Let’s talk about parkrun’s open letter…

Let’s talk about parkrun’s open letter…

Hello hello hopefully the audio is working on this I don’t know if it is I didn’t hear the countdown just then um so if you’re watching back and I’m completely muted uh the audio may come on in a second um my phone keeps beeping and vibrating about things hi everyone

Hello hello hello how you doing how’s it going hope you’re well um let’s wait for anybody to come and join us before before we start talking hello peeps hello peeps alip St stavos style who remembers stavos people of a certain age has to be 40 plus growing up in the 80s

Saturday Night Live the UK version of Saturday Night Live um internet’s a little weak as well it’s one bar so I might be a bit blocky wait for it just to kind of give me a bit more bandwidth and see if there’s any comments can you hear me can

You hear me let us know in the comments anyone yes I can you can oh you can be um hello there all Hello from trickham Hello There Callum anyone can you hear me I didn’t hear the countdown play the music play I know the sound is coming

Because I just played to YouTube Oh loud and clear thank you Callum thank you Mr awesome Callum now I can go without having to panic Alex Steven all good thank you guys um I just position myself in the chair a little get comfortable um yeah how’s again anyway

Right yes let’s just get some thoughts out there uh let’s wing it a little bit let’s just talk over I expect a lot of people are tired of what’s going on um it’s not look there’s no resolution to it it’s not going away what we can all

Agree on um Ruth Perkin other the T-shirt thank you very much yeah what we can all agree on and I’ll say this again later is at the moment John Matthews I can hear you um is that there is a Fisher there is a fracture within Park r

No matter what you think of it no matter where you stand on this point of view regarding the stats removal and everything for whatever reason it’s created a Fisher and this is what makes people really uncomfortable people are associating parkr with coherence community and it’s not done that it’s

Making people feel really un unhappy upset uh feel comfortable most people are going yeah it doesn’t matter I’m okay and Carry On D Park CR that’s great absolutely whatever percentage of that is do that but you still have upset a lot of stor warts now a lot of stor warts are your

Devout you lose your devout you Hollow it out um and there’s a few things and topics to discuss anyway K eward do I need to steal in Thompson’s phone well it does matter how much he NS and Ian is saying um yeah you do car take it off

Him otherwise you’ll be chatting away I love the way Ian things it’s a onetoone conversation which it is for many people I do get that but Ian yeah heat down half now Nick it Nick it off him now Carrie Nick it off him um what’s striking about the open letter is it

Wasn’t what wasn’t said ignoring the elephant in the room won’t make it go away now we’ll come to that a second I’ll bring it up on this page and we can talk about it um I’d love to hear your thoughts about it this is the the forum

For it if you want to talk I know there’s a lot of frustration it’s live and so it’s a bit more reactive and fluid as opposed to seeing a lot of the comments that are online on Facebook um and no matter where you stand you can

See some of the reactions yet no about the volatility what’s going on on Twitter I don’t know what’s going on on Twitter anymore so yes thank you to those you who have messaged you asked about it I’m not on Twitter anymore on Monday I just um got tired of it so coincidentally

Just before I came out Michael Spicer who I follow on YouTube is a fantastic fell who’s just done a video about it where he went I’ve deleted all my social media apps because I’m spending um too much time just checking the phone and I could have be doing it I could be doing

More productive things and um I think it’s two and a half hours on average on social media every day and think about how we could invest those energies and I said that I said it last week and I said it in the Pod that we could invest our

Energies in a far better fashion rather than just arguing online about certain things um we do miss out on stuff I do miss out on certain things I do miss out miss out on certain news items I know that my news is only going to come through maybe mainstream media outlets

Now um but it’s far more beneficial for me not to be on it and I was just like I was on Monday I was holid out again I don’t want to see any of this crap anymore and so to get off I’m gone and I don’t miss it yeah I built that account

Up over while yes it was a great platform yes I had messages people saying thank you for being the voice that of reason that I could go to to hear try and get like a a litus test as to where people stand um give an opinion

Give an educated thought about it and I apologize that’s that that has gone but some things have just really got under my skin lately they thought I just don’t need this anymore um so yeah anyway anyway anyway um we’ll come to the open letter like I said in just a second

Karen sparrman hello I’ve just walked through the door what a beautiful day day outside let’s bring this up look at this K spackman’s ever vesence let’s kick off with this blue sky some bird singing bees buzzing now there’s the hood news the hood you don’t live in the

Hood you live near didcot way that’s not the hood that’s lovely Countryside Oh you mean the good news the good news sorry yes Rachel Bentley hello I’m on my lunch I’ll listen back to what I miss later nice t-shirt yeah thank you very much it’s a nice little loo isn’t it

Let’s just take that comment off yeah do you like it yeah I’m proud of this logo I designed it I made it I designed it I made it uh so yeah uh Penny Simpson hello Danny I was just thinking about this issue while brushing my teeth listen to

The park and Adventures this afternoon I like their take on it too yeah I I love the fact sorry just streamyard does this when I go to click something and then it pushes them up and I miss it sorry Penny Simpson listen to the park and Adventures this afternoon I like they

Take on it to meel Melissa really said something pertinent and that was that in fundamentally said in the striving to be inclusive you’ve excluded some people inclusivity if you look at the definition of the word is about including your people and I think that some people forget that while you’re

Busy trying to include everyone you do something or make a change that excludes some and I understand there’s a balance but you can’t say I’m all exclusive inclusive if you’re excluding some people you just can’t and it’s a so going on about righteousness about including when you’re actually annoying

People and and peeving them um they have the choice to walk away but he still feeling they still feel like they’re being excluded and for what particular purpose and I think you can give lots of people different things about parkr I think the foundation of parkr were was built

On running clubs time trials it’s reason why UK is so successful Ireland so successful and Australia and South Africa and some of the European countries haven’t quite taken to it in the same degree because it’s being posed as a health and well-being charity and so running clubs don’t quite integrate

Into to it I mean there’s a lot of reasons L of loads of nuances as to why hasn’t quite taken off in the same way in Italy and France and they’ve had different strategies and takeoffs but you got Japan now which is doing well Netherlands they have bit better strategies for implementing new

Countries um but throwing the baby out with the bath I say I’ve seen terms or cutting nose off to spite your face and if you are removing certain things for particular reasons you have to admit that you’re going to annoy other parties many people who are very invested in you

And you are annoying them and you can’t just poo poo that and ignore it um and they might have those motivations and reasons for taking part in that now I go on about how you can balance your feelings about how important it is but if people still have that opinion their

Opinion is no less valid and if that was a motivating factor then fine of course then it crosses over as to how competitive it gets and I understand they want to remove that but you have to take it as uh genuine that they’re removing it for that particular purpose

Now I do not believe that is absolutely genuine I believe it is a smoke screen and I do absolutely feel that this has been accelerated and pushed and really driven forward regarding the issue of trans matters and the uh competitive and the records and everything else so they may say one

Thing I I don’t really believe it now I know Nicholas says that she has their opinions regarding that and that why are you still having elements that making it competitive within my email and so on and that’s a we can go roundabout and discussion but I feel that this was

Accelerated regarding to try and soften the blow of what was going on from certain quarters sorry i’ got dolly fliff in my nose so even if it is true and they did it for good reasons TR to try and include it as many people as possible

It’s too late they lost the narrative on it people are not going to believe you they think that you’re lying and if they think that you’re lying then you’ve lost a portion of the room and if you lose that portion of the room if you think that your your

Leadership is lying to you then people don’t have faith in you if you don’t have faith your organization then you feel hollowed out by a little bit so even if they can stand there go yeah we genuinely did this over four years took very long time because this

Has been going on pre-co apparently Co is four years coming up now and he’s taking you this long to do it and you finally push the button on the week when everything was accelerating with the arguments on the line regarding trans matters and Mara really pushing on certain things it’s really poor

Coincidence it looks like a smoke screen and so it’s caused a lot of rections like say it doesn’t matter even if you’re true or not the fact is that people just do not believe you now so it’s poor communication it’s bad communication it’s um the same mistakes

Over and over and over and over again anyway right hello hello Mom hello you how are you I’m gonna see you at the weekend looking forward to seeing you uh looking forward very much to the weekend to seeing you people will hear more about that next week Ian Thomson says

I’m canning uh don’t blame me for canning Twitter you a lightning rod for all sorts of nonsense and that’s why I miss it because like again this is why people joining to listen to what I have to say I’m trying to be the goet and

Trying to be in the middle you have lots of extreme end of people really shouty really aggressive really angry and they’re drowning out the rational voices or people are being pinned in with that category and it’s a spectrum it’s not black and white and I’m trying to be in

The middle going look okay some people got opinions and the valley that’s listened to them this just not poo poo them which I think a little bit of what the open letter did where and said look we’re doing it anyway regardless of you goodbye and it’s dismissive it’s

