I thought I'd write this short item, explaining what the 'Elliott Rule' is and how it came about.

As we know, tourists and runners from other local events are advised not to attend inaugural events, in the UK at least, and this has meant that people who have completed one of the 13 UK regions, known as 'regionnaires', will temporarily lose their regionnaire status when a new event starts in their region.

I myself am a regionnaire in two regions (West Midlands and East Midlands), so fully understand the dilemma. I have run at inaugural events in the past (six in total) the most recent being Worcester Pitchcroft, and my reason for attending was to remain a West Midlands regionnaire. Since then the advice not to attend has become firmer and I have resolved never to run at another inaugural event (although I did attend the inaugurals of both Sandwell Valley and Bedworth, I did so as a volunteer not a runner).

I decided that, from a purely personal viewpoint, I would still consider myself a regionnaire as long as new events were still in single figures. As such I subsequently attended Sandwell Valley's 4th event, Bakewell's 3rd event, Clifton's 4th event, Sixfields Upton's 2nd event and The Wammy's 5th event, avoiding inaugural events, but still being a double regionnaire, to my own satisfaction at least.

'I count myself as a regionnaire if a new event is in single figures, that way I don't feel the pressure to go to inaugurals, which I've decided I'll now only ever attend as a volunteer.' - Elliott Line 30/12/2017

I mentioned this personal rule in a comment on one of the many parkrun Facebook groups, and it was met with a great deal of support. People agreed it was a very sensible approach, and I have subsequently seen several people invoke the 'Elliott Rule' to overcome the potential conflict between regionnairedom and inaugural attendance.