@@paulweston3436well technically it'd be because there's not a category that distinguishes cis women from trans women. So this would all be caused by a tiny tiny minority of elite cis women complaining about that. But this will actually be an accumulation of many factors, clubs meeting up to race other clubs during park run, parkruns having 3/4 laps of a park where people running at 25+kmph are knocking over others running at 7kmph and indeed the volunteers in some cases in sprint finishes. Non of this is good for park run, it is park run not park race. It's supposed to be fun running, getting injured by some idiot is never fun. I've watched vids of people trying to break a park run record, weaving in and out of people with some dude in roller blades videoing them.. just, not clever, like having a formula 1 race at rush hour on the M25.
As someone who is relatively competitive, I appreciate to see the parkrun records…not because I’m envious or put off, but because I’m in awe of someone’s ability. Regarding the comments on athletes and starters doing the same start line, running can be one of the few sports where you can do exact the same course/event as your idol. You’ll probably never get to play football with Messi. This should be celebrated, look how much interest Zwift gets when you can ride with [insert professional rider]. parkrun set out to be for all, and that includes both ends of the ability spectrum
@@gtnprobably not tbh. This change will have more impact on social media, than in the park However now you won’t know that the person who tore past without breaking a sweat is the new record holder
It's actually inspiring to have top athletes at events and even more so like the person above said to be able to run the same course as them at the same time. It's a privilege not a curse. To be able to look through the sub 17 finishers and see running in the mix was Mo Farah how cool would that be? Of course without timing anything less than 17 mins you will never know if any of the greats were there. 🤷 Fearing entering a new club or activity group is common but largely if a person is going to come along to parkrun whether there is a record or not is unlikely to even cross their mind. The first step is to get off the sofa and turn up. Takes courage but so does anything worthwhile.
@@johnnewman2472 I am not clear what the issue is here. You can still look through the full results of your race, or indeed any race, and if Mo Farah was there (running under his own name) then you will see his result. What you won't be able to do is to look at the overall "fastest ever male runner" (or similar) either on a specific course or across all courses. If you were sufficiently interested you could look through all events at that course and see who was fastest, but it would be very tedious. It is still easy to see your own records, and also the results for the races you have run.
Its a real shame for many who have worked hard for some of those stats, I know a lot of age graded older runners who love the aspect of having records that they can try and hold. I also think if looking at records is intimidating to new runners, shielding it from them until the turn up is not going to help, as it will be a shock seeing people fly off. Is it too harsh to say people need thicker skins? does shielding people from things they struggle with really help long term? or do you learn more and grow by facing challenges and intimidating situations.
Surprised more people in the comments dont realize this. Parkrun was in an incredibly difficult spot, does it wedge itself into a political conversation that will only result in them looking bad or does it just decide to leave that whole mess behind, stop posting records and take comfort in the fact anyone who cares has it on strava anyway. their hands were tied, they made the best move with the cards they got dealt IMO
@@Jockuptown parkrun should have addressed the real issue in their statement and not hide behind inclusivity. This will drive down participation. People turn on companies who don’t behave authentically.
Without going into the complexities of the T movement that would probably result in utube censorship. What moral justification can there be for those with a genetic advantage by virtue of being male at birth, usurping the achievements of women?
Yes spot on. As others have said I think they did the only thing they could - anyone can register and run as a woman, or indeed as a 14-year old, the volunteers just scan barcodes they aren't checking names or ages never mind gender (and how that definition might change from time to time per World Athletics rules), so it is impossible for them to police the categories. I don't think this will reduce or increase participation in the slightest either, so it is a sensible approach. It is a bit surprising they have had category records for so long given there is no way of checking eligibility.
I've grabbed all 258 of my local Park Run results and put them in a spreadsheet, took me 2 hrs. I now have my own list of what the records are, and it takes less than a minute to update with this weeks run. I'm in 4th place in my veteran age group, having records gives me the incentive to train harder.
Any event can be intimidating the first time...never heard of anyone personally after going for the first time has said they wouldnt go back...the welcome from runners of all abilities as a community is unmatched elsewhere.
Parkrun to me is a celebration of all things running! It already was inclusive of all and still is... Celebration by "how many first timers", "The number of runners we have here today", "The total number of runs someone has done", "Parkrun Birthdays", "Thanks to our volunteers"... Course records etc, 1st across the line are no different in my opinion and should still be celebrated. Running is a movement, a community, one foot in front of the other and whether you are fast or slower than anyone else it's still amazing. I love a good stat, I like to compare, others may not but that's their choice. Some people are competitive and would like to race their mates around to improve performance, others might want a social jog around. It won't discourage me from going to Parkrun because Parkrun is a running community and it's still all about the running :)
We love this! 🙌 Running is a great community, do you think the records turned people away or is this move just a evolution of a very inclusive community? It's a very interesting topic and can be viewed from many different ways 👀
@@stephenwest6613It's impossible to be perfectly inclusive to everyone parkrun has chosen to shift focus away from the fastest people to hopefully draw in the people who need parkrun the most, people like I was 5 years ago who smoked cigarettes and have a bad diet and walking 5k in 50 minutes was a huge effort.
If you find parkrun intimidating because of records and stats that you have to search out for then i suggest you need to get a grip, if you don't like them don't look, but give the option to those of us who like them and find them motivating. I know several people who say they will stop doing parkrun because of their removal, I don't know anyone who said the stats stop them doing parkrun.
@gtn Probably makes minimal difference, may even lose some people who chased event records l can't honestly see why they had to scrap those but its clesr like some sporting bodies they didn't want to address transgender men competing with women
You mentioned that Parkrun started at Bushy Park, but failed to identify that it started as a 5k Time Trial and in fact continued as that for several years. In other words, time mattered from the very beginning. The other thing is that it seems that quite a lot interpreted it as a way to deal with transwomen holding women's course and age group records. While the Parkrun organisation didn't state that, many have interpreted it that way mostly because their reasoning made not sense otherwise. The upshot is Parkrun now appears to be less inclusive, not more, as the organisers state. I also know that my son held the M20-24 course record at one of our local Parkruns. He's a handy runner, but far from a local elite, much less a national elite runner, so how do you think he feels. Three separate course records were broken at the other local Parkrun the Saturday before the decision, including the girls 14 and boys 16 year old records. They trained for months for those attempts and just like that, their amazing achievements were deleted.
I can understand their disappointment, but however it started, parkrun is now very clearly "a run, not a race" and is intended to be non-competitive. It is pretty clear that they have taken this action in response to attacks, notably by a right-wing think tank, criticising them for "allowing" trans men to compete and have their times recorded as women. They were getting a lot of criticism and controversy about this, notably on social media but starting to hit the mainstream. Given the hugely toxic atmosphere generated by this debate everywhere, I am not surprised that parkrun decided simply to avoid taking any sort of position by withdrawing these course and national records. You still have your own records in full, and frankly that is what you should be competing with - your own PB, or a target to do 100 runs, say. Since it is not meant to be competitive, it should not matter what other people have done. You can in any case also see the results of any given race. If you want to compete with other people at the level where you are setting course records then a local athletic or running club would be a better environment.
I’m a bit mixed regarding Parkrun. Though now old and slow, my competitiveness still looks to beat others in my age range. One problem that I’ve noticed is the elite runners screaming not only at the other runners taking part, but also pedestrians to MOVE! A lot of elite runners forget that the Parkrun spirit is community, fun and exercise.
I know what you mean. I'm in awe of their times but there is a narrow section that slows them down when they are that far ahead of everyone. maybe there should be an elite parkrun!
Just be aware of other runners when they're overtaking you and don't wear headphones so you know what is happening round about you. And if anyone "screamed" at me whilst doing Parkrun i'd give them a good thump.
This year is all about me for a change, and for my 60th birthday in January, I signed up for parkrun to get out of the house, improve and the associated social etc. This Saturday will be my third. I loved clicking on results for 2 reasons. 1. The fast times give me something to aim for. 2. I could reverse the order and see how many runners at any one park, because I prefer the quieter parkruns. Bring it back.
@nickip6189 there are Strava segments. And they are records or your personal bests if that's something you need to check to motivate yourself to do better for you not anyone else.
@@nickip6189 I suspect that almost every parkrun is a segment on Strava and this is a great way to look at the fantastic achievements of the fastest runners
The fact that park run has been expanding and so successful with the records in full view kind of proves that it doesnt really have an affect on new runners. Probably those people who are nervous about joining arent doing it because someone ran a fast time but just because mass participation events can make people anxious. Especially if they arent sure of their own capabilities. Like Heather mentioned the records were something you have to look for. And whether or not records are displayed the pointy end will always be fast and everyone else will do their own thing.
@@markthrelfall3577Of course not! Who’s going to step up and say “we don’t know how to deal with this issue so we’ll just come up with some (implausible) excuse to distract the conversation”? Very weak leadership parkrun.
@@markthrelfall3577 They came in for a barrage of criticism on Twitter for letting men run in the women's category and they instantly removed the categories entirely.
I found Parkrun intimidating and ran alone until I was able to run 5km in 30 minutes. My parkrun times since have been between 27-40 minutes depending on me and the course, but wish i started sooner. The 30 minute standard was self imposed after seeing the records online.
My running shoes go through life stages. They are born as running shoes, then as they lose the cushioning they become day-to-day trainers, after which they become “gardening” shoes. When a shiny new pair arrives, everyone moves down the chain, and the gardening shoes end up in the bin to be recycled as heat (possibly for a post-run shower) by the local waste management service.
@@gtnI wrote the comment as a new pair had just arrived and the gardening ones had gone in the bin. I have now fished them out, and when the weather warms up a bit I’ll use them as plant pots.