Slightly arrogant and pompous and um and in for some people or you can read it in a different way and say actually you know what that’s really valid and lovely and I think that’s all okay and again because of that people are interpreting what they want out of it and again

Causing another raction and and a split because people go well I see it this way and I see it that way and this is what’s really I think is the worst part of it all where um yeah you can gaug stuff so if I just look at Facebook very quickly right now

The Following last week’s website changes the park on UK Facebook you can look at the reaction so they posted the thing online 1.1 th000 uh reacts 581 likes but there’s 229 angries and 207 likes so it’s even like even if a quarter of your audience is irritated with you you’ve made a misstep

And then Jamie Phillips makes a comment the first one that’s most relevant appears says I don’t believe it and so on um hang on a minute let’s see this no means obsess with Statistics blah blah blah say you can do whatever you want most to be encouraged but also let’s

Let’s he says I’ve never heard a single person say that barrier to attending has been the presence of a statistics page on the events website 700 people have liked that that’s not inconsiderable by any means and so you can’t just dismiss that if these are people that are engaging with you

These are people are buying your product if you’re going to sell stuff uh to them and if people go don’t want to buy your product anymore you damaged the brand a little bit you had a good thing going all you had to do you got given the keys to Ferrari brand and

Drive it successfully and um yeah but you know what I will do I’m come to the newsletter in the open debate I want to defend Russ a little bit as well because Russ is taking responsibility because a CEO he’s not without fault but at the same point he’s not entirely to blame

And I don’t like the fact there’s a lot of Victory I calling for him to be canned and lose his job and that’s look nobody deserves to lose their job over opinion regarding this I think that’s going to too far as well no Ross hasn’t been perfect he’s young he’s learning

He’s younger than I first time he’s being CEO um he’ll have his own motivations and everything else but I think again vital the vital that I’m seeing again trying to bring balance to this all is it’s over the top in some ways anyway uh Helen R the shouty person

Is back yeah fin ignore don’t engage don’t fuel don’t give that it’s only a few really really really aggressive shouty voices um Kirk jeer hi Danny I don’t know if you seen I’ve resurrected the park Discussion Group which has been a challenge these past few weeks what I

Think people need to remember is that Park can change their event however they want it doesn’t matter how long we’ve been consuming it depends yes yes we are the the product as it were but then again it’s not quite the same because volunteers provide that product for free

They have to have faith in the organization they’re being led in the right direction they can do whatever they however they want I don’t know I I again it’s like all voices equal you can’t say that we consider all voices to be equal and then to say well we’re not

Listening to a big chunk of you or or however big a chunk of you there are part can change their event however they want um I don’t I don’t quite agree with the absolute of that language I definitely see your point I think there’s a lot more to be discussed

Regarding that I don’t think they have absolutes regard they have they have to keep sure that they keep the their their Community onside um hello Danny I always thought Twitter was uh rubbish I got rid of mine not true if everyone the stats can change hasn’t affected me at all

Yeah and and I want to just say that yeah for most people Lo myself it’s like fine stats whatever and I adapt my behaviors I don’t think it’s too wise you just dismiss or poooo people opinion regarding it either just worth listening to them because they said oh we’ve done

This and we’ve looked into focus groups and everything else but you’ve had four years why didn’t you ask a broad broad part of your audience I never got asked that’s I hate that comment I never got asked but you know what I mean in terms of loads of people said we didn’t get

Asked um what was their um size what was their what you call it uh the size of their um was it 10,000 emails or surveys or whatever survey size sorry was it 100,000 was it a million um was their data that they used because they were

Going to do things anyway um I have certain feelings that certain things were done in a certain way regardless I think we’re being smokees screened a little regarding the data I just do that’s the feeling I get um John Matthews Hello Johnny M I think that’s important to remember it’s a really

Tough typ rate for parkr to walk people’s sense of inclusion does lead to a sense of ownership yeah and if you’re going to say look um hello there we have things to sell you will you buy it you’re investing into it so there’s a difference between an event being

Provided for you which is free and a volunteer Le but then you have um at the same point we also need to generate revenue and some of that Revenue being generated comes from you and terms of parkr forever and it comes from you buying a merchandise money side of things as well

Uh just be conscious that whenever money is involved in anything it becomes really really tricky people become very particular and tricky and I it becomes very awkward for many people so when you’re buying product you’re investing into it if you damage a brand you potentially lose sponsors the last time don’t like

This happened dog gate um dog gate with the leads um they lost a dog food brand sponsor they left you don’t want parkon to end up having this thing where they’re in the mainstream media now and if that narrative is controlled to say look this is what’s happening the reason

Why parkon is doing this you end up saying well look uh go woke go broke or you end up going oh this is just ridiculous and it’s all being flamed with mainstream it doesn’t matter if that narrative plays out and you’re not in control brands have to end up looking at Park and

Going I don’t know if this necessarily tying us in well we may have to reconsider and if they lose that Revenue Source it causes pressure and stress Park ran in the past couple of years I need confirmation I need to check all this is that the salary uh costs have

Gone up by a million I think it’s all I I was sent this last night you can find it all online look at their um their the annual reports because it’s open data because of course the charity stuff that the salary increased went up by 1.1

Million um I think they’ve got cash in bank and but also they have they are more Reliant they got more staff if you notice there’s loads more staff now so now they’re more beholden to keeping those staff to make themselves more wild class is what they say make them more

Efficient and effective the efficiency thing is questionable um and more effective and so they have strategies to uh reach but it means there’s more pressure on income coming in so if they lose any income also merchandise Christmas time lots of things suddenly came out at Christmas time why was there lots of

Things with the parkg logo sudden splashed on it they needs to generate income and revenue so are they making decisions based on securing stuff they get sport England money they get London Marathon money are they under pressure from sport England to do certain things um that shows you that they are

Doing the stuff that criteria that they want for them for that particular money does that involve potent potential what sport England to be called inclusive matters therefore they’re not in control of decisions because they have to oblige that if they want to keep their million

Quid or whatever it is and if they don’t get their million quid then they end up losing staff they have to do layoffs and then parkrun loses its infrastructure at the top and things come tumbling down so consider all of these elements the pressure of financial side of stuff so

Is it just decision because they feel it more a moral obligation or because there’s money involved park has got to that point now where it needs to be generating revenue and therefore what that does it creates uh a bit of a antsy position so recently I was talking about

The logo I’ve had conversations recently about copyright I made the logo 2006 free didn’t get paid wasn’t under the employee of parkr by government legal rights I have copyright um psh said that no parkr owns a copyright um I’ve asked them for evidence and proof of this uh they can’t

Quite come forward and prove that but they’re quite aggressive about it and I’m like I’m not after marketing and selling and making millions I just if you know what if they merchandised this because they on their Instagram account they basically someone said I’ll make bptt logo merchandise and something they

Did the big wide eyes emojis reply make it do it I don’t want to be earning thousands that’s not why I did it there were Tops made in the past using the logo for free I’m not after that it’s I made it recognize that don’t write me

Out of History I don’t mind I’m not after the moneys side of things there was a jokey tweet that I made about oh I’m gonna make I gonna make a bunch of someone to get upset they did get upset um but there’s no validity in any of

That I don’t have the capacity to do all that I’m proud of having this but this is a legacy and the irony of it all is going on about oh our history of time trials and then remove statistics read the room that was a horrible post to do on Facebook absolutely

Stupid just stop posting stop posting for a week or maybe they’re enjoying all the engagement they’re getting more engagement on their Facebook post than they ever had for a long long time most posts just went by without people engaging and now you’re getting 200 300 400 plus comments each time your key

Performance indicators are going through the roof show you show that to your sponsors they go oh your social media is fantastically well engaged let’s just hide the fact that a lot of this might be quite vitriolic but you’re still quite engaged engaged no publicity is bad publicity perhaps anyway do you know

What make a bunch of tops sell the with the logo on fine sustained Park and keep it going don’t say that you own this so if you don’t and um I’m not bothered by that I’m not I’m put my hands up I’m not after that but don’t pretend don’t say

Don’t tell me something which isn’t true either um and don’t threaten me legally either about stuff uh regarding that it’s uh just ridiculous anyway and you know what it is it’s causing bad taste in people’s mouths I’m becoming hollowed out by all the way the Park’s been

Directed because of the way it’s like the pressure they got for financial stuff the way that they they say something and they they talk down to you the way they treat you the way they treat Volunteers in certain ways when they question things don’t say anything my relationship with Park’s

Really become Solly not the organization not on a Saturday morning um so not the whole overarching organization but Parr at the top I think has a bunch bunch of people leading it and they’re talking down to a bunch of professionals throughout and they’re giving them very little respect or they’re telling them

To be quiet or shut up is becoming all cult-like I I’m so I am so such a passionate parkrunner I’ve done it every single Saturday for years and years and years and years and years I’ve been to more park run days including Junior Park runs

