Campaigners have little success at meeting with parkrun founder Paul Sinton-Hewitt and chief executive Russ Jefferys
When it comes to bringing back the statistics on the parkrun website, organisers are digging the heels of their running shoes firmly into the turf. Not only do parkrun organisers have no intention of bringing back the age and course records but they may go further in future by removing the ability for parkrunners to see the results of fellow participants.
Campaigners who are calling for parkrun to “bring back the stats” – Will Hartley, Mary Taylor and Alexander Smotrov – met with parkrun founder Paul Sinton-Hewitt and chief executive Russ Jefferys after the Higginson parkrun in Marlow on Saturday (April 27) and say they had good-natured discussion that lasted 90 minutes.
The campaigners were met with disappointment, though, when Sinton-Hewitt and Jefferys insisted they had no intention of buckling to a petition that has so far gained 25,000 signatures. What’s more, they talked about possibly going further in future.
“They have visions for the future of removing the ability to see any other runners data and results,” writes Taylor in a post-meeting summary posted here, “and in only being able to see your own individual results as well as event results.”
However, she added: “They envisage parkrun to have a social aspect where you can “befriend” or “follow” other runners, as you might on Facebook or Strava, and mutual friends could view the statistics of their friends.”
Taylor and fellow campaigners at the meeting say the idea of removing a participant’s gender from parkrun’s online pages was also discussed. Another strong theme was parkrun’s insistence that their events are neither a sport nor a race. “If you want to be competitive,” is their message, “then join a club.”
Taylor said: “It was really disappointing that parkrun show no intention of seeking a way to continue providing the course stats that meant so much to so many. It is clear that they wish to present their reason as it being in keeping with their ethos and aims as a charity, but it’s also clear that, to an undefined degree, they have felt it necessary to make this change to avoid being classified as a sport or race.”
She added: “It is hard to agree that they are truly ‘listening’ when they open a discussion meeting with ‘the stats are never coming back’.
“Our aims have never been to damage parkrun, but to return the course stats for those who benefited from them, since for us the justification for their removal has always fallen short of adequately supporting the change.”
» Subscribe to AW magazine here
Parkrun organisers refuse to bring back the stats appeared first on AW.
You must be logged in to post a comment Login