Ben’s Yard, Ely parkrun and perfect parkfaffing

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!).

The area where the volunteers were meeting was in full view of the car park, plus a solo pop up pic

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.

Cafe views and the pretty wall of flowers in the yard- they had a few vegan items, and I could get a tea with oat milk, although we were given takeaway cups even though other people had china ones, not sure why.

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.

Voronoi map after and before

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.

Paced to a pb at Pymmes parkrun!

Last Saturday I was going to stay local, however a few OH ladies were heading to Pymmes, and as I enjoyed it before, I thought I’d go along.

I first visited Pymmes in February 2024, and remembered it being very friendly, flat and quite fast- I ran 28:04. After my recent attempts to get a sub 28, I was happy to see that they were having a pacer event. Perfect- I would try to keep up with the 28 min pacer and push to speed up in the final section.

We car shared, so I drove to Catherine’s house, where her and her husband Dave gave lifts to me and fellow OH lady Carol, (plus their dog in the back who kept licking my ear!). Once at the park we met up with another car load of OH ladies- although we were there so early that the event team hadn’t even arrived yet!

I was so excited as when we got into the park I saw my first ducklings and goslings of the year! This amused everyone else, but made me very happy.

Breakfast in the sun after, our purple pop up group photo, and the finish area with everyone hanging around

After hearing the first timers welcome (3 laps, mind the bumps in the path where the CCTV cameras are) the main briefing started. And went on. And on. I am not kidding when I say we started at 9:15am! The local running club were doing a pacer event to promote a local race, so they talked about that for a bit, and then there were goslings at the start so we had to be warned to not scare them.

Goslings by the start!

Anyway, as we started I could see the 27 and 28 minute pacer but they were a bit of a way ahead and I knew I could catch up once the people thinned out a bit. But I just could not catch them, and could not even keep up with the 29 minute pacer. I glanced at my watch on a couple of occasions but don’t like looking at it as it stresses me out and I get a bit adrenaline rush, so I just had to keep pushing on feel as hard as I could. I knew that some of the pacers were not quite correct, as the 28 was about 2 metres behind the 27 (I could see them in the distance) but I could not catch up with the 29 minute pacer at all.

Each lap seemed to go by quickly- it’s lovely flat paths, fairly wide and fairly flat. You run ever so gently up on one side, and then gently downhill on the other, looping around a little pond and then a short slope of a metre or so up to the start/finish area. A lapped course is lovely when you are there with friends as you see them as you pass them or as they pass you. As I was coming into the finish, Mel’s husband was by the pond cheering us all in which gave me a boost. I was so glad that I kept on pushing as when I got to the finish funnel (behind the 29 pacer) my watch said 27:51! Sub 28! Hooray!

Pacers lining up, finish token, finish line watch and one of the signs

(I totally appreciate how tricky the pacer job is so I am not complaining at all- I am just glad I kept on pushing- official time 27:49, which is a course pb and my fastest time this year. Good stuff.

I scanned, had a photo by the flag and pop up, and then joined everyone else who had finished, waiting for the rest of our group to come in. The event had that lovely feel with so many people hanging about and chatting (helped by the weather I’m sure). After everyone had finished, we walked around the corner to a local cafe that had been recommended to us- no dogs allowed inside though so we got a takeaway and took our breakfast back to the park (I had packed a vegan croissant as I didn’t think the cafe would have good options, but I could at least get a cup of tea with oat milk).

Pop up picture at the end!

So all in all a great revisit there. I love going to new parkruns but I am equally happy revisiting ones if other people want to go there.

The next few weeks are very exciting for me parkrun wise- a UK one with friends this week, and then a flag (or two if all goes well) …

Any exciting parkrun plans for you?