Parkrun - etiquette?

[Valcart]

Only done 1 parkrun with about 400 runners (still not used to including myself). Anyway, I could hear the speedy runners coming up behind me and I wondered if there was an unwritten rule about which side of the track I should keep to?

[Bazza1234 Graduate10]

Where I live it is " Keep to the left!" Actually our local pr is an out and back type course - so we have the situation whereby the frontrunners running fast meet the slower runners face to face - and so "keep to the left" is really important from a safety point of view, not just etiquette

[Millsie-J in reply to Bazza1234]

Same for us, keep to the left. Ours ..... well the closest...,is a two lap but we veer to the left and extra bit at the end of first lap, and then to the right end of second lap to the funnel. So beware running on the right and expecting to veer left as those fast , but polite, runners come up for their finish! Its a definite no no! Keep left.

[Valcart in reply to Bazza1234]

I think I'd prefer an out and back course but the one I did was 3 laps. Lots of overtaking going on- not by me!

[Madge50 Graduate10]

Ours is a 'keep left' too as you get lapped on the latter part of it, plus we share the park with other users, so a general politeness prevails....😊.....as you would on any footpath really.....

Mx

[davelinks Graduate10]

No, not really, but just be mindful that faster runners will want to through a bend the shortest way round..

[Hidden]

Our parkrun is two laps so keeping to the left whilst fast runners zoom by on the right.

[RebeccaSK]

Ours is keep left. I got very cross on mine today. I'm very slow - and each week I've got slower - but the last bit of the route is on a path. As I'm slow the vast majority of the runners have finished and are going home by the time I come up to the last bit - where you run past the finish line and do another lap around a field. This morning there was a group of gossiping women (sorry, but I'm still annoyed about it) slowly walking out of the park and taking up the entire path. Did they move for me? No they did not. Not until my "excuse me" and my trying to move around them totally took me out of my rhythm did they step aside and force me through a tiny gap between them. I struggled to find my pace after that and ended up finishing only 30 seconds or so off my PB. I won't complain, that's not the nature of Parkrun, but I am still a a bit sore about it!

[Valcart]

Quite right to be cross! Well done for keeping going. I'll remember about keeping left on my next park run, thanks for the info.

[CookieM]

I wondered about that as I was running today - people generally seemed to overtake on both sides!! I tried to keep to the left as that was the outside of most bends and turns, but not everyone did (and some people not doing the Parkrun were running along the path in the opposite direction - most confusing!)....

[Hidden]

Thats helpful. I am new to parkrun and keep being overtaken though occasionally I'm the one overtaking!! Keeping to the edge also lets room for buggies - having been overtaken by two double buggies pushed by speedy runners that's important too

[Realfoodieclub Graduate10]

Parkrun and events I always keep to the left. I think we have a natural decision process in this country to overtake on the right.

[Valcart]

I tried to keep to the left but sometimes felt I was still in the way of the speedy ones but will think more about which way the bends in the track go and keep that in mind as well.

[Millsie-J in reply to Valcart]

Be careful doing that, the person about to overtake wont read your mind and you may not hear them approach.

[Theziggy]

It should be 'keep to the left' but this should be announced during the pre-race talk (it isn't in ours and there are 3 laps - and the quick runners have to shout at people - who, because they are wearing headphones/earbuds don't hear then)

[Valcart]

I realised it wasn't announced at the park run I did and wondered if it was an unwritten rule. Makes sense to keep left as far as possible and I realise my headphones do dull the sound of thundering feet behind me but I need the rock music still to keep me going to the end of the 3 laps.

[Maddee_6333 Graduate10]

My local run has a keep to the right rule, but it should be part of the briefing before you set off, I think.

[ju-ju- Graduate10]

The speedy ones are supposed to start at the front!! We have a rule that we run on the left so that cyclists/ walkers etc can pass.... however other runners should be respectful of your space and pace

[Cliff_H Graduate10]

Ive done two different ones, both were 'Keep left'

[boogie991]

Keep to the left seems to be the norm when running an anticlockwise course. However, we should bear in mind, whether faster or slower, that these are "fun", inclusive events which include people not only running super fast, but run/walking, walking, and sometimes with pushchairs or dogs

I tend to keep to the left as a general rule, but don't overthink where I should be on the course. It's there for all of us - equally, fast ot slow...so just enjoy.

[KarinJR Graduate10]

I wonder if this is the same for Canada (or other countries where we drive on the other side of the road) where it's habit to stay in the right lane to let people pass on the left?

[Lavender1962 Graduate10 in reply to KarinJR]

At our parkrun in Montreal, Canada the runners keep to the right of the path as we do when driving. I’ve done 2 others in Canada which were also the same.