Parkrun..

BeepBeep67

Paced my son to his 1st sub 25 this morning, 2:45 pb for him, he and I were chuffed

edisonolmy

I was playing bad cop at the weekend when it came to barcodes. I told people in the briefing to not even come near me if they had their barcodes on their mobile phones. Some still did, and I sent them on their way with no time, but of course it's my fault...

opus

kit3 wrote: »

Is the park actually open ? Will be down that way next week

Not officially open but no barrier to access, it's the same hours as the recycling centre there:

Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays: 8.00 a.m. to 4.00 p.m.
Wednesdays: 11.00 a.m. to 4.00 p.m.
Saturdays: 8.00 a.m. to 12.45 p.m.

I'm not sure if they're opening the pedestrian entrance off the South Douglas Road on Saturday mornings anymore though. No problem going for a run there once you're able to get in.

robinph

edisonolmy wrote: »

I was playing bad cop at the weekend when it came to barcodes. I told people in the briefing to not even come near me if they had their barcodes on their mobile phones. Some still did, and I sent them on their way with no time, but of course it's my fault...

Have been to a relatively small parkrun where the event director seemed to have a book of barcodes for various people, I guess they were all fairly forgetful folks there. Seemed like a good way of creating extra work for themselves though.

Firedance

edisonolmy wrote: »

I was playing bad cop at the weekend when it came to barcodes. I told people in the briefing to not even come near me if they had their barcodes on their mobile phones. Some still did, and I sent them on their way with no time, but of course it's my fault...

In Cabinteely if you forget your barcode you can get your result if you volunteer for the following week(s). It works very well! On a side note, its a pity the scanners don't work on mobile phones, presumably those would cost a fortune.

lanod2407

Newcastle West Parkrun kicking off this coming Saturday.
Good luck to the team

robinph

Firedance wrote: »

In Cabinteely if you forget your barcode you can get your result if you volunteer for the following week(s). It works very well! On a side note, its a pity the scanners don't work on mobile phones, presumably those would cost a fortune.

There was a parkrun newsletter not too long ago, although I couldn't find it just now, where Tom Williams talked about barcodes on phones and how much hassle it would still be with the current tech. I think one of his reasons also came down on the "no barrier to participation" line, which is essentially the issue that were having with Little Stoke council.

And after the trouble that the scanner had just doing my finish token at the weekend due to a bit of rain and sunshine at the same time I'm inclined to agree with them for now. Not even any problem with my personal barcode which is a little faded now.

edisonolmy

I'd make sure they showed up to volunteer before adding them for the previous week under such an arrangement.

One of the mobile issues is that the barcode needs to be a specific size - you could spend an age zooming in and out trying to get it the right size. I'm told that sometimes the scanners will pick them up, but i'm not willing to spend time trying to find that out.

I was told one guy who was asking to be added manually "never has his barcode". Why? Just bring the thing, then you can avoid a daft battle of wills every week. I didn't add him this week and he went away muttering under his breath. Just bring the thing. It's that easy.

How many people run with their phones in all seriousness? Mine is nowhere near me. A bit of paper folded up weighs less.

davedanon

edisonolmy wrote: »

How many people run with their phones in all seriousness? Mine is nowhere near me. A bit of paper folded up weighs less.

Ha! Phone (in arm-clamp), headphones, water bottle (to stave off dehydration)....


ps: sorry, got a bit elitist there.

edisonolmy

Water bottles crack me up. I take a couch to 5K group and they drain a reservoir every week

Sunny Dayz

I usually bring a little water bottle with me doing parkrun. I'd rather have it and not need it than need it and not have it. I do take a little sip now and again, usually when I've struggled with a hill, and drink the rest when I'm finished.

robinph

It's only relatively recently that I now pretty much always run with my phone. It's will be for one of a number of reasons depending on the run. Either so that I can listen to podcasts (not in a race obviously, only on long training runs), so that the wife can track me and see when I'm due back or because it's where I keep my emergency €10 and £10 so that I can always buy cake at the end of the run or pay for the bus back, which I've had to do a couple of times.

davedanon

robinph wrote: »

so that the wife can track me and see when I'm due back

Say what, now?


dude, that's an extremely dangerous precedent you're setting there.


