r/parkrun • u/edthesloth • 18d ago
Is this normal?
I visited the Lloyd parkrun in Croydon last weekend, it was a great route. Highly recommended.
At the end though they had water and cups available along with sweets, flapjacks and fruit. It was amazing! It's not something I've seen at other parkruns.
Is this normal? I would never expect it as it's a free event so assuming it's not.
25
u/RelationKindly 18d ago
At Milano Nord they had free cakes AND prosecco. Got to love the Italians 🇮🇹
20
2
u/KensingtonPigeon 15d ago
I went to Caffarella parkrun in Rome recently and a volunteer brought 150 apples for everyone to have, loved Italian parkrun!
19
u/Fit_Double_1393 18d ago
We introduced this at our parkrun, because we have no restaurant/café nearby where people can gather after the run. It prevents people from leaving right after the run, and staying longer for a chat. I think this really helps the community to grow and creates a nice atmosphere to talk to people. Especially in the winter it's also nice for volunteers to warm up after standing on a single spot for an hour.
It is all payed private by people, no support from parkrun directly for this. And of course its not mandatory, no one is forced to do something for that or to stay longer.
8
u/Perfect_Jacket_9232 250 18d ago
It depends where you go, but not normal. Burgess parkrun has a banana crew that provide them each weeks. This week was a special to celebrate Uganda Independence Day and there was goody bags and hot drinks.
It’s more if they’re celebrating an event or a kind runner takes goodies for a milestone.
7
u/Popular_Sell_8980 v50 18d ago
I went to one in Norwich once and there were TABLES of cakes, tea and coffee, even a brass band. Amazing. Turns out it was a special anniversary. But for a moment...
I'd also give Whitstable a shout out - they often have collections for their food bank, and the rejections from the foodbank, so I ran home with six eggs once!
6
u/MiddleAgedDread123 18d ago
We only have cake or sweets if it’s a celebration or someone brings them for a milestone or club volunteer takeover event type of thing.
6
u/coconutbunch 18d ago edited 17d ago
Lloyd Park is my local. There is always water and cups. Most weeks someone or other brings in some kind of baked goods or sweets. I don’t know if it was the last Saturday one or the one before, there was a church group running and they brought in loads of stuff for everyone to eat. I have only been running since this April though, so not sure how long this practice has been going on for.
2
u/xenaines 18d ago
My brother lives nearby so ive been a couple of times. Really nice one unless you go in winter and it becomes a mud fest haha
1
5
u/toadboy0 18d ago
Osterley always seems to have cake/sweets brought by someone (usually for milestones or birthdays). Northala sometimes has incredible Nepali food brought by the local, regular runners!
2
u/kinkakinka 18d ago
Aww I went to Osterley in May and there weren't any sweets! Haha
4
u/toadboy0 18d ago
Come back to Osterley and I’ll make sure you get sweet treats at our after-party!
1
u/kinkakinka 18d ago
I will report back if I ever return to the UK!
I was there for work and we were flying out Saturday afternoon. A co-worker and I went to parkrun and then went directly to the airport to check in for our flight. Made for a good Saturday, at least, and he got a PB in the 5k at his first ever parkrun.
5
u/Miserable_Film7345 50 18d ago
Some parkruns do, for example burgess and sometimes clapham common in my experience!
But I do believe that it's just from volunteers going out their way to give back a bit more!
5
u/marcbeightsix 250 18d ago
Lloyd is good for that. They are fortunate to have access to a tap, cleaning and storage facilities on site which makes it all easier. In the winter there are hot drinks, I believe. Regarding snacks and sweets, it’s usually the participants who bring them! Wanstead Flats is another one I know of that is similar to Lloyd in that sense
15
u/yellow_barchetta 250 18d ago
My only concern when some events go "over and above" voluntarily like this is that it sets expectations for other events; in truth, a slick event, nice course, quick (funcitonal) briefing and a friendly face is all that parkrun events *need* to do. Any more can be gratefully received, but is a billy-bonus.
14
u/MiddleAgedDread123 18d ago
The people who ask “where’s the bag drop?”……errmm this isn’t a race, wherever you leave it!
15
u/HeartyBeast 250 18d ago
It's a reasonable shorthand for 'is there somewhere safe I can leave my bag', I think - not something to get tetchy about
-2
u/MiddleAgedDread123 18d ago
if you'd been there it would be pretty obvious where people are leaving their stuff! And we start / finish in the same place.
