The parkrunfans blog allows parkrunners from the UK and around the world to share their views and experiences with the rest of the parkrun community. Everyone has their own parkrun experiences and stories and this is the place to share yours.
If you would like to contribute, please take a look at the Contributors page.
timer failures are a bit disappointing but its never the end of the world. The best and most important thing about parkrun is being there and doing it. If you want a PB there's always next time!As someone who doesnt volunteer enough, I am full of admiration for those that do, and don't take it for granted at all. Thank you!!
I my humble opinion if you volunteer once a year, then that is pretty special. And timer failures are still my biggest nightmare, that along with.....and icy course, finding the coffee is decaf and forgetting where I have put my bunny ears! And Thank you for the Thank you x
most people r fine about times they know how hard you n all the volunteers work so what itimes are nt up it,s not the end of the world ,end of day its about enjoying it n having fun and that goes for the hard working volunteers as well ,when everyone s gone home n happy with their run kerry n co are still hard at it n they deserve a massive thanks for that ,every single week obv i look for results but if they,re not up we know they soon will be dawn x
We all love and appreciate what you and Chris to do for us and for parkrun. I can only speak for myself but personally, parkrun has given me a sense of belonging with other runners I never thought I would have. Improved my run, jog, trot walk immensely and has given me lots of nutters to be friends with!! Dont let the grumpy bums grind you down what you do is great :) x Kelly R
I think this is a fantastic post and one that raises quite a few points: - we all take it for granted that the timing system will work. But we should all keep in mind that it is a free, fun event run by volunteers. We can all wear a watch to time ourselves too. And if your new PB isn't recorded, try and do it again next week. - volunteers often stress about "getting it wrong". That can take the edge of what should be a very satisfying experience, allowing your fellow runners to enjoy their run. - on the rare occasions that it does go a little wrong we should all remember that the volunteers didn't do it on purpose and were all their to allow us to enjoy our run.
Any runner who's serious about their time should have their own stopwatch/Garmin/timer anyway, it's really lame if people kick off because their time wasn't recorded but aren't prepared to time their runs themselves. Well done on getting it resolved.
Anyone who complains should be MADE forcibly to be a volunteer - that would make them realise all the work and effort that goes into making our parkrun a success every week. Well done all the team and don't let the negatives get you down, you are all brilliant and we love ya!
My mate Karl ran the Cov half -- thirteen-and-a-bit miles hard labour -- only to find that he'd been kitted out with a defective timing chip and he didn't get a result. He paid over £20 and he'll have to wait until next year to record an official time for the course. That would be a bit of a wounder. On the other hand, parkrun is free and weekly, even on the very, very, very rare occasions when it isn't timed!
(On my one and only stint of timing duty at Finsbury Park, I hit the wrong button when the first finisher came in, so didn't record his time. Happily, he had a stopwatch on so the race director was able to amend the results and he was perfectly lovely about it afterwards.)
I did the timing once at a parkrun with 20 runners and the thought of not getting it right scared the life out of me- it was one of the little timers that you cant tell is running at all! Respect to anyone who does timing and amazing that we have so few fails- we are clearly tougher than the technology but fantastic that 99.9% of parkrunners are so understanding!
timer failures are a bit disappointing but its never the end of the world. The best and most important thing about parkrun is being there and doing it. If you want a PB there's always next time!As someone who doesnt volunteer enough, I am full of admiration for those that do, and don't take it for granted at all. Thank you!!
ReplyDeleteI my humble opinion if you volunteer once a year, then that is pretty special.
DeleteAnd timer failures are still my biggest nightmare, that along with.....and icy course, finding the coffee is decaf and forgetting where I have put my bunny ears!
And Thank you for the Thank you x
most people r fine about times they know how hard you n all the volunteers work so what itimes are nt up it,s not the end of the world ,end of day its about enjoying it n having fun and that goes for the hard working volunteers as well ,when everyone s gone home n happy with their run kerry n co are still hard at it n they deserve a massive thanks for that ,every single week obv i look for results but if they,re not up we know they soon will be dawn x
ReplyDeleteWe all love and appreciate what you and Chris to do for us and for parkrun. I can only speak for myself but personally, parkrun has given me a sense of belonging with other runners I never thought I would have. Improved my run, jog, trot walk immensely and has given me lots of nutters to be friends with!! Dont let the grumpy bums grind you down what you do is great :) x Kelly R
ReplyDeleteCheers Kelly.....what you have said sums up parkrun totally x
DeleteI think this is a fantastic post and one that raises quite a few points:
ReplyDelete- we all take it for granted that the timing system will work. But we should all keep in mind that it is a free, fun event run by volunteers. We can all wear a watch to time ourselves too. And if your new PB isn't recorded, try and do it again next week.
- volunteers often stress about "getting it wrong". That can take the edge of what should be a very satisfying experience, allowing your fellow runners to enjoy their run.
- on the rare occasions that it does go a little wrong we should all remember that the volunteers didn't do it on purpose and were all their to allow us to enjoy our run.
Thanks again for a brilliant post.
Any runner who's serious about their time should have their own stopwatch/Garmin/timer anyway, it's really lame if people kick off because their time wasn't recorded but aren't prepared to time their runs themselves. Well done on getting it resolved.
ReplyDeleteAnyone who complains should be MADE forcibly to be a volunteer - that would make them realise all the work and effort that goes into making our parkrun a success every week. Well done all the team and don't let the negatives get you down, you are all brilliant and we love ya!
ReplyDeleteMy mate Karl ran the Cov half -- thirteen-and-a-bit miles hard labour -- only to find that he'd been kitted out with a defective timing chip and he didn't get a result. He paid over £20 and he'll have to wait until next year to record an official time for the course. That would be a bit of a wounder. On the other hand, parkrun is free and weekly, even on the very, very, very rare occasions when it isn't timed!
ReplyDelete(On my one and only stint of timing duty at Finsbury Park, I hit the wrong button when the first finisher came in, so didn't record his time. Happily, he had a stopwatch on so the race director was able to amend the results and he was perfectly lovely about it afterwards.)
I did the timing once at a parkrun with 20 runners and the thought of not getting it right scared the life out of me- it was one of the little timers that you cant tell is running at all! Respect to anyone who does timing and amazing that we have so few fails- we are clearly tougher than the technology but fantastic that 99.9% of parkrunners are so understanding!
ReplyDeleteGreat blog mate!!
TBH….it’s the only job I still haven’t done….but keep that quiet ;-)
DeleteTerrifies me!