Seriously, though. In real time? Which technology is this?

robinph

davedanon wrote: »

Say what, now?


dude, that's an extremely dangerous precedent you're setting there.


Seriously, though. In real time? Which technology is this?

So she can get the dinner on ready for my return.

The Garmin Live tracking on your phone does this with some of the newer Forerunners. Will be using it during London Marathon next week so that various members of my mobile support team will know exactly where I'm up to. Of course that relies on the mobile network also not being overloaded so we call get a data connection, but it worked very well for Dublin Marathon last year. I was also able to read the "run faster daddy" messages on my watch on the way round.

average_runner

edisonolmy wrote: »

I'd make sure they showed up to volunteer before adding them for the previous week under such an arrangement.

One of the mobile issues is that the barcode needs to be a specific size - you could spend an age zooming in and out trying to get it the right size. I'm told that sometimes the scanners will pick them up, but i'm not willing to spend time trying to find that out.

I was told one guy who was asking to be added manually "never has his barcode". Why? Just bring the thing, then you can avoid a daft battle of wills every week. I didn't add him this week and he went away muttering under his breath. Just bring the thing. It's that easy.

How many people run with their phones in all seriousness? Mine is nowhere near me. A bit of paper folded up weighs less.

Well if your on call or if some one is ill, you could need your phone on you.
A phone won't slow you down much.

edisonolmy

How did we ever manage before mobile phones?

tang1

Just looking at the Mullingar Park run route, say it will be a quick one. Out along the canal and back along the Old Trail way, zero inclines there I would imagine.

annapr

Great news, another junior parkrun in Dublin -- the lovely Albert College Park (AKA Albo) on Ballymun Rd beside DCU, starting June 5th.

average_runner

edisonolmy wrote: »

How did we ever manage before mobile phones?

You stayed in the office and provided support and cost companies millions!

edisonolmy

Lough Key

http://www.parkrun.ie/loughkey/course/

MisterDrak

edisonolmy wrote: »

Lough Key

http://www.parkrun.ie/loughkey/course/

Lovely part of the world alright, but from Google maps the course looks a bit overgrown ???

Couldn't imagine Marlay park numbers doing that one

fletch

MisterDrak wrote: »

Lovely part of the world alright, but from Google maps the course looks a bit overgrown ???

Couldn't imagine Marlay park numbers doing that one

It is in a forest but the paths are quite wide

wrstan

Run that route many times, it'll be one of the most beautiful parkruns for sure

crisco10

Is Rush the only Junior Parkrun event? (in Dublin I mean)

Bungy Girl

crisco10 wrote: »

Is Rush the only Junior Parkrun event? (in Dublin I mean)

There's one in Ballina too

http://www.parkrun.ie/events/juniorevents/

Albert College Park beside DCU in Glasnevin is due to start on 5th June.

robinph

Went and ran the original parkrun at Bushy Park in London over the weekend. If you ever get the chance definitely go, it is very impressive to see.

It was a couple of km walk from the nearest train station, we actually had to use one of the slightly further away stations as the nearest isn't accessible to buggies, but was a nice walk through the park. Despite there being 1200+ people there it really didn't feel crowded before the start and they have a massive wide start line, I lined up with the other buggies off to the edge, and no one was more than a couple of meters behind the line. My better half crossed the line far quicker than she would normally in a small parkrun.

Unfortunately my buggy passenger demanded a bottle in the couple of minutes before the start during the run brief, which was expertly given by a couple of juniors with other marshals standing around with speakers on their heads. So due to the bottle I lost my position at the front of the pack and ended up starting from the back. Despite it being a massive wide path for the start I couldn't then get through the crowds easily on the bumpy ground, and I had to catch a bottle before it went under a wheel which slowed me down a bit.

