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Moraghan Training - Stevie G
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Covid days off didn't seem to hamper you in the build up to Wokingham, Reg. You should go very well at Reading.
Crept over 50M last week with a slightly weird mix of an 18 with one minute surges every mile, a 10 with a Moose Fartlek (5 x 3 mins HMP, 1 jog, 1 10k, 1 jog) and an easy buggy 9. The rest was paltry recovery runs, some as low as 2M. Anyway, not a bad combo post covid and pre mara.
Last little mini session today before the big dance this Sunday, something like 7M with a few strides and 2M at approx marathon effort.
SG - no worries with the trophy, and good to put a face properly to the name. Equally glad to hear you guys were keeping an eye on us as we were on you
SC - good run with more to come by the sounds of it. Are the Takumi Sen a regular (i.e. non carbon) flat?
Into taper mode here ahead of Sunday. Mainly jogging now but with a small bit of quicker stuff.
7 seconds! What a boost!
The Sen's always used to be non carbon - just some boost in the forefoot and nothing else. Now they have a bigger sole and Carbon 'energy rods' plus Lightstrike Pro foam - very similar feel to the Vapourfly tbh, although i'd definitely go with the Nike over 10 miles and up - we'll see the next time I do a 10k...decisions..
8 x 1k last night on the Luton golf club paths. Really tough, jelly legs half way round job - must be due to only 2 days after racing. I think the first one was 3.25 and the rest about 3.19. Not felt as trashed after a session in a long while.
Can't say I am too bothered about dogs at Parkrun but ultimately the dog does not give a shit about doing parkrun and doesn't even have a barcode, the person doesn't need to combine the dogs exercise with parkrun either so I say just ban them, especially the ones that get dragged along by the dog, cheating.
Not surprised the reps felt tough SC, I couldn't do that so close to a race effort.
Still not clear of my niggle as it flared up a little yesterday at the end of a 10k but feels ok today.
The ones who rave about the times they do when attached to a dog bemuse me. You're being towed! Of course it'll be faster!
No-one has ever answered me why is being towed by a dog seen as acceptable, yet being towed by a cyclist or motorbike isn't? Proper inclusivity
Yes cani running can cause issues and I know all about that after a bad fall my daughter had running that way. However there are many other safety risks and it could be the thin end of the wedge banning cani. Next do they ban all dogs and then running with kids in buggies as both of those can be risky. Then we have people running helping those with sight issues and those running with young children who may stop unexpectedly etc. Once all that is done you wonder if it is an inclusive event any more.
Anyway rant over! Well done on the relays all who ran there. As SG has said the standard is incredibly high and must be an eye opener to anyone doing it for the first time.
Good luck for Manchester SQ; glad you are over Covid and hope it goes well, the weather looks set fair which is a big plus.
Say I go A over T on a run and cut my knee badly on a busy parkrun. I will no doubt be annoyed it it's caused by tripping up over a canicross or a buggy - but if I trip over a root, or it's caused by someone with sight issues or a small child there's no way I'd complain, as that's just being an arse.
Let them have their barkrun if they want. Probably best for both parties tbh...
SC. Visually impaired guides are often attached by the wrist to the runner they are helping, so the same issues apply as with dogs in that the two can go in different directions and the way one party moves is a bit unpredictable. Yes the guides are normally (but not always!) experienced, but everyone has to start somewhere and the visually impaired runner may also be new to the game. Quite rightly there is no way parkrun would ban this type of assistance, but IMO it is similar in risk to Cani. Interestingly you seem to take the view yourself buggies are just as risky as Cani dogs so should they be banned to for the sake of consistency?
I reiterate, parkrun is all about inclusivity, its free and no-one is forced to go. If people want proper races instead that's fine, and there are plenty of them, so why intrude on something that's community minded and been such a success. Incidentally I liked Bus' point from a while back about running clubs using parkrun for Club Champs or Mob Matches. That is definitely not in the spirit of parkrun; a whole host of fast runners racing and trying to overtake at speed in narrow areas would be sure to antagonize most ordinary parkrun folk.
https://www.runbritainrankings.com/results/results.aspx?meetingid=32607
Over time it has slowly morphed and they have dropped as many references to race and run as they can (bet they wish they hadn't called it parkrun now). I'd say a club mobmatch is exactly in the original spirit.
Today's fun was delivered via google maps. My run was an 8 mile loop including Smalldean Lane which is a single track road.
None of your passing places: plain and simple single track and unsuitable for HGVs. Google maps decided that it was a suitable diversion due to some road closure elsewhere and so instead of seeing the odd car as usual there was a steady flow including a class 2 HGV tipper truck. As I started the lane I was passed by a car and I exited over a mile later and he was still behind me in the traffic queues. I even asked a big panel van at the top if he knew where he was going and he said he was thinking about going down and I said not to and he agreed and went a different way. If he had met the HGV coming up as he went down they may still be there now.
Nobody is arguing that people can't run in the park are they. However if you submit a bar code then you're signing up to their rules. There is a nuanced difference between a baby and a dog that I think you're ignoring. You may have the odd dog by virtue of its temperament or environment, that makes it difficult to leave at home but 100% of babies can't be left at home and single parents are not rare. Single parents are also more likely to be socially isolated and running on their own in the park is not a remedy like Parkrun is.
It's also much easier to remain fully in control of a pushchair and it stays right in front of you.
