Parkrun..

ger664

No need to scan finish positions where people are not registered. Barcode scanners store each scan on its own line in the scanners. Its the software the downloads from the scanner that expects to see the barcode followed by position in the next record. If position is scanned first it will create a line in the file with only the position in it and then continue to the next record where it will have the Barcode and an incorrect position. Easily fixed in Excel if the scanner continues to scan all tokens and barcodes the same way.

Amigaman

Loonie wrote: »

Firedance wrote: »

These only happen when locals organise them, if you're in a position to do that why not contact parkrun Ireland directly? I'd imagine a southside one would be very popular.

I've been thinking about this ever since, and I'd LOVE to organise a Junior run. But I really don't think I'm in that position right now. But if something changes... Or if anyone else is thinking about it too, I'd happily help

Contact matt@parkrun.com and give him your details let him know where you are based and he might be in a position to hook you up with someone else in your area to get a critical mass going so to speak to start a junior parkrun

Amigaman

Great to see a 3rd junior parkrun in Dublin. Following on from Rush and Albert College junior parkrun there is a new junior parkrun starting on Oct. 9th in Edenmore park on the Northside - http://www.parkrun.ie/edenmore-juniors/course/

uvox

From UK Independent:

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/features/how-parkrun-became-a-global-phenomenon-the-free-activity-that-has-changed-millions-of-peoples-lives-a6788731.html

"...parkruns rely on funding from commercial sponsors and the goodwill of volunteers to operate. Sinton-Hewitt, who worked full-time in IT until 2010, initially using half his income to fund parkrun, says: “Now we have commercial sponsors and sometimes the Government helps. We generate £3,000 to start up each event. "

Who are the commercial sponsors of the Irish Parkrun events? I am guessing sponsors vary by event and are those such as the names mentioned the "Investing in Grassroots Athletics" and "Supported By" lists on the Marlay Parkrun website for example: https://www.parkrun.ie/marlay/

Is that right?

(Judging by the plugging of Parkrun events in Ireland by Operation Transformation can we assume there is some sponsorship there as well as candidates by way of the RTE Canteen and Friends?)

Amigaman

Hi uvox parkrun Ireland has 4 sponsors , Healthy Ireland , Athletics Ireland , Gala Retail( who sponsor the Hi-vis Volunteer jackets and have a Gala parkrunner of the Month competition on their FB page ) and Intersport ( who sponsor the Run director jackets ).
it has 4 supporters Leave No Trace , the Irish Sports Council , Philip Lee ( solicitors that sponsor the SMS txt result service ) and the Airtricity Dublin Race Series
Details are here http://www.parkrun.ie/sponsors/ and here http://www.parkrun.ie/sponsors/supporters/ to the best of my knowledge there is no sponsorship of parkrun by OT other then then raised visibility it has given to parkrun with media exposure

robinph

Amigaman wrote: »

Hi uvox parkrun Ireland has 4 sponsors , Healthy Ireland , Athletics Ireland , Gala Retail( who sponsor the Hi-vis Volunteer jackets and have a Gala parkrunner of the Month competition on their FB page ) and Intersport ( who sponsor the Run director jackets ).
it has 4 supporters Leave No Trace , the Irish Sports Council , Philip Lee ( solicitors that sponsor the SMS txt result service ) and the Airtricity Dublin Race Series
Details are here http://www.parkrun.ie/sponsors/ and here http://www.parkrun.ie/sponsors/supporters/ to the best of my knowledge there is no sponsorship of parkrun by OT other then then raised visibility it has given to parkrun with media exposure

It's also possible for individuals to donate directly to an event, a portion of that donation would go towards the funds to start up new events but is mostly for use by that event.such as if they need more cones or tape or a megaphone etc.

davedanon

While we're discussing the nut and bolts of parkrun. There's a crusty old-timer in our club who has no time for parkrun, and barks out the same wrong-headed opinions every time the subject comes up: one of which being that "they have no insurance". I always tell him the whole enterprise couldn't possibly function
without insurance, but I don't know the actual details of same. Can someone enlighten me? As in, what sort is it, who is it paid to, out of what monies is it paid? Is it down to individual parkruns, or do parkrun ireland look after it?

Thanks.

edisonolmy

I know up here, our events are covered by public liability insurance which is provided through our affiliation with UK Athletics

muddypaws

There is also Parkrun merchandise available. Not sure how much they sell. Do you have to pay for the milestone tshirts? I see them on the website with a price, but then I had also read that you get them when you pass the milestones, which intimated they were free.

