples over the years of men who have some biological quirk that happens to make them particularly good at a sport, biology is just really complicated and a system somewhat similar to what the paralympics use would potentially be more applicable in the long term. A system where people are grouped based on physical characteristics. I know they also group people by gender in the paralympics but the category system could potentially be the one that presents the fairest outcome for everyone. In Caster Semenyas case she does still compete, but she was prohibited from competing in distances of 1500m or shorter. She's mostly runs the 5k now and while she does well in meets in South Africa she doesn't place particularly well when she competes elsewhere on the world stage. She's clearly more suited to the shorter distances. I'm on the other end of the scale in that where available, I register in an open category for races because I'm NB, but I usually have to register in the womens/female field. It's not something that stresses me out, I'd be running against a tiny number of people if every race had a non-binary category but where the open category is available I find it a good challenge to see how many men I can beat 🤣 For parkrun I switched my account to essentially be 'no gender' and I obviously no longer get age graded results or gender results because I guess although they make it possible for you to register as Non Binary on the Parkrun site, they haven't actually coded in what that looks like on the results tables haha. I did the same on Strava and chasing strava segments on the overall leaderboard has also been pretty motivating. Bloody hell that was an essay.
Your comment was actually very interesting. I like that you're being honest about your situation. I think most people that are being critical about this situation are worried about any deceptive behaviour and taking opportunities away from biological females, which could lead to a drop in participation. I'm not sure what the solution is for both Parkrun and outside of Parkrun, but I do think it's a shame they have tried to solve it in this very bizarre way. Good luck for your upcoming races.
@@Stevenc1984 I definitely understand where the concerns come from. The misinformation and scaremongering in a lot of the media definitely doesn't help anything. Hopefully some sort of path can be found where everyone feels safe and able to take part in a way that represents them best.
I’ve watched a few videos on this and a lot of comments are people just being mad or straight up offensive. I want to say thank you for sharing and thank you for sharing a nuanced and human perspective on this topic. People want to be athletic and some people want to compete in relation to others, and some people don’t! But everyone just getting mad and/or blaming trans athletes are ruining the community and connection that comes with sports. I feel like if people care, and this is mainly run by volunteers, then brainstorm some ideas that allow everyone to participate and allow competition to exist for those who want it (not at you just in general). My thoughts aren’t as concise and well constructed as yours and this is just a note to say thank you for the humaneness and realness of your comment!
I liked seeing if I could get anywhere near the V40 records. Did hold a few but hey ho can still try and improve. It's a can of worms Parkrun can't afford to open I guess.
All they have to do is just add some more categories, not deny access to/erase all historical and future data because inclusivity. Why not just ban overtaking at parkruns in case anyone is offended by the privileged runners being competitive?
Did park run get it wrong from the beginning by giving us too many stats, it certainly wasn't a factor for me to go park running, times change we move on as a running community and hopefully you will be supporting park run this saturday
Don't care either way, I only do the park run to gauge my own fitness and while I'm normally near the front I understand it's more to help people into running and fitness. I take a lot from watching the slower and first time runners participating ans I don't think it will make a lot of odds to them.
I'm sorry you'll never have the glory of appearing above DC on the Whitstable Parkrun fastest 500 results 😢 It seems really strange that they'd take these fairly obscure stats away to increase participation. For a lot of people Parkrun is a great gateway in to the sport, a really important way of increasing levels of physical activity and bringing the next generation of runners through. Wishing you a speedy recovery on the injury!
This is really annoying .I really enjoyed the competitive aspect of parkrun. The whole thing about the gender thing really pisses me off because it is such a small minority of people who have to ruin it for everybody else. There are Male and Female runners, that’s it.
So the event pages and personal pages are the same. I also didn't know you could find general stats . . . so, means nothing to me. And, yeah, if you're a record lover then maybe run some real races, not a ParkRun? It's a community fun run, not a race. (Pretty sure you get no World Athletics Ranking Points for winning your local ParkRun!)
I can see this kind of thing happening to be honest. However, I can see them keeping the timing but just sending each individual's time to them via email and posting the names of those who participated online.
@@JM-rm3lt Parkrun France's most recent blog post is an interesting one, they actually DID have alphabetical results, before being forced to shut down entirely. It was the French government, and a very strange health department law there that caused it to shut down rather than any decision from Parkrun HQ.
It is a for the better least I don't have to be jealous of people run sub 17 minutes 5 km if you help get to 18:20 which I was waiting for 10 years then I change my comment if not I'm ok with that as well I hope lock down comes back to make are life miserable again so lock down please come back
Most of the important stats are still there and I cannot spot how anything specific has been done to address any trans-women issues. The removal which makes most sense to bring back is the age group records and searchability for competitive people who want to see how they rank in their own category. Juniors and vets. Overall male and female records are available on individual event pages. With all courses being unique there isn't any precision in trying to compare them like for like anyway. Personally I'd drop the % of WR irrelevance as well. Most Olympic tracks don't have pushchairs and pensioners as obstacles who could send you crashing into the steeplechase hazard if you cut your pass too fine.
Parkrun is in a very difficult position here, as the gender recognition act exemption for gender affected sports only applies to secure fair competition or where required for safety. Parkrun isn't a race per se, and so I suspect if they did insist on people using sex at birth they'd then be at risk of being in breach of the GRA...
I have to agree. I don't like what parkrun has done, but I can see why they did it. I'm still puzzled by the reference to the stats putting off new participants and can only conclude it was a smokescreen.