Anyone else I love it with a passion but when I’m becoming hollowed out and upset by the organization that’s a flag that’s a flag guys um anyway monologuing sorry just really a bit Crossing stuff at the moment I just I think it’s being steered really badly at the moment the

Organization um it’s not just me communication’s poor should we have a quick look you know what let’s read Russ’s comment right let’s just read this just go over um do parkr community Ambassador teams participants to people who come along every weekend to be part of the Feelgood phenomenon that is park

Run to the occasional Park Runners and to those yet to experience the magic uh yeah lots of flouncy words in far enough it’s written in the way that composed uh they written a way it’s done to sort of like be as appeasing as possible I knew it was going to take on

The best job in the world because parkr matters it matters to me it matters to millions of people around the world it matters every single weekend 52 weeks of the Year Russ when I first met him when did he came to Twickenham and um Russ has Belin for this role for a

While um it’s just really hard to find a feeling outside of that you’re wearing a mask to show that you care but you’re more looking after yourself I’ve always me and Russ have always had a bit of a a dodgy uh relationship in terms of not I

Don’t think he’s ever respected me I don’t think he’s liked the Legacy I’ve had um we tried to get on recently but I think that I I can’t help but feel that he looks out for a number one sometimes priority um and so like I’m trying my

Best to do really well well I think he wanted to be in this position 10 years ago and that’s the impression that I got that’s the feeling that I got um just horrendous I mean has he done a brilliant job I think that he’s also

Being uh tied in a lot of things that aren’t his responsibility or not his real motivation and pushes and factors um when I took up this role you’ll be plenty of challenges yep there certainly have been lots of gates even the Dinsmore thing last year no we went

Through all the due processes you’re wrong protest protest sorry yeah we backtrack Stand Down D more um I would be the person responsible for making them again it does lay at his feet uh I want to take this opportunity to explain to you the park community why

Why we took the decision that we did Park only exists to inspire people from any background to come together to be social and active in the great Andor that’s it there is no other motive to do this we have a sharp on waving focus on removing the barriers to

Participation which persist for many people especially for those who physical activity may not be the norm those who may never engage additional Sports will be able to afford gyms or other subscriptions or find any inclusive and welcoming spaces for movement yeah and then magazine magazine is another prime

Example of that you spent loads of money on that you won’t tell us how much you spent MoneyWise on that has that been particularly cost effective questionable you want to reach out to a part of the community that wasn’t online digitally and um I’d be surprised if it goes

Beyond addition five or six it was meant to be the largest run magazine I thought they wanted to be able to turn it into potential Revenue generator I don’t think it’s quite reaching those marks do you know what maybe it is maybe it is I

Want it to succeed I want Park to stay but at the moment it’s like anything there’s a period of time when I thought Arsenal was being directed badly in a good position now but um you’re allowed to voice it when you don’t think going think it’s going through a good

Period um I say it again he says I say it again parkr only exist to bring people together is one of the world’s great level of social health initiative Sanctuary each weekend right in the heart of local communities yes we know all this people come to parkon for many

Reasons to be part of the amazing Community they are welcomed into to see their friends over and you to get some fresh air to catch up in the cafe afterwards yes we know the Park Bar barod does not simply register a time a loog of volunteer credit is anyone’s

Ticket into one of the friendliest and most welcoming communities I believe exist in the world today and that ticket is free for everyone forever again just stop using this whole three-word language stuff healthier happier Planet free for everyone forever do you know what just drop that for a second stop

Having to keep bouncing back to your marketing 101 I understand that not everyone feels the same and that others were 10 parkr motivated by competition that’s fine everyone welcome but we must remember why parkon exists yes parkon exists because it was founded on time trolls from the running Community people

That wanted to who were Runners who loved to be Runners and they welcomed people who weren’t quite so deeply in gr to running in yes there were a few bad apples along the way but let’s remember why parkon exists yes we do remember remember why it exists I remember why it

Exists anyways true power lies yeah I get that for the human side of things we must remember Park’s incredible ability to change the lives of those who may need it most that’s everyone the Lives who need it may need it most that’s everybody there isn’t shouldn’t be a division here there some

People need it more most than others no everybody needs it those with long-term health conditions and those who never found a place that believed in them before yes everybody they’re struggling with loneliness and mental health conditions and many of other Myriad of Alles modern day life throws at us which is everybody

Those who truly need free regular access to physical activity to community to healthy habits but may not have found it yet and those who may feel been intimidated or afraid or be convinced of places like parkr aren’t for people like them the numbers were going up intimidated afraid or convinced where is

The data you won’t show us the data where you had that what is the proportion of that some people who are involved in running community may be actually introducing as many people into park run as not there are people who are founding running clubs and doing cou to

5Ks and getting people in they’re from the running community that would otherwise enjoy these tables but also bringing in as many people into parkrun as well rather than just oh we have to change and hide a bunch of stats because it’s putting people off that’s not the reason you avoided an argument

Here that was going on in the background um to Runners became Tower Walkers yep great move Park Walkers yep great move recognizing volunteering equal form participation great move unfortunately now people can get two volunteer credits a weekend and therefore has tilted the Scout in the wrong way because now people can get to

The volunteer credits more and then you saw the post about how many volunteers have you done yesterday which then it got engaged fantastically well but now people are either doing it from a are you flexing and showing off or are you proud and it’s elment what you’re caught

In the Rock between a rock and a hard place you have to acknowledge people’s um volunteering ability but you don’t want it to be weaponized either people feeling guilty and shamed for not having done enough um yeah you’re trying to be all things to all people and seeming to land badly

Either side of it anyway park run has succeeded in changing the word and narrative about what it means to be physically active what you have to wear or look like what you need to be at Park run you can be anyone you’re welcome everyone is welcome uh again as talking Absolutes I truly believe that we have an obligation to continue identifying Ming the barriers that stand in the way records are one such example again I don’t again you you’re not proving this to us the fear of finishing last of being slowest not being celebrated not being as good as everyone

We all accept that we all get that um but I do think stats on the website scrolled away just hide them away then hide them away none of these things should be a bar to joining Park but it certainly wasn’t helpful that we were providing prominently prominent prominent I’ve spoken to people who’ve

Been doing hundreds of Park RS who didn’t even know the DAT was there prominent you stuck the stuff at the bottom of the website um considerable amount of data from our homepages why have you remov the mo removed the most events table why is that question not being answered I’ve

Never advocated taking the easy option if it isn’t the right thing to do in this instance it’s obvious we need to modify websites which to be a true true to our mission and values I just think you removed it to avoid the argument that’s is playing out on the side I

Don’t believe this simple as that there’s no hidden agenda of play I want to be extremely clear on that I think that this is an ongoing discussion people have been very VT about it and I don’t believe you we know that personal statistics matter that we can be huge motivated many of

You have seen already this data was not gone away information Willem email out each week to hundreds of thousands of Park runers yep that’s but as Nicol pointed out in the Pod this week you’re still sending emails direct to people comparing them to other people in the AG

Categories you’re still making it seem like a race that should change as well or maybe you didn’t have the technical capacity at the time maybe that will change volunteers will still time the course there you go if you’re worried about people worrying about the timing going away yeah why have you dropped the

Free weekly time from the website though you still have the a chance to record a personal best I envy you it’s same here you can still see your age grading if it matters to you we recognize everyone everyone matters at parkr I hope you the parkr community will be able to

Understand why I’ve chosen to take this action etc etc responsible for organization I mean it’s a lot of words to say basically yeah we’ve made the decision goodbye um that’s fine dog stuff it and Russ is like people are going oh he’s made lots of mistakes can

We just go over that dmore wasn’t him that was the board I think people got away with um people got away with blaming Russ Russ doesn’t pick cherry pick the global board um and dinmore yes they defended it badly in the com side of things but he didn’t put

Him on there um he had to stand back he can’t cherry pick the board that he has to answer to and the dogs thing wasn’t his he didn’t push on the dogs and the harnesses and everything that was someone else uh Dave Griffith this makes egg

Gate look mild yeah we said that in the Pod this week don’t it just yeah this is 10 times 20 times 100 times wor if you can hear that clicking and clacking that’s Dolly trying to get out she’s actually tired of my own voice going on

About this subject matter as well um I’m definitely on the side of they were never our stats um yeah no it’s like with Facebook and everything else you give them the data it’s never your day to buy rights you choose to participate you become the commodity um yep to that

Degree y they’re never our stats um what is going on with doe why is she mapping she’s lying on her back oh she got a claw stuck in the car caret no she’s all about just yeah but but yeah because the claw stuck in the carpet that why it’s

Not it’s not stuck in the car it’s because there sh at the door no she’s just lying on about going there I think a claw stuck it’ll be a claw stuck um I think there’s room to include some of the stats without displaying them prominently yep squirel them away this

