Parkrun..

Burkie1203

https://twitter.com/Poppintreepk/status/1165219894322970625?s=19

charkee

I was in Galway yesterday and ran Oranmore.beautiful scenery ,lovely park with
many trails.

course is challenging with 2 hills.
good friendly group organising.

positron

I got the opportunity to run my first proper foreign parkrun @ Taman Pudu Ulu Parkrun in KL, Malaysia. Lovely setup there in a small park (each loop little over a km), small crowd of 50 or so friendly parkrunners. The park was packed though, people doing tai chi, boxing, and of course a lot of dancing with music etc. It was 7:30 am and 28-30 degrees already. Very different to Irish pakruns where the towns and parks are usually void of any signs of life other these crazy early morning 'running types'. There was a girl running on what looked like flip flops, I was jealous, looked comfy compared to sweaty shoes.

Anyway, would recommend it if anyone is in KL. Nice bunch of people running it, easy (inexpensive) taxi (using grab app) to get anywhere, and not to mention the awesome food in general in KL. Good spot for a bit of pakrun tourism.

RentDayBlues

charkee wrote: »

I was in Galway yesterday and ran Oranmore.beautiful scenery ,lovely park with
many trails.

course is challenging with 2 hills.
good friendly group organising.

Hoping to do this one in October when I’m there for a wedding

cazzer22

Doing my 100th Parkrun on Saturday which is mad. Started in January 2017 and running a 5k once was the dream. Parkrun is the bomb.

Speak Now

New Parkrun starting in Waterford city this Saturday. Starting at RCS and will include 2 laps of the nature park before finishing back in the RSC. No shortage of free parking available.

carbonceiling

Pawwed Rig wrote: »

The only other one is UL which would be difficult (if not impossible) with a buggy.

I have done Limerick park run with a double buggy around 20 times and it is very doable. my PB was 21:39 with the double buggy, so it's possible to go reasonably quickly too. the limiting factor was my own fitness not the course!

There are a couple of gates that have relatively tight clearance for the double buggy (6 inches to spare), and one sharpish turn on a slow section, but apart from that there is no real issue and you should be fine.

sonyvision

Speak Now wrote: »

New Parkrun starting in Waterford city this Saturday. Starting at RCS and will include 2 laps of the nature park before finishing back in the RSC. No shortage of free parking available.

Going to give this ago. Parkrun number 26 for me, all so far has been in Dublin. Very happy to run one so close to my parents. Will be making more weekend trips down to get this run in.

Speak Now

sonyvision wrote: »

Going to give this ago. Parkrun number 26 for me, all so far has been in Dublin. Very happy to run one so close to my parents. Will be making more weekend trips down to get this run in.

Have you tried Tramore yet?

sonyvision

Speak Now wrote: »

Have you tried Tramore yet?

Not yet, but thats on my list too!! Have you? Is it on the beach or just the promenade section?.

Speak Now

sonyvision wrote: »

Not yet, but thats on my list too!! Have you? Is it on the beach or just the promenade section?.

All my 40 odd have been in Tramore.
Starts at Sea Horse memorial, up and down the prom and across the back car park via trail for 2 laps of the old dump. Loop down towards the back strand to finish back on the Prom. 4 or 5 surface changes in all!

laura_ac3

Hi all,

Heading to Galway soon and am trying to decide on which parkrun to do. Staying in Galway itself and will have a car, looking at Oranmore or Knocknacarra. Looked into both, am I right in saying that both seem roughly the same time to get to, have trails and a couple of hills?

Any recommendations on one over the other? (knowing that is a question with a subjective answer!!). Potentially going to be a bit tired from the night before so if one was exceptionally tougher than the other it might sway the decision

Cheers!

rovers_runner

Parkwalk......
The inevitable dumbing down of an already relaxed way to get people active, which bright spark came up with this idea I wonder?
It started with rte and their operation transformation charade where obese people "ran" 5k slower than a pensioner would walk it, why not bother some other sport and stop making a mockery of running.
How low can the bar go.....

eoinín

rovers_runner wrote: »

Parkwalk......
The inevitable dumbing down of an already relaxed way to get people active, which bright spark came up with this idea I wonder?
It started with rte and their operation transformation charade where obese people "ran" 5k slower than a pensioner would walk it, why not bother some other sport and stop making a mockery of running.
How low can the bar go.....

Its about getting people who are not currently active to become more active, not about asking runners to slow down. Its about being more inclusive and welcoming to all, not just to elites like yourself.

I can't understand why this would bother anyone. Everyone is still allowed to run as fast as they want, I'm not sure why anyone would be concerned about what's happening a kilometre behind them.

