Parkrun..

robinph · 12-03-2020 08:19PM

Seems that everywhere apart from the UK is cancelled.

Edit: Well nearly everywhere :

*** UPDATE - 19.50 GMT Thursday 12 March 2020 ***

Cancelled up to the end of March:

Denmark
Finland
France
Germany
Ireland
Italy
Netherlands
Norway
Poland
Sweden
USA

Murph_D · 12-03-2020 08:47PM

I know parkrun is relatively autonomous, but if the powers that be have Cheltenham and Anfield packed to the rafters, parkrun is hardly in their sights.

robinph · 12-03-2020 09:13PM

They can't afford the bad publicity of being the event that ignores government advice in most of those countries where they are still trying to be noticed as a great thing.

Insect Overlord · 12-03-2020 09:19PM

Runners are a friendly bunch. Hugs, handshakes, and high fives before, during and after runs. Sweat and spit and snot-rockets all along the course. We might be healthy enough to deal with it, but the logic is in preventing the possible spread of germs to other folks we meet afterwards.

Murph_D · 12-03-2020 09:35PM

Actually, I thought there was a notable reduction in snot rockets, golliers, hacking and coughing last week in Bohermeen. Good to see a bit of consideration!

pc11 · 12-03-2020 10:09PM

Panic has won. Logic has lost.

If supermarkets, bars, restaurants, offices and public transport are open, then some small local runs are simply irrelevant.

Burkie1203 · 12-03-2020 10:41PM

pc11 wrote: »

Panic has won. Logic has lost.

If supermarkets, bars, restaurants, offices and public transport are open, then some small local runs are simply irrelevant.

If your barcode scanning or handing out tokens youncould have direct contact with 100s of people who have been sweating, wiping their face etc. It's common sense and appropriate

People can still get out and run themselves.

robinph · 12-03-2020 11:29PM

Burkie1203 wrote: »

If your barcode scanning or handing out tokens youncould have direct contact with 100s of people who have been sweating, wiping their face etc. It's common sense and appropriate

People can still get out and run themselves.

Doesn't take much to avoid that contact though. Pair of gloves for the token hander outer, scanners don't need to touch tokens, the runners then drop them in a bucket after scanning and the RD throws them in the sink when they get home.

Van.Bosch · 12-03-2020 11:38PM

All park runs cancelled for March

Sunny Dayz · 12-03-2020 11:41PM

Are they still going ahead in Northern Ireland?

rainbow kirby · 12-03-2020 11:49PM

Sunny Dayz wrote: »

Are they still going ahead in Northern Ireland?

Yep, administered by parkrun UK.

Burkie1203 · 13-03-2020 07:26AM

robinph wrote: »

Doesn't take much to avoid that contact though. Pair of gloves for the token hander outer, scanners don't need to touch tokens, the runners then drop them in a bucket after scanning and the RD throws them in the sink when they get home.

Your taking about changing the normal behaviour pattern of 100s of people in a 20-30 minutes timeframe. It sucks but its sensible call. If even one person contracted covid19 via a parkrun visit and it became public knowledge the organisers would be crucified on SM.

It can also make contact tracing tricky if one person contracts the virus and there is 20-30 "unknown" runners.

wirelessdude01 · 13-03-2020 07:28AM

pc11 wrote: »

Panic has won. Logic has lost.

If supermarkets, bars, restaurants, offices and public transport are open, then some small local runs are simply irrelevant.

Bars and restaurants will be ordered to shut within the next fortnight. Mark my words.

Burkie1203 · 13-03-2020 09:03AM

pc11 wrote: »

Panic has won. Logic has lost.

If supermarkets, bars, restaurants, offices and public transport are open, then some small local runs are simply irrelevant.

Not really. People running will be sweating, wiping face etc. The very thing that allows this to transmit is saliva etc. Major races all over are being cancelled or postponed.

Govt department public offices are being closed for the forseeable with a few exceptions such as Social Protection.

robinph · 13-03-2020 10:30AM

Burkie1203 wrote: »

Not really. People running will be sweating, wiping face etc. The very thing that allows this to transmit is saliva etc. Major races all over are being cancelled or postponed.

Govt department public offices are being closed for the forseeable with a few exceptions such as Social Protection.

It's a lung infection. Do they normally get transmitted through sweat?

Being in close proximity to others is a risk, but other than at the start line where everyone is just looking at someone elses back people really are not in that much contact with anyone else during a race. You are outside, all running the the same direction and all breathing in the same direction and breathing in fresh air.

Go hang around in a busy bar and your all on top of one another for far longer, breathing the same air and interacting with far more people than you are during a running race.

adrian522 · 13-03-2020 12:20PM

robinph wrote: »

It's a lung infection. Do they normally get transmitted through sweat?

Being in close proximity to others is a risk, but other than at the start line where everyone is just looking at someone elses back people really are not in that much contact with anyone else during a race. You are outside, all running the the same direction and all breathing in the same direction and breathing in fresh air.

Go hang around in a busy bar and your all on top of one another for far longer, breathing the same air and interacting with far more people than you are during a running race.

People should not be either running races or hanging around in a busy bar. Correct decision to cancel all events for the moment.

Burkie1203 · 13-03-2020 12:40PM

robinph wrote: »

It's a lung infection. Do they normally get transmitted through sweat?

Being in close proximity to others is a risk, but other than at the start line where everyone is just looking at someone elses back people really are not in that much contact with anyone else during a race. You are outside, all running the the same direction and all breathing in the same direction and breathing in fresh air.