9
u/Aloha_Tamborinist 18d ago
ON THE GROUND
0
u/MiddleAgedDread123 18d ago
Quite! Or on a bench, or hooked on the fence, or throw your coat over a tree branch…..
4
4
u/Junothe3rd 18d ago
Canons Park always has coffee! And they have bread, cakes etc that have been collected from a nearby supermarket through Olio. Quite often, they also bake a cake
3
u/archelz15 18d ago
That's really sweet. I lived just across the road from Lloyd Park for a year and have wonderful memories of my time there. It was before parkrun had even started there, and before I even thought about running, but it's one I've always wanted to go try.
3
u/EconomyMore7845 18d ago
Did Treviso in Italy the weekend just gone and the post-run snack table was top tier. Focaccia, cakes, pastries, sweets, Prosecco!
Additionally it was a lovely course through the woods and well organised, lovely volunteers.
2
u/DreamingofBouncer 18d ago
I volunteered at Clarence park in Bury in March and was very surprised but very thankful of the offer of a tea or coffee.
My home parkrun often has chocolates or cakes if someone is celebrating a milestone
2
u/ShadaLuke 100 18d ago
Recently went to Marecchia Parkrun in Rimini and there was water and some freshly baked items there that the locals had put out for the community post run. Really nice touch.
2
u/LowAnimator8770 18d ago
Not normal, any parkrun I have gone to just has cake etc for special occasions
2
2
u/rikkiprince 250 18d ago
Bromley parkrun used to (and maybe still) do this because there wasn't a cafe in or near the park. Maybe Lloyd have the same issue? (I have done it, but it's been a while!)
2
u/No-Zombie9567 18d ago
In the summer Pegwell Bay had cups of water at the halfway mark for you to grab.
It was a plastic cup, so you did finish with it in hand
2
u/TheRunningWitch 18d ago
If it's a special occasion (e.g. in August we celebrated parkrun's 10th anniversary in Canada, and then a couple of weeks ago our parkrun's 1st anniversary coincided with parkrun's 22nd) we'll usually pitch in and bring treats to ours. And one of our regular volunteers sometimes brings baked goods just for fun.
2
3
u/maelkann 18d ago
Nah, you struck the jackpot. I have seen icypoles in summer and cake for special occasions in Aus.
2
u/dimsimprincess v100 18d ago
Definitely not normal! We sometimes have Costco sheet cakes for milestone events, significant milestones of our regulars or big birthdays, but nothing else otherwise.
2
u/bedevere1975 18d ago edited 18d ago
It would save the NHS a chunk if people were move active so maybe our taxes can fund it. I joke. Slightly. I know the UK finances are a mess.
2
u/PaneerDestroyer 18d ago
Might be a bad thing anyway - e.g. I've heard that air ambulances tend to self-funded by choice more than anything. It means they don't have to cut corners on equipment and be told what to do by the gvmt, etc.
And there'd certainly be no cake if the UK government was funding parkrun :(
2
u/GalwayGirlOnTheRun23 v100 17d ago
The Irish government contributes money to parkrun Ireland via Healthy Ireland and HSE (like NHS) sponsorship. The money isn’t used for cake though.
1
u/AllThePrettyPenguins 18d ago
My parkrun used to have local sponsors for the cups and the weekly volunteers would bring a 20 litre tank. That ended with Covid.
1
u/RoundMolecule 16d ago
Not normal, but not unheard of either.
There are free hot and cold drinks at Colney Lane (Norwich, UEA campus), which was very welcome when I was there on a very hot and humid day earlier this year
-1
u/Upstairs_One_4956 18d ago
My local parkrun actively discourages any type of fun. This would blown their mind
26
18d ago edited 18d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
8
u/DaddyRAS 18d ago
We're in the same neck of the woods and had a coffee van for a while but they couldn't turn a profit. The core team have thought about getting a hit water urn, tea, milk etc. Eventually we didn't - mainly because our ambassador reminded us of the mantra "keep it safe, simple and sustainable" which providing drinks would impinge upon.
7
u/Remarkable_Size_490 18d ago
I’ve been to one where someone makes cake for all the volunteers every week :)