Have people misunderstood the news (or have I!?), but do people think they won't get a time, a position and they won't be able to look at their own history? That's not my understanding.
They’ll remove all history of course records, fastest times for each age category, age grading and so on so forth I believe. All you’ll get is time and position
Sometimes feel people are kidding themselves with parkrun. They aren't all accurate 5ks and people blatantly take shortcuts etc. Go and do a proper race if that is what you are after. Feel that Cole's RUclips audience isn't the majority of park runners. Feel that parkrun have stuck to their guns, refusing to get involved in some of the debates and thrown a curved ball that nobody was expecting. It's primary a community event to help get people fitter and healthier, mentally and physically. Anything else is secondary, including decent runners being able to bask in the 'glory' of running a fast parkrun. They have extricated themselves from being between a rock and a hard place, although have upset a few people.
I Think the flaw in any of the transgender associated arguments is the false dichotomy that's perpetuated. When you sign up for parkrun and choose your gender, there's not two options, there's 4 options, so... The issue seems to be that parkrun are trying to fit 4 categories into 2? Sure you can fit everything into the one category of "runner" but you can just as easily fit 4 categories into.... .... 4 categories. This really isn't complicated.
This event runs very deep in our community, especially with the volunteers as it’s a great way for everyone to relax after a long work week and actually mix in a friendly environment. Taking away this valuable element will deter so many of us who run and I fear could be the death of many Parkruns around Australia. Such a disappointment
Yeah exactly. Parkrun is the reason I got into running, I think without the stats, and the ability to chase course records, first in age categories etc, I doubt I would’ve been as interested
You can please some of the people all of the time and all of the people some of the time. Parkrun - how about we please none of the people all of the time. Huge step backwards. Trying to appease a tiny percentile and managing to fail epicly
Given the Semenya situation, isn’t it better and fair to categorize ‘men’ and ‘women’ by levels of testosterone, rather than sex or gender? Absolutely agree that people can identify however they want, but sport is about the capability of your body, not your feelings…
So would it be absolutely fair for me, who is fit and able to identify as disabled, as some, and I'm not going to mince my words, some freaks do. Then, choose a suitable event and smoke everyone in the paralympics. Identifying as whatever you choose doesn't make it a reality.
...aaaand here we go again. When they'll start to reduce the height of NBA' basketball baskets so that nobody may feel "not included". I'm sorry but this is not the way.
It's still a great, fun Saturday morning activity for people of all ages whatever their background or however they identify. Everyone is welcome and you don't even have to run. It's a shame that these statistics have upset some people. I'm male but totally support fairness for women. Nuff said!
I am not impacted by the loss of stats although i did enjoy the age category stats but primarily just for self improvement. Parkrun is a free 5km social run that you put into what you feel able or want to on the day , supported and facilitated by an army of volunteers. I do not get the obsession with stats apart from your own use to motivate you. Regards the transgender issue that has been raised, if i was a woman that had held a fastest time and a transgender runner ran faster i really would not care in the context of parkrun, .. Caster Semenya case is not a good comparison, i really did feel for her as a young athlete and her biology being scrutinised by the world media, she trained hard , has higher testosterone levels, .... she can compete but only at certain distances, ... There are men that stand on the start line , i am thinking of 100 metres Usain Bolt, nature gifted him a fantastic physique, he had an advantage over a smaller athlete, so many factors to consider besides hormone levels.... Caster simply did not fit the media idea of what a woman should look like, i believe if she had more curves, softer features and dare i say it ,been a white european athlete, then i think she would have had far more support. I have digressed, apologies. Summary, parkrun is still available, go and run it if you want and share on strava if that is your thing, thanks Cole for a great and clear overview, and I hope you get some clarity on your injury and recovery can begin asap,
Thanks Gary, just felt it was necessary that I understand this doesn’t directly impact me, just a secondary impact of losing the stats. But the main issue where transgender females can beat biological females is a problem
It’s not me removing them mate, if enough people report them or you use language that RUclips doesn’t approve of it’s likely they’ll get auto removed even if not intentionally explicit
Such is the woke society we live in. It’s not fair you’re a better runner than me Cole! That’s the type mentality we have to put up with these days. Need to stop celebrating mediocrity.
but like Cole said, parkrun is meant to get people into running, not for people to try and break records. If you want to run a fast 5k just sign up to a race, parkrun is still there.
@@_Tp___ I was generalising and maybe should have been more specific, I agree with what you say, and it’s great for getting people of all abilities running,but there’s also nothing wrong in competing for fast 5ks at your local event especially if you have a group of you at a similar fitness levels. Bit of friendly competition never hurt anyone, that is until 2024
@@Arki2019 I agree but none of this being removed really affects that. Most people never used it and those that did won't really be impacted anyway. While I can see where you're coming from I feel like it's making it a bit more of an issue than it actually is, parkrun is still running, same people there, still get a time and record of your past times.
It's obviously a trans issue that they understandably just don't want to touch with a 20ft pole. It is a shame but I can't blame park run for doing it.
Since this decision is closely tied to Govt funding, we can’t blame Parkrun HQ. However, Parkrun is not the Olympics…..! I’m getting just a little tired of everything changing because of damn minority groups. I see their point but I don’t particularly support it. Keep messing around with Parkrun at it’s peril. I feel sorry for those who have invested years in Parkrun only to see it fall prey to issues like this.