Go hang around in a busy bar and your all on top of one another for far longer, breathing the same air and interacting with far more people than you are during a running race.

Sweating, meaning people start touching their face etc. Then they take their parkrun barcode out to be scanned by handing it to someone. All 150 to 500 people literally have to go through a funnel to one person dishing out tokens and a few more scanning.

robinph · 13-03-2020 12:45PM

Burkie1203 wrote: »

Sweating, meaning people start touching their face etc. Then they take their parkrun barcode out to be scanned by handing it to someone. All 150 to 500 people literally have to go through a funnel to one person dishing out tokens and a few more scanning.

No need for the person handing out tokens to touch people or to touch the tokens with the use of a pair of gloves. No need for the people scanning to touch peoples barcodes or finish tokens.

Yes there are risks, but not any more than paying for your latte on the way to work or spending the day sat in an air conditioned office next to someone.

Skid X · 13-03-2020 01:51PM

robinph wrote: »

No need for the person handing out tokens to touch people or to touch the tokens with the use of a pair of gloves. No need for the people scanning to touch peoples barcodes or finish tokens.

Yes there are risks, but not any more than paying for your latte on the way to work or spending the day sat in an air conditioned office next to someone.

These are not normal times

Parkrun would be perceived as reckless if they had gone ahead when every other sporting organisation in the country has taken action

Media and Social Media would not look favourably on it. Sponsors and participants could quickly withdraw support.

Emotions are high - Hard earned Goodwill could disappear over a single cluster of local infections traced back to an individual Parkrun and the brand could become toxic in Ireland

No brainer to cancel.

Burkie1203 · 13-03-2020 01:57PM

robinph wrote: »

No need for the person handing out tokens to touch people or to touch the tokens with the use of a pair of gloves. No need for the people scanning to touch peoples barcodes or finish tokens.

Yes there are risks, but not any more than paying for your latte on the way to work or spending the day sat in an air conditioned office next to someone.

Its not the one person who hands out tokens or scanning that is the issue. It's the 150 200 250 or 300 participants who all have to be aware of that too changing the normal routine. Of course its an added risk. Idiotic to think otherwise. These are participants who are running Breathing heavy, sweating wiping face etc.

Parkrun have made the only decision they could in the circumstances. It's common sense

robinph · 13-03-2020 02:06PM

It is absolutely the right thing to cancel parkruns where the government advice is around stopping public gatherings. That is down to the bad publicity that would come parkruns way 100%. There isn't any need for parkrun UK to make the call to cancel though when the actual risks are minimal compared to everything else still happening in the country and there is no requirement to from government policies.

parkrun is an insignificant social gathering compared to what else people will be doing during the next week.

average_runner · 13-03-2020 04:15PM

Time will tell who has made the right call. I have more faith in Leo than Looney Tune Boris

robinph · 13-03-2020 04:38PM

average_runner wrote: »

Time will tell who has made the right call. I have more faith in Leo than Looney Tune Boris

Absolutely, but there was nothing from yesterdays announcements that seemed to have come from Johnson. He totally deferred to the experts for a change and they had good justification for their choices.

Time will tell, but not certain it makes a whole lot of difference what you do this week, but what you do this week may affect what you can do in a months time.

Skill Magill · 13-03-2020 05:02PM

You could run a freedom course? Haven’t done one but it looks like you do a course and record your own time.
https://www.parkrun.com/runner/freedom/?Ath=3715763&Conf=daa10d216a8c1371c219&utm_medium=email&utm_source=resultsemail&utm_campaign=systememail

Reg'stoy · 13-03-2020 06:00PM

Was due to do my 100th tomorrow, had been holding off actually reaching the 100 so herself and a few friends could join me, but absolutely the correct decision.

I'll continue with training for Cork but fully expect it to be delayed/cancelled.

rainbow kirby · 13-03-2020 06:16PM

Shockingly enough, I'm still able to go to a hugely busy run tomorrow if I want... I'm debating whether to go to busy Stretford or quieter Burnage.

jimmii · 13-03-2020 08:19PM

rainbow kirby wrote: »

Shockingly enough, I'm still able to go to a hugely busy run tomorrow if I want... I'm debating whether to go to busy Stretford or quieter Burnage.

Same. I had intended to go for a PB at the edinbrugh run and that got almost 700 last weekend. Nicola has asked for events over 500 people that could effect the emergency services to be cancelled from Monday so as far as they feel theres no reason not to go ahead. Think I'll still go to my local one as it normally only gets around 60.

robinph · 13-03-2020 08:30PM

Going to find a quieter event ourselves, but because we much prefer them and we don't have to rush back for other kids activities like normal. Have a 20 mile race on Sunday also so intending to take it a bit easier than most weeks.

KJ · 13-03-2020 10:01PM

I forgot to post to say that last week I was first finisher for the first time ever! Also, with events cancelled for the rest of the month, does that make me the March Champion for my local parkrun?

Tigerandahalf · 13-03-2020 11:05PM

Could parkrun have continued but have no timing in place plus no cafe afterwards? If this shutdown continues for longer than a couple of weeks people are going to have awful cabin fever. Junior parkruns could continue as well. Kids could really need to burn off the energy.

So many races and events in general have been cancelled.

On the other hand you see the Arsenal manager possibly picking it up from a brief encounter with the Greek Olympiakos soccer team manager who has tested positive.

Can it be transmitted from people just breathing in and out rather than sneezing etc?

Parkrun..

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