I thought I would be staying local at the weekend, but Dad mentioned he was keen to head to a new event, and suggested Hackney Marshes as one that we could drive to, so off we went.
It was around a 45 minute drive from me, so I was picked up at 7:45 and we headed off on a fairly straightforward journey. As we neared the exit, the Olympic velodrome came into view- it is quite exciting to be that close to the park (and then to try not to remember how long ago the Olympics in London actually were!). The parking was free, next to the Hackney Marshes visitor centre (toilets available), and from there it was a short walk, following other runners, across a little bridge and into the starting field.
The starting area had a great feel to it- there seemed to be loads of people, lots of tourists in matching club hoodies (maybe down for the London marathon weekend?) and we saw lots of pacer vests too. The first timers welcome gave us a great description of the route (around the first field/marsh, over the bridge and along the river, away from the river and alongside another field/marsh, and then back around the first field in the opposite direction.
There was a little speech at the main briefing as one of the RD’s was standing down, so she was presented with a framed RD vest which was a lovely idea. We thought they might mention or point out the pacers, but no, suddenly we were off!
The route was very flat, and the grass was lovely and springy, not too energy sapping like it can be sometimes. I had opted for trail shoes but road shoes would have been fine as it was so dry. The first field that we ran around was huge- maybe .75 of a mile before we exited? I loved seeing the colourful runners stretch out in front of us all around the perimeter of it. You could see some of the Olympic buildings (including the Orbit) as well as lots of blocks of housing that have all sprung up in that area.
After exiting the field we ran over the little bridge and then started the section by the river. I had wondered if this was an out and back section, but we had not been told to keep left so thought we were OK, and although we saw lots of runners going along the path in the other direction, these weren’t parkrunners, just people out for a Saturday run. After turning left at the end we realised it definitely wasn’t an out and back, and we skirted another huge field, this one covered in football pitches. The scale is hard to comprehend but it’s a huge green space.
As we passed back over the bridge we saw that the finish funnel was packed with people already, whereas we still had to go back around the first field again.
The river we ran over, the finish funnel as we ran past, token and pop up sign
It wasn’t long before we were in the finish funnel too, being reminded to keep in order as the masses finished with us.
Flag and pop up sign
After scanning and taking photos we headed back to the car, as Mum fancied breakfast out with us, so we drove back and then walked to a cafe close to their home where I had a very generous amount of avocado on toast (but also tea in a glass- why???).
First picture- all the runners stretched out ahead of us around the field/ avocado toast/ finish funnel and the path by the river
Of course, the all important map (after/before):
So, that was parkrun 401 and location 131, 32nd London parkrun (out of 65 currently)- I’m getting close to half way there!
Do you like tea in a glass? Either James Acaster or Dave Gorman did a very funny routine about it- I don’t know why because I drink other things from glasses but tea in a glass is just wrong.
I was staying in London on the Friday night as we had tickets to see the Manic Street Preachers, so of course I was going to head to a London parkrun. I’d not been to Victoria Dock (I had actually planned it once as we were staying close by, but on that day it was cancelled so I went to Valentines instead), and Branka had already been there (we are doing a lot of London tourism at the moment) so I decided to opt for there. At one of the OH ladies club runs I mentioned this, and a few others decided they would come into London and meet me there- Catherine and her husband Dave (who was doing his 250th- a real milestone!), Helen and her partner Eddie who do lots of tourism, and Mel. Our hotel was around a half a mile from Farringdon, so happily I could get the Elizabeth Line rather than mess around with the DLR (because I do not understand that)- Custom House was about half a mile from the start of the parkrun, so a perfect little warm up.
The cable car/ our purple pop up pics and my token
When I arrived the rest of the crew were already there- of course we got some photos by the cable car and then found some shelter as it was cold and windy. There was a big queue for the pop up sign so we knew there were a lot of tourists there- maybe for the Easter weekend? They did the first timers welcome only for first time parkrunners, and then the main briefing was for everyone else. The RD asked for tourists and then asked “hands up if this is your local parkrun” and about 3 people put their hands up! I am sure it was more but it did feel like a lot of tourists.
I hadn’t said anything about my “milestone” as it isn’t official, but when they asked for milestone shout outs a guy near us shouted “150”, so after we shouted out Dave’s 250, Helen called out “400”- I had on my back a 400 I’d made from paper and attached with race clips (so no safety pin holes in my 100 top) so that was my way of marking the occasion, but it was nice to have the cheer and a few people congratulated me on it as well (including at the end when I took a few photos for other people by the pop up).
