Is Parkrun running scared of wokery?
I LOVE Parkrun with a passion. I think it is the best health-promoting sports initiative I have come across in my long life.
It ticks so many boxes — the camaraderie and pleasure it brings to thousands is a joy in itself.
There has been an issue, of late, regarding female course records being claimed by people who are transgender. This is a thorny subject. However, Parkrun has taken the easiest and most detrimental way out by abolishing course records for everybody who takes part. Parkrun helps people achieve something many of them didn’t think was possible, namely, to get round 5km on a Saturday morning. once that has been achieved, it is quite normal to start comparing times and therefore carry on running — great!
Those competitive runners are now being discriminated against because there will be no record of their achievement if they break a course record in their age and sex group. We are not talking about Mo Farah here, just ordinary folks doing their best in a fun environment.
If there are no records, why bother with timing? If there is no timing, why bother measuring the course? In other words, why bother with Parkrun? There are many solutions to the problems posed by transgender runners but doing away with course records is not among them. one would be to have a special category for those who are born female; and the rest of us, including trans runners, to be in an open category. So please think again, Parkrun, and come up with a solution that is fair to all.
RICHARD WITTERING, Milton keynes, Bucks.
AS An athletics coach and former runner, I have never understood why records were kept in the first place. Surely Parkruns are about personal achievement and fitness. Young, old, male, female, trans — how can you categorise people and why would you want to? It should all be a personal thing, not about being three seconds faster than the 55-year-old who lives in Chipping norton.
PETER FRAZIER, WARWICK.
HAVING twice been the fastest over-70 in my local Parkrun, I will not be participating again because of their woke action.
MIKE SMITH, STAFFORD.