I get that they removed the records, but maybe just adding a bell curve that shows the distribution would have made more sense. This way they could have easily shown that the records are just the outliers and the average/median runners take longer, making it less intimidating while keeping the records
I would love to see the histograms! Statistics tend to be very interesting and informative, yet many people might get intimidated by the statistics then (not a record statistic, rather statistic statistics).
parkrun is for everyone- including those at the front....coming from someone towards the back. Also the results were quite discreet on the website and clearly aren't the focus of parkrun, its just part of it. I would be pretty upset if it was my record taken off.
why would it worry you if someone else has a record speed ; to me I see it as a target that makes me say gee mayby one day I can get a course record ; gives you something to aspire to
one thing I always liked about Parkun is that I'd snoop on the full results and see the time(s) of the front pack. "oof ... so that's what 17 minutes looks like!". I might not be super-fast at ~23mins, I agree that it's aspirational to see those numbers and wonder whether I could squeeze it down to 22:30 next week.
Our local park run is a 3 lap PB course with some narrow paths next to a river. Unfortunately because of the lapped course there is a lot of friction between the fast runners pushing past the social runners and there has been abuse swapped between various groups. This isn't in the spirit that in my opinion park run was set up to be. Within a close radius of here we have competitive track and road races nearly every weekend that people can enter if they want to rub shoulders. I am sure there is something for everyone but runners of all abilities need to be considerate of other people's goals and try to tailor their own goal to an appropriate event.
i agree with you its catering to a very basic few ; if they find records intimidating they surely must be intimidated when people run way faster than them
You don't mention, and Parkrun don't mention, an issue that has cropped up in comments, which is that on a number of occasions the female records have been smashed by trans women. If Parkrun are going to post records at all, many women want them to show the performance of biological women, not a time that is unattainable for them. International governing bodies have taken on this issue; with Parkrun you just tick a box to say which category you identify in, and clearly trans women are going to tick "women". Confronting this would invite an onslaught of controversy, so simply removing records altogether must have felt safer!
This is exactly it. They were taking a lot of stick on Twitter because of the men who are taking women's records and obliterating them. The instant this happened they removed all records and said records don't matter, but for plenty of people they do matter. I've heard women say that they came in 124th overall but first, second or third in the women's over 30s group and they were overjoyed, not because they're competitive but just because they were amazed at their own achievement and ability. People have also said they use them to improve their own running. Far from it only being one or two men taking their places, there are now hundreds of examples throughout cycling, running and other sports, of women being displaced and having their achievements robbed from them. If it doesn't matter, then why did they have categories and official times in the first place? Why would they have a results page? They've taken this action solely because they let men run in women's categories and they were caught out on it big time, and they had to backpeddle tout de suite.
Having 90,000 new participants last year shows it’s working to get more people active. Why change it then. Most comments I’ve heard disagree with the change. I never participate to break records, but is fun to see the statistics.
I love Parkrun. I started in late 2015. I marvel at the speed & skill of the elite runners who run with us. I applaud everyone who takes part regardless of their ability. The records have gone, I was initially annoyed by this but I can live with it. Please leave it at that. Don’t take away the timekeeping. Keep tinkering & taking away you might just find your numbers dropping off rather than growing……if it ain’t broke, leave it as it is!
New balance should make shoes with modular replaceable soles. The uppers last easily 5x longer than the bases. Thinking something that maybe is part of the lacing system so it is well on there. the upper sits in the the sole like a flip flop, then has flaps up the side which the laces go through and an extra slide in clip on the back. Not for a race shoe, just for training. Would cut out a lot of waste and you could even have different soles for different conditions.
Here we go.. all parkruns have the full segment where the records are live. Strava segments, if you get the message you beat the previous record then here we go.. job done
It's put me off from attending parkrun. Seeing the records inspired me to train harder and hopefully take one or two at some point, or at least aspire to. Now for me there is little point to it. As a social run with my club, fine. Or as an entry point for a friend getting into running. I get the impression parkrun are not interested about the pointy end. I'll be going to fewer and concentrate my efforts on other 5k races.
But parkrun is free. Why forced us to pay if we can do it every Saturday everywhere in the country? . It is not inclusive if it looses all the quick people
Sugru is a diy moulding material for fixing or enhancing stuff, so I guess in theory you could extend the life of trainer soles by building up the worn tread??
Personally I started Parkrun, as a very unfit, unhealthy person. Mental Health wise as my running improved, so did that, not realising it was an issue, until it was resolving itself. I was getting healthier. Personally I didn't care about 1st, 2nd or 3rd, but I did like the top 500 records and later the Club records, finding people I had not met, but made it a plan to get to know these people and reason's for running. Some of these runner's became friends, and we collectively improved. For me these records were used as a positive driving force to get to where I am now, from a runner able to run Parkrun n in 35minutes to just over 20, but wanting to go sub 20! Having spoken to various people, most people didn't care one way or another, but one really made me angry, (Someone who was Involved in the past as a helper with my local Parkrun) who decided that for the Mental Health of everyone, anyone who wished to race, be competitive, etc, is not welcome at Parkrun, and should instead do Athletics or Something else. I worked hard to improve myself, and anyone who was part of my journey, and I theirs, knew how hard I worked to get to where we are now. I do not have available time for Athletics, but do once a week running training with a track coach, and have learnt more, and I feel I am still improving overall. Gone are the days of PB's every few weeks, to the last one June last year, and over 2 years before that for the one before. But I enjoy finding people and helping people to understand every run is not easy, but breaking down a run, is like the rest of life, improving aspects over time, and realising that Everyone can improve themselves from where they are now, even if they are not always sure what they are improving. For Me is Started at wanting to loose weight (Failed), but lost fat 8inches around the waist, and most importantly my Mental Strength improved, as did my drive to succeed in my eventual goals, but taking tiny steps without any obvious improvements to get there. The 500 place Leaderboard was a big part of my whole journey and I hope something is brought back to replace this. If not the whole leaderboard, the positions of the 5 people that finished ahead and behind on average for the last 3 months, could be helpful. I do not have the answers, and do not personally care about who the fastest overall, but I do like Strava Segments, where I also use the persons time ahead as a target to beat. I've started the same with Cycling for the last few months. Not confident in a group ride yet, and not knowing the rules, but eventually I want to be ready and not look silly with my half road/with clip on aerobars, half MTB appearance. I think Parkrun have lost me as a volunteer, as what is the point in timing, if not having a competitive environment is the goal. In fact, I would say, what point is Parkrun, if Parkrun is only about the coffee everyone thinks they deserve after completing it. You must have a goal to achieve, and be able to improve on that goal once it is reached. (The Old PB bell was great, but gone!) If Parkrun is now a scenic walk, then Parkrun should be in Places such as National Parks, etc, and get the many benefits available in those environments. A Park does not achieve this I Feel
Having the records and the PBs and age groups ext is part of the fun. The great thing about parkrun was it gave everyone a chance to reach an attainable goal. But cheats have started to scam the system. I expect it won’t be as popular after this decision.
At our parkrun the record is 16:32 so under 17 minutes, that wouldn't even be registered in the future? Crazy. As a volunteer I keep my own statistics of our parkrun, so I'll know.
@@danabc322 Yes, I found this out in the mean time. I keep an Excel sheet of our local parkrun stats, so if someone breaks the record we'll know anyway.
Completely agree with Heather on ParkRun. Not fair to take the fun away for fast people to placate the slow people. Anyone who’s actually been to ParkRun knows how inclusive it is. At my local one, the fastest runners regularly loop back to encourage slower runners through to the finish. If the ethos is everyone is welcome to run/walk at their own pace, that should apply to fast runners as well as slow.
What confuses me about the parkrun stats removal is that they didn't have to outright remove it to achieve the same goal. Any website has a 'prominence factor', there's a whole UX / marketing industry about continually aligning company ideals and user wants by re-jigging pages/elements. If Parkrun wanted to make the website feel less intimidating, they only needed to rework parts so that the 'fast times' parts were less prominent ... smaller call-to-actions, lower down the homepage, links in the footer nav (not the primary nav). The irony is that by trying to seem more inclusive, they've basically just cold-shouldered everyone who cares about times. And come to think of it: isn't it intimidating that there's volunteers doing a timing funnel with stopwatches and tokens? Or doesn't "intimidation, but on the day" count?
I've been to the New Balance factory sale in Skowhegan, Maine. The shoes I bought were marked "seconds." They were new though; I couldn't tell what was sub standard about them. I got two pair for half price. They did it every August, I don't know if they still do.
How does it make more inclusive? They remove those records to stop upsetting some group of people but what about upsetting people who do care? Double standards, eh?
In all the time that I have taken part in Parkrun, I can safely say I have NEVER taken the time to go onto their website and look up the various records, age group results, etc. Seems like a real non-issue "first world" problem.
I’m a long time parkrun fan, started at 31mins, got as fast as 22min, and currently around 25min, and never once felt intimidated, it’s all about being social, I,proving yourself and having a bit of friendly competitive banter, like I pretty much always have a parkrun nemesis and I often let them know I’m coming for them 😂 people just need to relax a little and treat it as a little fun. And I agree with heather, removing stats won’t make a difference at all, it’s just a bizarre call by parkrun hq
I have never participated in park runs but when comparison is introduced there will always be disgruntlement. I also find it quite inspiring to compete with the elites even though I will never beat them or even celebrities even though I will never drink coffee with them. Just to say I did it is a great feeling.
