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Volunteers and parkrunners put pressure on main organisers to bring back the course and age category records
The recent open letter by parkrun chief executive Russ Jefferys has done little to appease volunteers and parkrunners who are angry that statistics relating to course and age category records have been removed from the parkrun website.
A petition calling for the decision to be reversed is closing in on 20,000 signatures, with thousands of parkrunners also continuing to voice their disapproval on social media.
Jefferys published parkrun’s latest position on the controversy on February 14 but his love letter to the parkrun community has seemingly done little to satisfy the critics.
“Parkrun only exists to inspire people, from any background, to come together, to be social, and active, in the great outdoors,” he wrote. “That’s it. There is no other motive.
“To do this we have a sharp, unwavering focus on removing the barriers to participation which persist for many people, especially for those whom physical activity may not be the norm, those who may never engage with traditional ‘sports’, or be able to afford gyms or other subscriptions, or find any inclusive and welcoming spaces for movement.”
Afterwards, though, the volunteer organisers of Yeppoon parkrun in Australia decided to cancel their February 24 event as a one-off protest. However, this was soon reversed when the regional managing director intervened.
And the organisers of the petition have told Jeffreys and his fellow parkrun trustees: “We appreciate the goal of making parkrun inclusive for everyone and that you believe these records have the potential to put off new participants.
“However, we have continued to promote the petitions to bring back the stats, because we firmly believe the majority of parkrunners want the stats back, and we do not believe these records are stopping people from wanting to join.”
Among other things, they argue: “Having a competitive element of parkrun for those who want it has always been part of parkrun since its first four years as Bushy Park Time Trial.
“Parkrun can be different things for different people, whether you are slow or fast. Allowing people to engage with it in a way that suits them made it inclusive. In reality, removing the stats leaves the runners that valued and used the records feeling excluded.”
You can see the petition here.
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