Regarding insurance, I don't know the nuts and bolts of it, but no way could they have the runs without it. We had an event in a South Dublin park recently and had to get SDCC indemnified on our insurance policy, which we also had to do with Bord Na Mona. Without a copy of our insurance and the indemnity letter we wouldn't have been given permission.

edisonolmy

You only pay postage on milestone t-shirts

robinph

edisonolmy wrote: »

You only pay postage on milestone t-shirts

But you do get Haribo.

As for the insurance, in the UK it is covered by UKAthletics insurance in the same way that any regular club road race/ etc would be. I'd assume there is a similar setup with Athletics Ireland in order to get cover through the same way they would provide for club races.

This page has links covering the UK events insurance details:
http://wiki.parkrun.info/index.php/Public_Liability_Insurance

Don't bother with looking at the stuff on the first link from that page as it's way to many documents to care about, but the second PDF is the letter from UKA confirming cover which they update every year.

They don't seem to have an equivalent page for other countries yet created publicly, but there is definitely insurance cover.

edisonolmy

I never got Haribo with my volunteer milestone t-shirt

youngrun

Amigaman wrote: »

Hi uvox parkrun Ireland has 4 sponsors , Healthy Ireland , Athletics Ireland , Gala Retail( who sponsor the Hi-vis Volunteer jackets and have a Gala parkrunner of the Month competition on their FB page ) and Intersport ( who sponsor the Run director jackets ).
it has 4 supporters Leave No Trace , the Irish Sports Council , Philip Lee ( solicitors that sponsor the SMS txt result service ) and the Airtricity Dublin Race Series
Details are here http://www.parkrun.ie/sponsors/ and here http://www.parkrun.ie/sponsors/supporters/ to the best of my knowledge there is no sponsorship of parkrun by OT other then then raised visibility it has given to parkrun with media exposure

I was wondering how PR managed to do it for free . Something athletics clubs probably need to up their game at getting sponsorship .
Do the councils charge for the use of parks ? I know clubs etc have to cover costs if hiring parks etc for events like cross country/schools races

RayCun

youngrun wrote: »

Do the councils charge for the use of parks ? I know clubs etc have to cover costs if hiring parks etc for events like cross country/schools races

How did you miss the ruckus earlier in the year?
A parish council in England tried to charge parkrun for use of the park - wear and tear on the paths, don't you know? The parkrun was closed instead.

What costs do clubs have to cover for hiring parks for cross country? The last race we organised there was no charge from council, we just had to fill out the forms, show we were covered by insurance etc...

edisonolmy

There are no charges - it is free. If ever a council tried to force a charge, that would be the end of the event

edisonolmy

Another event up here - Enniskillen - moved once its host - the National Trust - started talking about money. Not sure on clubs paying for park use - they might pay for policing if roads have to shut. Football clubs etc would pay for pitch hire, but that buys them exclusive access, which is something parkrun does not have.

Belfast City Council hosts a good few parkruns up here and give us free access as well as a room for teas and coffees afterwards, for no charge

opus

robinph wrote: »

They don't seem to have an equivalent page for other countries yet created publicly, but there is definitely insurance cover.

There more certainly is as we needed to provide a copy to both Cork City & Council for the parkrun events in Tramore Valley (sadly in hibernation) and Ballincollig. It covers any location in the Republic of Ireland where an official parkrun event is taking place.

robinph

edisonolmy wrote: »

There are no charges - it is free. If ever a council tried to force a charge, that would be the end of the event

:sadface:



One of the principles of parkrun is that it is free to participate. This means no charge to the runners for taking part (which is what the Little Stoke council initially tried) or for people to access the facilities (which is what I think a National Trust site has attempted in NI).
National Trust properties do host several parkruns, and they either charge for parking, or it's free for NT members, or they don't worry about parking fees for Saturday mornings and get back plenty of money by selling awesome cakes. It must be possible to access the venue for free though, a carpark charge doesn't break that rule assuming you can choose not to drive to the event. All other NT properties waive their entrance fee for Saturday morning parkrunners, the one in NI wanted to bring in a charge per runner.