Just give the trans their own records, I think we should strike against Parkrun! I was hoping to make the top 100 this year, not worth getting out of bed now
I’m not going to share my Strava data anymore. Don’t be 👀 at my Strava records! I identify as a beaver so don’t think it’s right for anyone to see them
@@ColeRunning The 'I'm a white male, so my opinions matter less' is so tiresome. Your ability to comprehend and engage with this issue isn't diminished by your race or gender. Moreover, non-aliens, such as yourself, constitute the vast majority of parkrun goers so of course your opinion matters. Implementing significant changes to satisfy a minority should not come at the cost of the quality of life of ordinary people, especially considering the widespread dissatisfaction with these changes. Other than that, I enjoyed your video.
Complete storm in a teacup. Will make absolutely no difference to 99.9% of people. The only impact is on the people who chase being first and fast and breaking course records. Those people have other places to prove how great they are.
I think people are making a bigger issue than it is. While I don't think there's much point in removing the statistics, parkrun's reasoning is that it won't look as competitive or as a race for new runners which is what parkrun has always meant to have been. They might have got the balance wrong or perhaps they won't even keep it, but it's not worth losing any sleep over, parkrun is still parkrun.
They've already removed everything. Plus anyone who goes to parkrun for the first time, me included, is more than likely to not even realise all the stats existed. It's nothing to with the discouragement of new runners, that's a smokescreen.
As much as they hate to say it’s a race, they still give you a time and position. These are merely statistics that people work and train hard for, no reason to remove it.
Hard to argue with you there mate
Yup and the finish line. We are all just gonna hop up and down on the spot for 20 mins so noone gets upset 😂
So why even have times at ??
Will that be the next step ?
I'm an OAP parkrunner and my times have ranged from 19:41 to 39:22 (which ironically is exactly double my PB) and I used to love to check out other runners in my age group and try to do better but all that is lost now. I can't even find many of them. I emailed parkrun and got this reply:
"How do we search under someone's name since the changes were made last week? I realise that by clicking on a Finisher's name they will come up, but if you want to Search for someone, and can't recall when they last ran, how can you find them in the first place? There's a large number of runners whose times I like to keep regular tabs on because I am competitive. Surely this hasn't been eradicated along with all the other stuff???"
parkrun Support (parkrun Support)
Feb 13, 2024, 14:45 GMT
Hi,
Thanks for getting in touch.
The search function has been removed as part of our ongoing data protection improvements.
Regards
Jane
Head of Support | parkrun
don't like this new decision. we know it is all inclusive because we have park walkers who are fairly new. I am not fast by any means but love all the stats and seeing our top locals doing well.
I have to say, I’ve always loved the support I’ve had from people I’ve met at parkrun. I’d say I’m fairly well known locally, and that’s through the likes of Parkrun. Without it, I wouldn’t have anywhere near as much support or motivation
Something few people mention is that Parkrun stats can also be extremely important and motivating for those with disorders such as OCD or ADHD, it can be really helpful for some seeing a visible structure and being able to monitor progress, shame they’ve done this really.
I think it's a bad idea. If they say it's not supposed to be competitive then why bother to time it and hand out positional tokens. I thought being competitive was all about encouraging people to do better.
I think they promote self competition but not against others. It seems like a silly decision but we’ll have to wait and see
"Competition" is not a swear word!
This made me lose motivation to go for course records resulting in not wanting to do parkrun at all. This decision will lose much more faster runners and will make a lot more people less motivated to turn up. Disgraceful from parkrun.
I am boycotting ParkRun until sanity is restored
Parkruns not a race 😂 99.9% of people running have no chance or a course record and don’t give a stuff!
@@steveb951 Then why ban course records for those who are good runners. It’s churlish.
@@hamwhacker because a right wing think tank whipped up the daily Mail and a bunch of online trolls and backed Parkrun onto a corner and now nobody’s happy. What else could they do keep getting attacked by Sharon Davies and co and get their volunteers to check people’s gender when scanning barcodes?
Nothing screams competition more than listing everyone's times in finishing order. Scraping out the age grade and category things removes some fun and motivation for folk like us in our 50s who are way past pbs but still competitive against our age group peers. Complete nonsense from parkrun. They're losing the plot.
As an ‘older’ runner myself, this is exactly how I see it.
I don't think they plan to remove age grading, just the age grade league table.
@@eddycurrant1380 and age category lists.
And covering up the real reason why they've deleted the stats
As a 16-17 minute runner I was planning on targeting a few of the smaller ones to try and snatch a course record - don't see why they had to ruin that, why would it matter to the slow runners what the course record is anyway
Fast runners don't bother me. As an over 60, I'm not that delusional into thinking I can run as fast as a 25-30 year old. I just compare my age grading, nudging 75% now and still pushing😂😂
@61js I did my first parkrun in a while the other week and I'm pretty sure they kept the age grading right? I thought they were doing away with it too so if they've kept it that's a plus - I suppose we're in the same boat though, when an experienced runner comes along and runs 14 minutes and absolutely thrashes me, I don't become insecure and stop attending, if that's their reasoning then they shouldn't let anyone run if they're going to lap people because it'll somehow turn new runners away 🤷♂️
Ridiculous decision. They may as well remove timing and positions as well. In fact, why even bother making it 5k? People may as well just meet up, run for a bit. Go home.
because people try to get fitter and beat their own personal goals?
You do realise 99.9% of people have no chance or desire to get a Parkrun course record don’t you?