Was a nice flat trail course though, and once the crowed thinned out a bit after a k or so I was better able to get past people. Despite me going from last place, up to the low 200's I was apparently still only the 6th buggy and there were loads more behind me. The finish chute is an impressive bit of organisation. There are two lanes, multiple timers, marshals to make sure no one distracts the timers, marshals to direct you between the two lanes and well organised way of still ensuring that the numbers still get given out in the correct order, multiple people handing out the finish tokens at a very fast rate of knots, more marshals taking barcodes back off people who didn't bring their own straight away so that there are minimal barcode losses, no queues for scanning despite the numbers of people, another bunch of volunteers re-sorting the finish tokens again ready for next week... and then by about ten to ten the course is mostly getting cleared up as the finish chute queues have died down and you'd barely know anything had happened.

They also had the timing bang on, mine didn't agree with my watch but that was due to the bottle incident at the start and I didn't start my watch on time. But when you have 1000+ finishers and the times are bang on and out to you by text in an hour or so, all by manual timing. That is impressive.

davedanon

How long did it take them to get the results up?

robinph

davedanon wrote: »

How long did it take them to get the results up?

Got the results text whilst on the train back into the centre of London, admittedly after a relaxed coffee and cake first, so only about an hour and half later.

Firedance

robinph wrote: »

Got the results text whilst on the train back into the centre of London, admittedly after a relaxed coffee and cake first, so only about an hour and half later.

It all sounds pretty impressive, must put this on my list to do if I get to London over the summer.

robinph

Was also nice to see them with #lovelittlestoke signs held up on the start line as well, as I've seen from all over during the last couple of weeks since things kicked off and my local parkrun hit the news. Feels a bit weird to be even a tiny bit emotionally attached to an inanimate object/ event like this, but the council taking away something that is so obviously a fantastic, free, non-path-damaging event that everyone loves does feel a bit personal.

Amigaman

Hi robinph - great report , Bushy if defo on my parkrun bucket list :-)...- just noticed you are a mod . any chance of breaking this tread off into a separate sub category on the Running forum , plenty of scope for additional treads on 5k and 2k events , different courses , parkrun stories and encouragement for novices - just a thought , you might know someone to ask...

robinph

Amigaman wrote: »

Hi robinph - great report , Bushy if defo on my parkrun bucket list :-)...- just noticed you are a mod . any chance of breaking this tread off into a separate sub category on the Running forum , plenty of scope for additional treads on 5k and 2k events , different courses , parkrun stories and encouragement for novices - just a thought , you might know someone to ask...

Can certainly rearrange things if people want, not sure what you are suggesting though? There are a few specific threads related to individual Irish parkruns in the events sub forum. This thread has mostly been general parkrun chatter, or letting people know about upcoming events etc.

El Caballo

robinph wrote: »

Can certainly rearrange things if people want, not sure what you are suggesting though? There are a few specific threads related to individual Irish parkruns in the events sub forum. This thread has mostly been general parkrun chatter, or letting people know about upcoming events etc.

Think he's saying to setup a parkrun subforum on A/R like the events, training logs and gear subforums.

Edit: on second thought, I was probably too quick to jump to criticism, it doesn't bother me really so I take that back.

Firedance

El Caballo wrote: »

Think he's saying to setup a parkrun subforum on A/R like the events, training logs and gear subforums.

Edit: on second thought, it doesn't bother me really so I take that back.

That's not a bad idea...and move the individual park run events under it too?

Doesn't bother me either but their might be an appetite for it? Or not.

Amigaman

Would love more feedback from all on whether a good idea or not :-) , Pros would be more discussion on a greater range of parkrun topics,attracting forum users that wouldn,t typically hang-out in the a&r forum and perhaps attracting net new users to boards....cant honestly think of any cons :-) ( possibly the definition of a bias ) but hey would love to hear what others think :-)

robinph

Getting new forums created isn't something us mere mods have the power to do, but if there is sufficient need seen for a sub-forum to be created then it is something we can request.

I can see that it might help with individual parkrun discussion if their existing threads were not hidden away off the first page of the Events sub-forum, or even help with beginner discusion in terms of working up to parkrun distances. Happy to create an index to those threads, or added onto a sticky so it's easier to direct people to. I won't be able to do it in the next couple of days though.

