Is a parkrun a race, a time trial, or something else?!

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Mad Dame Fleecy Jan 2014 2:03pm, 29 Jan 2014 13,946 posts	0 Mad Dame Fleecy That's an article that is light on facts and heavy on propaganda. Not very grammatical propaganda at that. 'trained medical professionals on hand': are they planning on kidnapping Hepz and cloning her?
SusiesueH Jan 2014 2:07pm, 29 Jan 2014 2,640 posts	0 SusiesueH I went to a trial of one last Sunday. 10 runners max, 5 or so volunteers plus 2 paid Red Cross medics which seemed more than a little OTT
Frobester Jan 2014 2:07pm, 29 Jan 2014 24,811 posts	0 Frobester Whatever the merits of the article, why pitch a new 5k event when there's a very successful one in existence? Seems destined to split the "market", potentially leading to either the downfall of both, or the survival of one that ends up muscling the other one out of town. Unnecessary and divisive.
HermanBloom Jan 2014 2:14pm, 29 Jan 2014 4,237 posts	0 HermanBloom yeah I don't really get this. I mean, if it gets more people running then great, but surely if anyone was thinking about giving a 5k group run/race/tt/whatever a go, they'd go to their local parkrun? Would they really go "oh no, don't want that lot but this other lot seem great"?
Nelly Jan 2014 2:30pm, 29 Jan 2014 1,405 posts	0 Nelly I live within two miles of one of the existing Great Run Local events; one that uses the same park, but not the same route, as a parkrun, and both events seem to be currently co-existing in the park together without any issues (to my knowledge). It maybe based on a similar concept to parkrun, but I don't see it as a direct competitor because:- - they're not held on a Saturday morning like parkrun. What about people who work, or have other commitments, on a Saturday morning, should they not be encouraged to join such events? I also think the idea of a weekly Thursday evening event, as per the event at Salford Quays, is fantastic. - it's not just a 5k, as all existing events also have the option of a 2k race, thus making it attractive to even more people?
Old Croc Jan 2014 2:34pm, 29 Jan 2014 24,232 posts	0 Old Croc just been to a meeting to discuss setting up a parkrun in Elgin - just saying
Wirral Dave Jan 2014 2:36pm, 29 Jan 2014 102 posts	0 Wirral Dave The question of why do a Great Local Run instead of a Parkrun is the same as why spend the money on the Great XX Run when a local half is a quarter of the price. The main reason is branding and the Great Local Run will open up to a new market. I'd imagine in future, if this took off, then Great Local Run would help encourage new people to take up running, whereas Parkrun continues to appeal to those wanting to see the same faces each week. I'd imagine the turnover of runners at the Great Local Run to be high, and principally to include all those doing ToughGuy type events who want to increase their training in a corporate-friendly environment. A quick look at their website suggests they aren't quite working the way the article suggests. Looking at a venue near I used to run, last weekend saw two runners only, finishing 15 minutes apart and one breaking the world record. That doesn't sound like running with others, or accurate timing, to me. greatrunlocal.org
HermanBloom Jan 2014 2:41pm, 29 Jan 2014 4,238 posts	0 HermanBloom " then Great Local Run would help encourage new people to take up running, whereas Parkrun continues to appeal to those wanting to see the same faces each week. " I'm not sure that's true, in my experience anyway. for example, at Guildford each week we seem to have 10+ new runners every Saturday? Unless I am misunderstanding the point.
Zorba Jan 2014 2:41pm, 29 Jan 2014 1,118 posts	0 Zorba Those carping at the new events either have short memories or were not on the scene back when the fixture list , esp in winter , was a very barren one indeed for competitive road runners ....
Craig_ Jan 2014 2:41pm, 29 Jan 2014 861 posts	0 Craig_ When you run 50 great local runs you get a t-shirt covered in Bupa logos