I definitely lean towards Mark's POV on the parkrun issue. Displaying course records, most first finishers, sub-17 men and sub-20 women etc always seemed a bit inconsistent with parkrun's "run not a race" ethos and was potentially off-putting/intimidating to some (and I can understand this even as someone with multiple parkrun first finishes to my name). FWIW, it's still pretty easy to find out the fastest ever times at any given parkrun, you just have to look at the event history page then sort the data by 'Male/Female First Finishers'. The '5k' app also has all of the old data for those who are really interested...
I personally run solely for the pure satisfaction of running and mental wellbeing. I don't keep track of anything, besides the feeling in my body and mind. I know this is not suitable for competitive runners, and I also fully respect that, but I can only encourage keeping it raw and simple like an animal if you're in it just to be or stay fit.
Great thing to remove the records. The whole idea was a community based run. If you are chasing records then enter a race. It is a free platform, and it costs to have manpower updating info all the time. It costs to have equipment etc. Maybe the parkruns could be split in 2 events, have racers, and they pay, and the community which is free.
Oh bull! People use throes runs for fun and for training. Why should people who are “racing” pay but you want to take up more time of the volunteers by slower pace runs and walking. How about the back of the pack pays for time on course. This is a bs political move and a participation trophy
@@pulkpuller lol you're acting like you have been stripped of your right to partake in Parkrun. If you take Parkrun so seriously, maybe you are partly to blame for this move in the first place?
@@klipk7296 no I’m against this pretend equality bs. This isn’t about making it more welcoming for different paces it’s about gender ! Why would you not want to know where you stand ? It’s a metric to show improvement and where you should seed yourself in a race environment. Stop being so soft
@@klipk7296 It depends what kind of runner you are - the fastest 500 and weekly results gave me huge motivation to run as hard as I could, and before parkrun I'd neither cared nor knew I could run those times, starting age 39. I'd never been in any running event of any kind, and it was great. My big dream was to make the sub 17 page, and after nine months of parkrun I got a 16'54". Very proud achievement. Without the sub 17 page, elite men it was called then, I doubt I would've bothered. Why kill that for people? I liked looking at all the fast runners and records. I could see the writing on the wall coming with parkrun a few years back and glad I did a big three years and then stopped going. They were always heading in the direction of boring OTT PC group jog. Why have times at all then? Have no times, no results, no nothing - that's the logical conclusion. I've got my memories of better times. I ran with an Olympic 800m woman who smoked 16'40" - if you can attract people like that, why not? Worked for me. Doesn't make it better, makes it boring.
I like the records&leaderboards but there are better options then just removing them. Here are some ideas: * Make the records&leaderboards opt-in. No-one see's them unless they want to. * Add MORE stats, records and leaderboards that aren't performance based. Who has done it the most times, oldest, youngest, who has done it on their birthday..... Make it more inclusive by adding, not removing. * If they really want to do something for the reasons given, why are the results listed in position order at all? Just list peoples names and times alphabetically with no position. It's an idea but not one I like!
Perfectly fine decision. If you wanna see a course record, Strava is literally right there AND designed for people who want to break records. Course records, age records, daily records, you wanna break em, they are there. ParkRun, an organisation that caters to everyone and has made a step towards inclusivity. Thats literally their entire thing. If you genuinely think that this is an issue, I've got a bridge to sell you.
Heather - you always look great but at the moment you are looking just radiant, I just needed to say that !! Thanks for all you do at GTN you keep me inspired every video ❤
Why not have BOTH - that would be true inclusion and acceptance. People will feel NO less intimidated by removing records BECAUSE intimidation is inside you, has nothing to do with the external. It's modern trends pandering to the weak minded - how about helping the weak to step UP, cope with life more and keep the records as inspiration!
The banning of records was nothing to do with this discussion- it was about the trans debate and who could “claim” a record in such circumstances. Hence the Park Run comment on “inclusivity”. As a regular park runner i always enjoyed wondering whether an athlete at the top of their form on the second lap of a three lap course might break our local best time. Sadly a pleasure now consigned to the past…
I've never done Parkrun, the only reason being that my local one (in Strathclyde Country Park, which all triathletes will know as the location for the Glasgow 2014 Races) is on the most boring and nosiest part of the trail round the loch. Never even looked at the records though, most years I'll the Great Scottish Run 10K for example and when athletes like Eilish McColgan and Callum Hawkins are running (probably in the half marathon in their cases these days) there's no point in looking at course records.
I think, instead of removing records, add MORE records! Suggestions per course: Best costume per month, fastest finish in crocs, hopscotch record ect ect Suggestions global: coldest temperature record, hottest temperature record. Help me come up with more, this would be so much fun!
Oh, most amount of steps would be such a fun record. I have really short legs and I've always thought the most number of steps is the only record I would have a shot at.
I think that there are plenty of opportunities to run with your idols. However there aren’t a lot of very entry level possibilities to run. I feel park run has a unique place in the running world for beginners to run without feeling any pressure to pay or compete other then against the sofa. As there are no other options other then park run for these kind of runners , I feel that they should be respected and cared for. You can still participate as a fast runner, you just won’t be as venerated as in all the other races. If you want to hold records or win or podium, go and do a real race. There are plenty.
Not done a park run yet and am very unfit. However, as a somewhat competitive guy who doesn't really care if I win or lose but enjoy trying to win, I like to know what the records are for a course! It's something to aim for, even if I am a million miles away from it and will never beat it! It's like taking away the 'Par' system from golf! It doesn't matter how many shots it takes to get it in the hole! It's stupid to take this information away! It's like the no-one is a winner or loser, and everyone gets a medal brigade!! People that jog or walk the course are not necessarily interested in this info, but people who are getting near the times will be. If I was getting near the top of the list I would want to know what the time to beat is, and if that info is taken away, why would I bother with that run? It's like batting a shuttlecock to each other rather than having a game of badminton! Leave the info there for those who want to know it. This is idiotic woke censorship!!!
I've only been going to parkrun since the start of this year as one started nearby. Its been great and im planning on continuing to go for years to come (have already started trying to trick/invite friends to come along too). Based on online discussion, reddit, youtube etc. the prevailing theory is that the removal of records has less to do with getting new runners to come along and more to do with getting ahead of any potential controversy with trans women beating ciswomens records on a given track. Assuming this is the case, and to be fair even if it isnt and the reasoning parkrun have offered about it being intimidating and a barrier to new runners is legit...... I cant imagine it making any real difference to anyone at my level at least (male,34, overweight and trying to get fitter, fingers crossed i manage under 30 mins this weekend). That said, sports records being broken by transwomen is a more complex issue than i am able to resolve in a RUclips comment and i imagine ParkRun likewise, dont have the capability to resolve it to everyones satisfaction without getting some amount of flak for it. So, speaking for myself, im sad the records are no longer easily accessible, but can understand why it had to happen and it will have zero impact on my willingness to go for a run on a Saturday morning and i suspect many people will feel the same way. Though naturally, people can disagree with me and you can be disappointed with this decision for any number of reasons. As it stands, before/after this change, parkrun has been incredibly welcoming and a very positive experience for me, my partner and our friends. I'm more upset that dogs arent allowed cos i want to pet them and tell them they are a good doggo (though i can see the logic behind not allowing dogs 😔 )
Ooooo look at me accidentally spreading misinformation online! Dogs aren't blanket banned. Might be regional/Parkrun specific but their general rules,at least in Ireland, are just that dogs needs to be well handled and kept under control responsibly......which leads to a much greater grievance.....why aren't there loads of dogs at MY Parkrun 😢
Has anybody whoever wanted to get a set of oil paints and an easel to get creative ever been put off by seeing the Mona Lisa? Should galleries be closed?
Everyone who says time doesn’t matter is talking rubbish unless they run it and not get their barcodes scanned at the end. But i see vey few unknowns at parkruns that I attend so obviously time is an attraction to doing them. We all know why they’ve done it, trying to say records put people off is a laughable excuse..
1 - Google "survivorship bias" 2 - It's possible to care about your time while being intimidated by the higher times Not saying you're wrong, but I am saying you don't care about other people's perspectives
@@klipk7296 well in all the time I’ve been doing parkruns I’ve only ever known people who are interested in times, their own times that is, as most of us want to beat ourselves to better ourselves. I’ve never known anyone to care or be put off by better runners times. Let’s face it, this whole argument is about the possibility of trans men taking women’s records and nothing about people being put off park runs cos of course records. I will continue to run and be inspired by better runners and in fact slower runners starting on their fitness journey. My point was only the fact that suddenly know one is supposedly interested in times yet we all know the excitement of getting that park run time text message at about 10.30..
Regarding parkruns drive to be inclusive and celebrate diversity and casting a wider net can someone answer my question .If an individual indentifies as an animal ( they do exist , they would have lived in facilities years ago but now are celebrated and platformed ) would they have to be restrained on a short lead , anything less could be interpred as a mis pro noun ⚡⚡⚡ God forbid !
Really enjoyed the video but the article on Park Run missed the key reason for removal of the records, which is due to transgender women (formerly men) taking women records… This was the core reason for the issue, not around the competition and putting off people running. A bit more research required.
I’m not sure it’s the spirit of parkrun to fuss about records but they will remain on Strava for each course and if strava gives up leaderboards it will collapse.
Their has been alot of talk about parkrun affecting short distance race entries. And the impact of having a "free" race environment, which Parkrun filled. By making it anti-competitive and detracting from the allure of the race like environment. It might promote races as better options for the competitive individual. My reckoning is that there have been alot of complaints from race organizers / bodies and clubs about Parkrun. So this is their attempt at keeping everyone happy.
Great idea from Parkrun. I've had steadier friends pushed and knocked on two lap courses from the faster runners due to the competition element. Parkrun is for everyone and fast runners are very intimidating for some. I've won two parkruns in my time and really welcome this. It was always about the community not about the speed or position for me.