Parkrun is removing interest this way. It will be less attractive for people who are at least little bit competitive and therefore less inclusive overall. We'll see :). Weird decision in my opinion.
I think I agree with you there :)
These changes are really bad news. As an older runner (76), I get my weekly motivation by doing well in relation to my age group. Now all those stats have been removed it will be far less interesting and motivational. I may even stop doing parkrun.
The main Park Run rationale makes no sense: Concern that fast runners participating will put other runners off taking part...? Last I checked some fairly handy athletes run the London Marathon - and that seems to be a fairly popular event with other runners.
💯
Cole, as a straight white male your opinion is every bit as valid as anyone else. Cheers.
Spot on
Absolutely… a bit of a shame you felt the need to qualify your opinion with your race, gender and some measure of privilege.
Unnecessary & divisive comment.
Wow he said it. Spot on. No discrimination needed.
Yes I thought that too. We feel almost ashamed to be straight white male due to this far left wing agenda! Seems to be affecting women in this case most which is sad.
Now something as simple as park run has got political, when will it end. I've never come close to winning a park run and I don't see anything wrong with the current format
Are they gonna take the finish line away too in case people get upset that someone else got there first??!? Absolute nonsense by ParkRun.
Disgraceful decision. I’m instantly demotivated.
Didn't take much.. 😮
@@patrickedwards5804 correct. When years of statistics are deleted it tends to have that affect for me.
If it's true and Parkrun are doing this then they're the problem
What really annoys me about this situation is that a lot of people who have such a strong opinion probably never volunteer at the event. Personally it doesn't overly bother me (and I have done a lot of parkruns - 326!), but what bothers me is that I rarely see the faster runners, let alone elites, ever volunteer. If they are going to moan so much about parkrun, then at least volunteer and give back to the community as the event is meant to be focused on.
It’s a fair point. I’ve volunteered a lot of times personally, but yes I don’t see many others at the front volunteering! Although Whitstable they seem to :)
For me I think absolutely sucks. I do park run and find the stats fascinating.
I'm 52 and have improved my times over the past 2 years. It's the stats that have pushed me onto my pb of 18.39. It's the stats that make me want to improve and beat my own personal times. I'm not competing against anyone else just my own personal goals.
I just think it's a shame.
Agree 100% Cole! The running community is genuinely so kind and supportive of each other, everyone is just getting it done. No need to change a concept that provided a great community and event for runners of all abilities!
I appreciate you addressing this topic and your viewpoint . It’s unfortunate the world is heading in the direction of wokeness.
It's a real shame that they're removing the fastest finisher and age grade stats. Nobody is offended by having these stats published and it certainly doesn't put people off taking part. It's a completely unnecessary change.
A small minority is offended or pretends to be and they try to force their opinion upon us. In a few years these gender warriors may start to ruin trail runs as well.
The end result affects everyone, so I think it's fair that men can talk about it. It's unfortunate that the solution in this case was the nuclear option. One aspect of inclusivity that can be considered is allowing people of different motivations to show up to parkrun. Now they are setting themselves up to cater to the subset that aren't primarily motivated stats. It might not be the majority, but it's still a loss. Personally, I'm not affected by this change, but this is a debate that we need to have and will continue to come up in sporting contexts. Going genderless is a disservice to women's sports. We split the categories for a reason.
You make some very good points. I saw someone with the idea that we allow people when signing up to parkrun whether they’re included in stats or not which I guess is an option, but I guess people want to compare themselves to everyone not just the people who allow themselves to be compared to, so I guess it’s a bit flawed. I didn’t realise how much of a debate this would raise!… but thank you for being amicable with your ideas 😄
I think the biggest backlash could be in junior parkrun as kids are very competitive. If it reduces participation at that level it's a very bad thing. Parkrun HQ seem utterly divorced from the local events which reflect the original spirit of parkrun far more than they do now. They've got too big and are hooked on government grants at any cost.
Unfortunately PR have chosen to hide the stats instead of tackling the Trans issue head on also cloaked by suggesting that parkrun is off-putting to many new park runners. I do not think this is the case but they do need to be fair to the womens category and not include trans in the women's category. It is ruining female spirt if they can not win on an increasing basis. I am a 56 year old male who took up running I'm lockdown and managed to get my age category record after a lot of hard work. I usually come about 4th and love to cheer on all the other runners of all abilities. I looked up to the person with the most parkrun wins or the course record holder knowing it would never be me. It motivated me and challenged me to improve. I think Park Run are disgraceful not tackling the Trans issue head on instead sweeping the issue under the carpet hiding all the stats and people's hard earned achievements. Sad day for parkrun.
This is the day parkrun jumped the shark. I'll still do parkrun, I bet most of the local teams are as unimpressed as the rest of us. However from now on I have no interest in anything parkrun HQ or their sponsors may say and I certainly won't make another donation.
I personally love park run and use it as a time trial to see if I have progressed or regressed. Don't run it too often but a few times a year is great for me ❤🎉
Yeah I’m the same Gareth!
I remember one parkrun sprinting for the finish aware of someone gaining on me. I was almost done approaching the funnel when I heard a frantic shout "Don't slow, don't slow!". I staggered across the line just a second ahead of the man behind me. When I checked the results I found he had got a PB trying to wind me in. Of course it's a race.
Oh no I have only just started doing this since start of this year and had been doing well. Don’t start messing with the results!!!
What’s inclusive about not catering for faster runners? We all run for our own reasons: health, social, challenge, competition… whatever, but now those who are motivated by the competitive element and the data have had it taken away.
