After a couple of weeks of staying local (Panshanger one week, Jersey Farm the next) I was happy to be off touring again, this time with my dad. We opted for Brook Leys parkrun outside of Cambridge as it was around a 45 min drive away (not too far), the parking was easy (park and ride) and the course looked pretty by the lake.
We arrived in plenty of time and followed a few people in parkrun gear out of the car park and along the road to where it starts (there were also street signs showing Brook Leys)- it was about a half a mile walk so nice and close. We were admiring the buildings on the way (they had lovely tiles on them) and as we were chatting about them one of the volunteers explained that the housing in the estate was mainly for researchers and academics who worked at the uni.
Post run pop up photo/token/ wildflowers seen by the park and ride
The first timers welcome volunteer explained the course in detail (along with a large map)- there was a section where you ran around the lake, and then an out and back section on a path, and you alternated (lake- path-lake-path-lake). I was picturing the lake at Millennium but it was of course way smaller and harder to spot at times due to the large reeds. More of a large pond than a lake I would say.
You had to keep left around the lake (both beginning with L handily) and right for the rest of the course (both R), so that was easy to remember.
Buildings seen on the way/ parkrun flag/ Start area/ buckets for tokens
We didn’t expect it to be quite as busy as it was (the buckets out for tokens up to 500 should have been a clue!) and as it was not too busy during the first timers welcome it was funny to turn back around and see how full the start area was. We lined up and tried to seed ourselves (and even looked for signs for approximate finish time) but didn’t see any- it turned out they were on the right of the path and we were on the left hand side so didn’t see them at all. The briefing was useful as they mentioned the benches on the course too- the team had put high viz on them but wanted to make everyone aware as the first lap would be crowded- and also reminded people about taking the corners gently as the gravel meant that people could skid over easily- not something for us to worry about today as it was so warm, but good to be aware of.
Pre-run pop up photo- the whiteboard pen had dried up so no writing on the board for us/ a few mid run scenes
It did start off fairly busy but nothing as congested as some get, and it did thin out quite quickly. I was hoping for more shade (just picturing other lakeside runs) but it was pretty exposed for the most part. The out and back section was on pavements by buildings so part of that was shaded by the buildings, and there were a few sections with taller trees. One marshal had an umbrella which seemed like an excellent decision.
The shade of the buildings/ the large mirror/ high viz bench
There was also a large reflective block next to the lake- not sure if it was art or something else? We could see ourselves reflected in it (a bit like the bean in Chicago). The lake had a viewing platform next to it and we could see people going up there to look- we saw a heron and cormorant from the path and I am sure there were lots of other birds in there too.
Shade by the buildings/ the viewing tower by the lake/ beautiful purple flowers (and the marshal with the umbrella)
There was also a bank covered in beautiful purple flowers along one side of the path by the lake. I really enjoyed it- yes it is flat so it is a fast course, but it was also varied with the two sections that you ran around, and neither section felt particularly long (sometimes out and backs can feel like they drag on a bit).
The finish area set up was perfect for not losing tokens as after you exited the funnel you had to pass through a sort of wall of scanners, who then said to you “remember to put your token in the bucket” each time (well done to them!).
Almond croissant at home for breakfast/ parkfaff location in the shade/ post run pop up photo
After scanning we had a few more photos- my dad ended up taking photos for probably about 6 groups of people before we managed to inch away from the pop up and get out things. I had taken my rucksack with me which had our water bottles in, and we were both very glad that we had them with us and had not left them in the car. We couldn’t see an obvious cafe where we were, but we’d seen people with coffee cups and one of the volunteers said that if we headed into the main square we would see a few cafes, so we walked there and enjoyed a drink outside, cooling down in the shade for a bit before walking back to the car (I had breakfast at home as we had ordered some amazing vegan croissants for the weekend).
Voronoi update:
It’s quite satisfying when you join together two sections of your map. Dad had the same as he was joining Wimpole and Milton Country while I have joined Wimpole to Bug Hunter Waters and then Ben’s Yard.
The parkrun app had updated the challenges this week (they had renamed challenges that were named after people, so the Cowell club (100 events, named after Chris Cowell who was first to complete 100 events) is now Explorer 100 (which just makes me think of Up) and again it’s now Explorer 250. But the update that I liked was that when you get the notification about your “achievements” (towards challenges) on the app, rather than being a small fiddly button you could swipe between the main event stats and then any achievements, which I think is much clearer.
So that was parkrun 453 and event 157 and another very enjoyable one too.
Up next? Maybe another London one? The rail replacement buses have been out and about which has scuppered a few plans recently, but I am hoping to head back in soon to continue on the Lon-done quest.