I've never done parkrun, but other channels have speculated controversy surrounding men signing up as women to get onto the sub 20 board. Rather than implement rules that volunteers would have to try to implement making results harder to find helps to sweep it under the rug. Seems like a reasonable hypothesis to me.
Nothing to do with being intimidated by faster runners......we all run at different speeds. The issue is with men posing as women and running in the women's category. Be brave Parkrun and address this rather than take the cowardly approach.
If there are people who are not getting enough exposure by sharing their effort on Strava, or Garmin, or whatever platform they use, then maybe someone should come up with Park Race and keep that separate from the, in my opinion, more laid back Park Run. Also, by not having run records they do not have to get into the debate about who identifies as what, which is probably a clever move in this day and age.
It’s interesting that it primarily seems to be speedy, competitive, more serious runners who are up in arms about the records… Personally, I don’t think the records are the point of Parkrun. If people want records, they should record their own. If they want to compete with others (which is not actually the point of Parkrun - it’s not a race), then maybe they should…join an actual race! :)
A recent streamer suggested that the records were removed due to difficulties associated with allocating records involving trans runners in womans events. Seems an odd concern and an even odder reaction if true.
Hey @gtn, are you really allowing the kinds of gross transphobic comments @@HereForTheMusic-h5o is making throughout this thread to stand? This reflects extremely poorly on you as a company.
Ultimately, this is a result of people using data to make decision about behaviours, but not considering how people's behaviour skews data. People were interviewed about why they NO LONGER go to Parkrun and they said they felt intimidated. Those people, don't go to ParkRun. They are not participants and in the short period they were, I highly doubt they ever looked at those records. Humans, will rarely speak honestly if they feel embarrassed and will try to blame something else for their own behaviour. I dare say, most of the people who said they felt intimidated lost interest or simply got too busy. People don't look at Kipchoge and think, 'actually, running is too intimidating.' They look at their friends' doing a couch-to-5K and think, 'if they can do it, so can I.' The records are innocent victims and will only dissuade elite runners.
Nonsense, competition is part of human nature, we thrive on it. Parkrun are avoiding the real issue, as are GTN, of cheats stealing the women's records.
If your ego's fragile, stick to the treadmill or avoid crowds. Are you there to compete or are you there to have a good time? Why does it bother anyone what anyone's record is? Focus on yourself. Besides those records can be a sort of goal to work towards.😉
Those who run fast at Park Run surely have registered their time themselves, on whatever app they use. As a new runner, looking at those sort of stats, it is a put off. Yet it is people like me they want to attract. It isn't like people don't have their running stats now, just that they aren't advertised on the Park run site. I think they are getting back to their core principles.
At the beginning before it was rebranded as park run, it was a weekly time trial event. So there is your core to go back to. So let us exclude all walkers, plodders and joggers? Almost everyone is intimidated or at least nervous in their very first outing, I know I was, but really, must we re-invent the wheel? It is already massively successful. But let us be honest, something that the Park run governance isn’t being, and acknowledge what the GENUINE reason is for all of this.
If you remove the records, those fast runners will still be there and beat us by miles... so I don't see the point. There must have been something else triggering this that they are not discussing openly. I love parkrun and I also appreciate the management does not have an easy job. In the end, I'd say "meh" and go run
As someone who watches this channel for entertainment only and isn't really a frequent runner at all, I can personally say that the parkrun records dissuaded from joining park run. I struggle with keeping the running habit and was looking at the website and saw the record for my local park run was really fast. While I logically know that there will be a lot slower runners, it's kinda like joining a bike club with an average speed that seems really hard. You mentally decide that "I'll train alone and join one of those later when I'm faster". Fully acknowledge that's it's not fully rational but I suspect the people most affected by this are people you aren't actually meeting at a parkrun.
So you acknowledge that there would have been a lot of slower runners than you at the parkrun. But because the fastest time was so fast you decided not to go? If you do decide to go now, you do realise those runners are still there and they will still be beating you and putting out those times? The bike club analogy doesn’t work. If you don’t have a quick enough average speed, then you will get dropped. That is not the case at parkrun though where you have tail walkers. Sounds like you just wanted an excuse not to go.
Thanks for commenting! We really appreciate you getting involved, it's great to hear that the rule change may bring runners like yourself into the events 🙌
Interesting. Hypothetical: you had not seen the times published and then gone to park run and enjoyed it (encouraging volunteers, back walkers, community etc) even though some people were very quick. In fact, you came to enjoy it so that you looked forward to each Saturday morning and seeing your improvement. At what point of improvement would you be ok to no longer have your times published? Would it be enough for you to know for yourself the improvement or would you feel just a bit deflated that the times weren’t publicly shown? Honestly curious, as id have bet there weren’t too many who experienced what you describe.
@@nickc4716 For me personally, I would be okay with never having my times published. I imagine in this case if I loved parkrun and therefore wanted all my friends to join, etc, I would leave parkrun as a "fun" event or a "recovery" event. Having my times published would probably dissuade any of my non-runner friends from just joining me on a random Saturday as well. If I was going alone, having Strava or my garmin to track my own personal records would be fun enough and joining an actual competitive event would satisfy any other urges. I'm curious if for people who do regularly go to parkrun: if you're recovering from injury or have a planned recovery run doesn't it suck when you get a non-great time?
@@dutoitm1 I fully acknowledge it's not completely rational. I'll say I'm generally good about trying out new things. I joined a softball league having no experience, play in random rec leagues for ultimate frisbee etc. I suspect part of the problem is I don't know how slow is normal. Logically I know that there are "slow runners" at a parkrun. But as a non-runner I have no idea how fast I personally can run that distance. I have nothing to compare it to. Getting dropped in a bike run feels (to me) the same as "getting dropped" in a parkrun. I would be biking/running alone anyways but you feel a bit like a nuisance.
Why and who feels intimidated? The average parkrun time is slow, so more than halfs runs slow. Why you don’t just let quick runner be quick and enjoy the glory after hard training. Well done do the ones who did it first time but also well done who dose who do train 5x a week no matter what no matter the weather. We are not on national level so parkrun is the only competition we get
Share your thoughts with us below 👇
Andy Baddely's record was broken recently. But het had it for 10 years or something.
Isn’t this all about transgender women taking women’s records?
Does eliminating the Park Run records reduce overhead cost for the management of these events.
@@atlantaswelder nothing to do with cost - all to do with trans women holding women’s records.
@@paulweston3436well technically it'd be because there's not a category that distinguishes cis women from trans women.
So this would all be caused by a tiny tiny minority of elite cis women complaining about that.
But this will actually be an accumulation of many factors, clubs meeting up to race other clubs during park run, parkruns having 3/4 laps of a park where people running at 25+kmph are knocking over others running at 7kmph and indeed the volunteers in some cases in sprint finishes. Non of this is good for park run, it is park run not park race.
It's supposed to be fun running, getting injured by some idiot is never fun. I've watched vids of people trying to break a park run record, weaving in and out of people with some dude in roller blades videoing them.. just, not clever, like having a formula 1 race at rush hour on the M25.
As someone who is relatively competitive, I appreciate to see the parkrun records…not because I’m envious or put off, but because I’m in awe of someone’s ability.
Regarding the comments on athletes and starters doing the same start line, running can be one of the few sports where you can do exact the same course/event as your idol. You’ll probably never get to play football with Messi. This should be celebrated, look how much interest Zwift gets when you can ride with [insert professional rider].
parkrun set out to be for all, and that includes both ends of the ability spectrum
Great points! It's super cool to be able to run with your idols 🙌 Do you think this will be lost with the rule change?
@@gtnYes because I feel the same and leaving ParkRun. Too bad I was a volunteer as well. But the PR director Russ Jefferys can F off.
@@gtnprobably not tbh. This change will have more impact on social media, than in the park
However now you won’t know that the person who tore past without breaking a sweat is the new record holder
It's actually inspiring to have top athletes at events and even more so like the person above said to be able to run the same course as them at the same time. It's a privilege not a curse. To be able to look through the sub 17 finishers and see running in the mix was Mo Farah how cool would that be? Of course without timing anything less than 17 mins you will never know if any of the greats were there. 🤷
Fearing entering a new club or activity group is common but largely if a person is going to come along to parkrun whether there is a record or not is unlikely to even cross their mind. The first step is to get off the sofa and turn up. Takes courage but so does anything worthwhile.
@@johnnewman2472 I am not clear what the issue is here. You can still look through the full results of your race, or indeed any race, and if Mo Farah was there (running under his own name) then you will see his result. What you won't be able to do is to look at the overall "fastest ever male runner" (or similar) either on a specific course or across all courses. If you were sufficiently interested you could look through all events at that course and see who was fastest, but it would be very tedious. It is still easy to see your own records, and also the results for the races you have run.
ban running, not fair for people who can't run
GCN is that you? 👀
You can just walk a parkrun as slow as you like
@@gourami7 no walking either, I'm offended
Agreed, if that is the reason they got rid of the records because the people who aren't going to run are afraid of fast runners, that is weak!
Sounds about right 👍
Its a real shame for many who have worked hard for some of those stats, I know a lot of age graded older runners who love the aspect of having records that they can try and hold. I also think if looking at records is intimidating to new runners, shielding it from them until the turn up is not going to help, as it will be a shock seeing people fly off. Is it too harsh to say people need thicker skins? does shielding people from things they struggle with really help long term? or do you learn more and grow by facing challenges and intimidating situations.
Nice side step of the elephant in the room.
Yupp. We know the reason the records aren’t there. Since some were now un beatable fairly.
