parkrun thread

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westmoors
westmoors
Oct 2018
7:33am, 16 Oct 2018
2,865 posts
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westmoors
I've had a moan at the core team for my home parkrun for only using social media to make announcements about special events or cancellations.
mascott514
mascott514
Oct 2018
9:20am, 16 Oct 2018
86 posts
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mascott514
Im not on FB, but I follow our "news" page. I get requests via email and offer up that way too.

I have always found out of changes etc, but mainly by hanging out in the cafe, making mates who text me because they know I'm not on FB etc.
Jovi Runner
Jovi Runner
Oct 2018
10:01am, 16 Oct 2018
5,478 posts
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Jovi Runner
I think cancellations need to be firstly via news page & then social media. As mentioned here not every one is on social media so the official event page should be first place. However, social media arguably gets the word out quicker. When we cancelled 50 mins before last winter (post course inspdction) we only had half a dozen people turn up that hadn't heard through one of the various channels we'd used. One of the issues we have is limited phone signal & dodgy Wi-Fi at our venue. Thankfully we have only had to cancel 4 times in 4 years & 3 of those were last winter.
DeeGee
DeeGee
Oct 2018
10:15am, 16 Oct 2018
18,083 posts
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DeeGee
I was always told that more people have access to the website than use social media, so any announcements were to go on the website first then shared to social media.

Problem is, when standing beside a lake in the howling wind and a blizzard, it's not always easy to log on to the website and compose an announcement when I've got a Facebook App on my phone that allows me to post a photo and a short note.
larkim
larkim
Oct 2018
11:05am, 16 Oct 2018
5,849 posts
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larkim
There is merit to creating a definitive "if its not here, it isn't happening" location for some of the news - a location of record as it were.

But if its free to get it across multiple channels, that's the best way to get a message out which fits all users.

Not every event uses all the channels in the same way (as demonstrated here - if you're not natively a FB user then the chances are that you won't see FB as the best place to locate urgent news etc).
Dvorak
Dvorak
Oct 2018
11:14am, 16 Oct 2018
16,841 posts
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Dvorak
Round here, I think everyone scans FB in the case of dodgy weather, especially as somewhere accessible will nearly always be on. Like Jovi wrote, there is often an "on the spot" posted. And one thing FB/ Twitter is more likely to have is confirmation that an event IS on, when there has been a question mark over it.

Of course, it should always also be put on the official parkrun event page as well.
sallykate
sallykate
Oct 2018
11:16am, 16 Oct 2018
5,704 posts
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sallykate
If there's a possibility of a weather-related cancellation we'd usually have enough notice to warn people to check before turning up - though in our case both the warnings and the decision would be communicated through social media as it's much more convenient last-minute (as remarked by DeeGee).

For our annual and regular cancellation we publicise it as much as possible for about three months beforehand (including an email to the 300+ runners on our volunteer list in FMS, verbal reminders in the briefing for a few weeks running up to it, plus social media and the parkrun news page) but still get people turning up.
Dvorak
Dvorak
Oct 2018
11:18am, 16 Oct 2018
16,842 posts
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Dvorak
To return to a point CW made before about juniors, I think the other local event has more or less given up trying to fill their roster and just recruits on the ground But the one I attended had made a previous statement that if the roster was not in future filled by a certain time (1700 Friday?) the event would be cancelled.
Gobi
Gobi
Oct 2018
11:31am, 16 Oct 2018
65,147 posts
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Gobi
Simple safe question

Fastest London parkrun ?

(Asking for a friend)
sallykate
sallykate
Oct 2018
11:35am, 16 Oct 2018
5,705 posts
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sallykate
Dulwich, Mile End and Victoria Dock are all pretty flat. Of those, Dulwich has the fastest average time (25:28).

About This Thread

Maintained by Hendo
A discussion of all things parkrun.

Here's a wiki giving brief reviews of parkruns up and down the land:

fetcheveryone.com/article-view.php?id=545

parkruns with restart permission: google.com

Note: Hendo is a boy.

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