Parkride not Parkrun
- Thread starter DCLane
- Start date
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mjr
Comfy armchair to one person & a plank to the next
- Location
- mostly Norfolk, sometimes Somerset
which everybody knows is bull shoot and witters on about their times and ranking. No amount of standing at the front of a race saying "this is not a race" stops it being a race. They'd have to actually declassify racers and more.
ParkRun is the running equivalent of Strava, so that makes ParkRide the cycling equivalent of Strava. Oh, wait. 🤡
Dogtrousers
Kilometre nibbler
PaulSB
Squire
- Location
- Chorley, Lancashire
The organisers don't mention parks for this venture but trails. I'm not sure the concerns about large enough parks or the public highway are relevant.
As I've organised and been involved in organising TTs, club hill climbs etc. all of which take place on the public highway I can confirm @Dogtrousers view that there is a whole bunch of relatively complex rules to comply with. Most entrants have no idea of the hoops organisers jump through.
I ride a lot of gravel. Locally to put together a 20km gravel route would involve the public highway. I can't see this becoming a country wide event.
As I've organised and been involved in organising TTs, club hill climbs etc. all of which take place on the public highway I can confirm @Dogtrousers view that there is a whole bunch of relatively complex rules to comply with. Most entrants have no idea of the hoops organisers jump through.
I ride a lot of gravel. Locally to put together a 20km gravel route would involve the public highway. I can't see this becoming a country wide event.
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AndyRM
XOXO
- Location
- North Shields
Bristolian
Senior Member
- Location
- Bristol, UK
Plenty of people record their parkruns on Strava.
AndyRM
XOXO
- Location
- North Shields
That's their prerogative and doesn't make parkrun anything like Strava.
mjr
Comfy armchair to one person & a plank to the next
- Location
- mostly Norfolk, sometimes Somerset
Both are competitive racing pretending not to be in order to circumvent the usual restrictions on racing on public paths. It's amazing both have been allowed to continue this long.
matticus
Guru
Yup. It was created for runners!
AndyRM
XOXO
- Location
- North Shields
T4tomo
Legendary Member
mjr
Comfy armchair to one person & a plank to the next
- Location
- mostly Norfolk, sometimes Somerset
and what is it about my walking stick that gives you that impression? 🤣🤣🤣
I've never done a WorldTour race either, yet I still post about them on here.
mjr
Comfy armchair to one person & a plank to the next
- Location
- mostly Norfolk, sometimes Somerset
Do you really see nothing competitive in handing out a number 1 token to the winner, publishing the times, running points competitions, and letting people compare age group rankings?
AndyRM
XOXO
- Location
- North Shields
Nope. Because that's not what anything to do with parkrun is about.
The tokens are mainly so we know that we've left nobody out on the course.
The times are so that people who are interested and are looking to improve their running times - it's a useful indicator.
The "points competition" is nothing of the sort, it's just a way of tallying how many runs you've done so you get a "milestone" shirt. Some people care, some do not.
See above for timing comparisons.
It's the most inclusive and accessible organised walk/run/jog/wheel event going. I struggle to see why anyone has an issue with it.
mjr
Comfy armchair to one person & a plank to the next
- Location
- mostly Norfolk, sometimes Somerset
And yet, the parkrun organisers do nothing to discourage it beyond the surrealist performance of denying that the race is a race.
With each of these, you seem to have missed the point that's making it race-like, maybe accidentally:
That only requires counting them out and counting them back in. There's no need to hand a chip emblazoned with a 1 to the first finisher.
That doesn't require the lists to be published or ranked. Just give them to the runners.
Again, no need to publish lists. Definitely no need to have shirts and trophies for it. https://rikroadrunner.com/2015/10/02/3-reasons-why-i-won-parkrun-annual-male-points-competition/
It's hypocritical, a race that says it isn't a race, allowed to take over public parks for an hour a week without the marshalling and diversions required of other races, plus it encourages the more foolish to race around the park at other times of the week for practice or training, sometimes helped by park keepers installing permanent start, finish and route marker posts. It's all fun and games until someone gets hurt and, when it catches the media's eye (as it's already happened: I know at least one person injured by a parkrunner), I wonder who else will be hit by the backlash. Probably cyclists.
Maybe there's also some bemusement on my part: I bet parkride won't be allowed the same latitude because joggers are harmless nutters in the media while cyclists are evil incarnate.