Is saying they’re so prominent and people are seeing them and they’re prominent hide them then um the most pragmatic solution surely uh the Youtube video you mentioned on the podcast this week summed it all up perfectly can’t remember the guy’s name something Lewis Mark Lewis please please go and see Mark

Lewis his 10-minute YouTube video on that is fantastic if you want anybody wants to provide that link in the comments please do that it’s a superb summation he sits right in the middle looks at both sides yeah I he can I can’t say it as well as him I can’t

Elucidate it as well as him throwing the baby out with the bath water is a perfect phrase for it cutting the nose off to spite the face all the metaphors out there uh Tim Hughes Mark Le yeah thank you guys um idiot question I can’t watch now is it possible to watch this

To love to you all right now yes it is and if at any point I’m saying things you disagree with give it a angry face or thumbs down on YouTube whatever that’s fine I don’t mind do that I’d like to see the feedback and comments um

I’m okay with that I’m past caring at the moment I don’t even want to go touring tomorrow with Park ran I don’t know how much longer I’ll be passionate parkrunner at the moment genuinely I’m not just doing this to go all dramatic I just I I’ve lost it’s someone’s taken a

Bullet to my passion of park run this week uh nice t-shirt thank you Stuart um I’ve listened back for the last few misses are live yeah they’ll be online um everyone’s just letting Vicky dick know that um catalyze accelerated on parkr anti-tr we got to stop politicizing this

Again we got to stop using this language about one side being wrong over the other attacking on parkrun I we’ve been over this in terms of again we got to startop working black and white it’s going to be trying and work a bit of nuance anti-trans stuff can we about the

Trans stuff anti-trans transphobia stuff is that Mara is being called a trans phobe I will say this again no one is arguing against transgender parties taking part in sport they’re talking about protecting the female category if they’re transphobic then that nobody is arguing and questioning about uh females

Who want to transition to males going into female sport because they don’t have a biological Advantage by rights transphobia means every transgender person no one is saying that they’re pointing out that biological males that go through puberty have a biological advantage that’s what they’re saying so

I mean calling Mara a transphobe in that respect or JK Rowling it’s really tricky you may have a difference of opinion on this but if you’re going to do a be all Collective and say this stuff then you have to say she’s transphobic but no one

Is having a go at trans um females identifying into males because there’s no sport advantage and this is where it becomes really tricky because that’s the sporting issue with Olympics and World Championships and everything else and take that out but you bring it into park CR is where everybody’s finding it

Really difficult because it’s not competitive and then of course be winding back to the cat records thing people saying it is competitive and park of then gun right will take it away so we don’t have this argument anymore this is what it’s being so abrasive that’s what people are getting so upset about

And fighting each other over park has been pulled into this Vortex and it was always going to happen if you try if you change from a a time trial with winners and race director language and you take too long to get to that point where your health and well-being charity and it’s all

Inclusive and it’s it’s not competitive it’s stalled over the years and thenl politics has come into it and made it so awkward and difficult it’s horrible it’s horrible that people are grabbing at each other’s thoughts about it um and this is this is what’s damaging the parkr

Brand hi Lind working nice to see you nice to see you too G jasmi only realize you’re live here I I just randomly come on live uh I wish everyone could accept each other’s thoughts on on whether you AG thank you Lynn I wish everyone could accept each other’s thoughts on it

Whether you agree or not agree it did bug me they could not let teams know though it came out on Wednesday and somebody pushed the button they knew it was coming the button got pushed on Wednesday let everybody know all at once or give them a big heads up it’s all

Done like in secret we’ve done this special research for four years and S it’s gone oh we didn’t have control of the narrative at all you knew it was coming apparently if you’ve been doing it for four years the button got pushed on Wednesday are we going to tell

Everybody in a few days no tell everybody together or for warn them and say we’re looking into this the the internal cons is appalling regarding preparing for this it’s always done thrown on people and then people have to react and then people react in this particular fashion and way and then

Basically you’re running around chasing your own tail um alisan this is a classic example organizational change in the voluntary sector I’ve personally experienced with three other Charities that began a small volunteer run organizations that grew to become National charities in every case the HQ made decisions that the

Volunteers who had been involved for the years disagreed with this yeah I think this is history repeating itself again and again and again and again um is mommy in new I love Karen coming in with her beautiful happy joy is Mommy Norman in a new age category following her

Birthday I’m sure her volunteering will be 100% anyway h no 71 she was 70 last year but she was a new AG category last year and she’s going to be back volunteering very soon absolutely yep y hopefully continually regularly we’ll see we’ll see we’ll see um yes I would have been over the

T-shirt thing if you’re wondering yes I’m wearing the pushy Park T t-shirt Michael green for me pulling the records makes more sense as an attempt to diffuse the anti-trans campaign than as a move to General General nonr inclusivity this why it was done Michael primarily primarily the records could

Have been tucked away off the front page yep HQ hav appreciate how much people valued the stats as um a slow beginning Runner I was proud to be part of an event so I’ve been like flipping about the results going because I’m like okay it doesn’t ultimately really affect me but then you

Know what it does affect some people uh um and we have to accept that and agree with that you have you don’t have to agree with that sorry but it does it does affect some people and therefore they feel put out because they’ve invested a lot of time and energies and

Motivations for it their motivation is no less valuable than anybody else’s saying that I’m frightened by it um you can then you can find a pragmatic solution being okay if it’s prominent you’re scaring people off tuck them away in a place that can’t be seen when people come to register online for the

First time um I was proud to be part of an event because people are now trying to find make the data for themselves and the 5K app 5K app shows it all if you go and look at a lot of things you look at an event page it has all that

Data it’s I know 5K app is there more to the 5K app that meets your eye um I was part proud to be part of an event that included High Athletic achievement yeah what some of the highest engaged posts were when World Records went everybody was like celebrated fantastic amazing

Brilliant I aspire to be that this I I feel inspired when they run past me I feel inspired when fast runners go past me I think all of that’s been ignored isn’t it I made everyone welcome there are a lot of neurodiverse people in the parkon family who are very hooked into their

Numbers yeah absolutely and then the comment goes on to go bit further and I’m always like neurod diersing I am always a bit conscious about people using um arguments about other people’s affectations I mean like neurodiverse I think I’m neurodiverse um but the um the way the

People end up going are look this is affecting this person but you’re not speaking on behalf of them I I find that yeah you always have to be careful as to why we’re defending our decisions and opinions that aren’t ours it’s like when they people are asking not to have

Headphones put in please don’t we’re headphones at Park C people went what about people with hearing age you’re discriminating against them no no don’t speak on behalf of the people that are hard of hearing and also those um earpieces enhance your hearing whereas the headphones with music in close your

Hearing but you can see the argument being used oh these I’m trying to get my point across I want to keep my thing by using someone else’s disability that happens quite a bit and I feel really uncomfortable with that I’m not saying you’re doing that Michael but it does

Happen um yeah Tim Gallagher uh smoke screened a little yep the coms keep saying we wanted to make the stats less prominent less prominent means moving the stats to an opin behind a wall not 20 years a data totally toss in the garbage no reason at all given for most

Events disappear that’s the thing they won’t I don’t know why the most events has gone I didn’t say that I liked it and I know it became any table becomes toxic but why have you removed that you really had to borrow down to find it why

Is it gone why is it gone did that put people off or is it a personal thing um what’s the reasoning I don’t think we’re being smokes screened there we go literally here’s the prime example of Park running in that show at the moment I think it’s a smok screen and I don’t

Think we’re being smokescreen uh 20 year anniversary spect organization is looking at how it runs Advanced anniversary I think you’re being very generous there Ally It’s a completely different organization after when it started with 13 Runners I know I know I was around in 2005 and they need to

Ensure it’s still fit for purpose once scaled up motivations Ali motivations um they need to do the right thing right thing what is the right thing that is um depends on what your opinion of right and wrong is um I haven’t read the letter saw all the

Angry faces and backed away I’m not very bothered about the loss of stats yeah no many people aren’t but some people are um like I said but you if you’re going to say we’re inclusive you got to understand be inclusive means for all I was never going to feature any way I go

To park for social and discover new places but other people go there for other reasons too this is the thing we’ve got to keep on thinking can I give you a little mini story when I was a teaching assistant I used to take half the class of PE and we would have kids

Who were brilliant at sport and ball control and everything else you had kids who just couldn’t do that and when I I was given a task and I had 15 kids all with tennis ball stood in by a wall inside the gym weather was poor outside

And we had to throw the B and the task was to throw the ball against the wall right and catch it and so you had kids one end you like really really easy catch bomb catch bomb and you had literally kids like been in the world

Couldn’t catch it so the the way of including everybody is you made it harder for the the people who found an easy challenge so you put them back so change your left to your left hand bounce it on the wall and try and catch it move further back and those who found

