The last two weeks have been local parkruns, for two different reasons.
Week 1- walking at Stanborough parkrun. Andy and I were off to London for a Jet Lag The Game premiere which started at midday. (I initially thought it started at 1, and my dad was going to drive me to and from Panshanger so I could have a quick shower and turnaround- however this was not possible with the 12 start)- the plan was that I would get up early and showed, walk to Stanborough, parkwalk it, then get picked up my Andy on the way to the station. It was a bit stressful but it all worked out well in the end.
Happily, Branka was already planning on being there (she was also going to the Jet Lag event but a bit later), as well as club mate Emily who was parkwalking, and then Danny from the With Me Now podcast was there. He did the first timers briefing which we listened to as Emily was considering offering to do this role in the future and wanted to see what it was like. Of course we got told off my Danny (in a jokey way) as he knew we were not first timers here!
Can you spot us in the first timers welcome photo? And pop up fun with Branka
All three of us in green! And the view of the start area when I first arrived
Stanborough is three laps, and I didn’t know how it would be as a walking one, but I really enjoyed it, with the three of us had a lovely chat on the way around. Lovely Lynne (from Birchwood juniors- and Danny’s mum) was marshalling and cheered us as we passed her (“Branka! Branka! Maria! Maria! Emily! Emily!”). I was carrying my tote bag with change of clothes- I would usually leave a bag on the tarpaulin of trust but for some reason (maybe because I had a different bag rather than my usual parkrun rucksack) I didn’t, so when we passed Danny after our second lap he asked me what was in it and suggested I leave it with them rather than carry it for the third lap- I said I would but said I really had to go straight away!
Token and a photo from parkrun down to Haribo Dave
As it’s fairly flat (there is a hill in each lap but not too bad when walking) I managed to finish in just over 51 mins giving me time to grab my bag from Lynne, have the briefest of chats and rush to the toilets to get changed. Andy picked me up at 10am and we got to St Albans train station with 5 mins to spare ahead of our 10:27 train. Perfect!
A photo of Ben on the stairs/ Ali Plumb (BBC film critic who hosted the Q&A), Adam, Ben, Sam and Tom on the stage after the premiere, and my excited face by the entrance!
The Picturehouse cinema had gone all out with Jet Lag branding and the day was great with a quiz hosted by the three of them, a podcast recording, director’s commentary on their first Tag season, the finale and then a Q&A with them after. As you can see by my expression I was very excited! Anyway, I was glad to have still managed to fit a parkrun in, especially as August is an empty month for me and I have many dates to fill for date bingo, including that date.
Week 2: Branka, Holly and I had planned to meet at Rothamsted Park parkrun as although we had all been, the three of us had not been there together. Plus, very close to the parkrun is The Waffle House which is a perfect parkfaff location.
Pop up photo– the person taking our photo suggested we turn around to show the backs of our t-shirts as we each had a different milestone top on- Holly’s has her Cowell (100 events) listed and mine is my parkrun alphabet (as there are 25 possible letters).
Scenes from parkrun- I love seeing the stream of colourful runners ahead/ finish token
It was a gorgeous but hot day- I ran with Holly and it was very enjoyable to catch up but it was tough in the heat as there isn’t much shade and the avenue that you run up (4 times) is quite steep at the top! After we finished and took our pop up photos, we walked around the corner for our parkfaff location. There were tables inside but it was the perfect temperature in the shade outside, so we opted for that.
Pop up photo and waffle!
They offer a vegan waffle as an option, and some of the toppings are vegan- this time I opted for banana with blueberry compote plus an iced oat matcha. We spent ages catching up and chatting- some more parkrun plans are materialising too.