One of the other angles that Little Stoke council then tried was to charge parkrun for use of the facilities, that is also completely non workable for any parkrun event as parkrun would then need to charge us to take part in order to cover those costs.

davedanon

Without getting too Socialist Worker power to the people about it, I think the whole concept of parkrun being free to the user makes some people very nervous. The usual business models all involve charging users for services. Even councils, which aren't usually models of rapacious capitalism, to be fair to them. There are some who are just offended at the notion that no-one is actually making money out of all these tens of thousands of participants. It's something parkrun will have to work hard to fend off as it grows. In internet terms, a large group of people on one platform literally equates to money. It's why facebook was willing to pay $20bn for fecking Whatsapp, which I'm sure doesn't 'wash its face', as they say.

robinph

But in the same way that by being a free user of Facebook, they are then able to monetise you by selling your details to advertisers...

parkrun monetises us by convincing other brands to give them money. Such as a sports brand getting their name out there to an eager population of new runners who want to know what kit to buy. Or we bur a tshirt with a parkrun logo on. Or insurance companies get their name in the weekly newsletter and give us discounts on policies.
There is also money to be made by the local communities as at an otherwise quiet time of the week there are a bunch of people out using the local park facilities, paying for parking and buying cakes from the coffee shop etc. There is also a potential pool of willing volunteers to help with things such as cleaning up the parks and maintaining the facilities.

The mistake that the likes of Little Stoke and Enniskillen made was that they just saw the dollar signs and wanted the easy way of cashing in. A bit of thought and they could have come up with less objectionable ways of generating income without pissing anyone off or making them feel like they were being charged just to go for a run.

youngrun

RayCun wrote: »

How did you miss the ruckus earlier in the year?
A parish council in England tried to charge parkrun for use of the park - wear and tear on the paths, don't you know? The parkrun was closed instead.

What costs do clubs have to cover for hiring parks for cross country? The last race we organised there was no charge from council, we just had to fill out the forms, show we were covered by insurance etc...

Out west here its 250 quid per day to hire parks out for club or county athletics events ?? Not a huge amount but adds up over a season. Plus the usual paperwork insurance event management etc plans . Do Parkrun get the use of parks for free.

robinph

youngrun wrote: »

Do Parkrun get the use of parks for free.

Yes.

Although don't think of it that parkrun are getting use of the facilities for free, again that is where Little Stoke grabbed the wrong end of the stick before impaling themselves on a branch after tripping up on a hole in the path that had been worn down by all the runners....:mad:

Sorry, got a bit distracted there.

The facilities are not being used for free, it is the local community coming together to make use of an existing free facility and organising themselves using the parkrun system. They then let the landowner know of their intentions and assuming that they are OK with it it all goes ahead.

The only events where you could claim there is a special dispensation to use the facilities for free would be on the National Trust ones where there is, usually, a standard fee for anyone to access the properties. All others parkruns are going to be held on free to access land anyway, but there is non-exclusive access to parkrun unlike for other team sports hiring pitches, or even another running event which would be charged for exclusive use and other on site facilities which parkruns do not get or expect use of.

RayCun

youngrun wrote: »

Out west here its 250 quid per day to hire parks out for club or county athletics events ?? Not a huge amount but adds up over a season. Plus the usual paperwork insurance event management etc plans . Do Parkrun get the use of parks for free.

I'm not 100%, but I don't think we were charged by council when we hosted county championships. We had to negotiate with football clubs to get exclusive use of the area, and other clubs for a race HQ, but not the council. (The only thing they did for us was supply some wood chippings)

Parkrun runs on the same paths that everyone else uses, at the same time as anyone else could use them. Whatever minor costs there might be to the council as a result of a parkrun (and I cant think of any costs associated with my local parkrun) are surely balanced out by the benefit to the health of people living in the council area.

muddypaws

There is a €4 parking fee in Lough Key, and you aren't supposed to park anywhere except in the official car park, but plenty of park runners do. Lough Key reduce the parking fee to €2 when you show your bar code, as there is a cafe on site, I assume they think they will make money out of the participants in that way.

rainbow kirby

All the ones near me are very serious about being "public transport venues" - the parking around Highbury Fields charges by the 5 minutes! That's standard Islington borough parking near a major train station though.

edisonolmy

I'd never even attempt to drive to Highbury Fields when the station is so close. Most of the London ones near my brother's old house I could reach by bus

positron

Unfortunately Public transport is really not an option for majority of Parkruns in Ireland.

I do feel guilty driving or getting dropped off to my local Parkrun 7 kms away. I have started walk-running back lately, and hopefully someday I will have enough fuel in me to run there, do 5k and run back. And a bike, for lazy days.