Surprised more people in the comments dont realize this. Parkrun was in an incredibly difficult spot, does it wedge itself into a political conversation that will only result in them looking bad or does it just decide to leave that whole mess behind, stop posting records and take comfort in the fact anyone who cares has it on strava anyway.
their hands were tied, they made the best move with the cards they got dealt IMO
@@Jockuptown parkrun should have addressed the real issue in their statement and not hide behind inclusivity. This will drive down participation. People turn on companies who don’t behave authentically.
Without going into the complexities of the T movement that would probably result in utube censorship. What moral justification can there be for those with a genetic advantage by virtue of being male at birth, usurping the achievements of women?
Yes spot on. As others have said I think they did the only thing they could - anyone can register and run as a woman, or indeed as a 14-year old, the volunteers just scan barcodes they aren't checking names or ages never mind gender (and how that definition might change from time to time per World Athletics rules), so it is impossible for them to police the categories. I don't think this will reduce or increase participation in the slightest either, so it is a sensible approach. It is a bit surprising they have had category records for so long given there is no way of checking eligibility.
I've grabbed all 258 of my local Park Run results and put them in a spreadsheet, took me 2 hrs. I now have my own list of what the records are, and it takes less than a minute to update with this weeks run. I'm in 4th place in my veteran age group, having records gives me the incentive to train harder.
Any event can be intimidating the first time...never heard of anyone personally after going for the first time has said they wouldnt go back...the welcome from runners of all abilities as a community is unmatched elsewhere.
A sad move by Parktun. Simple fix is an “opt-in” or “opt-out” of results on each persons home page.
Parkrun to me is a celebration of all things running! It already was inclusive of all and still is... Celebration by "how many first timers", "The number of runners we have here today", "The total number of runs someone has done", "Parkrun Birthdays", "Thanks to our volunteers"... Course records etc, 1st across the line are no different in my opinion and should still be celebrated. Running is a movement, a community, one foot in front of the other and whether you are fast or slower than anyone else it's still amazing. I love a good stat, I like to compare, others may not but that's their choice. Some people are competitive and would like to race their mates around to improve performance, others might want a social jog around. It won't discourage me from going to Parkrun because Parkrun is a running community and it's still all about the running :)
We love this! 🙌 Running is a great community, do you think the records turned people away or is this move just a evolution of a very inclusive community? It's a very interesting topic and can be viewed from many different ways 👀
@@gtnyes, but as soon as you start to exclude things, the inclusive argument dissolves
@@stephenwest6613It's impossible to be perfectly inclusive to everyone parkrun has chosen to shift focus away from the fastest people to hopefully draw in the people who need parkrun the most, people like I was 5 years ago who smoked cigarettes and have a bad diet and walking 5k in 50 minutes was a huge effort.
If you find parkrun intimidating because of records and stats that you have to search out for then i suggest you need to get a grip, if you don't like them don't look, but give the option to those of us who like them and find them motivating. I know several people who say they will stop doing parkrun because of their removal, I don't know anyone who said the stats stop them doing parkrun.
Exactly.
So there are people walking at every parkrun so where are these 'barriers to entry' ?
More walking 🙌 That's a great point, do you think this rule change will bring anymore people to the sport? 🏃
@gtn Probably makes minimal difference, may even lose some people who chased event records l can't honestly see why they had to scrap those but its clesr like some sporting bodies they didn't want to address transgender men competing with women
@@gourami7which is actually the REAL reason 🙂
@@gourami7 Transgender *men* don't want to compete with women....
@@gtn word ‘sport’ banned
You mentioned that Parkrun started at Bushy Park, but failed to identify that it started as a 5k Time Trial and in fact continued as that for several years. In other words, time mattered from the very beginning. The other thing is that it seems that quite a lot interpreted it as a way to deal with transwomen holding women's course and age group records. While the Parkrun organisation didn't state that, many have interpreted it that way mostly because their reasoning made not sense otherwise. The upshot is Parkrun now appears to be less inclusive, not more, as the organisers state. I also know that my son held the M20-24 course record at one of our local Parkruns. He's a handy runner, but far from a local elite, much less a national elite runner, so how do you think he feels. Three separate course records were broken at the other local Parkrun the Saturday before the decision, including the girls 14 and boys 16 year old records. They trained for months for those attempts and just like that, their amazing achievements were deleted.
Their efforts haven't been deleted it's just less prominent on the parkrun website.
I can understand their disappointment, but however it started, parkrun is now very clearly "a run, not a race" and is intended to be non-competitive. It is pretty clear that they have taken this action in response to attacks, notably by a right-wing think tank, criticising them for "allowing" trans men to compete and have their times recorded as women. They were getting a lot of criticism and controversy about this, notably on social media but starting to hit the mainstream. Given the hugely toxic atmosphere generated by this debate everywhere, I am not surprised that parkrun decided simply to avoid taking any sort of position by withdrawing these course and national records. You still have your own records in full, and frankly that is what you should be competing with - your own PB, or a target to do 100 runs, say. Since it is not meant to be competitive, it should not matter what other people have done. You can in any case also see the results of any given race. If you want to compete with other people at the level where you are setting course records then a local athletic or running club would be a better environment.
@@JohnSecker 💯
I’m a bit mixed regarding Parkrun. Though now old and slow, my competitiveness still looks to beat others in my age range. One problem that I’ve noticed is the elite runners screaming not only at the other runners taking part, but also pedestrians to MOVE! A lot of elite runners forget that the Parkrun spirit is community, fun and exercise.
I know what you mean. I'm in awe of their times but there is a narrow section that slows them down when they are that far ahead of everyone. maybe there should be an elite parkrun!
Just be aware of other runners when they're overtaking you and don't wear headphones so you know what is happening round about you. And if anyone "screamed" at me whilst doing Parkrun i'd give them a good thump.
@@travellingshoes5241 do you also get road rage?
I don't drive but I do cycle a lot.@@herraghty
Luckily I've never seen that at my parkrun. I've seen runners taking it too seriously and I won't miss them if they stop coming.
This year is all about me for a change, and for my 60th birthday in January, I signed up for parkrun to get out of the house, improve and the associated social etc. This Saturday will be my third.
I loved clicking on results for 2 reasons. 1. The fast times give me something to aim for. 2. I could reverse the order and see how many runners at any one park, because I prefer the quieter parkruns. Bring it back.
Strava still has the records
Hi. Can you explain further regarding Strava has the records. Where would I find these.? I'm subscribed to Strava. Thanks.
@nickip6189 there are Strava segments. And they are records or your personal bests if that's something you need to check to motivate yourself to do better for you not anyone else.
parkrun still has the records it just takes a little effort to get to them.
@@nickip6189 I suspect that almost every parkrun is a segment on Strava and this is a great way to look at the fantastic achievements of the fastest runners
The fact that park run has been expanding and so successful with the records in full view kind of proves that it doesnt really have an affect on new runners. Probably those people who are nervous about joining arent doing it because someone ran a fast time but just because mass participation events can make people anxious. Especially if they arent sure of their own capabilities. Like Heather mentioned the records were something you have to look for. And whether or not records are displayed the pointy end will always be fast and everyone else will do their own thing.
I thought this issue stemmed from trans runners holding female records on some of the courses, you don't seem to mention that though. How come?
A.K.A, men...
We had heard some rumours around this, but I have not seen a public statement regarding it
@@markthrelfall3577you expect an official statement? That would be suicide for them. It is as obvious as night follows day.
@@markthrelfall3577Of course not! Who’s going to step up and say “we don’t know how to deal with this issue so we’ll just come up with some (implausible) excuse to distract the conversation”? Very weak leadership parkrun.
@@markthrelfall3577 They came in for a barrage of criticism on Twitter for letting men run in the women's category and they instantly removed the categories entirely.
This is in the news about trans women records - surprised GTN didnt mention this!
The male presenter has been woke neutered.
I found Parkrun intimidating and ran alone until I was able to run 5km in 30 minutes. My parkrun times since have been between 27-40 minutes depending on me and the course, but wish i started sooner. The 30 minute standard was self imposed after seeing the records online.
My running shoes go through life stages. They are born as running shoes, then as they lose the cushioning they become day-to-day trainers, after which they become “gardening” shoes. When a shiny new pair arrives, everyone moves down the chain, and the gardening shoes end up in the bin to be recycled as heat (possibly for a post-run shower) by the local waste management service.
We love this! the circle of life ♻ - Do the gardening shoes ever become flower pots? We would love to see som up-cycling too 🌹
@@gtnI wrote the comment as a new pair had just arrived and the gardening ones had gone in the bin. I have now fished them out, and when the weather warms up a bit I’ll use them as plant pots.
@fikathlon3283 they can also be given to third world charities as well
This! Except for me it's stable shoes instead of gardening 😅
I get that they removed the records, but maybe just adding a bell curve that shows the distribution would have made more sense. This way they could have easily shown that the records are just the outliers and the average/median runners take longer, making it less intimidating while keeping the records
Oooo very interesting idea! We think the idea is to get rid of any times there though there is no focus on the timing ⏱
I would love to see the histograms! Statistics tend to be very interesting and informative, yet many people might get intimidated by the statistics then (not a record statistic, rather statistic statistics).
parkrun is for everyone- including those at the front....coming from someone towards the back. Also the results were quite discreet on the website and clearly aren't the focus of parkrun, its just part of it. I would be pretty upset if it was my record taken off.
why would it worry you if someone else has a record speed ; to me I see it as a target that makes me say gee mayby one day I can get a course record ; gives you something to aspire to
It can be super inspirational! Do you think you would lack motivation without the times there? ⏱
The top times were always handy because they gave you a good gage on how fast the course was before you did it.
one thing I always liked about Parkun is that I'd snoop on the full results and see the time(s) of the front pack. "oof ... so that's what 17 minutes looks like!". I might not be super-fast at ~23mins, I agree that it's aspirational to see those numbers and wonder whether I could squeeze it down to 22:30 next week.