TaurenDruid

rovers_runner wrote: »

Parkwalk......
The inevitable dumbing down of an already relaxed way to get people active, which bright spark came up with this idea I wonder?
It started with rte and their operation transformation charade where obese people "ran" 5k slower than a pensioner would walk it, why not bother some other sport and stop making a mockery of running.
How low can the bar go.....

Who pissed on your cornflakes?!

I'm one of those Operation Transformation "charade obese people." I started out walking parkrun. Slowly. I got faster. Then I started jog/walking it.

Then I ran it. Slowly - but non-stop.

I got faster. I started doing longer distances too.

I'll never "win" a parkrun and I don't want to, but on a good day I'm now running my local parkrun faster than half the field.

I've got a load of other people into running, too, who also don't do just parkruns but also local and national runs and races. There were a good few of us out in Portmarnock this evening - not in contention, but having a great time and getting decent times.

It's done wonders for our health - physical and mental. And our social lives.

Not one of the "charade obese people" who love their running would be as negative as your post. But I guess you do you?

sonyvision

Parkrun 26th will be Waterford Nature Park. Havin nagged my family looks like I have 7 sets of barcodes to print in work tomorrow.

All 7 will definitely be walking it not running, but isn't a 5k walk better then no walk?. I'll try trash it out in 23/24 minutes. Won't kill myselt but doing my 9k tonight tough only averaging 5:08 per KM. Aiming for 2hr 30 minutes run on Sunday

ger664

rovers_runner wrote: »

Parkwalk......
The inevitable dumbing down of an already relaxed way to get people active

explain to me how someone walking 5K is not a relaxed way to get people active.

Big Bad Wolf

rovers_runner wrote: »

How low can the bar go.....

Maybe a Limbo dance across the finish line....
G'wan away will ye. Parkrun/walk/crawl is all about getting people up, out and active. Just start up the front and don't worry about anyone in your dust. We're all on the same course, but different journeys.

KAGY

rovers_runner wrote: »

Parkwalk......
The inevitable dumbing down of an already relaxed way to get people active, which bright spark came up with this idea I wonder?.

It's a great idea, 6 week "training" to get people up to walking the 5k, in a group of people of similar level.
Not everyone can even walk that to start.

And I hope you see the contradiction in your comments, which come across as snobby and elitist,

Pawwed Rig

I am not sure how someone walking it affects anyone running it. Maybe he doesn't like lapping people?
Parkrun is more of a hybrid of the social and active more than specifically a run. There are plenty of running events around the place and clubs.

rainbow kirby

eoinín wrote: »

Its about getting people who are not currently active to become more active, not about asking runners to slow down. Its about being more inclusive and welcoming to all, not just to elites like yourself.

I can't understand why this would bother anyone. Everyone is still allowed to run as fast as they want, I'm not sure why anyone would be concerned about what's happening a kilometre behind them.

This. One of the nicest things about parkrun is that it is a place for everyone - whether you're a 16-17 min 5k club runner or an older person walking and chatting to friends. It gives a lot of people their start with running who never would have considered it otherwise.

annapr

rainbow kirby wrote: »

This. One of the nicest things about parkrun is that it is a place for everyone - whether you're a 16-17 min 5k club runner or an older person walking and chatting to friends. It gives a lot of people their start with running who never would have considered it otherwise.

Couldn't agree more. I know one woman who walks parkrun every week and her PB is 50mins+. She's recovering from a stroke and the determination that she shows every week is an inspiration. Her achievement is arguably greater than the sub-20 guy who finishes first. The volunteers, who have to wait longer because she's there, have been completely encouraging. She crosses the line with a smile on her face every week.

The 'park walk' concept makes it clear to people that they can join in, whatever their pace. Getting more people into parks on a Saturday morning to walk/jog/run can only be positive.

*volunteering is also very positive!

robinph

annapr wrote: »

The 'park walk' concept makes it clear to people that they can join in, whatever their pace. Getting more people into parks on a Saturday morning to walk/jog/run can only be positive.

More certainly needs to be done to change the perceptions of what parkrun is, especially in the likes of UK and Ireland where the times that people take are primarily in the running end of the spectrum.

My mother recently said she was going to have a go at doing a parkrun, now her two new knees are fixed. She has a set of very parkrunning kids who have many years of parkrunning between them, a couple of ED's/ ambassadors and running of the parkrun country wide coms. But she won't take part in a parkrun in the UK because it's far too quick for her and will have a go on her upcoming trip to a different continent where it is far more open to walkers.

annapr

robinph wrote: »

More certainly needs to be done to change the perceptions of what parkrun is, especially in the likes of UK and Ireland where the times that people take are primarily in the running end of the spectrum.