For parkrun, there is no exchange of money so no contract. The parkrun is an organised event so the organisers have a duty of care for the participants but there doesn't appear to be the reverse, so if the event is on public land then they don't have any legal right to ask an individual to act in any specific manner. If you turned up with a dog at 9am and ran alongside all others then there is llareggub they can do about it. They could decide not to give you a token and finish time but that is really all they have within their power to do.
Mob matches definitely don't fit inclusivity as it's a run not a race as they always tell you. Teams of fast runners racing each other will deter many others who specifically do not want to be part of a race. Before you accuse me of hypocrisy, yes I try and go as fast as I can most weeks. However I genuinely do not think of it as a race, just a TT and I'm not fussed about finishing positions.
My final effort pre Manchester was a 2km TT. Bit cold but happy with a 6:30 (straight 3:15 splits) for the effort.
Call it a club time trial if not
Single lap courses don't really cause an issue for most of these scenarios either, fast runners, people using dogs, buggy runners, 4 abreast merchants etc.
The whole thing with parkrun like Phil said before, is it's grown from a few blokes in Bushy Park to a global phenomenon.
And now it's a company, albeit one trying to pretend to be chilled out, they have to evolve rules over time. Seen with the no doubles on New Year day, and now with the dog tow side of things.
Once they get a wind that accidents and injuries are increasing, they have to act.
Although "act" in the sense of rules for their terms. As someone said, they can't actually stop anyone doing what they like in a public park at 9am, bar not giving them a credit for the stats.
A mob match is by definition a team race and I cannot see how that is within the ethos. It's also against the argument some on here make that if you partake in parkrun you accept their rules, number one of which is that is is a 'run not a race'.
My perspective remains parkrun should be as accessible as possible, so I suppose mob matches are OK as long as all the runners take it light heartedly and don't cause issues for regular parkrunners. Doubt I'd do one myself though, and I'd look to avoid a parkrun where I knew one was taking place (no not because it would impact my finishing position😉).
Their own website states it
https://www.parkrun.org.uk/aboutus/
"parkrun Limited is the company responsible for delivering parkrun in the UK."
A company can be a charity too.
You could argue the "ethos" either way round.
Inclusive? = include everyone. Mob match yes
Not a race = Mob match no.
Although the latter is if you are sure it's a race, rather than a group of pals out for a little time trial
I don't know who first mentioned "mob match", but those are a totally different thing.
That's when you have battles against other clubs. This one recently was just a number of runners from our own club. In fairness that happens most week at the Slough parkruns. Just this one was made more official.
Although we did have some designated mob matches, a few years ago v Bracknell.
They did feel slightly on the pointless side, as you tend to find the home team win.
And if the aim was to give slower runners who normally don't score in team events a chance to score, some actually still didn't.
This was because the away team is bound to have fewer runners, you take the total runners from the lesser attended team, and then cap it at that for the home team., say top 20.
Meaning naturally anyone above 20 is ruled out!
I'm sure we joked at the time that all Bracknell had needed to do was send Kevern solo, then they'd auto win it!!
SG, I think it's your semantics on parkrun status! They are not a profit focused organisation and would not have got charity status with an aim to promote health and wellbeing if they were. Yes they have a limited company too and that probably suits re finances, borrowing powers, limit of directors' liability etc but they are not a company with the aim of making profits as most people think of companies.
When I do a Parkrun I don't expect race conditions and I think that's the difference, your expectations as a fast runner should be not to expect race conditions or shout at anyone getting in the way. That doesn't mean you can't try and race it, it just means you shouldn't complain if you get held up or tripped up.
So I agree with the inclusive thing but I would prioritise humans over dogs if they were proving to be a genuine menace.
On another note, noticed some snow out my window for a brief time.
Knew it was "that" level of cold, as I had to wear gloves today, and even 6miles in could barely feel my fingers.
Philip - unfortunately Google and other satnavs only recognise enforceable HGV restrictions with a forma order behind it, and most, like Smalldean Lane, are advisory only.
Hmm - A new blind assisted runner may be a bit wayward, yes, like a buggy, but they are both being controlled by a human and have more control (should have anyway) than someone controlling a wild animal.
I'm not a dog hater by any means, love 'Dogs behaving very badly!' but since lockdown there's been this creeping entitlement that they have to be included in every walk of life. Getting a bit sick of it tbh. 'Fur babies' and all that crap. It's almost like you have to have one these days
TT- Good luck with the shoe buying!
Also had some heavy snow for a bit this morning - not going to Luton tonight, sod that! Will do a session here.
Interesting parkrun debates, although always a little easy to (quite naturally) focus on one’s own experiences rather than what is necessarily happening at a broader level. I’ve run in the region of a hundred of my 165 parkruns with a buggy. Personally I don’t get the desire to go fast with one, and just pootle round in 28 minutes or so. The start is definitely the most concerning, with lots of runners changing lines and places. I think the important thing to remember is that it is absolutely in the spirit of things to go as hard as you want, but accept with a smile that you might have to slow down to overtake on the second lap, avoid a swan etc.
Reg – I only wore the Alphaflys once before sending them back (to avoid a second mortgage rather than due to not liking them). They were especially stable for me as they were so big. Could work well in an ironman I’d think. Probably not great in the swim or on the run though.
Very nice 2km TT, TT.
If I feel good on Sunday, I plan to start with my friend (I pace to a 3:17 at Peterborough last year) and the second sub-3 pacer. Will then reassess at 5M. If feeling good will gradually work my way to the first sub-3 pacer. Will then reassess after falling in with that group for a while. All dreamland stuff, but quite like it as a plan.