Parkrun..

opus

Sigh this is becoming a bit of a habit but Tramore Valley parkrun is cancelled once again next Sat

Skid X

I see Catherina McKiernan made her parkrun debut in Malahide yesterday.

Nice to see another Irish Athletics Star joining in.

KJ

Skid X wrote: »

I see Catherina McKiernan made her parkrun debut in Malahide yesterday.

Nice to see another Irish Athletics Star joining in.

Yeah I saw her there. She flew around obviously. Saw her at the starting line and then the finish line, not so much in between.

Sunny Dayz

Was up in Donegal at the weekend visiting inlaws. So we headed into Parkrun Letterkenny for a run about. It was enjoyable, especially around the town park. Bit of height and climbing in it too, they would be used to that in Donegal!! My only crib really was that we couldn't hear a word of the race director at the start as her voice was too low and also from people chatting. So we didn't really know the route or how many laps to do, but we weren't going to be first finishers for sure so we could follow on anyway!! Will defo do it again next time we are about.

edisonolmy

Yeah, I got confused last week at Letterkenny. Leader was out of sight and I had no one near me in second, so I took a wrong turn the second time around the top section. A lot of walkers taking part.

L.Jenkins

Out of curiousity, does interest in the Park Run usually drop out in February? Of 145 people when I started a few weeks ago, it was about half last Saturday.

Darkglasses

Itzy wrote: »

Out of curiousity, does interest in the Park Run usually drop out in February? Of 145 people when I started a few weeks ago, it was about half last Saturday.

New Year's Resolution hopefuls giving up the ghost I would say. They might re-appear when it warms up a bit

Pawwed Rig

Week 9 or 10 of the year usually sees some new faces too as the folk who stick with the couch to 5k program from the new years resolution do their first 'race'*






* yes I know it isn't a race

robinph

edisonolmy wrote: »

Yeah, I got confused last week at Letterkenny. Leader was out of sight and I had no one near me in second, so I took a wrong turn the second time around the top section. A lot of walkers taking part.

I was second finisher in a parkrun this weekend, with first out of sight but I knew where I was going for this one. Third finisher didn't though and had only done 2 of the 3 laps before peeling off to the finish straight and followed me across the line. Queue a miffed 4th finisher who was then wondering where this other guy had appeared from when he crossed the line.

Peterx

robinph wrote: »

I was second finisher in a parkrun this weekend, with first out of sight but I knew where I was going for this one. Third finisher didn't though and had only done 2 of the 3 laps before peeling off to the finish straight and followed me across the line. Queue a miffed 4th finisher who was then wondering where this other guy had appeared from when he crossed the line.

luckily it wasn't a race

davedanon

I was 4th in Tymon last week, but was given token no.6 when I finished. when I queried it I was told that some people had managed, probably inadvertently, to cut the course. However the result online was correct, so I was happy.

robinph

Peterx wrote: »

luckily it wasn't a race

You have to concentrate when talking about parkrun to make sure that you only ever refer to first finisher, second finisher etc and never winning or places.

davedanon

robinph wrote: »

You have to concentrate when talking about parkrun to make sure that you only ever refer to first finisher, second finisher etc and never winning or places.

Or 'competition'.

chinguetti

In case anyone is watching Operation Transformation tonight, Fr Collins park run will be featured on the programme from last Saturday week.

lanod2407

robinph wrote: »

You have to concentrate when talking about parkrun to make sure that you only ever refer to first finisher, second finisher etc and never winning or places.

That annoys me a bit - you can't have a winner, and it's not a race; but there's a table for first finishers, it's over a set distance, you get a time and placing, a new PB is celebrated on the results page, you get more points the higher up the placings you finish, ................ but it's not a race. It's just a run - why the pedantics?
Personally - I race that distance every time I do it - not very fast, but it's a race for me.

Sunny Dayz

lanod2407 wrote: »

That annoys me a bit - you can't have a winner, and it's not a race; but there's a table for first finishers, it's over a set distance, you get a time and placing, a new PB is celebrated on the results page, you get more points the higher up the placings you finish, ................ but it's not a race. It's just a run - why the pedantics?
Personally - I race that distance every time I do it - not very fast, but it's a race for me.