Our local park run is a 3 lap PB course with some narrow paths next to a river. Unfortunately because of the lapped course there is a lot of friction between the fast runners pushing past the social runners and there has been abuse swapped between various groups. This isn't in the spirit that in my opinion park run was set up to be. Within a close radius of here we have competitive track and road races nearly every weekend that people can enter if they want to rub shoulders. I am sure there is something for everyone but runners of all abilities need to be considerate of other people's goals and try to tailor their own goal to an appropriate event.
Next logical step for parkrun is to stop timekeeping altogether. And after that they should probably change the name to exclude the "run"...
i agree with you its catering to a very basic few ; if they find records intimidating they surely must be intimidated when people run way faster than them
parkplod
You don't mention, and Parkrun don't mention, an issue that has cropped up in comments, which is that on a number of occasions the female records have been smashed by trans women. If Parkrun are going to post records at all, many women want them to show the performance of biological women, not a time that is unattainable for them. International governing bodies have taken on this issue; with Parkrun you just tick a box to say which category you identify in, and clearly trans women are going to tick "women". Confronting this would invite an onslaught of controversy, so simply removing records altogether must have felt safer!
I suspect this is the true reason the times aren't being shown anymore... Men competing against women shouldn't be allowed...
This is the answer
spoiler: trans women are women
It’s society’s fault for pandering to this certain group
This is exactly it. They were taking a lot of stick on Twitter because of the men who are taking women's records and obliterating them. The instant this happened they removed all records and said records don't matter, but for plenty of people they do matter. I've heard women say that they came in 124th overall but first, second or third in the women's over 30s group and they were overjoyed, not because they're competitive but just because they were amazed at their own achievement and ability. People have also said they use them to improve their own running. Far from it only being one or two men taking their places, there are now hundreds of examples throughout cycling, running and other sports, of women being displaced and having their achievements robbed from them. If it doesn't matter, then why did they have categories and official times in the first place? Why would they have a results page? They've taken this action solely because they let men run in women's categories and they were caught out on it big time, and they had to backpeddle tout de suite.
Having 90,000 new participants last year shows it’s working to get more people active. Why change it then. Most comments I’ve heard disagree with the change. I never participate to break records, but is fun to see the statistics.
I love how Heather (deliberately) slipped that info in …😊
I love Parkrun. I started in late 2015. I marvel at the speed & skill of the elite runners who run with us. I applaud everyone who takes part regardless of their ability. The records have gone, I was initially annoyed by this but I can live with it. Please leave it at that. Don’t take away the timekeeping. Keep tinkering & taking away you might just find your numbers dropping off rather than growing……if it ain’t broke, leave it as it is!
I didn't realise this was an episode of Tri to Disagree!!
New balance should make shoes with modular replaceable soles. The uppers last easily 5x longer than the bases. Thinking something that maybe is part of the lacing system so it is well on there. the upper sits in the the sole like a flip flop, then has flaps up the side which the laces go through and an extra slide in clip on the back. Not for a race shoe, just for training. Would cut out a lot of waste and you could even have different soles for different conditions.
Waiting for more runs to remove “categories “ for equality….let’s see how equal it will feel 🍿
Here we go.. all parkruns have the full segment where the records are live. Strava segments, if you get the message you beat the previous record then here we go.. job done
It's put me off from attending parkrun. Seeing the records inspired me to train harder and hopefully take one or two at some point, or at least aspire to. Now for me there is little point to it. As a social run with my club, fine. Or as an entry point for a friend getting into running. I get the impression parkrun are not interested about the pointy end. I'll be going to fewer and concentrate my efforts on other 5k races.
Perhaps you've hit the core here! Is this a move from Park Run to be the super inclusive first point for runners and leave the pointy end for races? 🏃
But parkrun is free. Why forced us to pay if we can do it every Saturday everywhere in the country? . It is not inclusive if it looses all the quick people
Sugru is a diy moulding material for fixing or enhancing stuff, so I guess in theory you could extend the life of trainer soles by building up the worn tread??
Personally I started Parkrun, as a very unfit, unhealthy person. Mental Health wise as my running improved, so did that, not realising it was an issue, until it was resolving itself. I was getting healthier. Personally I didn't care about 1st, 2nd or 3rd, but I did like the top 500 records and later the Club records, finding people I had not met, but made it a plan to get to know these people and reason's for running. Some of these runner's became friends, and we collectively improved. For me these records were used as a positive driving force to get to where I am now, from a runner able to run Parkrun n in 35minutes to just over 20, but wanting to go sub 20! Having spoken to various people, most people didn't care one way or another, but one really made me angry, (Someone who was Involved in the past as a helper with my local Parkrun) who decided that for the Mental Health of everyone, anyone who wished to race, be competitive, etc, is not welcome at Parkrun, and should instead do Athletics or Something else. I worked hard to improve myself, and anyone who was part of my journey, and I theirs, knew how hard I worked to get to where we are now. I do not have available time for Athletics, but do once a week running training with a track coach, and have learnt more, and I feel I am still improving overall. Gone are the days of PB's every few weeks, to the last one June last year, and over 2 years before that for the one before. But I enjoy finding people and helping people to understand every run is not easy, but breaking down a run, is like the rest of life, improving aspects over time, and realising that Everyone can improve themselves from where they are now, even if they are not always sure what they are improving. For Me is Started at wanting to loose weight (Failed), but lost fat 8inches around the waist, and most importantly my Mental Strength improved, as did my drive to succeed in my eventual goals, but taking tiny steps without any obvious improvements to get there. The 500 place Leaderboard was a big part of my whole journey and I hope something is brought back to replace this. If not the whole leaderboard, the positions of the 5 people that finished ahead and behind on average for the last 3 months, could be helpful. I do not have the answers, and do not personally care about who the fastest overall, but I do like Strava Segments, where I also use the persons time ahead as a target to beat. I've started the same with Cycling for the last few months. Not confident in a group ride yet, and not knowing the rules, but eventually I want to be ready and not look silly with my half road/with clip on aerobars, half MTB appearance.
I think Parkrun have lost me as a volunteer, as what is the point in timing, if not having a competitive environment is the goal. In fact, I would say, what point is Parkrun, if Parkrun is only about the coffee everyone thinks they deserve after completing it. You must have a goal to achieve, and be able to improve on that goal once it is reached. (The Old PB bell was great, but gone!) If Parkrun is now a scenic walk, then Parkrun should be in Places such as National Parks, etc, and get the many benefits available in those environments. A Park does not achieve this I Feel
Having the records and the PBs and age groups ext is part of the fun. The great thing about parkrun was it gave everyone a chance to reach an attainable goal. But cheats have started to scam the system. I expect it won’t be as popular after this decision.
At our parkrun the record is 16:32 so under 17 minutes, that wouldn't even be registered in the future? Crazy. As a volunteer I keep my own statistics of our parkrun, so I'll know.
That's very quick 💨 We're sure people will still keep records, times like this can be super motivational 🙌
You’ll still get your time & finishing position, it’s just the course record & ‘fast finisher’ stats that have been hidden.
@@danabc322 Yes, I found this out in the mean time. I keep an Excel sheet of our local parkrun stats, so if someone breaks the record we'll know anyway.
Completely agree with Heather on ParkRun. Not fair to take the fun away for fast people to placate the slow people. Anyone who’s actually been to ParkRun knows how inclusive it is. At my local one, the fastest runners regularly loop back to encourage slower runners through to the finish. If the ethos is everyone is welcome to run/walk at their own pace, that should apply to fast runners as well as slow.
I've taken people's strollers, kids or dogs from them. It didn't help them much it seems, but oh well.
If you want records, can you just check strava? The average speed or percentiles/distribution would be useful to judge the speed of the course.
That's a great point! Those fast times will be set somewhere 👀
Strava has the same problems parkrun has with female records.
Record is part of the fun
Congratulations!!!
What confuses me about the parkrun stats removal is that they didn't have to outright remove it to achieve the same goal. Any website has a 'prominence factor', there's a whole UX / marketing industry about continually aligning company ideals and user wants by re-jigging pages/elements. If Parkrun wanted to make the website feel less intimidating, they only needed to rework parts so that the 'fast times' parts were less prominent ... smaller call-to-actions, lower down the homepage, links in the footer nav (not the primary nav).
The irony is that by trying to seem more inclusive, they've basically just cold-shouldered everyone who cares about times. And come to think of it: isn't it intimidating that there's volunteers doing a timing funnel with stopwatches and tokens? Or doesn't "intimidation, but on the day" count?
I've been to the New Balance factory sale in Skowhegan, Maine. The shoes I bought were marked "seconds." They were new though; I couldn't tell what was sub standard about them. I got two pair for half price. They did it every August, I don't know if they still do.
How does it make more inclusive? They remove those records to stop upsetting some group of people but what about upsetting people who do care? Double standards, eh?
In all the time that I have taken part in Parkrun, I can safely say I have NEVER taken the time to go onto their website and look up the various records, age group results, etc. Seems like a real non-issue "first world" problem.
I’m a long time parkrun fan, started at 31mins, got as fast as 22min, and currently around 25min, and never once felt intimidated, it’s all about being social, I,proving yourself and having a bit of friendly competitive banter, like I pretty much always have a parkrun nemesis and I often let them know I’m coming for them 😂 people just need to relax a little and treat it as a little fun. And I agree with heather, removing stats won’t make a difference at all, it’s just a bizarre call by parkrun hq
"Should we care? Do we need to care?". You absolutely should care if the real reason this was done was to avoid the trans issue.