All that has changed is that two data items have been removed from the home page of each venue. The fastest time by a male and the fastest time by a female. Nothing else has changed so far as I am aware. All the results are exactly the same with age categories and percentages etc. What's the problem? If you want to judge whether it's a fast course, just look at some of the results
Well as a media stunt its done them wonders TBH , now more people have heard of parkrun
What a heap of nonsense, I don't have an parkrun records but I always look at sub 17min and first Finishers list, always like looking at course records, parkrun is flying it, leave it as it is, great community spirit
Will the results still be going onto Power of 10?
I get that you're scared of being 'cancelled', but that's exactly the reason this mess still exists. I often get posts deleted by youtube, when I talk about this (as carefully as possible), because it's pretty heavily censored. I loved seeing Sharron Davies chiming in, that woman is an absolute champ when it comes to this topic.
Tbh on this topic especially, I’m not sure I hold much of an opinion at all. It doesn’t affect me as I didn’t follow the stats too closely, but I have benefitted from them in terms of people knowing who I am, and then following the channel etc etc. but yes, it’s tricky to be too polar with opinions without getting ‘cancelled’
@@ColeRunning I do think, that with this decision, Parkrun is more likely to keep their funding, than for it to be removed.
Yep its about the money. They clearly care more about that than their loyal regulars. This is the day they jumoed the shark.@theghostofpcs2391
100% this - the more people let this go, the more areas of society it will infiltrate and start to affect. At some stage, objective biological truth has to matter.
The people who should be removed are those that have run 100's of parkrun and never volunteered.
They are probably the ones complaining the loudest haha. Why volunteer when you can get a 1st place finish
As always, hope your injury eventually clears up Cole! I'm injured as well and I have to say cross training is getting a little stale. Can't wait for your full recovery
Thank you mate :)
Maybe the solution could be simple. when you subscribe to ParkRun you can choose or not: A) I want to be included in runner's finisher list for that run B) I want to be in result list C) I want to be considered a man/woman and be in gender result list D) I declare I'm X year old and I want to be in age result list. In this way you can run "likes a Ghost" and disappear from statistics. Either you can have all the stats with people who want to share this
Yeah this is one of the best ideas I think, although for stats to be worth having you kinda need to have everyone’s statistics
It’s been a fun run since 2008. Stats will still be published; I just feel bad for people whose life happiness is driven by their performance in a fun run.
One of the most motivational and best metrics has been removed, less of a reason to visit the local Parkrun sites. They have ruined it for the vast majority of the silent majority. Crazy!
Hard to argue with you mate
I remember when my son was 10, a big part of his motivation for turning up with me to park run was trying to improve his time and move him self up his age category table, no harm in that. Im sure there are quite a few kids like him.
Likewise, same as me as a kid. Sad to know others won’t grow up with that. I always wanted to know who the ‘fastest’ was at each parkrun to see if I could conquer it!
Told my son this, he's now 17 and he can't believe it. These decisions seem to by the same type of people who decided a few years ago that they must stop publishing the local junior football teams scores and table each week, in case it upset the boys whose teams weren't doing that well, and also changed the local junior football tournament formats so there were no were no winners or losers so no one got upset! This is true, I don't know if that's still the case at the moment, I guess it is.
Awful decision by parkrun. Got 6 course records and it was a challenge every week to add another first place finish. The stats were great to scan through afterwards and check out the fastest times. Not attending tomorrow.
It’s also such motivation to see if your records been taken, then head back down and have another crack!
Parkrun among other things...it has essentially always been a time trial...the stats are important and not just for the very quickest...it effects all ages...so now you cant celebrate when someone breaks an age grade record at an event..for example my local parkrun had the over 75 category broken recently a great achievement and now they have just whipped the rug from underneath them a real pity
As for them saying it may stop new parkrunners joining I think the stats say bullcrap to that
I use the fastest time as a general indicator of the nature of the parkrun. I’m by no means fast, but helps give an indicator of the nature of the course. Comparing this data with my own times gives me a much better idea of my likely time for the events, and helps me set personal challenges. Anyone who attends know these are not about winning, but personal fitness and challenges. The park walkers element is great, encourages people to join and supports those not able to run or just getting into it.
Check the 5 most recent results in "event history", they're still up, only one more click further away, and they will give you the same rough info but with more data points.
As long as the results are still posted to power of 10, I don’t really mind
That also means the world records are removed, thats a big deal. I liked seeing where i was on the age group table for an event and trying to improve. The link from results pages is now removed.
Glad you shared your views on this Cole. I think Parkrun has made a poor decision. The politics around funding is difficult to navigate - and Parkrun has got caught up in it all!
transgenders should be a separate category across all sports as well as park runs . A human born male shouldn't be competing with females . Its a huge injustice
Maybe switch things up...person finishing last wins? (can one say win?) this would incentivise everyone to go as slow as possible 😊
Haha my mum would love this idea 🤣 bless her
Complicating something so simple is no fun for anyone.
I liked glancing at the fastest 500, the club list times have gone - I don’t get that 😢🤦♂️. On reflection the format hasn’t changed since I started running early 2018.
We live in a pathetic society.
Indeed.