My mother recently said she was going to have a go at doing a parkrun, now her two new knees are fixed. She has a set of very parkrunning kids who have many years of parkrunning between them, a couple of ED's/ ambassadors and running of the parkrun country wide coms. But she won't take part in a parkrun in the UK because it's far too quick for her and will have a go on her upcoming trip to a different continent where it is far more open to walkers.

See, that's brilliant that your mother wants to do it, and a shame that she doesn't feel comfortable doing parkrun close to home. I love the 'contagion' effect of parkrun... I see that at juniors especially, where families get involved.

Half the battle is getting people over that initial self consciousness...

rovers_runner

TaurenDruid wrote: »

Not one of the "charade obese people" who love their running would be as negative as your post. But I guess you do you?

My point being that running is a means to an end for these production companies and people who take part(RTE OT).
They don't take running or fitness seriously hence they "run" a 5K in about 45 mins with coldplay in the background and tears at the finish line.
They should spare us the heroic back story and just enjoy the process of getting fit and put in the effort to improve like the rest of us.


The vast majority of the OT participants are still obese I can guarantee you, do you think mollycoddling them by telling them that they are great and "ran" a 5k when they clearly didn't and likely won't do so again is how they improve their physical health?
Why then is the show such a massive failure in terms of long term results of the leaders?

Most people starting will now see Parkwalk and will take the soft option, instead of joining Parkrun and trying to improve they will walk 3 miles on a Saturday morning.
Something they could have already been doing for the last x weeks by the beach or the lake, or even god forbid up a mountain or hillside.

TaurenDruid

rovers_runner wrote: »

My point being that running is a means to an end for these production companies and people who take part(RTE OT).
They don't take running or fitness seriously hence they "run" a 5K in about 45 mins with coldplay in the background and tears at the finish line.
They should spare us the heroic back story and just enjoy the process of getting fit and put in the effort to improve like the rest of us.

Operation Transformation didn't actually use parkrun last season (which was a pity), but I still see significant "OT 2016" and "OT 2017" numbers on results pages, so I guess no, we don't all just do a few weeks of walking it in 45 minutes and then give up. But sure what would I know, I'm obvioulsy not an elite runner like yourself, whose parkrun is interfered with by all those extra people in the park of a Saturday morning...

Maybe, when you're in a hole - stop digging?

rovers_runner

TaurenDruid wrote: »

Operation Transformation didn't actually use parkrun last season (which was a pity), but I still see significant "OT 2016" and "OT 2017" numbers on results pages, so I guess no, we don't all just do a few weeks of walking it in 45 minutes and then give up. But sure what would I know, I'm obvioulsy not an elite runner like yourself, whose parkrun is interfered with by all those extra people in the park of a Saturday morning...

Maybe, when you're in a hole - stop digging?

Who said anything about elite snowflake.
I'm far from fast and I think speed is irrelevant in the point I'm making.
It's about calling a spade a spade when it comes to parkrun dumbing down their event to increase numbers, not that they need to, its already a huge success.

Parkrun should be aiming to get people to run and not moving in the other direction.

opus

Bere Island's 5th birthday is tomorrow, they've got Darragh McElhinney from Glengarriff who recently won a bronze medal at the U20 European Athletics championships leading them out.

TaurenDruid

rovers_runner wrote: »

Who said anything about elite snowflake.
I'm far from fast and I think speed is irrelevant in the point I'm making.
It's about calling a spade a spade when it comes to parkrun dumbing down their event to increase numbers, not that they need to, its already a huge success.

Parkrun should be aiming to get people to run and not moving in the other direction.

"Come to parkrun on Saturday - it's a free, timed 5k run and it's great fun!"

"No thanks - I'd love to, but I can't run."

versus

"Come to parkrun on Saturday - it's a free, timed 5k run and it's great fun! We've plenty of people who walk it, too, everyone's welcome regardless of ability."

"Yeah, I could manage that..."

Sunny Dayz

rovers_runner wrote: »

My point being that running is a means to an end for these production companies and people who take part(RTE OT).
They don't take running or fitness seriously hence they "run" a 5K in about 45 mins with coldplay in the background and tears at the finish line.
They should spare us the heroic back story and just enjoy the process of getting fit and put in the effort to improve like the rest of us.


The vast majority of the OT participants are still obese I can guarantee you, do you think mollycoddling them by telling them that they are great and "ran" a 5k when they clearly didn't and likely won't do so again is how they improve their physical health?
Why then is the show such a massive failure in terms of long term results of the leaders?

