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parkrun thread

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CumbriAndy Sep 2023 8:20am, 15 Sep 2023 3,129 posts	Quote Pin CumbriAndy Always interesting, speaking from a professional perspective, to observe how perceptions of risk vary between locations. Ours (Fell Foot) is a predominantly offroad/tarmac route and that picture would represent a level and well maintained bit of ground unworthy of a second glance for risk assessment purposes - but if it's unusual for that course then to highlight it is probably fair enough. Our risk assessment simply highlights 'uneven ground' and says that we use cones to delineate particularly hazardous bits. In practice, we use cones around one short section at a gateway and most people ignore them.
larkim Sep 2023 8:34am, 15 Sep 2023 21,983 posts	Quote Pin larkim This is in Phoenix parkrun's RA, feels like it sort of mirrors the broken tarmac situation. There's also the generic "mention in run briefing" or "cones for specific issue points" type approach.
Cerrertonia Sep 2023 8:40am, 15 Sep 2023 19,627 posts	Quote Pin Cerrertonia I will have to make an effort to do Phoenix one day. It's the on the site of my old (and now demolished) school and it will be quite strange to see runners, footpaths and a cafe and recreation facilities rather than people sniffing glue and so on.
larkim Sep 2023 8:45am, 15 Sep 2023 21,986 posts	Quote Pin larkim Oh, there may well be glue sniffers there still Cerratonia! It's a nice small event, quite hilly; it's equidistant for me to get to with Delamere, and I'll default to Delamere as it's a nicer location and easier to have a "cruise" around. Phoenix isn't one for banging out a fast time, but it's a good challenge to try to run hard at.
larkim Sep 2023 8:46am, 15 Sep 2023 21,987 posts	Quote Pin larkim Might be at Groe parkrun tomorrow as a stop off on the way down to Cardiff for son #3 on a Uni open day. Not one I'd heard of, but it's location makes it likely the best option timings wise. Anyone done it?
Cerrertonia Sep 2023 8:51am, 15 Sep 2023 19,628 posts	Quote Pin Cerrertonia I'll default to Delamere as it's a nicer location Delamere Forest or Runcorn New Town. Tough choice
larkim Sep 2023 9:11am, 15 Sep 2023 21,989 posts	Quote Pin larkim I couldn't possibly comment (To be fair, the canal down there is pretty nice to run along, doesn't really feel like Legoland there)
DeeGee Sep 2023 9:53am, 15 Sep 2023 22,651 posts	Quote Pin DeeGee njosmith Here's Cleethorpes' two lines that might fit yours: S2.4 Debris or other items on course Medium Medium Significant debris cleared during event set-up. If required, mention in starters briefing. S2.5 Benches and holes in the ground around course and leading to finish. High Medium Use cones/stakes/tape for major holes and obstacles.
njosmith Sep 2023 10:14am, 15 Sep 2023 932 posts	Quote Pin njosmith This is at Kelvin Grove (ptr_runner) which is a fairly similar to Stones Corner. They are both on a shared bike path along side a creek. I'd really like to avoid having to put cones out every week. We have a course where Marshalls are nice to have rather than essential and I'd like to keep the management of the course simple. Part of the reason for adding something to the risk assessment is that in my experience making small changes to the risk assessment makes the process much smoother. One year I didn't want to make any changes and the whole process was a complete pain and took weeks. We are now over 5 years old and the course hasn't changed since the first few weeks (where we kept the same course but switched direction) so we are pretty on top of our risks.
larkim Sep 2023 10:24am, 15 Sep 2023 21,991 posts	Quote Pin larkim A lot probably depends on the culture of the runners and really how severe it is. If there are multiple cracks like that in the first 50m which might easily be missed by runners because they can't see the ground, or perhaps similarly at the end where people's focus might be different, then the risk is quite different to if there's just the odd one of those cracks every 200m or so, and a warning in the briefing would be reasonably sufficient to alert runners that they may come across uneven ground from time to time. And of course, any course that runs on something other than tarmac has this as a default position anyway, and people are expected to use their own common sense about adjusting to the terrain they are running on.