Firedance

muddypaws wrote: »

There is a €4 parking fee in Lough Key, and you aren't supposed to park anywhere except in the official car park, but plenty of park runners do. Lough Key reduce the parking fee to €2 when you show your bar code, as there is a cafe on site, I assume they think they will make money out of the participants in that way.

rainbow kirby wrote: »

All the ones near me are very serious about being "public transport venues" - the parking around Highbury Fields charges by the 5 minutes! That's standard Islington borough parking near a major train station though.

You'd have a job getting public transport to Lough Key A stunningly beautiful parkrun but eh, not the easiest to get to without a car. It's a pity they charge for parking but I guess the charge is there for everyone and parkrunners get a discount.

Amigaman

two quickies :-) Public liability insurance for parkrun Ireland is provided through Athletics Ireland - and wiggle do not put haribo in with milestone shirts delivered to Ireland oh and thirdly milestone shirts will ( hopefully ) always be free ,tribesport agreed to provide 300,000 milestone shirts in Dec 2014 and by my rough reckoning somewhere between 100,000 and 120,000 have been given away free to parkrunners

muddypaws

Amigaman wrote: »

two quickies :-) Public liability insurance for parkrun Ireland is provided through Athletics Ireland - and wiggle do not put haribo in with milestone shirts delivered to Ireland oh and thirdly milestone shirts will ( hopefully ) always be free ,tribesport agreed to provide 300,000 milestone shirts in Dec 2014 and by my rough reckoning somewhere between 100,000 and 120,000 have been given away free to parkrunners

Ooh, better keep going then, get my tshirts

rainbow kirby

positron wrote: »

Unfortunately Public transport is really not an option for majority of Parkruns in Ireland.

The one nearest to my mam's is sort of doable by public transport but it's still easier to just slow jog it as a warmup.

Hard Worker

Fingal County Council actively encourage parkruns and have them in a number of areas. There is no charge from the Council. In fact, there was no 5K route in River Valley Park and the Council created one to facilitate parkrun.
Probably won't see any in OPW venues as there is now a charge of up to €2 per runner for participants in running events. That charge is imposed by the Revenue Commissioner.

Amigaman

Hard Worker wrote: »

Fingal County Council actively encourage parkruns and have them in a number of areas. There is no charge from the Council. In fact, there was no 5K route in River Valley Park and the Council created one to facilitate parkrun.
Probably won't see any in OPW venues as there is now a charge of up to €2 per runner for participants in running events. That charge is imposed by the Revenue Commissioner.

Castletown is an OPW venue as is New Ross...what charge ? do you have any more info or a link

wrstan

Hard Worker wrote: »

That charge is imposed by the Revenue Commissioner.

Well ya know what the Revenue Commissioners and a Pelican have in common?











They can both stick their bills up their ar$e! (credit Billy Connolly)

Hard Worker

Amigaman wrote: »

Castletown is an OPW venue as is New Ross...what charge ? do you have any more info or a link

There is a charge for the use of Phoenix Park. Up to €2 per runner. The Phoenix Park have stated that this is a charge levied by Revenue. I would have assumed that it applied to all OPW venues.

jamule

Hard Worker wrote: »

There is a charge for the use of Phoenix Park. Up to €2 per runner. The Phoenix Park have stated that this is a charge levied by Revenue. I would have assumed that it applied to all OPW venues.

If there was a levy chargeable by Revenue there'd be legislation. There's not.

Lots of OPW parkrun venues with no charge

Dilbert75

No charge in New Ross.

robinph

Event number 7 for USA, and 3rd for Washington DC, now has their webpage gone live:

http://www.parkrun.us/collegepark/

Been interesting watching this event come to life over the last few months whilst at the same time watching my home run get squished by the parish council.

Now I just need to plan some tourism.

Hard Worker

jamule wrote: »

If there was a levy chargeable by Revenue there'd be legislation. There's not.

Lots of OPW parkrun venues with no charge

Revenue have imposed a charge, not a tax. They are the "owners" of OPW venues. The Phoenix Park have told us that the charge was imposed by Revenue. We have already paid them for a number of events. Strange that no other OPW venue has imposed a charge.

jamule

Hard Worker wrote: »

Revenue have imposed a charge, not a tax. They are the "owners" of OPW venues. The Phoenix Park have told us that the charge was imposed by Revenue. We have already paid them for a number of events. Strange that no other OPW venue has imposed a charge.

