My parkrun touring buddies Branka and Holly are rapidly approaching their Cowells (100 different events) and so careful tourism planning is coming into play to make sure they don’t achieve them early. This relatively new event was one that they were both planning on going to, and as I was free I was very happy to head to a new event too.
The journey was around an hours’ drive from Branka, so I left home at 7:15 to pick her up at 7:30. This didn’t seem too early compared to some of our London tourism, and so I was surprised when checking my list of NENDY’s (nearest event not done yet) that Ben’s Yard was number 93 on my list! There are 92 parkruns closer (as the crow flies)that I’ve not been to. Shocking! As I am relatively close to London, all those south London parkruns would be closer even if the journey is a lot trickier and more time consuming.
Amazingly the journey went by without a hitch. After my last time driving into Cambridgeshire (Bug Hunter Waters) where I used the postcode and got us lost in a housing estate, I had finally remembered to pin the parkrun as a starred place in my maps, so the directions took us right to it.
The location is really brilliant for a tourist with everything you need in one place- ample and free parking clearly sign posted from the road, toilets, cafe, restaurant and shops. I am not sure how easy it would be to get to if you lived in Ely (eg could you cycle or run/walk, or would you need to drive) but for us it was great. As we pulled into the car park we saw the “parkrun parking” signs, and then saw Holly in her car. You could see the start area from the car park, so again, a tourists dream! We took our pop up photos and then jumped up and down trying to keep warm- the weather was not living up to the sunshine that had been promised. I can imagine that in the winter it would be quite brutal with cold winds whipping off the fields- you would stay in your car until the last possible moment.
Pop up pic!
We had a super first timers welcome (two laps, keep left until you are about to finish) and then were told to head to the start. As we walked towards the pop up, we were all called back as they wanted to do the main briefing in the same place that the welcome had been, rather than by the actual start. However, we were still at the start line and off pretty much at 9 o’clock (very unlike last week!).
Map- run along the path into the first field (on the right), loop around that field, then along a path and up the slope to run around the lake (left hand loop) and repeat.
I ran with Holly and we had a lovely catch up. The route was so enjoyable. It’s very flat (one hump that you run up, a bit like a bridge- was it a bridge?), around a field and then around a lake and through some woods. The field was quite rutted so I felt I had to keep my eyes on the ground to make sure I didn’t twist an ankle, but the rest of the course was gravel paths and a lovely running surface. I expect in the winter the field part would be very muddy, but the paths would be OK (maybe collect puddles?).
A volunteer took some photos and put them on their facebook page so we got a few mid-run pics which is always nice. Plus the pop up with the car park in the distance, and the token (111- a great number!)
Near the finish area is a huge photo frame lined up with the cathedral in Ely, so I took a photo of that as we ran past on our second lap. Really we should have taken photos of each other but I didn’t think of that until we’d finished. I really enjoyed that you ran past the finish area going into the second loop- the marshals and volunteers were all so enthusiastic so it was a great boost to pass them all half way around. The finish came up so quickly too- I think as the route was so varied.
A few photos taken while running including the frame with the cathedral in the background
Once we had finished and scanned we had a few minutes chatting before Branka came in, and then we headed back to the yard to find some breakfast.
You can see the car park and yard from here- it’s all so compact
They had told us in the briefing that there was a bakery/cafe, and a restaurant, and if you showed your parkrun barcode you would get 10% off in the restaurant. We decided on the cafe, and joined the big queue. (Holly popped out to check out the menu just in case we changed our minds) The cafe was lovely, with loads of pastries and cakes, and very pretty flowers hanging from the ceiling. It had a few vegan items but nothing really for breakfast (rocky road or a brownie), so I got a rocky road for later and was pleased I’d packed a vegan croissant in my bag. They did have plant milk so I could get a tea which is the main objective after running for me.
We spent ages in there chatting and discussing future parkrun plans- the best way to parkfaff! We had a little leg stretch walking around the yard area- there was a little knick knack shop filled with all sorts of pretty mugs and random Jelly cat toys and that sort of thing, as well as a farmers market style shop where I bought some salad topper (more interesting than it sounds). There was a very pretty wall of flowers so we had to get photos in front of that too. Then it was time to head home- again a straightforward journey and I was home and showered in time for lunch.
Stats: parkrun number 403, venue 132
Question- who is Ben? All I could think of was Ben Folds Five, but I am sure it is nothing to do with that. Probably.