It too difficult from the beginning from the base you put them further forward and you did the ball bouncing and that you made it easier for them to catch it that is inclusive inclusivity any PE teacher will tell you that that you should be making it more challenging for

Those who find things easy and making making it easier for those who find it challenging and that’s what parkon didn’t do here they’ve just gone uh yeah you might do it for this you might take part and for the challenging purpose goodbye that’s why I think there is why

There’s a lot of anger and angst regardless of what you how you treat and behave with parkon and that’s fine you’re not caring but I also think that some people do like the challenging side of stuff and not all that bothered about the stats loss really yeah again many

People who aren’t being Dreadful communic process local event directors nard feeling like we have to somehow justify the justifiable yeah you guys are going to be asked uh yeah I wish I’d mentioned the real reason that you alluded to in this week’s podcast thanks for all the remarkable effort thank you Martin I’m

Just I’m I’m yeah I’m just tired of being the lightning rod and becoming the conduit and thank you for everyone’s emails are coming to say thank you very much and messages to say thank you for listening to the podcast and hopefully trying to be as uh open-minded as

Possible and discussing about it or discussion that you can’t find elsewhere and uh I appreciate you Respec and listening to our point of view and some people really don’t agree and that’s fine shout at me and say you don’t agree I don’t mind that um just as much as I

May not agree with you but that’s fine if you have that opinion too um Penny Simpson I don’t feel strongly about the changes personally tend to believe Park’s claims about the consultation process maybe I’m naive the communication has indeed been poor Danny I totally agree with your point about

First all problems and I agree with me about being kind to everyone those are the important things I think yeah I don’t think we need to work in black and white I think many people struggle to work in nuance and think try and be in the center and consider all different

Things I think it’s so easy to make it tribal and go you either think this or you either think that and I think you it’s okay to be generally moving around to see rather than just dismissing reading something don’t like it and cut it off um alisan been dis quiet for years

About the course records being published simply because they’re not accurate well yeah I I think but we all had the feeling that they weren’t accurate we all knew they weren’t accurate how many times have I gone about pegwell Bay peg go and set a world record at Peg pegwell Bay is

4.8k um we’re not chip Ed many courses can vary slightly week and week out didn’t matter when there were small local events but now course records being broken become national news um worldy records become yeah but they they steered away from that they steered away from that I think we all had an

Understanding I felt that we had an understanding that when the parkon world record was considered a park world record we didn’t take it seriously as a world record where they were given gold medals and flowers and put on a Podium we understood that was very nuanced um but some people took it

Literally um people agreeing Park H disingenuous and patronizing yeah I I think that they can live in an echo chamber a little bit um Danny if you totally know how I feel I’m not fussed about stats but I am the way I feel they treat me as Ed and my team

Uh totally agree for various things says Kathy GI to swart completely AG thank you guys um again if you disagree I’m I’m fine with that the report is where the park HQ negative reaction comes from policy exchange oh I have to what’s that report I was actually the right-wing

Think Tank um I think there a the right-wing Think Tank thing pushing on stuff it’s slightly conspiratorial I I mean there is definitely right-wing end of things being way over the top and way aggressive and completely unfair to transgender parties as well absolutely yeah the conservatism end of that thing

Uhh not for me no thank you let people live how they want to be as long as they don’t impact on anyone else if they’re going about living their lives and they want to be how they want to be and they’re not hurting anyone no one should

Give no one should give a damn so I think the right when Think Tank is like this element side of things is like oh it’s disgusting and you’re like well how’s it affect you how does it impact you go away leave them alone um Alex Stevens I think one of the big problems

With this change is that the people used it by naturally some of the loudest voice in the community and online they’re more competitive and obsessive these are these the the whales I call them the past where they buy all the things the people who benefit from it

Are those who are less confident in themselves everybody benefits from it Alex um I benefit from it who are new to parkr who haven’t started yet I benefit from it everybody benefits from parkr again inclusivity think think rather than think about everyone if you ask about the change online the answer is

Always going to be massively biased towards negativity because many of the people would support the change by Nature by not yeah there’s a lot of quietness and I’m not saying this is a 50-50 split but there is a Fisher there is a crack if you have vs and there’s a

Crack in it no matter how big that is it still weakens the entire um structure um I like this conversation fact that yeah argue with me argue with me absolutely glad someone talking about it all and good to hear what’s what’s really going on um corporate waffle it could have

Come from a local Council that’s just doubled its Car Bar great it’s got similar marks to this um uh the here’s not just cor isue respecting women and girls in sport uh doesn’t in change my enjoyment of Saturday run but does affect the fun we had after with all stats in many ways

Many people in different ways um yeah it may not impact you but it impacts some um and then look you can see it in my comments as well some people are agreeing with some people are agreeing with other people um this is my point I will reiterate my point is going

On in the comments some people agree some people don’t agree some people are really passionate about it some people are very apathetic about it um it has had an impact though you’re still here watching and engaging and seeing about it it is actually having an impact on

The parkon community it was a misstep that’s had a far longer Ripple in the pond than it should have had um show current conflicted not particularly bothered about what but the how is frankly crap on the other side the way some people have in my view M

Evera makes me feel that it was needed to reset the attitude of many from me to The Wider Community yeah there were is across the Spectrum do you know why because there are people across the Spectrum in terms of their behaviors and attitudes that’s what it is I think we

All try and pigeonhole people into categories and because we’re people you can’t do that um and I think just that mentality of going let’s just try and be a bit broader in our overview of it all um I recognize that I’m trying to do that a lot as well I’m trying to think

To try and be as broadly reflective as possible um I’m genuinely worried that bush thousand will have protest certain quarters to the extent I’ve gone from wanting to go to being tentative uh I I don’t know I haven’t read or seen anything about that that’s uh hypothesis unless you’ve seen anything regarding

Def definitely doing that when people first start a parkr a good chunk won’t know about the extra stat side of things yep when you when you go to register parkr register Google do you go on the website and go through all the stats do

You deep dive into a website I I lots of said recently they were oblivious to the record list and most events table I’m guessing none of these were consulted before the changes took place yeah I just if they’re apparently doing the consultations and I don’t know if

Anybody who really was consulted I’m not saying that no one did but there seems to be a lot of people going I I saw and heard nothing uh thank you Danny finally talking uh sense um Russ Pays His mortgage and Russ is going to protect the business is if you’re a global

Charity you’re still a business in the end you still have to be sustainable financially as well uh everyone is welcome provided you fit our corporate ideal and then you’ve got Chris CLA rachek Helen R everyone is jumping on individual event pages and complaining yeah this is like I said the ripple

Effect um point that OE made in the park on adventur is about the lady in the 80s being motivated to come to parkr to see how our age grade was doing week on week his point was spot on lots of things to lots of people young and old absolutely

Sorry CLA yeah I know I’m talking to you individually and sometimes when I’m talking as respon to your comment it triggers me into conversations to the wider audience and it’s not always individual to you um I’m sorry the stats aren’t as readily available your own personal stats are still there such as

Your a age grade and certain dat hasn’t affected my reasons for Park rling yep no again absolutely I’m totally down with that as well um Callen barl uh sorry this is yeah Nick are you genuine about this I’ve seen you comment in certain places I’ve had enough tomorrow

Is my final Ever parkr After 79 and 436 volunteer occasions I’m fed up and feeling stressed by Park and HQ they just don’t care what some of us think you’ve been taken some of the fun away um I hopefully your love comes back for it Nick I hope that um the anger and

Everything abates and the annoyance and I hope that you do come back into it you do find the love for it again I empathize with you as someone who’s invested many many years into parkr like yourself I hope that you don’t stay away forever and you do come back because

Parkr is more than the organization at the top it is about the Saturday mornings with your friends and your loved ones and in and just living life in the moment and um and valuing that the limited the finite time that we have and recognizing that and knowing this two shall pass

That this is all temporary aggravation agitation nothing is permanent everything is temporary who knows where we’ll be six months down the line 12 months down the line there might be more um there might be more scandals Gates there might be a change in staff and infrastructure um there who knows what

Lies ahead there hopefully as long as parkon is protected um and I Nick if you have a break for a little bit I’d love to see you back um although to say parkr only exists for one reason is a bit presumptive that was referring back to Russ’s comment yeah exactly it is

Working in lots of absolutes the language is once again just the whole this is our decision live with it um where are we lots of people here uh Penny Simpson I don’t want to sound smug but I’m so grateful for my little dumbar number remote shelter backround where hardly anybody has

Noticed occurred about this stuff in the middle of Australia um can I come and live with you penny I’ve been contemplating big changes in my well I need to make big changes in my life anyway because I’ve got other things prioritizing going on I’m hinting at this at a variety different ways that

My priority is to be wanting something else in life but um that Park I probably I think doing all this is a preventing and impacting but um yeah Penny can we swap I’d love to come and live with you over it’s mount mount Clarence isn’t it Australia I want