But do people pass much heed on them? I don't pay any attention to the first finishers at my local parkrun, they finish well ahead of me and are on their way home by the time I get to the finish. I concentrate on my own time, my own finishing, my own pb - trying to better myself. I find as a non competitive runner that it's like a race practice for me.

robinph

lanod2407 wrote: »

Personally - I race that distance every time I do it - not very fast, but it's a race for me.

The point is that you are only racing yourself and the clock though.

ArmaniJeanss

robinph wrote: »

The point is that you are only racing yourself and the clock though.

And that fcker who keeps finishing 30 seconds ahead of me. Oh, yes sir, we are in a very serious race, a duel that is going to grow ever more serious as the months go by. I call you Nemesis, and I will take you down.

Other guy may not be aware of any of this obviously.

tailgunner

ArmaniJeanss wrote: »

And that fcker who keeps finishing 30 seconds ahead of me. Oh, yes sir, we are in a very serious race, a duel that is going to grow ever more serious as the months go by. I call you Nemesis, and I will take you down.

Other guy may not be aware of any of this obviously.

I'm sure that guy does my local parkrun as well. He's in the JM11-14 category yeah?

Having recently moved up from JM10?

BeenMadAgain

If you catch him, it was a race; if not, it was just a run.

BeenMadAgain

Looks like Tramore Valley, Cork is off again this week - that'll be a whole month without a run.

Kerry Gooner

Operation Transformation cameras coming down to Tralee this weekend.
Don't forget that spurt at the finish line.

opus

BeenMadAgain wrote: »

Looks like Tramore Valley, Cork is off again this week - that'll be a whole month without a run.

Afraid so we're off air still No definite date yet when we'll permission from the council to restart.

Shedite27

opus wrote: »

Afraid so we're off air still No definite date yet when we'll permission from the council to restart.

How bad was it the last weekend? Heard through the grapevines it took people an hour to get out of the carpark.

sconhome

While OT is a great initiative it seems to be causing havoc for Parkrun with people complaining about spill over parking and excess numbers of people in attendance causing problems.

Knocknacarra has been getting a lot of grief as people are parking on footpaths and generally being troublesome. The good news is we're finally getting Parkrun in Oranmore as a result

Dilbert75

sconhome wrote: »

While OT is a great initiative it seems to be causing havoc for Parkrun with people complaining about spill over parking and excess numbers of people in attendance causing problems.

Knocknacarra has been getting a lot of grief as people are parking on footpaths and generally being troublesome. The good news is we're finally getting Parkrun in Oranmore as a result

To be fair neither OT nor Parkrun is the problem. The problem is more likely to be that some people don't plan forward and are more concerned with their own convenience than anything else. It bugs me.

GalwayGrrrrrl

One of the problems with the knocknacarra park run is that the car park is also used by other sports clubs training in the park at the same time. Also there isn't anywhere handy (eg shopping centre) to leave the car and walk a few mins so it's the car park or nothing (yes, or cycle!). It's a shame as I'm sure this puts a few people off. Not I though as I come a few mins early.

sconhome

Dilbert75 wrote: »

To be fair neither OT nor Parkrun is the problem. The problem is more likely to be that some people don't plan forward and are more concerned with their own convenience than anything else. It bugs me.

100%

Had a protracted debate on Twitter about this very thing. Unfortunately the blame is being levelled at Parkrun (I know its not to blame so many other things) for being too successful at attracting crowds and thus risks being stopped by the Councils who are tasked with getting people to use the parks.

Go figure :rolleyes:

martyboy48

sconhome wrote: »

While OT is a great initiative it seems to be causing havoc for Parkrun with people complaining about spill over parking and excess numbers of people in attendance causing problems.

Knocknacarra has been getting a lot of grief as people are parking on footpaths and generally being troublesome. The good news is we're finally getting Parkrun in Oranmore as a result

Any idea of location/route?? Would be nice to have an alternative..
Wasn't a fan of the knocknacarra route but great work put in by the RD there.

The Black Oil

Was hoping for a better time again this week, but keys fell out of my pockets a few times, so that's likely out the window.

They said there was an 87 year old in Malahide this morning. Kudos. I'll be doing well if I'm still doing this 50 years from now, though perhaps by that stage the holodeck will have been invented. :pac:

aoboa

Did Tymon. Great fun. That last mile got me again. Grrr...