After like 60 consecutive parkrun I did over 14 months period, today I just not looking forward to parkrun even though I never come first with 5k PB time of 21 mins. But I do admire talented runners who can do sub 17 like you Cole.. come on Cole. I also want to know who is the top athlete runners in my parkrun so something I can admire and respect and I turn motivate me to do better.. keep a few seconds closer to these top runners are my goals. Without record, there is no point and target time to focus on running. Of course, we all know that parkrun is not a race, so we can do moderate run and not full blowout run.. now maybe I just walk or not even attend anymore. 😢….. BOYCOTT Parkrun!!
Parkrun Lost the Plot
It is a difficult topic, you want everyone to be able to take part and have fun with their sport in a way that's most comfortable for them. I don't think there's a clear answer yet with regards to trans participation. I know a number of trans women and on the whole, not many of them participate in competitive sports because they're scared to. A lot of spaces are still inherantly hostile to a lot of the LGBTQ community. There's just not enough trans women competing at the elite level for any proper studies to have been carried out yet on things like force production (obviously we're talking about women who have at least gone through hormonal transition), so there's still a lot we don't know about the effects of hormonal transition on the body, particularly the long term effects. I know trans women who have gone through hormonal treatment and basically had to start over from scratch with their sport because of the sheer loss of power they experienced and the adjustment that came with it.
People come in so many different shapes and sizes and there have been multiple examples over the years of men who have some biological quirk that happens to make them particularly good at a sport, biology is just really complicated and a system somewhat similar to what the paralympics use would potentially be more applicable in the long term. A system where people are grouped based on physical characteristics. I know they also group people by gender in the paralympics but the category system could potentially be the one that presents the fairest outcome for everyone.
In Caster Semenyas case she does still compete, but she was prohibited from competing in distances of 1500m or shorter. She's mostly runs the 5k now and while she does well in meets in South Africa she doesn't place particularly well when she competes elsewhere on the world stage. She's clearly more suited to the shorter distances.
I'm on the other end of the scale in that where available, I register in an open category for races because I'm NB, but I usually have to register in the womens/female field. It's not something that stresses me out, I'd be running against a tiny number of people if every race had a non-binary category but where the open category is available I find it a good challenge to see how many men I can beat 🤣 For parkrun I switched my account to essentially be 'no gender' and I obviously no longer get age graded results or gender results because I guess although they make it possible for you to register as Non Binary on the Parkrun site, they haven't actually coded in what that looks like on the results tables haha. I did the same on Strava and chasing strava segments on the overall leaderboard has also been pretty motivating.
Bloody hell that was an essay.
Your comment was actually very interesting. I like that you're being honest about your situation. I think most people that are being critical about this situation are worried about any deceptive behaviour and taking opportunities away from biological females, which could lead to a drop in participation. I'm not sure what the solution is for both Parkrun and outside of Parkrun, but I do think it's a shame they have tried to solve it in this very bizarre way. Good luck for your upcoming races.
@@Stevenc1984 I definitely understand where the concerns come from. The misinformation and scaremongering in a lot of the media definitely doesn't help anything. Hopefully some sort of path can be found where everyone feels safe and able to take part in a way that represents them best.
I’ve watched a few videos on this and a lot of comments are people just being mad or straight up offensive. I want to say thank you for sharing and thank you for sharing a nuanced and human perspective on this topic.
People want to be athletic and some people want to compete in relation to others, and some people don’t! But everyone just getting mad and/or blaming trans athletes are ruining the community and connection that comes with sports. I feel like if people care, and this is mainly run by volunteers, then brainstorm some ideas that allow everyone to participate and allow competition to exist for those who want it (not at you just in general).
My thoughts aren’t as concise and well constructed as yours and this is just a note to say thank you for the humaneness and realness of your comment!
I liked seeing if I could get anywhere near the V40 records. Did hold a few but hey ho can still try and improve. It's a can of worms Parkrun can't afford to open I guess.
I agree, between a rock and hard place it seems
Would the records be on strava?
Yes but not everyone uses strava so wouldn’t be accurate :(
Yeah unfortunately with stats you kinda need an all or nothing inclusion for it to be worth having :)
All they have to do is just add some more categories, not deny access to/erase all historical and future data because inclusivity. Why not just ban overtaking at parkruns in case anyone is offended by the privileged runners being competitive?
I feel bad for the older people who have course records or anyone who has a record for that matter!
Did park run get it wrong from the beginning by giving us too many stats, it certainly wasn't a factor for me to go park running, times change we move on as a running community and hopefully you will be supporting park run this saturday
Don't care either way, I only do the park run to gauge my own fitness and while I'm normally near the front I understand it's more to help people into running and fitness. I take a lot from watching the slower and first time runners participating ans I don't think it will make a lot of odds to them.
I love parkrun but this latest move makes no sense and will be a turn off for many.
I'm sorry you'll never have the glory of appearing above DC on the Whitstable Parkrun fastest 500 results 😢
It seems really strange that they'd take these fairly obscure stats away to increase participation. For a lot of people Parkrun is a great gateway in to the sport, a really important way of increasing levels of physical activity and bringing the next generation of runners through. Wishing you a speedy recovery on the injury!
Don’t remind him!!! Re the injury, thanks Steven.
Yeah parkrun is the reason many of us got into running
It's not to increase participation, that's just a 'reason' to get shot of the female records because of the trans competitors
@@joelmacinnes2391 Yeah I don't think anyone believes the reason they gave.
Im a age group regional female runner and this is pure wicked bigotry against women
This is really annoying .I really enjoyed the competitive aspect of parkrun. The whole thing about the gender thing really pisses me off because it is such a small minority of people who have to ruin it for everybody else. There are Male and Female runners, that’s it.