To come and be with you um hey Danny hope you’re okay literally just joined yeah no I’m okay and just these things are spilling over in my brain and I hate it and I’m embroiled and I’m caught up in it all in the whpo of it and I don’t

Want to be anymore and I have that choice to just come out and walk away from it oh that’s why I took myself off of Twitter um it wasn’t having a positive impact NE negative on me and I thought what’s the point of doing it I’m

Wasting my time I’m wasting my time just seeing lots of stuff that’s bringing me down and I’m going straight to the phone what’s the what’s the not ification we all do this what’s the notification got to check the notification got to check the notification let’s live through our

Phones we’re forgetting about the life that goes on outside of our phone and our screens I recognize the irony of doing this while it’s on YouTube um people choose different ways to view the information the woman in her 80s might not read her emails not sure taking away

That choice was the right thing to do oh people talking about the 8-year-old lady Prince yes prch it would be a shame if you felt the need to walk away after 14 years please stay and enjoy the run or walk with friends and that’s back to

Nick um did you have a CLW thank you Katherine did Dolly have a claw stuck in the carpet we’ve been asked no so was just me she was just literally lying on her back meowing with her legs in the air lying on her back meowing with the legs in the air doly doly

Be um Wendy marks I think you summed up how a lot of us feel Danny I think I’ve summed up with how some of you uh definitely I mean you can see that a lot of people that do feel strongly about it even if there’s a thousand of you a

Thousand is still a proportion of the parking Community um thank you for doing the podcast over the years yeah thank you I know I I I enjoy trying to be a unbiased voice um I’m just pleased to still have a free in time 5K every Saturday morning everybody

Absolutely is as well yeah we want that to be protected massively missed it when we didn’t have it for 70 weeks and don’t want to take it for granted now absolutely I think a lot of people forgot about the fact that four years ago we were beginning to well we were a

Month away from losing it all for a year and a half um we’ve got it all back um I just don’t think it’s been steered in a particularly great Direction U there’s an almost an arrogance from H the potential new park Runners are nervous lonely couch potatoes there’s a massive

Presumption and assumption yeah this is a very valid point Chris when I started I couldn’t care less about sub 17 I didn’t intimidate me as it was a world away what I loved as a newcomer however was that there was a place for me and it’s something I could do I

Inclusive um yeah I do think they like to work in the stereotypes in terms of the whole we are athletic people telling um you poor fat people what to do we want to include you I think that’s the arrogance that comes across sometimes the tokenism I don’t like like that I

Just treat people for um who they are not what they are that’s that’s the way I try and live my life I don’t give a damn what you are but who you are matters to me if you’re a lovely person I think you’re fantastic I don’t care what you are if you’re an

[ __ ] you’re an [ __ ] regardless of what you are I I think that’s the one of the best absolutes you can have in life it shouldn’t matter what you are it’s should matter who you are it’s the color of your character and your personality um and then trying to Pigeon

Hold every body into like this person’s bad or this person needs this and this person needs that demographics and numbers and charts and you’re you’re dehumanizing by doing sort of like I say like say demographics abc1 and everything else it’s like there is an element to that but you’re basically

Trying to make people into numbers um and park is meant to be about not none of that it’s meant to be about doesn’t matter who you are you come along and enjoy it no matter what uh I don’t know maybe I stand in preachy Martin Morgan um I used to enjoy

Writing run reports I’m reluctant to know as I don’t want to get into monkey Waters but highlighting age grade of the day I I’d avoid that for a little bit Martin for now um protecting females in sport uh is the core of all this majority impacted uh I said in the Pod

This week that women have fought for their um space because men stopped women from taking part in sport in years you they’re treated like second class citizens you weren’t allowed to get changing golf clubs for God goodness sake running clubs used to get have to get changed in their car park and

Finally we’re getting a bit of um equity for women in sport and they’re saying look can we just have this protected please just please I I don’t think that’s totally unfair so at the moment you either basically you be call a misogynist or a feminist and this and

That and everything else and oh God Parr Park’s involved in it because it’s basically funded by a sporting governing body it’s has its roots in sport um I don’t believe any of that inclusive combating the fear of coming less stuff if true Park shouldn’t be treated like the modern School sports

Day I think we all know that this fix was actually apply to make Mara gate go away it was definitely accelerated James Helen rer passional Park Runners The Big Spenders though yes they are they don’t want to lose those you annoy those you annoy The Big Spenders you lo you lose a

Massive amount of your income you got to be careful is to while you’re busy trying to include new people if you peeve the people who are going to spend half their salaries and buy all the jackets all the umbrellas all the notches all the the mugs all the

Milestone t-shirts you annoy them you lose a massive in come uh Source they don’t do Park on forever anymore this you got to be careful um Chris isur parkr at ground level is amazing yep I just worry that us participants in the Fantastic core teams are being taken for granted I do

Sometimes wonder if they really really relate and respect do they truly understand uh all the noise on social media I was worried about going to parkon last week I went met out with friends yeah same with me Al I know what you’re going to say here before we even

Read it didn’t seem any any different whatsoever all of this is on online during the week uh fan there was a talk by Holocaust Survivor amazing none of this would have happened without parkr yeah absolutely none of this takes away what we’re all going to experience tomorrow morning hopefully you’re gonna

Have a fantastic time tomorrow morning I I know I’m gonna just go and have a lovely 5K uh with friends and tourists or wherever I go tomorrow um we’re all going to just end up going about our business running from point A to point B

Between 50 minutes and and an hour and a half um they gave everyone four weeks notice on the lead bike removal said Tim gallaga very good point they could have done the same on this stats gate if they removed them overnight the websites would crash uh copy stuff down yeah they

Didn’t want to give warning it all came all of a sudden didn’t it uh right importance of stats and neurod Divergent people absolutely I wish Park would have an opening on this conversation rather than these P this PR fluff statements um uh pH Park on cop out I

Recognize I don’t want also live in an echo chamber and feel like I’m just backing up my opinions and feelings everyone saying it’s all wrong I don’t want that to happen either I also know that Park can have an impossible task trying to please all the people all the

Time like I say there’s many core components there’s many elements you have certain people pulling certain strings in certain ways who are driving C driving the organization in a particular fashion that might not be done in by other people in a certain way um uh oh thank you Olivia I want to

Say a brilliant job what you’re doing Danny I know you don’t want to have it all on your shoulders but you do to an extent and I hope you’re able to take time to relax and enjoy other things yeah I I you’ll see I think you won’t see me around much

Longer um I hope the 5K app can continue to get their data yeah um yeah it would do Nikki yeah 5K app’s not going away anyway um parkon has a fundamental problem of organization HQ makes it very top down when it should be a support center for helping events do what they do

Brilliantly uh Olivia cap U as a slow Runner I love having milestones and things that represent my effort without being performance related it rewards consistency and keeping showing up which is fair for a lot of people the times are secondary to that absolutely um digging the Retro merch is Billy Peters

Thank you um not sure the letter changes Paul bunker uh changes anything in terms of perception yeah this is what I said earlier I agree Paul if you’ve missed me earlier yeah if you were thinking one way the letter basically you read it and go you said nothing to appease me and if

You agreed with Russ in the first place it enforced your opinion the letter didn’t do anything other than solidify one mindset or another um it was a com po yes is it still poor following the letter yes the social media of choices they’ve made like the history of the

Time trial and how many volunteer accounts is like just don’t post anything for a while um go away for a week let it blow over don’t just keep inflaming the scenario and will park with Park on HQ will do what we want there are elements that basically are

Really really forceful in their mindset and it will happen regardless um the very forthright they know best they know all the data they all the information um but don’t read the room Park increasingly thrives in spite of HQ not because of it I can live with it if that

Continues to be the case yeah because I think that yeah us is a commodity volunteers as a commodity as Park rers as a commodity I think sometimes are taken for granted they only have a position because of what exists beneath them uh hope Russ is watching

No no you might have some staff watching Russ don’t watch it I think he’s in Australia at the moment I know he was over in Sydney last week looks like people are doubling down on their love for what parkr stands for despite what it’s happening yeah good absolutely as

Well um R don’t watch some staff may watch it most people just see me as a thorn in the in the side once again I reiterate I know don’t create controversy I’m just responding to the controversy that’s created um L Bor I don’t understand why they haven’t just moved the course

Statistics to a separate section of each course page and people can choose to look at them or not rather than making that decision ision for everyone if age graders still including results emails and this is Lindsay Lindsay someone who doesn’t even participate in the 5K at all barely just like volunteers all the

Time um age graders still including results email it’s far more prominent than the core statistics on the website when I did my only park run well there you go I was disheartened by my age grade I don’t want to be compared against a word record time when I walk

In the course and that’s what nichel brought up as well yeah absolutely I think it’s far more damage n makes a fantastic point it’s far more damaging you to go are removing potential records from the site because we want to scare some people we believe exist away but if

