Coevett wrote:
The top story on the Daily Mail now.
One of the top reader's comments with over 770 upvotes : "The government needs to step in now!"
Outrage as 'cowardly' Parkrun DELETES all its fastest race times amid row over trans women smashing…
Looks like the Daily Mail has mate Coevett wet his pants again.
You know that's their job, making guys like you incontinent?
uvavu wrote:
"as a 30 something man" the trans issue doesnt affect you does it. If you were an elite or sub-elite woman, this may well affect you.
What 'elite' or 'sub-elite' women give a toss about Parkrun records?
What do you win for topping the rankings?
In NZ recently, (2 weeks ago I think) we were positively encouraged by parkrun NZ themselves, to celebrate the 100th birthday of a park runner (this was all park runs around the country). Not only because he turned 100, but also because I believe he holds (held) the world AG record for parkrun. I cannot believe there is one person on the planet who would not turn up for parkrun because of his name is mentioned at the bottom of the various internet pages race reports etc. Quite the contrary I suspect 99.99% would likely find it inspirational what he does.
If it was now no one would never have even known about him.
Some people appear to have difficulty understanding that parkrun is not a race.
It has never tried to be, wanted to be or claimed to be a race.
If we can’t even get past this hurdle then the rest of the conversation is pointless.
thoughts and prayers wrote:
Some people appear to have difficulty understanding that parkrun is not a race.
It has never tried to be, wanted to be or claimed to be a race.If we can’t even get past this hurdle then the rest of the conversation is pointless.
So, again, tell my why they, time it, publish a list of finishers in order of finish and state gender and age place? And kept lists of first finishers?
Does this mean they only show results of the last parkrun done each week and you can't go back and look up previous parkruns you've done? I've only done a couple parkruns so not sure how results were presented before.
Why is it timed and over a fixed distance if its not a race in any way?
You win the rankings if you top the rankings. Youre saying no one cares. Even though people are telling you they care.
"first finisher". Best synonym for this?
And can you find an accurate second synonym? (And 'leader' isnt accurate as it doesnt refer to the position at the finish.)
The stuff about is it or is not a race is imo just semantics and it's what you make of it and what you wish to call it. And I dont think any of this is affected, for people of sound mind, by whether the records etc which are now to be omitted are made available or not. If you are hoping to run 19.50 and you come home in 20.10 and hide under your bed for a week in self disgust then you likely need more than a tweaking of the park run data capture protocols
Strava segments are even less of a "race," and yet people will compete for crowns and even cheat for them.
If anyone really hates Strava, you should complain about the segments being gendered and aged. They'll have to redo their whole segment thingy.
Just in case anyone is having a difficulty understanding why parkrun is inherently sexist run by sexist men who are sexist and say sexist thing. Again and again.
The 'fun run' that puts women in their place: last.
I look at these comments in despair.
Parkrun, the wholesome community event par excellence, is now - thank you very much to Mara Y & co - the PUREST form of racing that anyone will ever get to experience.
No prize money. No medals. No podium. No badges. No kudos. No stats.
Not interested in racing? Just want to jog around a local beauty spot with your neighbor, you absolute loser? Then turn up and bathe in the awesome volunteer-powered wholesomeness of it all. Grab a coffee and a pricey pastry after. Chat about your new pair of Brooks. Feast on the goodness that just turning up and taking part every Saturday will do to your mental and physical well-being.
But ...you want to compete, you want to dominate, you want DESTROY your competition? Then turn up and race the person ahead of you. Be you 45 minutes or 15. No name, no age, no self-ID'd gender, no government mandated biological sex declaration, no nationality, no anything - just a random body ahead of you that happens to be running a little bit faster.
No glory, no points, no official place or time. The most pure, honest racing. The thrill of beating someone you perhaps do or don't know, if that's what appeals to your psyche.
BUT why is that not enough for some of you psychopaths? Why is not enough to compete in this most pure of racing formats? Why the needy need to have officially declared by some arbitrary random authority run by flawed and sleep-deprived volunteers that your are indeed THE BEST, either overall, or in your irrelevant and thinly spread category that literally nobody cares about, on a likely mismeasured course, all just so that you can inform other psychopaths about it on your many socials.
Today finally, parkrun has grown up. And we are all the better for it.
segmenthead wrote:
Strava segments are even less of a "race," and yet people will compete for crowns and even cheat for them.
If anyone really hates Strava, you should complain about the segments being gendered and aged. They'll have to redo their whole segment thingy.
You should join a "group ride" on Zwift, even though Zwift has virtual races there are folks on the group ride going full gas the entire way (and some are cheating there too, "weight doping")
No men in women’s sports.
An event does not have to a be a "race" for data to be motivating. At work we had a 30 day step challenge. Seeing how I compared to colleagues motivated me to move every day.
Being competitive does not make one a psychopath. It makes one human.
Its amazing how many non-competitive runners have appeared on this thread... On letsrun a site supporting competitive running.
Now, if anyone had said that actually parkrun is detracting from proper races and got to a point where local races (especially 5ks) are struggling to exist. Further, that some kids are getting too wrapped up in their parkrun stats when they have real talent that could be better spent building up the traditional way of track and XC, as oppose to thrashing themselves weekly over a long distance (for a kid).
Those are arguments i could get behind
They did this in response to people creating controversy over two trans runners setting course records in the women's category. This is the stupidest thing they've done in a while. 1. People will just make Strava routes now and keep the course record that way. 2. Age grading actually makes the sport more, not less, inclusive. 3. Parkruns aren't group runs, they're semi-races, definitely hard workouts. Comparing your age grade as you age helps people come back again and again.
Great points, uvavu. Go be competitive somewhere else, and take your stats with you.
There's nothing wrong with racing a parkrun or using it as a hard session once in a while. Just don't expect stats or silverware for the price.
Those saying parkrun was always about community and not about people trying to run fast are wrong. parkrun started as “Bushy Park Time Trial” and later some “UK Time Trial” events were started, where most participants were trying to push themselves. It’s morphed into something else, and that is fine, but to say it was never about people pushing themselves is not correct. The reason they were later not called ‘races’ is to do with a skirmish with England Athletics rather than anything else.