Pawwed Rig

Cons for me would be a dilution of this thread which is a pretty comprehensive historical record of parkrun in Ireland.

who_ru

is the Limerick park run on tomorrow? Registration for great Limerick run is on in UL tomorrow so thought park run might be cancelled.

edisonolmy

It's on, as per the FB page:

"[font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]Limerick parkrun is going ahead as normal this Saturday @ 9.30am at the boathouse in UL. For anyone taking part in the Great Limerick Run the expo opens at 10am in UL - so plenty of time to pop down to parkrun first"[/font]

kookiebrew

who_ru wrote: »

is the Limerick park run on tomorrow? Registration for great Limerick run is on in UL tomorrow so thought park run might be cancelled.

Going ahead and no shortage of volunteers either

mel.b

I did my first parkrun as a tourist this morning - I'm visiting my parents in Australia so did the parkrun in my hometown
http://www.parkrun.com.au/warragul/

It was interesting seeing how things are done differently and the difference that facilities can make as well. The Warragul parkrun has a large BBQ shelter with picnic benches just near the start/finish so they use this as the scanning area. Having the advantage of table & chairs also let them set up a few other things. They had on the table a couple of large laminated A3 sheets with numbers 1 - ... on it that they would stick each finish token on after it was scanned. Makes it easy to see which ones are missing and to also get them back in order at the end. Another couple of nice touches was that they had an index file that you could keep your parkrun barcode in so you don't have to remember to bring it and also a small tub for people to put keys it. The briefing started early in comparison to Lee's Rd which is my home parkrun (started about 10min before the start). They also handed out some certificates for people who had reached Junior Club 10, Club 50 and also to a lady who had volunteered 25 times. She also got a random certificate for having achieved 17 personal bests...I thought that was a bit of an odd number to choose to give a certificate for! They also briefed the first timers separately on the course route.

I've been following them on facebook for a while and during Dec and Jan they also have a small chalkboard which you write your parkrun resolution which is nice touch I think.

As an aside a young girl in the JW 11-14 group smashed the women's course record by a minute...she completed it in 20:08 and also achieved the age grade record of 80.88%:eek: I saw her fly past me a couple of times and it looked like no bother to her.

What different things have you seen done at other parkruns?

uvox

Testament to popularity of the movement - reaction in the UK to charge parkrunners for park: http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2016/apr/13/stoke-gifford-parkrun-council-condemned-charge-paula-radcliffe

Question: Do ANY of the parkrun movements in Ireland have to pay anything? I think it's completely free, right?

cjt156

Not a great article TBH: still manages to refer to Parkrun as a 'race' and runners as 'competitors'. No mention of the fact that Parkrun is not-for-profit and doesn't charge any type of fee.

Highlights the issue but wouldn't necessarily win over a neutral reader.

uvox

The "more on this story" section provides more context.

Thanks for clarifying they're free.

davedanon

The only cost ever associated with parkrun, apart from any transport costs incurred getting to an event, should be the sheet of A4 paper and the ink needed to print off your barcodes, plus the cost of lamination, should you decide to take that entirely sensible step.

Firedance

We brief first timers separately in Cabinteely melb - today's brieing was given by me :eek:.think I remembered everything!!

kookiebrew

Beautiful run this morning in limerick, lot of visitors probably down for the great Limerick run tomorrow, nice to have the sunshine along the river, real scenic...

annapr

Pawwed Rig wrote: »

Cons for me would be a dilution of this thread which is a pretty comprehensive historical record of parkrun in Ireland.

I like this thread too... But having a sub-forum might be a good way of bringing all the parkrun threads together... I've never come across any other than St Anne's... And with the increased interest in parkrun could be a good gateway into A/R for newer runners too.

Anything that promotes parkrun is positive from my POV.

Murph_D

Firedance wrote: »

We brief first timers separately in Cabinteely melb - today's brieing was given by me :eek:.think I remembered everything!!

They do that in Edinburgh too - good idea.

Firedance

Murph_D wrote: »

They do that in Edinburgh too - good idea.

We just find it cuts back on confusion coming through the finish / getting tokens / going to the scanners etc. I say 'we' of course I'm nothing more than an 'ornary volunteer Definitely worth doing somewhere like St Annes, its done about 5 mins before the Run Directors briefing.