Most people starting will now see Parkwalk and will take the soft option, instead of joining Parkrun and trying to improve they will walk 3 miles on a Saturday morning.
Something they could have already been doing for the last x weeks by the beach or the lake, or even god forbid up a mountain or hillside.

I can see where you are coming from with some of your points. I remember my local parkrun was only up and running about 6 months when OT linked in - the numbers increased by 400%/500% for about a month and then when OT was finished they all disappeared even though parkrun didn't. OT didn't provide much if any support to viewers once the show was over, and actually they didn't provide any support to our parkrun at the time either.


But just to clarify on parkwalk incase it's not clear - it's not separate from parkrun - it's just an initiative being run by parkrun to encourage more people to join, many people still think it's just for fast runners - it's part and parcel of parkrun and there's nothing to stop a person building up week on week from walk to walk/jog/run.

eoinín

rovers_runner wrote: »

Parkrun should be aiming to get people to run and not moving in the other direction.

Why exactly should they be doing this? Why do you get to decide what parkrun should do? What do you mean by "The other direction"? As already mentioned earlier nobody fast is being asked to slow down. parkrun is trying to get people who don't currently move in any direction to at least move in one direction. Maybe these people will eventually do it faster, but for now we should be welcoming anyone who is trying to improve their health through physical activity.

TaurenDruid

eoinín wrote: »

Why exactly should they be doing this? Why do you get to decide what parkrun should do? What do you mean by "The other direction"? As already mentioned earlier nobody fast is being asked to slow down. parkrun is trying to get people who don't currently move in any direction to at least move in one direction. Maybe these people will eventually do it faster, but for now we should be welcoming anyone who is trying to improve their health through physical activity.

This.

The person walking their first parkrun in around 55 minutes is doing 5k more than the person at home still in bed.

If they're encouraged and stick at it, in a couple of weeks it'll be 50 minutes.

A decent number will join couch-to-5k programmes and a decent number of those will go on further again, distance wise or speed wise.

But even if they don't and just continue walking - they're still improving their health and it's still no skin off your nose, rovers_runner.

plodder

rovers_runner wrote: »

Most people starting will now see Parkwalk and will take the soft option, instead of joining Parkrun and trying to improve they will walk 3 miles on a Saturday morning.
Something they could have already been doing for the last x weeks by the beach or the lake, or even god forbid up a mountain or hillside.

I think you're imagining something very different from the reality. parkwalk is a tiny add on to parkrun. You may well have run at events where the parkwalk initiative was "happening" and didn't notice it. As a poster above already said, it's more for people who already know that they want to walk but have felt excluded or at least not sufficiently encouraged to come along so far.

ger664

@ rovers return there has been a mandatory role of tail walker since Jan 2018. So people walking at parkrun is not a new concept.

Your attitude is the main reason that walkers/slow runners feel they are not welcome at running events.

robinph

parkwalk is just a different marketing angle. It's exactly the same product, just labelled differently to try to grab a different group of people.

Much like Coke Zero in a black bottle is exactly the same as Coke Zero in a red bottle. Just some people were presumably not buying the one in the black bottle because they thought it just a variation on Diet Coke which was for girls in offices watching window cleaners with their shirts off. Now it comes in a manly red bottle instead. It's all just marketing at a different segment.

parkwalk is parkrun, just people that are scared off by the word run would be turned off by that before they even start. Need more walkers to get more walkers so that more walkers are crossing the line between 40 and 70 minutes which will then encourage more people to walk etc.

arybvtcw0eolkf

Parkrun/parkwalk are just opposite sides of the same coin and both a free, weekly and timed ~ oh, and inclusive!.

I'm a regular volunteer and when this parkwalk started I initially thought volunteering is going to be a very long drawn out morning and hoped that it wouldn't put off people from volunteering.

Well guess what?, there's been no change at all except we have more craic at the finish line with more walkers now. Its win/win.

HBC08

rovers_runner wrote: »

Who said anything about elite snowflake.
I'm far from fast and I think speed is irrelevant in the point I'm making.
It's about calling a spade a spade when it comes to parkrun dumbing down their event to increase numbers, not that they need to, its already a huge success.

Parkrun should be aiming to get people to run and not moving in the other direction.

What's an elite snowflake?

blackbird86

Going to do Marlay for the first time & I'm just wondering about parking. Seems like it's a very busy parkrun so is the car park usually a no go unless you arrive really early? I don't live walking distance or on a bus route near it unfortunately

corcaigh07

blackbird86 wrote: »

Going to do Marlay for the first time & I'm just wondering about parking. Seems like it's a very busy parkrun so is the car park usually a no go unless you arrive really early? I don't live walking distance or on a bus route near it unfortunately

Loads of parking at the back of the park near the start line or you can park either near the house or close to Three Rock Hockey Club and walk about 1.8k to the start line.