The state own the park, its managed by the OPW, I have no idea where your getting revenue from, I presume you have confused them with some other state body (commissioner for public works?) .

Revenue do not impose any charges that are not covered by statute.

jamule

Licences for exclusive occupation of portions of the Park.
4.—
http://www.phoenixpark.ie/about/phoenixparkact/

the word "Commissioners" means the Commissioners of Public Works in Ireland;


(1) The Commissioners may, subject to the consent of the Minister and to the provisions of this section, grant to any person a licence authorising such person to fence-off and have the exclusive occupation of any portion of the Park for any particular purpose, and to exclude the public from the portion of the Park to which such licence relates, and to admit the public to such portion or any particular part thereof on payment of such fee or compliance with such other condition as the holder of the licence shall think proper to charge or impose
(2) Every licence granted under this section shall be so granted subject to such conditions as the Commissioners shall think proper to impose, and every such licence shall be revocable at any time by the Commissioners with the consent or by the direction of the Minister.
(3) The Commissioners shall not by any licence granted under this section authorise any person, during any period or periods exceeding in the whole three days in any one year, either to erect any fence or other structure so as to preclude the public from viewing any game, exhibition, or other entertainment, or to charge fees for admission to any part of the Park unless either—
( a ) the grant of such licence has been approved by resolution of each House of the Oireachtas; or
( b ) the draft of such licence has been laid before each House of the Oireachtas and neither House has, within the next ten days on which the House has sat after such draft was laid before it, passed a resolution disapproving of the grant of the licence.
(4) Every licence heretofore granted by the Commissioners for the exclusive occupation of any portion of the Park and in force at the passing of this Act shall continue in force according to the terms thereof, but shall be revocable at any time by the Commissioners with the consent or by the direction of the Minister

RentDayBlues

Really need some inspiration for the morning, well actually motivation! Cabinteely or marley park? Don't feel like either but I need to do one . . . .

Wottle

RentDayBlues wrote: »

Really need some inspiration for the morning, well actually motivation! Cabinteely or marley park? Don't feel like either but I need to do one . . . .

Shanganagh only down the road and flat

robinph

RentDayBlues wrote: »

Really need some inspiration for the morning, well actually motivation! Cabinteely or marley park? Don't feel like either but I need to do one . . . .

Lots of thing that could be the essential deciding factor.

Cake, travel time, cake, hills on the course, cake, which is the more crowded, cake, which course do you have the easier to beat pb at, cake, which course don't you care about lowering you average time at if you do a slower run, cake, which course is the more scenic, cake, which course is the least muddy, cake...

Have a guess how I'd choose between doing two different parkruns?

RentDayBlues

robinph wrote: »

Lots of thing that could be the essential deciding factor.

Cake, travel time, cake, hills on the course, cake, which is the more crowded, cake, which course do you have the easier to beat pb at, cake, which course don't you care about lowering you average time at if you do a slower run, cake, which course is the more scenic, cake, which course is the least muddy, cake...

Have a guess how I'd choose between doing two different parkruns?

Excellent, I'm going to have to run tomorrow now to pay back the laugh this gave me!

RentDayBlues

Wottle wrote: »

Shanganagh only down the road and flat

Thinking it could be an option alright, thanks

Firedance

RentDayBlues wrote: »

Excellent, I'm going to have to run tomorrow now to pay back the laugh this gave me!

Cabinteely all the way!!! Gwan you know you want to!

RentDayBlues

Firedance wrote: »

Cabinteely all the way!!! Gwan you know you want to!

So I did but it was tough, hills are bad enough but that wind didn't help at all! No PB but finished it and have just polished off some delish poached eggs, bacon and avocado. Thank you all for the motivation, totally helped me get out of bed this morning

Firedance

RentDayBlues wrote: »

So I did but it was tough, hills are bad enough but that wind didn't help at all! No PB but finished it and have just polished off some delish poached eggs, bacon and avocado. Thank you all for the motivation, totally helped me get out of bed this morning

Good on you it's a tough course but a fantastic workout - make sure you go back when the sun is shining and soak up the beauty of the park

RentDayBlues

Firedance wrote: »

Good on you it's a tough course but a fantastic workout - make sure you go back when the sun is shining and soak up the beauty of the park

I will, I've done a few there but not quite at the point where I'm enjoying the beauty, more at the point of arguing with myself to stop the madness and go for coffee instead!