Video

Is this where all the chalk markings have come from then?!?!

Thanks for the video Derek, Iv'e never heard of a staged 10K Run before. It seems a little odd to me stopping and starting. I may well have a go next year if they hold it again.

Sad to have Missed this for the first time since it started a few years ago - and this the first year they’ve issued medals instead of a packet of flower seeds!

As the event is run in stages there should be beer stops. And how about chips to compliment the chip timing?

It did come out really well

Thanks for the video Derek, you covered the run very well. The best bit was seeing the couch25k runners complete their run. The best comment of the video was when you asked what the aims of the run was and the answer, breathing and moving forward. What a great answer, I think we have all been there.

Great Video and Photo's - Thanks Derek

22:15. Very nice. Well done

Well done. That doesn't look like the easiest course.

Super quick run, very well done!

Another Dorset one. Looks good. One day I'll visit

Interesting race! Beautiful nature! Good quality! 😊🏃👍🏻

Interesting video! Thank you! 😊🏃👍🏻

Good to see ERC put on a great takeover 🧡 Thanks Derek

Nice video. Eastleigh is my parkrun nendy, so now I know what to expect, thanks. One day soon I should think..

Well done Derek. A 23.41 for me today, after 23.38 last week and 23.39 the week before. Way off my best running form of sub 23. Cant seem to manage any quicker despite 18km of recovery runs this last week. Very frustrating.

You're right. 100%. As a 74 year old I want to know how I am doing in relation to my peers: not because I am competitive, but because it's motivational. It's all a bit of a shame the way things are going.

Just outside of Dorset in Somerset, I believe. Good video

Great speed on the uphills Derek, good finish time too well done

Great video Derek, it's nice to see a different ParkRun venue.

Very nice to meet you 😀

Nice to meet you, Derek. I was waiting at the start with Richard and James (5:10) when I spotted you and managed to ambush you with a welcome at 2:36. I also was saving myself for Egdon Easy 10km (travelled with Richard and James) so my parkrun time was a leisurely 25:11 (PB is 22:31).

I'm used to running in a somewhat lower stack, more flexible shoe. I saw these and am thinking 🧐 about getting them. I did try some Saucony (can't remember name) carbon shoes a couple years ago. I wasn't too keen as they felt somewhat stiff underfoot. Any feedback about this? Cheers

I do think operating like this puts its Charitable status at risk.

Lots of great shout outs for Itchen Valley, which is such a lovely parkrun

i will finish my run nr 250 and then leave parkrun

Really good video, lots of interviews with other runners is definitely good too

Lovely video. Where would you recommend for a PB attempt in your area? I almost got under 20mins for the first time today (20:04 at The Leas in Kent). I'm looking for somewhere to finally break through that barrier.

These kinds of changes don't always work out.

It was never ever meant to be a race - you obviously are very mistaken if you thought of it as a completive event. How can it be wrong when the people who invented it and are creating it as they intended.... what a strange rant video. If you want something more like a race type event why not start your own run? I agree it will be a massive shame if all the stats and positional metrics disappear as I am highly completive and it is great to see how you di compared to other and over different years. Even more so when you have children that span a decade. A few years ago I spoke to the founder of the parkrun and it was obvious it had grown into something which was unintentional and I am not surprised - unlike this guy I respect their choices because it is their creation. Hopefully it wont end up as bad as this man says it will be but again if you want to race join a club and race competitively.

Nice one Derek. I came in just behind you with a 23.51. It was a lovely morning.

I can understand your scepticism when the first changes were announced, but not now. #parkrun has removed another barrier to participation by taking away some of the appearance of being elitist. It's working! At my local event, participation has doubled over the last year and the number of volunteers has increased. It's not just here, there is growth in parkruns right across the country. I hope you'll continue to hang around and enjoy your parkrun.

Ah while you were running round my local dog walking fields, I was off on the Isle of Wight watching the ultra runners

I don't understand the assumption that slower runners are put off by the statistics. Ok, maybe some do, but plenty probably love the challenge of climbing up the leader board from further back. In trying to make parkrun inclusive they are catering for the exception, which makes it less inclusive. I think the parkrun organisers need their brains testing. It would be hilarious if they made these changes and people stopped going. Perhaps then they'd realise they are not as powerful as they think they are.