Participation medals all round!
So the event pages and personal pages are the same. I also didn't know you could find general stats . . . so, means nothing to me. And, yeah, if you're a record lover then maybe run some real races, not a ParkRun? It's a community fun run, not a race. (Pretty sure you get no World Athletics Ranking Points for winning your local ParkRun!)
If they stop timing it or the they take away individual pbs that is the beginning of the end for the event.
The saddest thing about society now is highlighted by the part of you saying you don’t want to get cancelled so you won’t say anything else.
Watch this space: alphabetical result listings and eventually timing removal all inbound.
Alphabetical? LGBQTASD++++?
If they do that, cheerio parkrun. It'll become unsustainable and collapse.
I can see this kind of thing happening to be honest. However, I can see them keeping the timing but just sending each individual's time to them via email and posting the names of those who participated online.
@@Dikbert pathetic. Sadly, I think you may be right. I won’t be participating if so.
@@JM-rm3lt Parkrun France's most recent blog post is an interesting one, they actually DID have alphabetical results, before being forced to shut down entirely.
It was the French government, and a very strange health department law there that caused it to shut down rather than any decision from Parkrun HQ.
It is a for the better least I don't have to be jealous of people run sub 17 minutes 5 km if you help get to 18:20 which I was waiting for 10 years then I change my comment if not I'm ok with that as well I hope lock down comes back to make are life miserable again so lock down please come back
Yep, parkrun has really faceplanted!
Most of the important stats are still there and I cannot spot how anything specific has been done to address any trans-women issues. The removal which makes most sense to bring back is the age group records and searchability for competitive people who want to see how they rank in their own category. Juniors and vets. Overall male and female records are available on individual event pages. With all courses being unique there isn't any precision in trying to compare them like for like anyway. Personally I'd drop the % of WR irrelevance as well. Most Olympic tracks don't have pushchairs and pensioners as obstacles who could send you crashing into the steeplechase hazard if you cut your pass too fine.
Such a shame
Parkrun is in a very difficult position here, as the gender recognition act exemption for gender affected sports only applies to secure fair competition or where required for safety. Parkrun isn't a race per se, and so I suspect if they did insist on people using sex at birth they'd then be at risk of being in breach of the GRA...
I have to agree. I don't like what parkrun has done, but I can see why they did it. I'm still puzzled by the reference to the stats putting off new participants and can only conclude it was a smokescreen.
Have people misunderstood the news (or have I!?), but do people think they won't get a time, a position and they won't be able to look at their own history? That's not my understanding.
They’ll remove all history of course records, fastest times for each age category, age grading and so on so forth I believe. All you’ll get is time and position
Sometimes feel people are kidding themselves with parkrun. They aren't all accurate 5ks and people blatantly take shortcuts etc. Go and do a proper race if that is what you are after. Feel that Cole's RUclips audience isn't the majority of park runners. Feel that parkrun have stuck to their guns, refusing to get involved in some of the debates and thrown a curved ball that nobody was expecting. It's primary a community event to help get people fitter and healthier, mentally and physically. Anything else is secondary, including decent runners being able to bask in the 'glory' of running a fast parkrun. They have extricated themselves from being between a rock and a hard place, although have upset a few people.
Why don’t the stop timing parkruns and just publish the people who complete the 5km run. Job done.
Or just email the times to the participants instead of posting them online
"Diplomatic" yea right
?
I Think the flaw in any of the transgender associated arguments is the false dichotomy that's perpetuated.
When you sign up for parkrun and choose your gender, there's not two options, there's 4 options, so... The issue seems to be that parkrun are trying to fit 4 categories into 2?
Sure you can fit everything into the one category of "runner" but you can just as easily fit 4 categories into.... .... 4 categories.
This really isn't complicated.
Being a white straight male doesn't make your opinion worth less than someone else on this topic. It's sad that you think this.
This event runs very deep in our community, especially with the volunteers as it’s a great way for everyone to relax after a long work week and actually mix in a friendly environment. Taking away this valuable element will deter so many of us who run and I fear could be the death of many Parkruns around Australia. Such a disappointment
Yeah exactly. Parkrun is the reason I got into running, I think without the stats, and the ability to chase course records, first in age categories etc, I doubt I would’ve been as interested
You can please some of the people all of the time and all of the people some of the time.
Parkrun - how about we please none of the people all of the time.
Huge step backwards. Trying to appease a tiny percentile and managing to fail epicly
Given the Semenya situation, isn’t it better and fair to categorize ‘men’ and ‘women’ by levels of testosterone, rather than sex or gender? Absolutely agree that people can identify however they want, but sport is about the capability of your body, not your feelings…
So would it be absolutely fair for me, who is fit and able to identify as disabled, as some, and I'm not going to mince my words, some freaks do. Then, choose a suitable event and smoke everyone in the paralympics. Identifying as whatever you choose doesn't make it a reality.
...aaaand here we go again. When they'll start to reduce the height of NBA' basketball baskets so that nobody may feel "not included". I'm sorry but this is not the way.
Haha I saw someone say they’ll remove segments on strava because people who dont live near segments feel not included haha
Imagine taking funding away from Park Run when it keeps so much of the country active. It's not like you win prize money.
It's still a great, fun Saturday morning activity for people of all ages whatever their background or however they identify. Everyone is welcome and you don't even have to run. It's a shame that these statistics have upset some people. I'm male but totally support fairness for women. Nuff said!