Great show! 🎉 Park run is for vibes and personal achievements.
I have never participated in park runs but when comparison is introduced there will always be disgruntlement. I also find it quite inspiring to compete with the elites even though I will never beat them or even celebrities even though I will never drink coffee with them. Just to say I did it is a great feeling.
I definitely lean towards Mark's POV on the parkrun issue. Displaying course records, most first finishers, sub-17 men and sub-20 women etc always seemed a bit inconsistent with parkrun's "run not a race" ethos and was potentially off-putting/intimidating to some (and I can understand this even as someone with multiple parkrun first finishes to my name). FWIW, it's still pretty easy to find out the fastest ever times at any given parkrun, you just have to look at the event history page then sort the data by 'Male/Female First Finishers'. The '5k' app also has all of the old data for those who are really interested...
I haven't swam or run in months until I got recommended this channel.
Happy to have you here! Which do you like most?🤔
@@gtn definitely running. the feel of breeze is legendary. swimming is a challenge for me no doubt but confronting that is something I take pride in
I personally run solely for the pure satisfaction of running and mental wellbeing. I don't keep track of anything, besides the feeling in my body and mind. I know this is not suitable for competitive runners, and I also fully respect that, but I can only encourage keeping it raw and simple like an animal if you're in it just to be or stay fit.
Great thing to remove the records. The whole idea was a community based run. If you are chasing records then enter a race. It is a free platform, and it costs to have manpower updating info all the time. It costs to have equipment etc. Maybe the parkruns could be split in 2 events, have racers, and they pay, and the community which is free.
Oh bull! People use throes runs for fun and for training. Why should people who are “racing” pay but you want to take up more time of the volunteers by slower pace runs and walking. How about the back of the pack pays for time on course. This is a bs political move and a participation trophy
@@pulkpuller lol you're acting like you have been stripped of your right to partake in Parkrun. If you take Parkrun so seriously, maybe you are partly to blame for this move in the first place?
@@klipk7296 no I’m against this pretend equality bs. This isn’t about making it more welcoming for different paces it’s about gender ! Why would you not want to know where you stand ? It’s a metric to show improvement and where you should seed yourself in a race environment. Stop being so soft
@@klipk7296 It depends what kind of runner you are - the fastest 500 and weekly results gave me huge motivation to run as hard as I could, and before parkrun I'd neither cared nor knew I could run those times, starting age 39. I'd never been in any running event of any kind, and it was great. My big dream was to make the sub 17 page, and after nine months of parkrun I got a 16'54". Very proud achievement. Without the sub 17 page, elite men it was called then, I doubt I would've bothered. Why kill that for people? I liked looking at all the fast runners and records.
I could see the writing on the wall coming with parkrun a few years back and glad I did a big three years and then stopped going. They were always heading in the direction of boring OTT PC group jog. Why have times at all then? Have no times, no results, no nothing - that's the logical conclusion. I've got my memories of better times. I ran with an Olympic 800m woman who smoked 16'40" - if you can attract people like that, why not? Worked for me. Doesn't make it better, makes it boring.
I done my first park run a few weeks, when I checked my time I did not care for anyone’s time apart from my own.run your own race
I like the records&leaderboards but there are better options then just removing them. Here are some ideas:
* Make the records&leaderboards opt-in. No-one see's them unless they want to.
* Add MORE stats, records and leaderboards that aren't performance based. Who has done it the most times, oldest, youngest, who has done it on their birthday..... Make it more inclusive by adding, not removing.
* If they really want to do something for the reasons given, why are the results listed in position order at all? Just list peoples names and times alphabetically with no position. It's an idea but not one I like!
Perfectly fine decision. If you wanna see a course record, Strava is literally right there AND designed for people who want to break records. Course records, age records, daily records, you wanna break em, they are there.
ParkRun, an organisation that caters to everyone and has made a step towards inclusivity. Thats literally their entire thing.
If you genuinely think that this is an issue, I've got a bridge to sell you.
Heather - you always look great but at the moment you are looking just radiant, I just needed to say that !! Thanks for all you do at GTN you keep me inspired every video ❤
Why not have BOTH - that would be true inclusion and acceptance. People will feel NO less intimidated by removing records BECAUSE intimidation is inside you, has nothing to do with the external. It's modern trends pandering to the weak minded - how about helping the weak to step UP, cope with life more and keep the records as inspiration!
The banning of records was nothing to do with this discussion- it was about the trans debate and who could “claim” a record in such circumstances. Hence the Park Run comment on “inclusivity”. As a regular park runner i always enjoyed wondering whether an athlete at the top of their form on the second lap of a three lap course might break our local best time. Sadly a pleasure now consigned to the past…
Well unfortunately someone else was wondering if that athlete had a penis or not so now we don't get to have records anymore.
I've never done Parkrun, the only reason being that my local one (in Strathclyde Country Park, which all triathletes will know as the location for the Glasgow 2014 Races) is on the most boring and nosiest part of the trail round the loch. Never even looked at the records though, most years I'll the Great Scottish Run 10K for example and when athletes like Eilish McColgan and Callum Hawkins are running (probably in the half marathon in their cases these days) there's no point in looking at course records.
I think, instead of removing records, add MORE records!
Suggestions per course: Best costume per month, fastest finish in crocs, hopscotch record ect ect
Suggestions global: coldest temperature record, hottest temperature record.
Help me come up with more, this would be so much fun!
Oh, most amount of steps would be such a fun record. I have really short legs and I've always thought the most number of steps is the only record I would have a shot at.
You should probably just set up your own running event somewhere else. Preferably far, far away from planet Earth.
@@travellingshoes5241 That's rude
Not as rude as asking people to turn up to Parkrun in crocs. That's a hanging offence where I come from. @@riksstaden4927
If there is a finish line, it is a competition. If parkrun wants to make it just into a group run, abandon having a measured course and timing.
"measured course" is a bit of a reach, many a time I have run a 2.9mile "5k" 🤣
I think that there are plenty of opportunities to run with your idols. However there aren’t a lot of very entry level possibilities to run. I feel park run has a unique place in the running world for beginners to run without feeling any pressure to pay or compete other then against the sofa. As there are no other options other then park run for these kind of runners , I feel that they should be respected and cared for. You can still participate as a fast runner, you just won’t be as venerated as in all the other races. If you want to hold records or win or podium, go and do a real race. There are plenty.
Not done a park run yet and am very unfit.
However, as a somewhat competitive guy who doesn't really care if I win or lose but enjoy trying to win, I like to know what the records are for a course!
It's something to aim for, even if I am a million miles away from it and will never beat it!
It's like taking away the 'Par' system from golf! It doesn't matter how many shots it takes to get it in the hole!
It's stupid to take this information away! It's like the no-one is a winner or loser, and everyone gets a medal brigade!!
People that jog or walk the course are not necessarily interested in this info, but people who are getting near the times will be.
If I was getting near the top of the list I would want to know what the time to beat is, and if that info is taken away, why would I bother with that run?
It's like batting a shuttlecock to each other rather than having a game of badminton!
Leave the info there for those who want to know it. This is idiotic woke censorship!!!
I've only been going to parkrun since the start of this year as one started nearby.
Its been great and im planning on continuing to go for years to come (have already started trying to trick/invite friends to come along too).
Based on online discussion, reddit, youtube etc. the prevailing theory is that the removal of records has less to do with getting new runners to come along and more to do with getting ahead of any potential controversy with trans women beating ciswomens records on a given track.
Assuming this is the case, and to be fair even if it isnt and the reasoning parkrun have offered about it being intimidating and a barrier to new runners is legit......
I cant imagine it making any real difference to anyone at my level at least (male,34, overweight and trying to get fitter, fingers crossed i manage under 30 mins this weekend).
That said, sports records being broken by transwomen is a more complex issue than i am able to resolve in a RUclips comment and i imagine ParkRun likewise, dont have the capability to resolve it to everyones satisfaction without getting some amount of flak for it.
So, speaking for myself, im sad the records are no longer easily accessible, but can understand why it had to happen and it will have zero impact on my willingness to go for a run on a Saturday morning and i suspect many people will feel the same way.
Though naturally, people can disagree with me and you can be disappointed with this decision for any number of reasons.
As it stands, before/after this change, parkrun has been incredibly welcoming and a very positive experience for me, my partner and our friends.
I'm more upset that dogs arent allowed cos i want to pet them and tell them they are a good doggo (though i can see the logic behind not allowing dogs 😔 )
Have they really banned pets? Last run we still had them. Like u though i enjoy the pets coming along too ❤
Its up to the individual Parkrun host to either allow or not allow dogs, many still do.
Ooooo look at me accidentally spreading misinformation online!
Dogs aren't blanket banned. Might be regional/Parkrun specific but their general rules,at least in Ireland, are just that dogs needs to be well handled and kept under control responsibly......which leads to a much greater grievance.....why aren't there loads of dogs at MY Parkrun 😢
Has anybody whoever wanted to get a set of oil paints and an easel to get creative ever been put off by seeing the Mona Lisa? Should galleries be closed?
Everyone who says time doesn’t matter is talking rubbish unless they run it and not get their barcodes scanned at the end. But i see vey few unknowns at parkruns that I attend so obviously time is an attraction to doing them. We all know why they’ve done it, trying to say records put people off is a laughable excuse..