The course was twice out and back, and we were warned of lots of hazards on the route including bollards, cobbles and fences. It is flat and fast, but it was also a lot on the streets/ pavements, so at times we were running past bins, trees and the little metal protection grids that they have, and you had to look out for kerbs and uneven pavement. I had decided to push quite hard, but didn’t look at my watch while I was running. I wanted to enjoy it too and not feel like I was pushing too hard, although I did get a stitch towards the end so maybe I was.
I really liked the out and back nature of the course, as I was kept busy looking out for everyone at each of the turns. Catherine took that photo of me as I passed- I finally wore my parkrun shoes (the ones I won on Instagram from With U) and they really stand out in the picture (this was the first guaranteed non-muddy course so I decided to risk it!).
Purple pop up photo and one with my 400 top to celebrate!
As I came into the finish it was a bit confusing as I was not quite sure where the finish line was, so had to ask the marshal where to go (basically I needed to know if I went right by the water or further back by the building)- she pointed the way and then I put on a final push- as I rounded the corner my visor blew off in the wind so I had to grab it, which hurt my shoulder (my poor frozen shoulder)- I could see a lady running up ahead and wondered if I could catch her. I was gaining on her but didn’t want to be rude and go past her at the last minute, and also I don’t want to confuse the people doing timing. Anyway, with hindsight I should have done as she stopped just before the line rather than running through and into the funnel, so I had to almost stop to avoid bumping into her. I stopped my watch and noticed 28:02- this would be my fastest time of the year officially (Garmin says 27:55 for Battersea but that is not my official time- a side point here that on with With Me Now pod this week they shared that the person who was treated with the AED on that day has recovered and attended Battersea last weekend along with the paramedics who helped, so that was really nice to hear about)- so that would be good.
When you look at your summary stats you can see your fastest time of each year, and I’ve been pretty consistent with getting 27 (or even 26) somethings as my fastest times (apart from 2021 where I only had 28)- anyway, it’s a little challenge for me to get to. Of course, I may not have pressed start on my watch at the same time as the timers, and I may not have stopped it right away either. When the results came in I got 28:00- my fastest time of the year (hooray)-but I also slightly regretted not going past that lady because then I could possibly have got a 27 time! Ah well, I shall have to try harder at some other flat parkruns (as Panshanger and Jersey Farm are not pb courses for me!).
So, back to the morning! After I finished running and scanned, I had a quick chat with some of the others before heading back to the station, as we had to check out by 11am so I didn’t have too long.
After and then before.
So, the stats. That was my 400th parkrun and my 130th venue, and my 31st London one. But mainly a great morning out and it was lovely to meet up with some friends while I was there- they had a pretty easy journey on the trains and all said they’d go back there too as it was certainly a unique location.
So, what next? Possibly some touring with my dad next week (we will wait and see what the weather is like)- he’s on 88 venues so is counting up towards 100! I’m away for the Bank Holiday weekend at the start of May so no parkrun for me that weekend, and that will be followed by a local weekend and possibly some touring before hopefully visiting a new parkrun country! But more on that later 🙂
Andy and I were off to Norfolk for the weekend in the Easter holidays, and last time I was there I went to Blickling parkrun, so I had a look to see what would be nearby. The roads around where we were staying are these little twisty single track roads, so 10 miles might be a 30 minute drive, and as we had plans for the rest of the day I didn’t want to go too far. North Walsham was about a 15-20 minute drive away, so it was decided.
The parking for the parkrun was in the town centre, close to the start, and although I parked up at 8:30, I was in the car park for a while as I couldn’t get the machine to work (it kept declining the contactless on the phone)- I had packed an emergency credit card so had to get that from the car and second time around that worked. I then jogged the short distance around to the park- I had seen the parkwalker pink flag on my drive in-and felt the happy feelings that parkrun tourists get when they see all the “caution runner” signs. There was no-one about (and this was maybe 8:45?) and across the field I saw what I thought was the finish funnel. When I got to it, it was parkrun tape, but just taping off a section of the course. I then saw one marshal in high viz (hooray)- but when I asked her where the start was, she very helpfully proceeded to give me a very in depth description of the (complicated) course. I asked her “do I go through that gap in the fence?” and she said “no, er, well, you need to go back to the road, oh, just follow those two runners”- pointing to two people running past on the road outside the park. I thanked her and ran after them, but when I got to the road they had disappeared from my view- I saw a little alleyway down the side of a building and took a chance (as they couldn’t have gone that far) and thankfully came out onto the field in view of the purple pop up.