It will get busy if you leave it late though.

robinph

Two weeks running now and I've crossed the line thinking I was 3rd and actually ended up with getting 1st. Was another unexpected opportunity to run without the buggy as well so got a bit of a test on how fast I can actually run. Happy enough with the run, but I need to knock another 40 seconds off my times before the end of the year to keep my sub 18 minutes for every year of parkrunning stat intact. (I don't count year one as the only course available to run then was up a stupid steep hill)

McCrack

blackbird86 wrote: »

Going to do Marlay for the first time & I'm just wondering about parking. Seems like it's a very busy parkrun so is the car park usually a no go unless you arrive really early? I don't live walking distance or on a bus route near it unfortunately

A handy option is park in the 3 rock pub car park and walk in the top of marlay, 10 min walk

chinguetti

Did Mullingar this morning and a lovely course along the canal and greenway in between the nasty showers. Nice and flat too if anyone is looking for a pb course. Anyone know how far the greenway? It must be a great spot for long runs with fine paths on both sides.

pc11

Speaking of parking, I need to vent about the parking at St Anne's Park. The main carpark has a one-way system which makes perfect sense as it's quite cramped and fills up quickly every week. The road markings are faded but visible and in any case almost everybody is local or a regular and know exactly how it works.

Yet, every week, some few clowns feel like the one way system simply doesn't apply to the them and they create mayhem. One silver car in particular drove in the wrong way at a crazy high speed which was very dangerous in a full car park where there will be lots of kids. Today was particularly bad with people taking the p1ss.

So, let's face it, you know who you are, please stop it. You're not special, the one-way applies to you too.

I did wave at a couple of drivers today who were being cnts and it was obvious they knew exactly what they were doing. I had a chat with a run director who was also irate but she said the core team are reluctant to get involved with the carpark which I can understand.

So, please let's play nicely with others, folks. It's really not much to ask.

An tAlbanach

Volunteered at the inaugural Waterford Nature parkrun today. The weather was very good and good feedback on the route. After a few tweaks hopefully it'll be perfect.

308 parkrunners today...the 2nd largest Irish inaugural attendance after Marlay.

Speak Now

An tAlbanach wrote: »

Volunteered at the inaugural Waterford Nature parkrun today. The weather was very good and good feedback on the route. After a few tweaks hopefully it'll be perfect.

308 parkrunners today...the 2nd largest Irish inaugural attendance after Marlay.

I enjoyed it, half the field were Parkrun first timers. Tramore numbers held up as well with an attendance of 125.

Pherekydes

Did my first overseas parkrun today at Jamaica Pond. It was also my warmest at 23°. Missed the start by 2 minutes because we went to the wrong place. :rolleyes:

sonyvision

An tAlbanach wrote: »

Volunteered at the inaugural Waterford Nature parkrun today. The weather was very good and good feedback on the route. After a few tweaks hopefully it'll be perfect.

308 parkrunners today...the 2nd largest Irish inaugural attendance after Marlay.

Well done to you!! Great turn out and so glad waterford city now has a park run.

I gave some feedback to the run director, there was a few bottlenecks but overall you should all be very happy with the outcome of today.

The start of something great I hope!. Keep up the great work

laura_ac3

laura_ac3 wrote: »

Hi all,

Heading to Galway soon and am trying to decide on which parkrun to do. Staying in Galway itself and will have a car, looking at Oranmore or Knocknacarra. Looked into both, am I right in saying that both seem roughly the same time to get to, have trails and a couple of hills?

Any recommendations on one over the other? (knowing that is a question with a subjective answer!!). Potentially going to be a bit tired from the night before so if one was exceptionally tougher than the other it might sway the decision

Cheers!

Bumpity bump....anyone?

GalwayGrrrrrl

laura_ac3 wrote: »

Bumpity bump....anyone?

They are both very similar. Oranmore starts with a long uphill but Knocknacarra has smaller hills as you go around. Neither are that steep. Oranmore has slightly nicer views (over Galway Bay and boating area) but is windier as it’s more exposed to the sea.

Reg'stoy

Pherekydes wrote: »

Did my first overseas parkrun today at Jamaica Pond. It was also my warmest at 23°. Missed the start by 2 minutes because we went to the wrong place. :rolleyes:

Loved doing this Parkrun, very friendly and a unique course. Some very intense american runners, one guy had three watches, time, distance and heart rate and he was running in his bare feet. Most of the people in charge were ex-pats from the UK or Ireland. Well worth a visit if you are ever in Boston.