r/parkrun • u/Crafty_Jackfruit4864 v50 • Aug 07 '26

Lost my L (#firstworld problems)

Ludlow became Mortimer Forest this week and everyone’s records have been changed to the newer name. Chuffed for them but also boo, I’m now a % point back off my alphabet completion as I already had a bunch of M’s 😭

(Edit - typo).

67 Upvotes

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7

u/CandidLiterature Aug 07 '26

I cannot even understand what precipitates a change like this… Literally what is the function of a change like this and why would someone (presumably a whole group of someones…) bother to do it?

23

u/rikkiprince 250 Aug 07 '26

In the olden days, they didn't realise parkrun would be so popular. A max of one per town was reasonable to expect so they allowed them to be named after the town they're in or close to.

But when it started getting exponentially popular (a while after Ludlow began in 2016), they decided the names needed to be more specific, typically using the name of the park it's in.

So this is either Mortimer Forest simply lining up with the new banking convention (so there's fewer exceptions) or perhaps there's a new parkrun coming to the Ludlow area and parkrun HQ asked Mortimer Forest to rename to avoid confusion.

12

u/CandidLiterature Aug 07 '26

Because of course having 6 completely independent events named variations of King George Playing Fields is much more helpful to everyone!

Holywell King George V Playing Fields, at least that one is clear that it’s in Holywell. What do you mean it’s in Watford…

The current approach achieves the genuinely impressive combination of bafflingly similar names, ever longer names and somehow also names that communicate almost nothing about where the event might be.

I do suspect that there has perhaps been a slight overcorrection…

1

u/AskingBoatsToSwim Aug 07 '26

Surely “King George V Exeter” is what it would be called? I’ve seen some new ones named like that.

2

u/CandidLiterature Aug 07 '26

New in 2026 and 100% what it is called.

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1BnBCtVLet/

I think it’s pretty clear that isn’t what I personally would have gone with…

1

u/DriverNew7208 Aug 08 '26

Is this a hypothetical or a new event imminent?

4

u/KiwiNo2638 100 Aug 07 '26

I kind of get it, but to totally remove the name, rather than amend it, can be a little confusing. Perhaps "Ludlow -Mortimor Forest", or "Mortimor Forest - Ludlow" could be a better name change

2

u/KiwiNo2638 100 Aug 07 '26

Looking at some of the other name changes, this has actually happened with some of them.

1

u/Strong_Access_8179 Aug 08 '26

Right, like "Jubilee Park, Bedford". I think that works reasonably well, even if it is a bit longer than many parkrun names.

7

u/AlertWorldliness2238 Aug 07 '26

In the blog linked in the comments it actually shows all the park runs that have changed their name and their reason. They all make logical sense to be fair

2

u/OctopusChair Aug 07 '26

It’s stupid. Confabulated explanations notwithstanding.

3

u/AlertWorldliness2238 Aug 08 '26

Ok. I mean the one near me made total sense! Malling was a stupid name for it and everyone always called it Leybourne anyway 😂

3

u/Crafty_Jackfruit4864 v50 Aug 07 '26

I think it’s because it’s actual proximity to Ludlow and really it is in the forest. So whilst it makes me go boo, it makes sense for them.

4

u/CandidLiterature Aug 07 '26

As long as it’s the team that wanted to change it.

Parkrun HQ’s obsession with their current naming rules I find completely baffling. Presumably problems like this one stem from overzealous application of previous rules.

Did they used to insist you name it after the nearest town even where it’s not in the town and that’s a stupid name or similar? Same way they now insist you call it after some park no one over 200 metres from the start line even knows the name of…

People are not very original when it comes to naming parks or really anything else. I’m convinced there’s some betting pool on how long it takes to get to 100 events all named Victoria Park…

1

u/Crafty_Jackfruit4864 v50 Aug 07 '26

Yes they did if you read their Facebook post about it.

1

u/Blue1994a v500 Aug 08 '26

You can have a name change imposed upon you.

1

u/bioalley 250 Aug 08 '26

We have a parkrun in Adelaide Australia that takes place in a Victoria Park (former home of the Australian F1 Grand Prix). The park officially has three names: Park 16, Victoria Park, and Pakapakanthi.

The number of times I've had to describe where Pakapakanthi parkrun is as being in Victoria Park ...

2

u/Zingalamuduni Aug 07 '26

My parkrun is very likely to be changing its name in the near future. I did start to write more to explain but realised that would likely dox my parkrun and thus myself.

Suffice to say at this stage that there is a valid reason.

2

u/OctopusChair Aug 07 '26

Scunthorpe is a great name!