You are participant and you don’t want to be compared to other people here’s an email comparing you mix messaging literally so if you’re new to it don’t want to put you off but if you’ve only done one part crime we now now we’ve got you we’re going to

Compare you and we’re going to validate you want to give you data that validates your all only 20% age grading you’re a bit rubbish on your first one aren’t you fantastic Point Lindsay why they didn’t change the emails as well I have no idea why they thought the keeping the emails was

Better oh it’s personal if anything it’s the impact that message sends with in that email which is which is just as bad they’ve assumed everything on the website and not cons considered the message they’re sending in the email itself I just the policy exchange report recommends the sport England level up

For female at Birth women and girls are on painal funding removal on pain of funding removal reacted by eliminating the stat right okay so this is I don’t know much about this I’m not going to talk about this but this is what Rob Rob is saying uh funding motivation policy exchange

Report recommends sport England level up for female at Birth does it recommend or sport England have to listen to them that female at Birth women and girls on pain of funding removal that’s recommending that’s not saying sport England will do that phq reacted by eliminating the stats rather than

Dressing the female at Birth issue that’s not sport England saying that again that’s the right-wing Think Tank if I’m not mistaken um Joshua styr on here unique perspective I lost my oldest son in 2021 his younger brother refused to run faster than his older brother had to

Avoid taking his H category records he was able to get past this when I showed him the H category history was that was a available now his legacy has been discarded entirely those stats meant something to some people why are these people being excluded to include another group doesn’t inclusion mean including

Everyone yep reiterating what I said absolutely earlier on thank you for that Joshua um right I realized I’m not going to get through all these comments um Linda Harley Gillespie the consult the consultation aspect completely lacks transparency who are asked were they asked a proper cross section what were

The questions yeah exactly who was asked how was it phrased the questioning was it slightly tilted in favor with the answers they wanted to get what were their responses um what is the sa Nation that’s been a bit saky um right we’ve been on for an

Hour I recognized I could stay here all day going around in a circle wow yeah I’m GNA go around and around in a circles and um sorry Danny thanks for being the voice of reason trying to explain the nuance and seeing all sides of the issue yeah I’m really trying to

Do that thank you Lis certain stats and tables n existed um big big comments look at the comments are massive while people feel so oted by this keeping the course records but making them less prominent is missing the point in my opinion if Park um if Park presents his

State an official capacity at all the community events teams will make them prominent by celebrating New records this is what new parkr is see not the data on the website but they get in the email Alex they get it in the email as well but also did you ever see the

Reactions Alex to when it was done it was celebrated it was always celebrated people never said this is offputting and scary okay they’re not going to say oh this is offputting and scary but the many people also said celebr and when you go on that social media and you see

People going this is fantastic and amazing people literally saying I’m at the back and I’m inspired by people going past me that’s literally saying I’m will be at the back with you being inspired by the people at the front I I can I can see the point that it might be off

Putting for some but not all again it’s it’s that I see the ideal the ideology again I don’t necessarily believe this was the Prime reason for them doing it now there was an accelerent going on um of course people can still get the data I think it was a

Right move by Park to not support this in their FAL capacity I absolutely understand that if you remove any table or League like I said it’s not the Premier League I said it in the Pod that um you remove competitive elements and it makes people uh naturally become

Aggressive and people need to have some perspective on that but some people had a healthy relationship with it some people had a toxic relationship with it um I just thought that maybe of other been been other pragmatic or lack of consistency over what was actually applied as well um Dylan Burns

Potentially controversial opinion but depends on what you’re about to say you got lots of swear words in it if you really care about stats uh course records these are still available on the 5K app parking of to the developer they aren asking him to remove anything yep I

Think I said this earlier uh stats are still easily accessible I still think this is a massive mistake yeah the 5K app is private the 5K app like I say it’s not going anywhere um massive Mistake by parkon because 98% of people haven’t realized the stats are still

Accessible yeah I don’t don’t think that’s controversial at all you’re allowed to have your opinion Dylan by any means that’s what I think people are frightened of having their opinions without actually being uh they’re not even being nasty they’re like I just have a general opinion might not go with

The the crowd and have a perfectly valid opinion and I think that overwatching fear and censorship is a bit something to be worried about anyway fast running article sums it up best me yep if you haven’t seen it going see the fast running article about them being very

Pragmatic about it all little put out of first now okay with it faster run I do use races I think it’s all going to blow over in the end couple of weeks forward uh we’ll all have other focuses and other things to worry about um but this

Has left a stain this has a has left a stain on park run and people’s feelings toward it I rarely Run Park run flat out these days enjoy it much more as I enjoy chat to people I think that people’s energies are going to fade out and phase

Away and then Park go look we were right just to ride out of this storm we were we were okay told you down the line um no I I think you’ve you’ve dinged your car in this this sense Penny Simpson yeah mount Clarence you’re very very welcome uh parkr wise

Blissful I’ll see you there soon Penny um Michael bla I take great Solace from your comment in your pod this week you’re an Ardent Arsenal supporter no matter how much you hate the current management oh no no no not now I love the sorry in the past I love the I love

The current arsal management my metaphor for football it doesn’t affect the love for your team that has helped me meet immensely this week after disgraceful treatment of current Park runers volunteers by the H professionals soorry yeah just as a metaphor not not just solely for Arsenal I think you can do

That as a football club like reading at the moment reading is really badly managed and like financially really badly managed fantastic football club um being deducted points all the pan pans all the passionate fans are there going this is horrendous and they’re very angry about it and people can go if you

Don’t like it just walk away go and support someone else no that’s not the way it works if you’re going to create tribal uh elements and make a community say look we all for everybody create the community if people then get tired of how their Community is being managed

They have every right to say if you’re part of a country and you don’t like the government you’re allowed to vote them out and this is what’s happening right now it’s a case of like this decisions being made going look you’re part of our tribe and we’ve done something and some

People go we don’t agree with this um but sometimes they’ll be like that and sometimes you’ll be really happy with your Club you’ll be super happy with your club and other times you’re going to be very unhappy and my Arsenal thing was that I think some years ago um yeah

We went through a bit of a dodgy patch uh and but now management is grand and I’m I think Park will be the same it’ll be all okay I do Russ Jeffy is an Arsenal fan I do wonder if he sees himself as like a michar Teta character

I do do Wonder uh Danny speak so much sense thank you um ever fancied your arm in politics I would just fancy myself in a nice calm job to be honest with you Monday to Friday away from all the stresses and strains uh where I can go

And live a normal life uh and have a family life etc etc Mike Clark should the logo be changed to add a little man with an ax [Laughter] yeah Alis 90% of Park Runners w’t even realize there been a change absolutely social media does give us a very skewed

View of things but yeah once again proportions if you have the proportion of people who go to park R run don’t give a damn go home again absolutely but you mustn’t it’s a pyramid isn’t it never never forget about this top you run directors event directors and your passionates they’re very

Important park at the top and then all the park rers at the bottom but if you lose this bit um new with me now merch along the lines of dolly or Bev lovely person [ __ ] I need to put a swear mark on this don’t I anyway um I would love to think parkon

Is nonjudgmental what other event can a Granddad run with their grandson granddaughter and give a mutual respect for other respective achievement I think parkon is death overall absolutely right um uh sorry not the lovely Danny Park HQ um right okay let’s wind this up going to have your lunch if you’re not already

Had it Martin the last few comments I tell you one thing I can never get through these comments in time can I I also think the ability of running with these worldclass runners in parkrun whilst being a slow Runner or a walker is way more inclusive than hiding their

Records away for where else you’re able to be with professionals on the same course at the same time I used to love that used to love that this is the whole thing this has happened since the days of son Sullivan Craig mum then Andy badley and if people were

Put off why are the numbers going to again the metrics don’t quite add up um I understand you want to try and be as appealing as all but what detriment to what other part of your community is it an impossible uh scales and balance you can’t please all people all the

Time uh Stephanie cook readed thanks for saying that stats matter to some people so it matters it starting to feel a bit like yeah I don’t want you guys to have your opinions just kicked out just because if you even express an interest in a time and age grade or record you

Get slapped down whether it’s a run not a race yeah no I amum I’m I’m of the belief it’s not a run sorry I believe it’s not a race it’s a run and I’ve learned that because i’ I was looking at my Facebook earlier and I’ve got oh oh

Winning and racing and all that sort of stuff and I’ve been there doing it all but there were tangible differences there’s no prizes in everything else but as long as you have that perception and what you use the motivation as long as you’re quite introspective about it and

Quite full of humility about it that’s fine Ole gar the most first finishes guy he was very introspective and very balanced with it all lovely guy lovely lovely smart guy but he wasn’t going around going I’m the most first finisher I’m the best I’m the greatest athlete