I'm still not clear what problem parkrun HQ think they are trying to solve here. The existing model works for everyone as far as i can see - those who want to use it as a race or time trial can do so while others for whom it is an introduction to running or the culmination of their couch to 5k journey are perfectly able to do so. If it ain't broke why fix it???

Saw you at Winch today and I was going to tell you I watched your clip yesterday and agreed but I got waylaid by a mate and then you were gone. 23.52 for me today. (not that anyone cares of course )

Lovely video. You're tempting me to try some of these courses in Hampshire. I'm trying to crack 20minutes for the first time in South London at the moment. 20:27 in Tooting today. Getting near...

Well done Derek! I got 23.34 today so 1 second slower! (leave the captions of name and time on the screen a little longer as they disappear very quick!)

The sooner the strava anoraks find something else to run in the better.

I have always used Parkrun as a run. I’m not racing anyone but myself. As I get faster I go past people I run with every week, while others get faster they pass me. In individual runs I’m not ‘racing’ anyone. However, if there were no ‘lists’ of finishers and times I wouldn’t run it, as I run my own 5k routes during the week. Parkrun is a measured course with independent timing, without that it’s not anything

Based on my interactions, the vast majority of parkrunners don't care. I'm a dedicated parkrunner and a bit of a stats geek and I don't even know what stats I'm supposed to be missing - all is still there on the 'Running Challenges' extension and individual event run pages, as well as the 5K app. As far as I can tell, the only groups who seem to be upset are people who think to be 'worthy' you need to set course records or bag more tourist visits than anyone else... and a bunch of transphobes on Twitter, 99% of whom have never done parkrun. I've read the account of the meeting on the petition site, and I take it with a pinch of salt, given it was written by one of those parties with an axe to grind.

Not bothered about the stats at parkrun tbh. Strava has my stats and that is enough for me.

As a slow older runner. Ive seen Parkrun splitting over the last few years. Some (not all) fast young things at the front. Do their thing, finish bugger off. No regard to others trying there very best, but maybe finishing in 3 tines the time. Its become for some a race. And it was never intended to be so. Its intention was to get as many people as possible moving. How Parkrun squares the circle of accomadating everyone I dont know and im pleased its not me trying to do it.

The parkrun bosses are complete and utter cowards, we all know why the stats have been cut, they just won't admit why. I love parkrun but if they remove the positions then I don't think I will continue and I don't even see it as a race, other than a race against myself, it's been going for 20 years, constantly growing until this rubbish started with stats removals and there's been zero comprises in the slightest from Russ, he's not even thinking about how it's damaging parkrun, just sticking to his decisions and that's it, it's not gonna be going for much longer at this rate, or it'll be hanging by a thread as a shadow of it's former-self.

A great organisation with poor leadership, heading in the wrong direction. I stopped doing it months ago and wont be going back.

Agree with you Derek! Such a shame that Parkrun isn't prepared to stand up against woke transfacism.

I can understand how Parkrun stats are crushed by this issue. Birth-sex can't be reliably recorded for participants, therefore women's statistics are compromised. It seems unfair to keep the existing statistics going if everyone knows that they are only valid for males. For men and women wanting statistics I would suggest also doing some runs with your local athletics club who are in a position to deconflict gender statistics according to formal rules.

The very large majority of runners love stats, hence why we the majority buy GPS watches and interogate that data. Parkrun had an excellent model that was loved by the majority, and now they are slowly killing everything that 'runners' loved. Removing records was a silly decision and if results are removed, then why bother holding the 'event'! Since the records decision, I have not attended, and if no results, I will never attend.

Thanks for the video Derek.

“for each of the disgruntled participants, whether they are a runner, walker or run director, if they leave Parkrun there will be another hundred runners to take their place.” So, a Parkrun has 100 runners. If one week 10 give up because they are fed up with the new regime that means the next event will have 1,000 new runners plus 90 originals. If the clown who said that is in charge of the books Parkrun will be dead and buried in a month anyway.