The parkrun phenomenon is an amazing thing, not just in the UK but worldwide there are more and more parkruns and parkrunners added each week. The ethos of parkrun is very unusual in that parkrunners really do get something for nothing. The cost of entry to races is ever going up yet you can run 5k every single week for free. Do enough runs or volunteering stints and you can even claim free running gear.
However on the back of this phenomenon there are always going to be people looking for money making opportunities. parkrun does make use of sponsors to cover its administration costs and clearly has a responsibility to push these sponsors to their runners. You also get some unofficial marketing at events with flyers for races and running clubs handed out. What you don’t expect to hear about is a Parish Council trying to extort money out of parkrun and its runners.
I first started parkrunning back in 2013 at Little Stoke park in South Gloucestershire. I’d heard about it since it had been set up but had always put off registering and going along. Since then I have completed 79 parkruns at 11 different locations across the UK. As the first parkrun I completed Little Stoke has a special place in my heart. I have run Little Stoke 17 times on a Saturday and 10 times on a Sunday with my little boy.
Little Stoke parkrun may not be the most exciting or picturesque location, being essentially a flat run around a playing field, but its flat 3 lap course makes it suitable for both newcomers and speed freaks.
Stoke Gifford parish council have been trying to find ways to make money from parkrunners, ostensibly to pay for damage to the paths around the park. I run around the park semi-regularly at work lunchtimes and yes some of the paths are looking a bit ropey. They don’t appear to be dangerous so the upgrade/repair of these paths wouldn’t seem to be urgent (admittedly to my untrained eye). In terms of causing damage to the paths, I would argue that the tree roots from the park borders growing under the path is far more destructive than any number of pairs of cushioned trainers. The tractor mowers cutting the grass and potentially striking the edges of the path with wheels and cutting blades is also going to cause damage. When I run round the park at Lunchtime there are other plenty of other park users on the paths walking their dogs, walking, running and cycling around the paths – is the parish council going to charge these users as well?
I believe there are a few things that may be really causing issues with the locals and the Parish council. The first is parking, 200+ parkrunners descending on the park every week does bring issues with the limited car park spaces. The parkrun team have organised alternate parking away from the park but the amount of cars parked in nearby streets will always cause conflict with local residents.
Other organisations that use the park do have to pay rental costs to use facilities at the park. The football club pays for use of the pitches and changing rooms and other clubs pay for use of the hall. These are all using far more infrastructure and require more upkeep than for parkrun. Are these other clubs and organisations asking for lower rental costs using the fact that parkrun is free as a bargaining chip and the pressure from the Parish council a response to maintain their existing agreements?
Maybe its just the parish council seeing an opportunity to make money every week from an untapped resource? The proposal to charge each parkrunner a pound to run flies in the face of the parkrun ethos, given that they also expect the core team at Little Stoke to collect this money. Note: parkrun requests that core teams don’t handle money at all. So the parish council is getting something for nothing.
Given the support that South Glos Council have given parkrun in setting up the local parkruns, I am sure that this move by the Parish Council will not be popular their, although as lease holder the parish council has the final say on activities in the park. However the two parkruns (juniors run on a Sunday) have helped increase sporting activity in the area for runners of all ages from 4 to 104. With some runners pushing youngsters in buggies a healthy lifestyle is instilled in children from a young age. A number of local fitness groups have used it as part of their couch to 5k programmes. The parish council should be celebrating LS parkruns as a success not looking at it as a potential goldmine.
If charges must be levied, why not install parking meters at the park? That way most users of the park are paying for its upkeep and not just parkrunners. Why not open a little coffee stall like at Pomphrey Hill and make some cash that way? – runners love cake. The parish council could even run some fundraisers to pay for repairs which I am sure parkrunners would be happy to donate to.
Even if the parish council is successful at demanding a charge, inevitably destroying Little Stoke parkrun as a result, will runners still turn up on a Saturday and run round the park out of force of habit? If so the ‘damage’ will continue to be done to the paths. If they don’t run around the park on a Saturday will the levels of utilisation of the park decrease? It may be that an alternate location can be found
Full news is available on the Little Stoke parkrun website here along with details of how you can help http://www.parkrun.org.uk/littlestoke/news/2016/01/22/keep-little-stoke-parkrun-in-little-stoke-park/
Please help put some pressure on the Parish Council as it would be a massive shame to lose a very popular parkrun.
On the run, on the bike, in the drink 