I know I shouldn't moan, I have had a great day and my event was lovely, the weather was perfect, the road was flat and the atmosphere was invigorating and it was free, so why dare I moan. It was 4.57km instead of 5km. It was in a park that does park run so there should be a proper course marked out for a 5km that they could of replicated.
I made the call to do speed walk today and I was on course for a fabulous PB with speed walking but alas as I went through the finish gate i turned my watch off before I realised It was so short. The only consolation I have it I have a PB for 1km time of 8.24 which for speed walking and me was a good pace.
Sorry if I sound ungrateful, I really am not, it's just it would of been so easy to check it and just move the finish line. That all aside a good morning out.
Written by
Realfoodieclub
Graduate10
To view profiles and participate in discussions please or .
My local park run is also short. I have mentioned it and been met with a smiley shrug and a 'Yes, we know'. Don't understand why so many people don't seem to think this is an issue.
Does the route make 'people sense' even if it doesn't make GPS sense? ie are there real features to the route that create it at that distance. If not, it would indeed seem a bit perverse. But I quite often run just that bit short of 5K and don't do organised running, so I don't quite have the same attachment to the distance. Although I always do feel that little bit more satisfied by eg 30 minutes, 5k, 10k.
I can understand the disappointment at missing out on a PB you were chasing.
It started and finished in a enclosure around the route, I think they could of added a bit more in without changing the route at all. Normally it dosent bother me but I do go the extra for events as the buzz pushes me further than I can push myself.
It is frustrating when you think you are doing 5k and in fact it is less, especially as you could have easily carried on for a bit longer. Take heart though if you have achieved that time once, I am sure you will achieve it again 🙌🙌
I once did a 10k race that was a bit short and it really bugged me because my garmin gave me a different distance. If I'd had the space I would have kept on running across the finish line! But yours was quite a way short actually. Next time, you can keep running to get to 5K 😊
I've done that before and I didn't half get some funny looks I was running around in circles for what seemed ages after a fun run to log my 5km PB. I'd turned my watch of before I realised today otherwise I might just of done the same 😀.
That's annoying RFC. Yes I like a 5k to be a 5k too... our HM today was .04 km short too! Just looked up my other previous one and it was .1 km too long!😕
I'm not sure I could forgive a short HM, it's not like you do that distance often. I have only every done it on an event and if I didn't get the HM on my Garmin records I would of been so upset.
I agree totally . I did a run the other week organized by a well known sports chain that was billed as a 5k. As I was approaching the finishing line my Garmin said 4.3k ! I was a bit miffed because the time was showing 30 minutes and I thought I had at last reached my Holy Grail - a 30 minute 5k ! Alas, it was not to be . The organisers did come clean after though and admitted it was short .
I don't get it, if youre going to advertise it as a 5k , at least make sure it is - Pah , grumble over ! xxx
Doesn't worry me at all really!! Because -- the GPS's are not in themselves completely accurate!!! - and distance measured depends on how you run the course ( ie do you "curve" around it or "run the tangents" ). Parkruns are supposed to be measured with a wheel - but they are after all not a race - but a run in the park with friends. Two things do matter to me - what is my average pace during a training run - and what is the time I got when crossing the line of a properly accredited race? Unaccredited races are only approximate too
I discovered at around the 17 klm mark of my recent accredited HM that my Garmin was running short in distance and hence was telling me a slightly faster average pace during the previous 17 klms. I discovered that because, when I passed the official 17 KLm marker, Mr Garmin said that I had traveled 17.2 klms!!! This was a bit of a disaster because I was hoping to just squeeze in under the 2 hours 30 mark and working on what Garmin had been telling me, I would cross in around 2:28 - and a quick recalculation in my head after the realisation told me that it was going to be a LOT closer than that, maybe some seconds over!!! So, I had to pour on the coals over the last nearly 5K - and that HURT!!!! Managed the 2:28!!! Just as well I can do mental arithmetic while running!!!
You know it is one thing I'm very strict with myself, I see people cutting corners but I never do, I work on the principal why cheat myself! I know gps can go out a bit and I did a run city of London with the weirdest gps readings but it seemed pretty settled today. I'm always calculating as I run, so many things we find out we can do with this running lark.
Oh, I agree, Rfc, it's not fair! I've done a couple of events that have been advertised as 5k but that didn't come up as that on my Garmin, which I tend to think is probably more accurate. I understand that I may not have followed the exact line of the course, but some of them are quite a bit shorter - like nearly half a kilometre shorter, and that annoys me no end! If I remember, I check my watch so I can keep running, but sometimes in the excitement I forget so I have stopped and then I realise I haven't done 5k or whatever and am disappointed
One of my Parkrun course lengths differs slightly from my Garmin, so which would be most accurate? Parkrun measured with a wheel or gps?
Last Saturday at Parkrun I spotted the runner in front of me cut a corner, I shouted at him about what had happened but he appeared not to hear me, seemed to be in his own world, so I just let it go and went around the corner cone. I later emailed Parkrun about it when I got home, but had no response from them on it, maybe I should have told the run director immediately after the run, but didn't think it was vital,but that runner is still cheating in a way, getting a false time..but I know they have a shortage of volunteers at the moment hence the lack of a marshal at the corner..😊
I would say measured with a wheel would be more accurate, but in all honesty you never know with human error. My last HM I saw many people cutting corners off, I don't get it. I suppose for me if I did it I'm only cheating myself and my own records but it makes a big difference if your at the front of the pack, you don't see Mo Farah cutting the corners, it would be so noticeable if he just cut across the stadium and missed a corner, same thing in my mind.
Content on HealthUnlocked does not replace the relationship between you and doctors or other healthcare professionals nor the advice you receive from them.
Never delay seeking advice or dialling emergency services because of something that you have read on HealthUnlocked.