I’ve waited a few days for the initial parkrun furore to die down. I had a very definite and immediate reaction to the news that they had decided to stop displaying the speed records for their events, including axing sub-17 minute men and sub-20 minute women, in an attempt to ‘remove barriers to participation’. I wanted to let the dust settle and see if my I was alone in my reaction or not. Thankfully, it turns out, I am not on my own.
My response: it’s a bit like when some school’s stopped giving awards out to the winners on Sports Days and instead just praised everyone for taking part. Pointless, in my opinion. In the school’s example the theory is that competition can result in arguments or lower self-esteem in children and that instead, encouraging cooperation would be better for building relationships. Faye Carlisle suggests that schools would be better therefore to scrap the traditional race-type games on Sports Day altogether and instead introduce team building cooperative games. However, this is not the reality and many argue that it is just not indicative of real life. Instead, would it not be better for schools and parents to better prepare children for winning and losing? To understand that winning might not be everything or finishing as a runner-up is absolutely fine? Sometimes we will be on top, sometimes we won’t, that is the reality of life.
So what’s the difference with parkrun? Parkrun is not a race, but it uses a timed run as it’s format. The weekly community events have been operational since 2004, that’s nearly 20 years in it’s current (well, now former) format. They started with 13 runners at one location and now have over 9 million taking part in free events around the world. Parkrun has always been a place where everyone is encouraged to take part be they running, walking, pushing a buggy, wheeling a wheelchair or taking (or being taken by) a dog.
The beauty of parkrun is its accessibility, team spirit and sense of community. Everyone is encouraged, from those at the front right the way to the back. Although parkrun is not a race against other individuals, for some logging their times is also part of the enjoyment. I know how thrilled I was to begin to see my times get quicker. When I finally managed to get my first sub-20 finish I was over the moon! It felt like such an achievement, I was so proud of myself for getting to that point which for a very long time did not feel possible. I enjoyed this competitive element, even though the competition was with no-one else but myself.
I recently read an article in the Independent, where the author outwardly rolls her eyes at those of us who are interested in our times. She suggests that Strava is the realm of “a certain kind of numbers nerd” and she’d be happy if parkrun stopped timing the events altogether. Parkrun never thrusted timings down the throat of participants. You had to search out the fastest records for individual events on the website. They were available to those interested in them, like me. It seems quite simple to me that if you aren’t interested in them then you don’t look for them, and simply enjoy the buzz of getting out there and being involved. I hate to say it, but parkrun, like Sports Day, by its very nature is an event structured like a traditional race. You turn up, you are set-off together by a starter gun, you cross a finish line and receive a time. There are no winners, but to remove records and achievements from the stats takes something away from those of us who use parkrun not only to run within that community but also as a training session or to track our progress or improve our times. Being interested in stats or trying for a PB might not be for everyone, but for many they are milestones, achievements or provide the motivation to keep running.
Whatever the truth is behind the decision to remove the records from parkrun, it has been disappointing for many and personally it makes me less inclined to want to participate in future. What do you think about their decision? Please reply in the comments!
Happy running x
fellrunlikeagirl 