Introduction

I really thought I could let the stats battle go. I’ve never wanted to be involved in any of the hierarchy of parkrun and yet somehow I have been an Event Director and restarted Tramore Valley parkrun with the longest cancellation record in history. I knew from day one parkrun was a top down hierachy and I was never going to fit into that on my free time. Then well John McD in Glen River asked me to help and the next thing I knew I was growing a team in the exact opposite way that parkrun advised. Grow the team organically? What does that even mean? Sounds like a modern way of saying laissez faire and that didn’t work. I made sure everyone in the parkrun teams I lead knew they were valued. To me none of the Glen River team was replaceable. I appeared in Tramore Valley got the same HQ advice ignored it and grew that team even faster. The bring back the stats meeting on April 27th 2024 hadn’t gone well. We had been effectively punched in the face and told get in line or leave. The transcipt made for grim reading. I’m starting to think it’s not me whose the uncontrollable Maverick. Maybe I’m the half decent human being trying to value the communities that have been built on the idea of parkrun. I’m rarely the sane one in the room.

“for each of the disgruntled participants, whether they are a runner, walker or run director, if they leave parkrun there will be another hundred runners to take their place.” Paul Sinnott-Hewitt
“we are not a community-led organisation” and “we make our decisions from the top-down, that is how we operate and that is in our charter.” Paul Sinnott-Hewitt
“This is our playground, we made it. We set the rules of it. If you don’t like it perhaps you should play somewhere else.” Paul Sinnott-Hewitt

I wasn’t feeling the love from parkrun HQ so then I went somewhere that might be a bit more laid back and the love returned. As usual it was my family, the parkrunners and volunteers who brought the lust for life. The RD Paddy excitedly told us on the morning of our visit the full course was open for the first time. Immediately, I forgot PSH the competitive capitalist market, Karma or both would take care of him. People ran 5k before him they will do it long after he has exited stage left. In Laytown living a full life was in front of me and I wasn’t going to let anyone take that away. Even when I was pushing my now one year old son Edward against the lash of the Laytown beach wind I was laughing.

Journey Around the parkrun World

This was parkrun location 39 for Julie and I.

Course

The full course is a 2.5 km run out and back. The morning of our visit (May 25th 2024) was the first time the whole course was run. The tide is always of consideration here you may run a different course depending on the tide. Enjoy it anyway.

Brief Course Video

Stroller safe

You will have no problem with a sturdy buggy on the sand. The sand is compact and as you will see from the video when the wind is at your back you’ll fly across the sand. You will have enormous problems running against the wind but you keep looking out at that ocean and the finish line will come when it’s ready. For me despite the wind I wished that run could go on forever. My son Edward thought the wind was great he laughed the whole way back to the finish line.

Live a Little

Consider running bare foot on the sand at parkrun. How often do you have this option? Almost never at parkrun but in Laytown some sand between the toes will wash away the woes. Breath that fresh ocean air in. Take a deep centering breath and absorb all the mental health benefits of that horizon.