1 - Google "survivorship bias"
2 - It's possible to care about your time while being intimidated by the higher times
Not saying you're wrong, but I am saying you don't care about other people's perspectives
@@klipk7296 well in all the time I’ve been doing parkruns I’ve only ever known people who are interested in times, their own times that is, as most of us want to beat ourselves to better ourselves. I’ve never known anyone to care or be put off by better runners times. Let’s face it, this whole argument is about the possibility of trans men taking women’s records and nothing about people being put off park runs cos of course records. I will continue to run and be inspired by better runners and in fact slower runners starting on their fitness journey. My point was only the fact that suddenly know one is supposedly interested in times yet we all know the excitement of getting that park run time text message at about 10.30..
Regarding parkruns drive to be inclusive and celebrate diversity and casting a wider net can someone answer my question .If an individual indentifies as an animal ( they do exist , they would have lived in facilities years ago but now are celebrated and platformed ) would they have to be restrained on a short lead , anything less could be interpred as a mis pro noun ⚡⚡⚡ God forbid !
Really enjoyed the video but the article on Park Run missed the key reason for removal of the records, which is due to transgender women (formerly men) taking women records… This was the core reason for the issue, not around the competition and putting off people running. A bit more research required.
I’ve just joined parkrun, then I injured myself and haven’t had a chance to take part in my first event 😂
Uh oh, the free volunteer fun runs don't have records anymore? parkrun is about your personal bests not how many people you beat.
Are you all game for the records being removed?
And yet I can still see how many people I "beat" on Saturday, but not which of them got new pbs. Odd, no?
I’m not sure it’s the spirit of parkrun to fuss about records but they will remain on Strava for each course and if strava gives up leaderboards it will collapse.
Their has been alot of talk about parkrun affecting short distance race entries. And the impact of having a "free" race environment, which Parkrun filled. By making it anti-competitive and detracting from the allure of the race like environment. It might promote races as better options for the competitive individual. My reckoning is that there have been alot of complaints from race organizers / bodies and clubs about Parkrun. So this is their attempt at keeping everyone happy.
The racing organisers have gotten greedy over the years. park run is the antidote to overpriced running events.
Don't care about the records one way or another, it's literally not a race.
I do race against myself.
DEI creeping in then, I’m sure it will be banned in the future as no one there has equal times.
Great idea from Parkrun. I've had steadier friends pushed and knocked on two lap courses from the faster runners due to the competition element. Parkrun is for everyone and fast runners are very intimidating for some. I've won two parkruns in my time and really welcome this. It was always about the community not about the speed or position for me.
Heather is bringing some serious logic here 🙌🏼
I've never done parkrun, but other channels have speculated controversy surrounding men signing up as women to get onto the sub 20 board. Rather than implement rules that volunteers would have to try to implement making results harder to find helps to sweep it under the rug. Seems like a reasonable hypothesis to me.
Love parkrun but this is a backward step in my view and has generally got the thumbs down based on the comments I've seen on various RUclips videos.
Nothing to do with being intimidated by faster runners......we all run at different speeds. The issue is with men posing as women and running in the women's category. Be brave Parkrun and address this rather than take the cowardly approach.
If there are people who are not getting enough exposure by sharing their effort on Strava, or Garmin, or whatever platform they use, then maybe someone should come up with Park Race and keep that separate from the, in my opinion, more laid back Park Run. Also, by not having run records they do not have to get into the debate about who identifies as what, which is probably a clever move in this day and age.
It’s interesting that it primarily seems to be speedy, competitive, more serious runners who are up in arms about the records… Personally, I don’t think the records are the point of Parkrun. If people want records, they should record their own. If they want to compete with others (which is not actually the point of Parkrun - it’s not a race), then maybe they should…join an actual race! :)
I thought Park Run had stopped records because of the controversies with trans women competing in the female category. Did I get that wrong?
A recent streamer suggested that the records were removed due to difficulties associated with allocating records involving trans runners in womans events. Seems an odd concern and an even odder reaction if true.
A.K.A, men...
Why would that be an 'odd' concern?
Trans women (ie biological men) competing as 'female' is a massive problem.
@@maryskelcher8979 What do you mean biological men? There are only men and women. No descriptives required
@@HereForTheMusic-h5o Biological men who 'identify as female' and therefore compete in women's sport
Hey @gtn, are you really allowing the kinds of gross transphobic comments @@HereForTheMusic-h5o is making throughout this thread to stand? This reflects extremely poorly on you as a company.
Ultimately, this is a result of people using data to make decision about behaviours, but not considering how people's behaviour skews data. People were interviewed about why they NO LONGER go to Parkrun and they said they felt intimidated. Those people, don't go to ParkRun. They are not participants and in the short period they were, I highly doubt they ever looked at those records. Humans, will rarely speak honestly if they feel embarrassed and will try to blame something else for their own behaviour. I dare say, most of the people who said they felt intimidated lost interest or simply got too busy. People don't look at Kipchoge and think, 'actually, running is too intimidating.' They look at their friends' doing a couch-to-5K and think, 'if they can do it, so can I.' The records are innocent victims and will only dissuade elite runners.
Nonsense, competition is part of human nature, we thrive on it. Parkrun are avoiding the real issue, as are GTN, of cheats stealing the women's records.
If your ego's fragile, stick to the treadmill or avoid crowds. Are you there to compete or are you there to have a good time? Why does it bother anyone what anyone's record is? Focus on yourself. Besides those records can be a sort of goal to work towards.😉
Those who run fast at Park Run surely have registered their time themselves, on whatever app they use. As a new runner, looking at those sort of stats, it is a put off. Yet it is people like me they want to attract. It isn't like people don't have their running stats now, just that they aren't advertised on the Park run site. I think they are getting back to their core principles.
At the beginning before it was rebranded as park run, it was a weekly time trial event. So there is your core to go back to. So let us exclude all walkers, plodders and joggers? Almost everyone is intimidated or at least nervous in their very first outing, I know I was, but really, must we re-invent the wheel? It is already massively successful. But let us be honest, something that the Park run governance isn’t being, and acknowledge what the GENUINE reason is for all of this.
How is it a put off?
I guess that if you are not intimidated by Parkrun records, you will not understand.
It looks like the average number of runners per week has also been removed.
Records in a park run??????? I agree with Mark.
If you remove the records, those fast runners will still be there and beat us by miles... so I don't see the point. There must have been something else triggering this that they are not discussing openly. I love parkrun and I also appreciate the management does not have an easy job. In the end, I'd say "meh" and go run
I’m going to join parkrun but I’m going as a cyclist, then I’m going to throw my toys out of the pram because I dont feel included
As someone who watches this channel for entertainment only and isn't really a frequent runner at all, I can personally say that the parkrun records dissuaded from joining park run. I struggle with keeping the running habit and was looking at the website and saw the record for my local park run was really fast. While I logically know that there will be a lot slower runners, it's kinda like joining a bike club with an average speed that seems really hard. You mentally decide that "I'll train alone and join one of those later when I'm faster". Fully acknowledge that's it's not fully rational but I suspect the people most affected by this are people you aren't actually meeting at a parkrun.
So you acknowledge that there would have been a lot of slower runners than you at the parkrun. But because the fastest time was so fast you decided not to go? If you do decide to go now, you do realise those runners are still there and they will still be beating you and putting out those times? The bike club analogy doesn’t work. If you don’t have a quick enough average speed, then you will get dropped. That is not the case at parkrun though where you have tail walkers. Sounds like you just wanted an excuse not to go.
Thanks for commenting! We really appreciate you getting involved, it's great to hear that the rule change may bring runners like yourself into the events 🙌
Interesting. Hypothetical: you had not seen the times published and then gone to park run and enjoyed it (encouraging volunteers, back walkers, community etc) even though some people were very quick. In fact, you came to enjoy it so that you looked forward to each Saturday morning and seeing your improvement. At what point of improvement would you be ok to no longer have your times published? Would it be enough for you to know for yourself the improvement or would you feel just a bit deflated that the times weren’t publicly shown? Honestly curious, as id have bet there weren’t too many who experienced what you describe.
@@nickc4716 For me personally, I would be okay with never having my times published. I imagine in this case if I loved parkrun and therefore wanted all my friends to join, etc, I would leave parkrun as a "fun" event or a "recovery" event. Having my times published would probably dissuade any of my non-runner friends from just joining me on a random Saturday as well. If I was going alone, having Strava or my garmin to track my own personal records would be fun enough and joining an actual competitive event would satisfy any other urges. I'm curious if for people who do regularly go to parkrun: if you're recovering from injury or have a planned recovery run doesn't it suck when you get a non-great time?
@@dutoitm1 I fully acknowledge it's not completely rational. I'll say I'm generally good about trying out new things. I joined a softball league having no experience, play in random rec leagues for ultimate frisbee etc. I suspect part of the problem is I don't know how slow is normal. Logically I know that there are "slow runners" at a parkrun. But as a non-runner I have no idea how fast I personally can run that distance. I have nothing to compare it to. Getting dropped in a bike run feels (to me) the same as "getting dropped" in a parkrun. I would be biking/running alone anyways but you feel a bit like a nuisance.
If athletes make all the park runs Strava segments then the records will always be there anyway!
Not everyone uses Strava. I doubt Mo Farah does...
It was the right call.
Wasnt it about trans runners getting the records for female runners?
How did he know that we GTN & Chill...?
faux-rage-fuelled @PhilyBowden -- nice touch,
@gtn
Why and who feels intimidated? The average parkrun time is slow, so more than halfs runs slow. Why you don’t just let quick runner be quick and enjoy the glory after hard training. Well done do the ones who did it first time but also well done who dose who do train 5x a week no matter what no matter the weather. We are not on national level so parkrun is the only competition we get