❶Every Saturday morning, at 9 am, more than 50,000 runners set off to run 5km around their local park.❷The Parkrun phenomenon began with a dozen friends and has inspired 400 events in the UK and more abroad. ❷Events are free, staffed by thousands of volunteers.❹Runners range from e 8 r^four years old to grandparents; their times range from Andrew Baddeley's world record 13 minutes 48 seconds up to an hour.
❶Parkrun is succeeding where London's Olympic "legacy" is failing.❷Ten years ago on Monday, it was announced that the Games of the 30th Olympiad would be in London. ❷Planning documents pledged that the great legacy of the Games would be to lever a nation of sport lovers away from their couches. ❹The population would be fitter, healthier and produce more winners.❺It has not happened.❻The number of adults doing weekly sport did rise, by nearly 2 million in the run-up to 2012—but the general population was growing faster.❼Worse, the numbers are now falling at an accelerating rate.❽The opposition claims primary school pupils doing at least two hours of sport a week have nearly halved. ❷Obesity has risen among adults and children. London 2012 failed to "inspire a generation.❷The success of Parkrun offers answers.
❶Parkrun is not a race but a time trial: Your only competitor is the clock.❷The ethos welcomes anybody. ❷There is as much joy over a puffed-out first-timer being clapped over the line as there is about top talent shining.❹The Olympic bidders, by contrast, wanted to get more people doing sport and to produce more elite athletes.❺The dual aim was mixed up: The stress on (23) success over taking part was intimidating for newcomers. Olndeed, there is something a little absurd in the state getting involved in the planning of such a fundamentally "grassroots" concept as community sports associations. ❷If there is a role for government, it should really be getting involved in providing common goods——making sure there is space for playing fields and the money to pave tennis and netball courts, and encouraging the provision of all these activities in schools. ❸But successive governments have presided over selling green spaces, squeezing money from local authorities and declining attention on sport in education. ❷Instead of wordy, worthy strategies, future governments need to do more to provide the cond
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每周六早上九点，5万多名跑步者开始 环绕着他们当地的公园，进行5千米的长跑。 公园跑现象最初始于十几个朋友，（21 ）如 今已在英国开展了 400场活动，国外则更多。 这些由成千上万名志愿者担任工作人员佟 活动都是免费的。跑步者下至四岁孩童，上 至祖父母辈的老人；他们中所用时长最短的 是安德鲁•巴德利的世界纪录——13分48秒， 最长的是1小时。 公园跑的成功之处正是伦敦奥运“遗 产”的失败之处。十年前的一个周一，(国 际奥委会)宣称，第三十届奥林匹克运动会 将在伦敦举行。(22)规划文件承诺，奥运 会的伟大遗产将会使全国的体育运动爱好者 远离他们的沙发。国民将会变得更强壮、更 健康，从而培养出更多的冠军。这并没有发 生。虽然每周做运动的成年人数量确实有所 增加，至2012年之前，人数增长了近200万， 但总人口增长更快。更糟糕的是，现在做运 动的人数在急剧下降。反对方声称，每周运 动至少两小时的小学生人数，几乎已经减半。 鲍Official retrospections continue as to why 成人和儿童当中的肥胖症患者人数有所上升。 官方还在继续反思，为何2012年的伦敦奥运 会未能“激励一代人”。公园跑的成功给出 了答案。 公园跑并不是竞赛，而是计时赛： 你唯一的竞争对手是计时器。它的理念就是 欢迎每个人的参与。当一名初跑者气喘吁吁 地跑向终点线，并被掌声所包围时，他会快 乐得犹如自己是光彩照人的顶尖人才一般。 相比之下，奥林匹克的申办方想要更多 的人参与运动，并培养出更多的精英运动员。 双重目标混淆不清：对成功的强调远多于参 与会使新手望而生畏。 当然，让政府像社区体育协会一样参与 到这样一项从根本上来讲是“草根”概念的 计划中来，是有点荒谬可笑。(24)如果说 政府在其中扮演角色的话，那应该是提供公 共物品，如确保有修建运动场地的空间，和 铺设网球场及篮网球场所需的资金，并且鼓 励学校开设这些运动项目。(25 )然而，历 届政府只是负责出售绿地、压榨地方政府的 资金并降低学校教育中对体育的关注。未来 政府需要做更多事情来为运动事业的繁荣创 造条件，而不是制定冗长的、可敬的策略。 让ions for sport to thrive.❺Or at least not make them worse. 或者说，至少不要让事情变得更糟。 厶