classic33
Me
I used to do the 10k road runs, for fun. Always raising money for various charities when doing one. Fully aware that there's a lot of work going out of sight, just to get these runs organised.
I ran against club athletes, male and female, and finished wherever I did. I never heard any complaints about unfair advantages, from anyone taking part. Always given a course completion time, the same as everyone else taking part. The club runners used these events as training runs and qualification runs for larger events.
Park Runs seem to have replaced these 10k fun runs. And I'll bet that there are club runners taking part. Possibly just as training runs, knowing that their times will be recorded. Especially helpful if they are looking at competition runs, which require proof, other than your own times, on known courses that can be checked.
There's a "Prefer Not To Say" option, so how does that affect your argument about the age groups that these park runs are split by?
If you're in an area and find there's such an event taking place, there's little to stop you taking part. You may want to keep a record of whether you're improving over time, and not just fooling yourself. "Official timing" will help with this. Or is your running better suited to a certain type of course. A park run near me would return a different time to one held in Bradford due to the terrain.
Have you ever taken part, on a regular basis, in Park Runs? Or are you just trying to justify your fears to yourself, then projecting your fears onto others?
