If a parkrun changes it’s name, did I even do (most of) the alphabet??

Some of you might have noticed that parkruns have started to change their names. It seems that there are new naming guidelines where new parkruns take on the name of the park instead of the town they are in. This is meant to avoid confusion, and also means that if a town needs 2 parkruns, they can be easily differentiated. However, what has started happening more frequently is that current events are having their names changed- the one I noticed recently was Swindon parkrun is now called Lydiard parkrun, as it takes place in Lydiard park.

I keep all the reports of my parkruns on a page on my blog, to keep track of them, and they are in alphabetical order for ease of organisation (and I’m not going to go back through and rearrange them). However, on the Running Challenges extension, and on the parkrun results website, the names are being updated.

This got me thinking- which letters are in jeopardy? Which (pretend) badges might I lose?

Compass club:

I went to Northala Fields (safe), Eastleigh (not sure? but I’ve also been to East Brighton and Eastville), Southampton (will it change to Southampton common maybe?, in that case I’ve also been to South Oxhey) and Westmill (that won’t change). So I think this badge is safe for me.

Pirates:

Crissy Field (that shouldn’t change), Cassiobury (park name), Castle park (park name), Chippenham (oh no- that might change), Colwick (should stay), Central Burnaby (should stay) and Clover Point (should stay). So I might need to find another C!

Stayin’ Alive:

Barclay, Gadebridge, Bushy, Gunpowder and Gedling should all stay, but Brighton & Hove might change? Although there have been lots of parkruns in Brighton for ages? Anyway possibly another B needed!

But when I look at the alphabet (which I still haven’t completed- I just need an I and a Z but no idea when I can wangle a visit to any of those) I might lose some.

Take St Albans- it’s in Veralamium park in St Albans, if it changes it’s name I could gain another V, but then Valentine’s (the V I have been to) is already the park name. I do have some other S’s (Salisbury, Southampton, Stevenage- all names of towns- plus South Oxhey which should stay.

I might lose my Y- I went to York, but then it takes place at York Racecourse, so will they just change that part of the name?

When I look at my alphabet, I have plenty of some letters so if I lose one it will be OK (eg if they change Durham I also have been to Dinton Pastures and Dunstable Downs), but others I don’t have many. I think that I might lose my T as I have only been to Tring and Thetford, both place names and could be changed to the name of the park.

I know that it is all a bit of fun, and in no way do I actually mind! But it is interesting to look at. I am also interested in how the name change is gradually rolled out- I saw on the Swindon parkrun facebook page that they had been sent new pop up tents and things, so I think if your local one was having a name change you would find out a few weeks ahead of time.

Do you keep an eye on the Running Challenges badges? Are there any badges that you are likely to lose?

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8 thoughts on “If a parkrun changes it’s name, did I even do (most of) the alphabet??”

  1. Ooof this could be annoying (in a very light hearted way, like you say). It does make sense to be fair and it can only be a good thing more parkruns being set-up. But it does bugger up the challenges haha. I’ve already lost my Alphabeteer status… onwards to Poland again at some point to get the proper Z!

  2. I now understand why someone asked me if the name of Sutton Park parkrun was likely to change! I was a little confused at the time. In Wolverhampton there are now two parkruns; East and West Park. Hopefully these will count towards the challenge badge as I can get to Wolverhampton by train. Now that I know I’m about to hit my 25 volunteering stints badge, I’m starting to look at the Running Challenges extension more closely. As a minimum I want to ‘tick off’ the Bushy Park and Christmas Day challenges next year. I enjoy volunteering so I may try to collect all the volunteering badges.

    1. Happy to help!
      You will be half way to the compass challenge with those two names (even LoWESToft counts as the letters are in it, so those two should definitely work).
      I do love the running challenges for those in between times when you are not close to a real milestone-good plan with the volunteering badges too!

  3. I find this really interesting. For me, I don’t have many letter in my alphabet and several are duplicates. If names change, I could potentially end up with a few more letters. I really must take a look and work it out. It’s all in fun and I don’t take it seriously. That said, those last 3 bingo numbers are really starting to annoy me now haha!

    1. Yes the bingo annoyed me too- for ages I tried to get the final one but just always seemed to be 30 seconds away from the one I needed at the finish- it’s one you can’t plan!

  4. Both the I’s Inverness and Ipswich are named after the towns now the parks so they could potentially change. Inverness is in Bught Park and when I did Ipswich it was in a different park to the one it’s normally held it. It’s normally in Chantry Park and I went to Christchurch park, so either way it’d be a C!

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