Celebrating my 250th parkrun!

But first up, the rest of the week.

A course after work one day meant tea and snacks in my office while I watched the online presentation. The colder weather has meant some mornings I’ll have a matcha to warm up with as soon as I get back from my run, and we have been having the fire on a couple of times. I have been loving Only Murders in the Building- we had to finish a few other series first before starting this one (including The Chestnut Man which must be one of the creepiest things I’ve seen in a while)- the tone of this really reminds me of The Thursday Murder Club (the book)- I’ve really enjoyed it.

I wasn’t going to order my 25 t-shirt, but then after my dad adapted his 100 to celebrate his 200th parkrun, I realised that the 25 top was perfect to edit, so with minimal crafting ( I traced the 0 from the 100 shirt) I made my own top to wear on Saturday!

The week was fairly standard in terms of running, walking and yoga, but we had a staff training day on the Friday instead of the kids being in, so we could leave a little earlier than usual (we basically don’t have a lunch break, and use that time to complete the training, so then can leave earlier). To make the most of this bonus time, we booked tickets to go to Wimpole to see the Christmas lights trail.

We got there just after dark (I think 5pm?) and there were a few food trucks about. Andy was keen to have a mulled wine, to make up for the fact that we’re not going to a European Christmas market this year (this usually would be the weekend that we would go). They advertised mulled cider (eg hot spiced apple juice) but sadly didn’t actually have any. I was hoping for a warm drink to accompany me on the trail but sadly it wasn’t to be. Anyway, the trail was really good with a variety of displays, some set to music. Some were projections, some were lights, some lasers.  It was freezing by the time we got back to the car, and so I was very glad when Andy reminded me that our car has heated seats- I’d not actually used them before. Well it’s a slippery slope because I’ve used them most days coming home since then!

(This was the week that he also reminded me that on the app we can set the car to be a certain temperature at a certain time, so I can set it to be 18 degrees at 7.20am, and so when I got to leave for work, it’s all warm inside and also the windscreen is clear. We might have to plug it in more frequently in the winter as obviously that uses more electricity, but it’s a revelation!

Yes I wore my Olaf top to Wimpole even though it was hidden under my big coat!

So finally on to Saturday. Where to begin? Possibly Friday night when the storm warnings started coming in!

Originally we were heading to Henlow Bridge Lakes as it was a relatively new parkrun (so I could fill in a gap on my Wilson index), but it was also between where we live and where my dad’s cousin lives, as he was celebrating his 100th. The storm put him off, so he texted to say he would not be coming. HBL parkrun posted on Friday night to say they would do a course inspection early on Saturday morning, but it would have been by the time we had already left. A few local parkruns did cancel (Wimpole, but I think NT places cancel fairly quickly) and Dunstable Downs (but it’s super windy there), but most were on so if HBL did cancel while we were driving, it would be a case of checking the cancellation page and going somewhere close to where we happened to be.

The added complication was that lots of OH ladies were also coming along. I wasn’t going to make a big deal (as I really always pictured my 250th being at Ellenbrook Fields, and as we were going touring instead I didn’t think it would be fair to ask people to go elsewhere) but one of the group posted a few weeks ago and asked where mine was going to be. I said I’d be touring, and lots of them fancied a trip, which was fab, but also meant I had more pressure if things didn’t go so well. I’d baked some cookies (the Pret recipe) and pumpkin spice cake to hand out at the end. My parents (and brother) picked me up before 8am, and I spent the first part of the journey checking my phone for the parkrun cancellation page and HBL facebook page. Thankfully they posted at around 8.15 that they were on, so I could post that to the other OH ladies and it was all go!

We got there fairly early, but then my parents wanted to use the toilets which were not as close to the start as we thought. (It’s a two and a bit lap course, so the start and finish were not in the same place, and the entrance to the park is by the middle of the course). They left us holding the bags, and more OH ladies turned up. In the end it got close to the start and so the rest of us made our way to the start. My dad had sent in an email so I had a little shout out, which was lovely. He turned up and then we left the two bags of cakes in the bushes and asked the tail walker to show my mum where we’d put them, as she was coming along behind him. Thankfully she showed up just as they said “go”, so it was all OK!

I love that my dad took many photos and most of them have his finger in the way- it looks like I am holding his hand!

I loved the course and will definitely go back. It was flat, and a bit muddy but not too bad. The three of us ran together (Dad, my brother and me) and my mum stayed out on the course to cheer us by and take a few photos.

We were so lucky with the weather- as at home it was pelting it down with rain but we had overcast weather and then finished with some bright sunshine.

Once we had finished, we bought a cup of tea from the little kiosk and then waited for everyone to finish. I was pleased that pretty much all the cakes and cookies were taken home. I was given a lovely OH ladies tote bag with 250 printed on the back- such a special gift.

Once I got home I found that Andy had ordered some doughnuts from crosstown to celebrate- the best! It was such a gloomy day, and after some work we walked into town to get a festive drink.

On Sunday it was soooooo cold! I wasn’t really feeling that excited by the thought of going out in the run (top right pic!) but once I was out I was OK. I wrapped up more than the previous week so it was better, but it still took me a while to warm up once home. 10 freezing miles to finish the week.

As it was a beautiful day, the two of us went for a walk in Panshanger, and then in the afternoon I had booked afternoon tea with some friends at Tewinbury Farm. As it’s less than 2 miles away it seemed silly to drive, so I walked, but of course it gets dark so early. Our booking was for 4pm (and was lovely, although not a festive one as they didn’t start until December, what a shame) but when we finished at 6 of course it was totally dark. Andy came to meet me half way, although the first bit was the worst as the road didn’t have any lights (but a big wide verge so I was OK)- I appreciated the walk after all of the delicious food.

A lovely end to such a lovely weekend.

Are you tempted to back order the parkrun tops? Also did you see the post about the pins? I am excited about that too!