Ever some people do have the attitude that I’m better than everyone else because I beat an eight-year-old or a five-year-old going round or a person walking around with a dog I won my Park r with 30 people in the middle of nowhere um it’s do you know again it’s

That subtle balance of how you treat the data um I’m aware but I like the recording of time and betterment of self and now I’m not showing up here for the the cake like I’m in a youth club for adults I enjoy moving with other people

On mass regularly trying to move as best I can you can see that on every start line you get people up there who are flexing their legs doing the war doing the bounce is going right I’m going to run as hard as I can because that’s how

They want to treat it uh paron forever um if you do go be massively Miss says Lois absolutely must do what is right for you and your loved ones yeah I’ll be around for a little while yet but let’s not pretend I will not be sat here time

Going over the next gate that happens um Park on a smaller back then volume lower next controls be louder than this one still the same percentage of par population making the noise at each other as each other each time it depends on what it is Luke that’s massively

Assumptive I think sometimes you if you hit on a particular subject matter that’s going to really resonate and generate a lot of opinions and feelings it depends you look at how it happened egg gate affected uh vegans and vegans are rightly upset as far as I’m concerned about it the way that their

Their opinions were rightly poo pooed some of them were were too militant about it and therefore everybody got lumped in and then it became like an embroiled argument that’s happened uh dog gate again some more portion of the par Community got affected the leads um opinions slightly poo pooed and

Everything else and there’s arguments about it and of course where’s the data and everything else that was the same thing now it stats affects more people and then the next thing that comes along if it’s going to be big and controversial I think is going to affect more people even

Proportionately um I’m not saying I know anything that’s coming but I just think that as an organization organization grows the controversies that really kick off are going to get bigger and bigger and um it depends on how they negate those Waters Daniel day I wouldn’t exactly say I’m one of the fastest ever

Runners I’m regularly near the front I also do many miles before and after park run surprisingly last Saturday I found out there were many more people saying hi and being friendly maybe showing some of the love to the speedia folk hopefully being inclusive to or

More i’ I’ve been a speedy guy I’ve been there I can empathize I’m mid pack at the moment yeah I I’ve been there I’ve been in the position this is why I I think I try and bring so much of the time and the value and wisdom as I’ve

Grown as a human being and the fact that I’ve put myself in these positions that I’ve learned everything about the organization that I’ve tried to do everything I’ve been a run director of 900 people at bushy I have been an event director of a junior event I’ve toil

Walked done every single role um and then I try and lend my wisdom and experience to this whole thing without about trying to bring people together because I haven’t invested so much time into it I don’t want to see it go away I just when you have a concern about how

It’s being led and how it’s being managed you have every right to voice it and I think that there there are personal effects within Park and HQ that are not aren’t doing as good a job as they could do that’s my opinion they can absolutely ignore it they will ignore it

Well done on your hard work 72 Love stats in my age grade that’s gone sad disconnect between HQ and Grassroots needs to be addressed um I think there’s a bit of a them and us um T Walker bedont Lakes tomorrow says gex enjoy wishing everyone a happy Park

Tomorrow yes same I’m going to I’m really a’t going to go now Olivia I’m win 99.9% of people only look at the email as well the park on website is clunky people interested in their personal time i’ love to see an op in for age

Grade that the gdpr thing as well I find a bit interesting I think there are a lot of gdpr experts out there going the search engine function doesn’t quite stack up they could have done other things with that I’m not quite convinced about the search engine stuff about not

Being protecting certain things I think you can have opt-ins opt outs there are technical measures that could have been taken I think some of the stuff that were being spoonfed when you drill down into it doesn’t quite make sense and people go stop questioning don’t be argumentative you’re like no I’m just

Asking some logical questions that aren’t being addressed doesn’t quite add up um and I think what can happen in a cult is if you dare to ask questions you’re seen as a bad influence like just you know what I’m just asking a genuine question that should have an an easy

Answer to um even if you agreed the speed of change without any communication makes no sense yep yep uh Sam Spade could they make aade opt out by default on they could do lots of technical things I think with a lot of this stuff rather than actually just the button I the

Phrase I used was a nuclear button I knew they’d go nuclear on it I I said this I said that they are going to avoid all the contentious matters uh regarding all this by hitting the nuclear button and they’ve made things contentious by doing it they backed themselves into a

Corner this was always going to happen this was inevitable it was the choice they had to make the way they put themselves um lindsy bar if this is the reason to remove barriers or new park Runners particularly those who aren’t Physically Active uh I never going getting on on

Off this Ami um focusing on making sure that every event teams aren’t packing away the final before everyone has completed the course yeah boils my piss Lindsay when I hear about that when teams start to pack away a funnel even if it’s quite small before um tail

Walkers come in horrid must be horrid to see that happening when you’re coming in wanting to feel be treated equally to find that you’re coming in and they’re packing stuff away like you don’t count like you’re a hindrance teams that P pack away their funnel completely before everyone’s come in no no

Don’t um how comes the 5K up can still access the stats good question Lise uh Shane snowolf um Park is a race a race against yourself can we address this for the billionth time a noun and a verb are different things right and I agree you can raise

Yourself right if we understand the difference between a race and a run and the race is where a bib and a timing clock and prizes and podiums and medals and everything else it’s you’re compete and competing if I don’t race in a race I treat it like a training run it

Doesn’t make that event a training run it still is a rac’s event parkon is trying to make that Difference by saying look we’re not one of those now it’s down to perception and again just because you perceive something doesn’t make it so but it’s trying to understand the subtle nuances and

Differences because parkon has similarities to it you can’t run in a race with a dog on a lead you can’t take a kid in a buggy round most of races on the road there are many things you can’t do but you can do within park run um you

Don’t have a timing clock at Park run even though you have timers there are lots of sort differences a bus is not a car even though it has a steering wheel and some wheels and some seats and maybe a boot and an Eng it’s all about trying to be as

Broadminded as possible regarding all this I think again even the black and white issue is it is a race I think it’s a race it’s not a race because I don’t race it that’s what sort of causing a lot of this division to right sorry guys an hour 20 is way

Way too long I’m going to read all your comments afterwards Roger Pangborn very quickly hello mate would be interesting if a 5K app developer managed to replicate everything that’s gone again 5K app I will repeat again is going to come into its own uh Helen spillsbury all apparently the name with increasing

Participation I wonder if Park HQ have ever considered there might be actually a seing to the number of participants Park can realistically accommodate um no I think well there’s a long way to go yet before it even B against Plateau I do think certain events having lots of people pour into

Them um like clap and common and Southampton deals with it really well clap and common um and toting especially when they hit a thousand it does become very very tight um they want to double attendance in the next five years this is something out said in the Pod you may

Not have heard it Helen my concern is that they’re always and busy trying to get everybody to go to park run they’re forgetting that they don’t quite have the solid foundations and the infrastructure in place live in the field to cope with it for example they’re not fully helping teams

Understand double final um stuff they’re not putting that message out there for the big events they’re not helping regarding that as events become massive they need to then manage it more don’t duck out a funnel to understand this why um Amy Rose’s thing really resonated that it got shared by 300 different

Places when they did the whole how to behave in the funnel don’t duck out don’t lose a token that was so successful because it was needed teams loved it HQ didn’t do it they’re too busy trying to get people in you’re like can we just make sure you you have your

Logistics at play and Foundations all okay first before you go and pour everybody in um yeah I think that that’s something I’ve said publicly many times it’s it’s great to have more people just make sure that people can cope the volunteers can cope I should say I say

Volunteers can cope I keep trying to do difference I am one um the more events in area seems to lead to increase in last minute volunteer appeals that’s what I seen locally anyway it depends again that’s parochial yeah not across the board does happen in certain places not saying it

Doesn’t happen with ugy but it’s not across the board it depends very nuanced geography is very nuanced um uh take my support right I’m really sorry guys because I want to go if you don’t mind um come back and listen at some point um thank you for another

Great Vlog just enjoy have fun over 500 is too many well said um I’ll just keep plugging away I keep I’ll get to my thousand uh in three years or whatever uh yeah that’s it have is that right thank you guys um I’m done and I don’t talk about this anymore we’ll

Touch upon it in the Pod next week if you listen to it uh the subject matter as far as I’m concerned it’s going to be on online on social media a little bit more longer for the coming weeks and as you can tell there is no solution to this people are

Still feeling very strongly one way or another it’s an ongoing debate it it exists outside of park run um and I think that we have a long way to go before uh anything really settles but um yeah eventually well water goes under that bridge in time doesn’t it they will

It’ll be solved in the end anyway hope you have a lovely Park Grand day tomorrow um yeah go have a nice Li down I’m not I’m going to go for a run I need to go for a long Sunday run I’m going to go for a long Sunday Run peoples uh

Thank you to everybody that listens and supports us uh and I’m glad that we could be here for a um an outlet and a voice for you all anyway take care love you all enjoy Park Grand tomorrow see you bye