Parkrun became woke
Gotta change it from parkrun now because it excludes people in wheelchairs
Parkmove 😂😂
Cole - if you sit on the fence too long, you'd get splinters on your bum 🙂
I’m not sat on the fence with this one, I’m just not sure it affects me all that much. But I do love a bit of drama :)
I am not impacted by the loss of stats although i did enjoy the age category stats but primarily just for self improvement.
Parkrun is a free 5km social run that you put into what you feel able or want to on the day , supported and facilitated by an army of volunteers. I do not get the obsession with stats apart from your own use to motivate you. Regards the transgender issue that has been raised, if i was a woman that had held a fastest time and a transgender runner ran faster i really would not care in the context of parkrun, .. Caster Semenya case is not a good comparison, i really did feel for her as a young athlete and her biology being scrutinised by the world media, she trained hard , has higher testosterone levels, .... she can compete but only at certain distances, ... There are men that stand on the start line , i am thinking of 100 metres Usain Bolt, nature gifted him a fantastic physique, he had an advantage over a smaller athlete, so many factors to consider besides hormone levels.... Caster simply did not fit the media idea of what a woman should look like, i believe if she had more curves, softer features and dare i say it ,been a white european athlete, then i think she would have had far more support. I have digressed, apologies. Summary, parkrun is still available, go and run it if you want and share on strava if that is your thing, thanks Cole for a great and clear overview, and I hope you get some clarity on your injury and recovery can begin asap,
Boycott it. You don’t need Parkrun for your own times. Get yourself Strava. Pathetic times we live in.
Hi Cole being a white male is not a privilege don’t ever apologise for who you are.
Thanks Gary, just felt it was necessary that I understand this doesn’t directly impact me, just a secondary impact of losing the stats. But the main issue where transgender females can beat biological females is a problem
It does impact you though as you will no longer be the fastest at a specific course nor be able to challenge to be the fastest at any other courses
My comments keep getting removed!...not very inclusive behaviour.
It’s not me removing them mate, if enough people report them or you use language that RUclips doesn’t approve of it’s likely they’ll get auto removed even if not intentionally explicit
Such is the woke society we live in. It’s not fair you’re a better runner than me Cole! That’s the type mentality we have to put up with these days. Need to stop celebrating mediocrity.
what does that have to do with this made up "wokeness" term
Haha I know right, and it’s not fair that Mo Farah is better than me either! 🤣
but like Cole said, parkrun is meant to get people into running, not for people to try and break records. If you want to run a fast 5k just sign up to a race, parkrun is still there.
@@_Tp___ I was generalising and maybe should have been more specific, I agree with what you say, and it’s great for getting people of all abilities running,but there’s also nothing wrong in competing for fast 5ks at your local event especially if you have a group of you at a similar fitness levels. Bit of friendly competition never hurt anyone, that is until 2024
@@Arki2019 I agree but none of this being removed really affects that. Most people never used it and those that did won't really be impacted anyway. While I can see where you're coming from I feel like it's making it a bit more of an issue than it actually is, parkrun is still running, same people there, still get a time and record of your past times.
It's obviously a trans issue that they understandably just don't want to touch with a 20ft pole. It is a shame but I can't blame park run for doing it.
Since this decision is closely tied to Govt funding, we can’t blame Parkrun HQ. However, Parkrun is not the Olympics…..! I’m getting just a little tired of everything changing because of damn minority groups. I see their point but I don’t particularly support it. Keep messing around with Parkrun at it’s peril. I feel sorry for those who have invested years in Parkrun only to see it fall prey to issues like this.
They need to keep their funding that’s non negotiable. But I do think a better outcome could’ve been reached
You’re not “privileged” to be what you are. Don’t fall for all this BS
Just give the trans their own records, I think we should strike against Parkrun! I was hoping to make the top 100 this year, not worth getting out of bed now
I’m not going to share my Strava data anymore. Don’t be 👀 at my Strava records! I identify as a beaver so don’t think it’s right for anyone to see them
Dam! (See what I did there)
4:23 Cringe!
Cheers
@@ColeRunning The 'I'm a white male, so my opinions matter less' is so tiresome. Your ability to comprehend and engage with this issue isn't diminished by your race or gender. Moreover, non-aliens, such as yourself, constitute the vast majority of parkrun goers so of course your opinion matters. Implementing significant changes to satisfy a minority should not come at the cost of the quality of life of ordinary people, especially considering the widespread dissatisfaction with these changes. Other than that, I enjoyed your video.
Complete storm in a teacup. Will make absolutely no difference to 99.9% of people. The only impact is on the people who chase being first and fast and breaking course records. Those people have other places to prove how great they are.
So why do it then for the 0.1%? And I don't mean the fast runners. Meaningless argument.
@@61js rubbish. Everyone will have forgotten all about it in 3 weeks time.
I think people are making a bigger issue than it is. While I don't think there's much point in removing the statistics, parkrun's reasoning is that it won't look as competitive or as a race for new runners which is what parkrun has always meant to have been. They might have got the balance wrong or perhaps they won't even keep it, but it's not worth losing any sleep over, parkrun is still parkrun.
They've already removed everything. Plus anyone who goes to parkrun for the first time, me included, is more than likely to not even realise all the stats existed. It's nothing to with the discouragement of new runners, that's a smokescreen.
@@61js I agree, I literally said I don't see the point in removing them, but it's really not a big issue.