Parkun 186 - My top 5 least favourite parkrun rules

Welcome to parkrun 186 and another exciting Saturday morning!

And an even more exciting weeekend for some. Who is doing the City to Bay tomorrow? If anyone would like to share a lift, there are a few messages about this on our Facebook page.

In a week’s time we’ll have the beautiful Yurrebilla trail run and the River Run. Anyone participating in these?

Then there are 2 True Grit events for the hardcore. For the less hardcore soon after there will be the Ridiculous Playground race at the Victoria Racecourse, which involves giant slides and bubble baths.

Also, today is the official launch of Nuriotpa parkrun, so a lot of our regulars are there. So with Ros being away, I thought I’d give you my version of the parkrun rules. In particular my top 5 least favourite parkrun rules.

My top 5 least favourite parkrun rules: 5. You are not allowed to register your dog as a parkrunner. I guess this messes up the statistics on the website, but hey “on the internet nobody knows you are a dog” so why not go along with it. 4. Kids under 11 must be at an arms length from their guardian. Really? Most parents can’t keep up with their children. “It takes a village to raise a child” I think should be changed to “It takes a village to parkrun a child”. Why not let them run? 3. Only 1 dog per parkrunner. I guess this is to prevent unfair advantage by being pulled along. But what if you have teeny tiny pooches. Perhaps this should changed to 0.5 horse power worth of dogs per parkrunner or something like that.
2. No scooters, bikes, skateboards, etc. I don’t get it. People pay good money to go to obstacle races. Why not provide the obstacles for free? 1. No barcode, no result! Why can’t we have facial recognition or something. There is a security camera just over there. I am sure we can hack into it and make it work for us.

BTW, are there any first timers or visitors? Umm, welcome! Please stick to the rules or you might get me in trouble.

We have a 50th anniversary today. I remember Melissa’s first parkrun as if it was 16th of April 2016, ah wait it was indeed 16 April 2016, parkrun 110. Having never run before it was a somewhat reluctant start, but seeking inspiration from her husband, her two boys and a warm jacket, she did it and even stuck with it. Parkrun is now part of the family’s Saturday morning ritual. Melissa also loves contributing back to our community, which is why she has volunteered 8 times. I’d like to know how come you’ve never been a timekeeper? With 3 boys in the house, you’d be a natural. And what’s your favourite part about parkrun?

Congratulations Melissa!

As always thanks to our volunteers today: Phil on stopwatch, Janet on finish tokens, Martin and Emily on the scanning and sorting, team McGow have got our back or tail, Rosie is behind the camera and Jordan for helping up with the morning setup as always. We have plenty of spots on the volunteer roster, so please put your name down if you like helping out.

Over to you Phil!

Enjoy your run!