My photo with Stanley and the parkwalker flag that took me to the public park and not the start/finish area
As I snapped a photo I heard the call for the first timers welcome- that was lucky timing!
So, the course. It sounds complicated, as you start in the middle of one of the laps (see above!)- but basically one lap of the school field, one lap of the public park, a second lap of the school field, a second lap of the public park, a final lap of the school field and then a loop around to get into the finish funnel (also in the school field)- you passed the finish funnel on your third lap of the school field at around 2.5 miles and I bet some people have run in there rather than complete their final lap!
Anyway, we were told that if there were pairs of cones, run between them, and if there were lines of cones, run next to them, and that seemed to pretty much work.
After the first timers welcome, one of the volunteers asked the tourists to stay for a photo, so I got a picture holding their Stanley (the little dog mascot), and then the main briefing began. There were a few milestones and celebrations, and they called out where some of the tourists were from, and then we were off.
A few photos from the route plus my token
The course was fairly flat. I’d worn trail shoes after seeing that advice in the parkrun tourists facebook group, although as it had been so dry leading up to it, road shoes would have been fine. I could imagine that it would be very muddy in the winter though as you are all on the grass pretty much the entire time. There were a few signs on the course with arrows for laps 1, 2 and 3, and loads of cones. There were also so many marshals out- in some places there were 3 together. There were a few points where you passed the same marshal but in a different direction and on a different section of the course, so at those points some marshals would be facing you, and others facing other runners on a different part of the route. It was all so friendly and of course on a sunny day it looked wonderful. As you left the public park you ran through a little copse and it just looked so pretty with the sun shining through the trees.
I did get slightly disoriented as I left the public park for the final time- thinking I was going to turn left after the woods but in fact had to go forwards further before turning, but this was fine as there was a fence where I thought I needed to turn, and cones out everywhere. It was just that sort of feeling where you anticipate turning and then realise you can’t.
I really enjoy these courses where you can see lots of the route too- it makes it feel more of a communal event with runners ahead and behind. They had a pb bell and as I was running around the school field for the final time I kept hearing it go, and then everyone clapping after, so that just added to the community feelings. It didn’t feel like a long time before I was heading into the finish funnel (and I did double check my watch before I turned in there!).
The little copse and then the pop up sign
After scanning and putting my token into their chocolate box collection container, I asked some other tourists for a pop up photo and then headed out of the park and over to Dark Room Chocolates. I cannot remember how I found out about this place, but at some point in lockdown I ordered some buns from them, as they used to make amazing vegan cinnamon buns, cardamom buns, almond buns etc. (all plant based). I think they maybe had a cafe in Norwich or somewhere that you could collect them from, but at some point their business pivoted from baking to making chocolate, and now they make chocolate (two ingredient chocolate too-just cacao and sugar) and have a little cafe that is only open on Saturday mornings, in North Walsham. The cafe is plant based, and they do hot chocolate, iced chocolate and coffee, and then a range of based goods, as well as all of their chocolate bars- you can even get a flight of their chocolate to taste all the different types.
Just some of the many cakes on display and my iced hot chocolate
I’m glad I had looked online as it is by a car park and looks from the outside like an industrial building, but inside there were tables with lots of people eating and tasting the chocolate. I ordered an iced hot chocolate to go, and got a couple of cakes for us to share later on, but there was a huge selection. The iced hot chocolate was so good. I didn’t get any of the chocolate bars as it was a warm day and I thought they would end up melting in the car (and if not then, on the journey home on Sunday), but the iced hot chocolate was perfect in the heat.
I had a banana in the car to eat too before I drove back to our AirBnB, and then it was time to have a quick shower and then head out for the day to some National Trust places (including Sheringham which does have a parkrun but would have been a bit too far to go in the morning and get back) and Blickling (previously visited) as we knew it was a nice one.
So, the all important voronoi map has been updated- the best thing about the runs close to the coast is that you get a rather huge purple segment going into the sea!
I also saw on the 5K app that I completed the Vegan Runner challenge (run a parkrun beginning with each of those letters- I needed one more N), and I have now done the compass challenge twice, as this was my second North, but I had already been to 5 South ones, 3 East ones and 2 West ones.
And the stats- that was my 399th parkrun (yes, the big arbitrary 400th next weekend) and my 129th location. All being well my 400th will be a new location too, fingers crossed.
So, another lovely weekend with some parkrun tourism in there, as well as lots of exploring and fresh air.