JosDel

Done St Anne's again..391 runners. Official time exactly the same as last week, had a feeling it was close

L.Jenkins

The numbers in Athlone seem to be dwindling and the course itself during wet weather is absolutely lethal. Someone is going to get injured badly one of these days.

ionapaul

Did Shanganagh this morning, good crowd again. Will be down in the family home in Galway next weekend so hoping to do Knocknacarra again.

Sunny Dayz

Itzy wrote: »

The numbers in Athlone seem to be dwindling and the course itself during wet weather is absolutely lethal. Someone is going to get injured badly one of these days.

Add your reply here.
It's been like that since the start of Dec. I've given up trying to improve my time, just concentrating on keeping moving, walking the mucky parts and not sliding down the slopes on my tail end!
Wasn't there myself this morning but I heard alright that it was pretty wet and slippy.

L.Jenkins

I run the flat safer areas myself and walk on the more dangerous parts, despite having slipped 3 times in the last 2 weeks. I have no issue getting soaked through or mucky, but what worries me is someone getting badly injured and it only takes one slip to do so, before things get hairy for the Athlone Parkrun.

I'm sure AIT wouldn't be impressed with volunteers dumping a few bags of light stone on the offending areas to prevent slipping and it wouldn't be feasible for the Parkrun temporarily relocate until the weather improves.

opus

Shedite27 wrote: »

How bad was it the last weekend? Heard through the grapevines it took people an hour to get out of the carpark.

Hasn't been a parkrun at Tramore Valley since Jan 23th.

Killerz

Kerry Gooner wrote: »

Operation Transformation cameras coming down to Tralee this weekend.
Don't forget that spurt at the finish line.

Sorry, but this just sounds a bit dodgy... :eek:

Amigaman

:-) - Killerz you have officially just ruined parkrun for me ...never again will I be able to sprint that last 250m without having that image in my head ...LOL :-)

Killerz

Amigaman wrote: »

:-) - Killerz you have officially just ruined parkrun for me ...never again will I be able to sprint that last 250m without having that image in my head ...LOL :-)

Haha, well Kerry Gooner ruined it for me!

deisedude

opus wrote: »

Hasn't been a parkrun at Tramore Valley since Jan 23th.

With the size of Cork City it's actually ridiculous there was only one parkrun anyway. Surely there is somewhere else capable of hosting a parkrun

BeenMadAgain

deisedude wrote: »

With the size of Cork City it's actually ridiculous there was only one parkrun anyway. Surely there is somewhere else capable of hosting a parkrun

To be fair though, Tramore Valley only started a few months ago: hopefully there will be more in the future...

BeenMadAgain

Itzy wrote: »

I run the flat safer areas myself and walk on the more dangerous parts, despite having slipped 3 times in the last 2 weeks. I have no issue getting soaked through or mucky, but what worries me is someone getting badly injured and it only takes one slip to do so, before things get hairy for the Athlone Parkrun.

I'm sure AIT wouldn't be impressed with volunteers dumping a few bags of light stone on the offending areas to prevent slipping and it wouldn't be feasible for the Parkrun temporarily relocate until the weather improves.

Thanks, that's useful information for potential parkrun tourists - probably best to wait for better weather - anyone know of other courses with those sort of issues? I remember running a course a bit like that in Devon (Killerton) - I wasn't bothered about the time, just getting round without breaking a leg!

edisonolmy

For Athlone, just stick on a pair of 15mm spikes...

L.Jenkins

I wouldn't propose closing such courses, only to move them where possible or alter the course so People don't get injured. Wouldn't look good for Park Run around the Country if someone did break a leg or get hurt.

sporteamon3

edisonolmy wrote: »

For Athlone, just stick on a pair of 15mm spikes...

Thinking of doing this on Sat. Are spikes the best option? What about the bit on the concrete outer path?

L.Jenkins

If you bring spikes, I'd say just stick to the grass where possible.

robinph

I've done a wide variety of parkruns, in a wide variety of conditions and types of courses. But I'd never wear spikes to any of them.

Trail shoes yes, but not spikes. Save the spikes for a race, and where you are surrounded by other people who also have metal on their feet.

edisonolmy

You don;t want to be spiking someone at a parkrun right enough. I think it is possible to stay on the football pitches at Athlone isn't it? Run alongside the tarmac

BeenMadAgain

Presumably if you do wear spikes you just need to be a bit more careful - especially when there's other runners nearby - ease off a bit and remember that they're for your own safety, not to get a fast time. That old "it's a run not a race" thing...