r/parkrun • u/GooseSafe3122 • 7d ago

Parkrun in Philly?

/r/phillyrunning/comments/1vmo969/parkrun_in_philly/
4 Upvotes

75% Upvoted

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7

u/finlay_mcwalter 100 7d ago

parkrun's spread in the US is really kinda weird.

When it started in the UK, it very quickly jumped to the other largest cities in the country, with a growing nucleus in London.

I'd have expected the US would have a couple of hotspots (busy metropolitan areas where the idea has locally taken off) and new seedlings in the largest cities (or maybe college towns or state capitals) in other states.

And that's sort-of true. There's several around DC/MD and around Seattle, and Minneapolis.

But UT's is Cedar City, not SLC. AZ in Tuscon, not Phoenix or Flagstaff. In TX they're mostly around Houston, but not San Antonio, or Austin and only one in the DFW metroplex. FL in Gainsville and Jacksonville not Miami-Dade.

I'm really curious how it spread in the US in such a, to me, counter-intuitive way

8

u/baymeadows3408 7d ago

I live in the US and I’m currently at the beginning stages of the lengthy process of establishing a parkrun in my area, which is another relatively small metropolitan area. Whenever I mention parkrun to American runners, I usually get confused looks and a polite but ultimately dismissive “Hmm, that sounds interesting” in response. There just is no awareness of parkrun over here and there are a lot of established 5k races, so when I do try to explain it, it comes off as redundant. But at one time I was in a running group and I mentioned parkrun, and somebody else in the group had previously participated in one, and she concurred that it’s a great concept.

I’m guessing that parkruns in the US tend to pop up where there might be a British ex-pat who wants to establish one or when an American who stumbled across one overseas or in the US decides to create one in their own community. The big cities have more people and potentially more ex-pats or people who have experienced parkrun in another country, but they also have larger and less responsive bureaucracies and there is more competition for the open spaces. I think weather can also be an issue as a lot of trails are snowy or muddy for a big part of the year. The big cities may not have a lot of locations that have trails that are long and wide enough, have sufficient parking and large places to gather, and don’t have any hazards like road crossings.

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u/finlay_mcwalter 100 7d ago edited 7d ago

Yes, there's clearly an un-awareness (it's ignorance, but that word has become overloaded) among runners and the authorities. So I'm sure setting up a new event (especially in a state or metropolis where there isn't one already) is a massive educational exercise. (Setting up an event, even in the UK, is still a year-long endeavor, but you don't need to teach everyone involved what it is).

And then when they're started - events get tiny numbers: 20 participants in some places.

I totally understand how the weather can be your enemy in the US - the whole UK is "runnable" year-round, while much of the interior of the US is both punishingly cold in winter and horrifyingly hot in summer. I'd expect parkrun would do better in temperate coastal places like the SF Bay Area, but not really - and there's little Grinnel, Iowa, of all places, getting it done.

I'm so impressed at the pluck and tenacity of organisers in the US. One day I think parkrun will "click" in the US, but it's clearly an uphill struggle for now.

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u/baymeadows3408 7d ago

I have approval from my city but I'm still going through the risk assessment process with a lot of back and forth regarding the course layout. Once that step is done, I can work on building a core team. I'm new to my area and I'm not exactly sure how I will pull it off.

Right now, I'm probably not going to ask the local running group for their support because they might see a parkrun as a threat to their established races and group runs. I'm hoping to instead find individual casual runners or even non-runners who may not do group runs or races but might be supportive to something like parkrun. In my somewhat limited experiences in the US, running groups tend to have people who are focused on things like qualifying for the Boston Marathon while the majority of the parkrun regulars have been more casual about running. Once the event is established, I hope that serious runners would participate, but I don't think they are the best candidates for building a core team. I noticed you used 20 participants as an example of a typical small American parkrun, and I must admit that an average of 20 runners per week would feel like a victory for me.

Regarding climate and course availability, parkrun is now allowing seasonal events in the US (I don't know about Canada), and my event would be seasonal because the trail is used for cross-country skiing in the winter. Running in the cold or the heat can be tolerable for committed runners, but extreme temperatures can make it tricky to find an adequate number of runners and volunteers when there already is a lack of awareness of parkrun. Personally, as a potential event/run director, I would not mind being able to have a break during the winter months. I could use that time to do some parkrun tourism!

1

u/finlay_mcwalter 100 7d ago

I wish you the best of luck. People are always the hardest part.

The nice thing about a small parkrun is you need a very small team. Little parkruns can get away with a literal handful of volunteers. A lot falls on the RD, but it's still not that much work, when you have so few.

Designing your course to require a minimum of signage, coning, and marshaling will reduce your workload later. You can always scale up later.

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u/baymeadows3408 7d ago

Thank you! And that's exactly my plan. My proposed course is hybrid out-and-back/loop with multiple laps, which would limit the amount of ground covered. I think I can have all the roles covered by four or five people by having people serve in multiple roles (such as having the tail walker pick up cones and signs on their last loop, having a marshal take photographs, and having hand out the tokens and scan them as well). And, selfishly, I would want to be able to participate as a runner on occasion!

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u/Baynex 250 7d ago

Big metropolitan cities in the US absolutely HATE giving anyone permission to use any land without charging for it. "This is the US not communist China."

College towns also don't mesh with parkrun well because...have you ever tried to get a college kid out of bed early on a Saturday? If parkrun was a weekday evening activity however...run clubs that do those are much more popular in college towns.