Jeremy Jobsworth

So this chap who wants to ‘give transphobes a fright’ at Halloween parkruns has been emailing parkrun event teams to promote his campaign. He opens by asserting that @sharrond62 and @wsusportsunion are ‘sueing parkrun because they want to make the event less inclusive.’ That is incorrect. What they want - as do many others - is for parkrun to stop allowing males to run in the female category. He also asks event teams to add his new club to their club affiliations and promote it on their socials! Meanwhile, he’s actively trying to drum up support in Facebook and Reddit groups - based on false information. And is now started to gain some traction. I like to think no event teams would be silly enough to get involved. But I’ve met event directors - and other volunteers - who have been totally ‘captured’ by gender ideology. Some think running Pride-themed events and flying the ‘Progress Pride’ flag is perfectly acceptable, seemingly unaware - or unconcerned - that it represents contested political and ideological positions that may make some participants deeply uncomfortable. This new group has apparently been set up in ‘opposition’ to @RRRunnersUK whose members peacefully protest parkrun’s policy by turning up in club T-shirts to run, walk or volunteer. Their rules explicitly state that they won’t approach anyone or discuss the club unless asked. Contrast this with a group putting out what I personally feel is a rather ‘menacing’ statement about giving ‘transphobes a fright’ at Halloween parkruns. And let’s be honest … they’re talking about women. Because it’s predominantly women campaigning for fairness in women’s sport. I’ve seen how hostile some trans activists can be towards women who challenge gender ideology. So I genuinely worry this could put women at risk - and cause disruption at events. I sincerely hope parkrun will intervene. For me, this crosses the line between peaceful protest and political campaigning. I love parkrun. I’ve been involved for 13 years and currently give up around 20 hours a month volunteering for an organisation which has a policy I believe discriminates against women. But if this isn’t dealt with appropriately, I’ll be seriously considering whether I can continue to volunteer my time as an event director.