Author: Maria Runs

A birthday Brighton weekend

If you have read this blog for a while, then you will know I love Brighton. Honestly, a weekend there is just fantastic and one of my favourite ways to spend a weekend. There are lots of parkruns to choose from, you can walk by the sea, there are fun little shops to explore in the lanes and of course amazing vegan food options.

My birthday is around the May Bank holiday weekend, so we often go away for the long weekend as a birthday treat (last year we went to Bakewell for the weekend), and this year we headed to Brighton. Andy had got the train down earlier in the afternoon so he could check in to our hotel (as it had a time limit for checking in), and I got the train after work and we met up for dinner, then had a sunset walk by the sea.

The run to parkrun by the sea/ the 5K app showing me my options

Of course Saturday morning was time for parkrun. We were staying in Kemp town, so I think I was actually half way between East Brighton and Hove Prom. Before this weekend, I’d been to Hove Prom 10 times, Preston Park 8 times, Brighton and Hove once, Bevendean Down once and East Brighton once. You can see my favourites (but they are also the easiest from the city centre as both are a jog/walk from most hotels). We planned to meet for breakfast after, and this was closer to Hove Prom, so the decision was made. It is probably my favourite of all the Brighton ones.

Photos with the selfie frame (lesser spotted selfie frames now… and of course the purple pop up- the beach huts in Hove make a great backdrop to photos too as they are so colourful.

It was the most beautiful morning, with blue skies and the sun glinting off the sea. It was also Star Wars Day (May the 4th) and I was very impressed to see a few people in outfits. Some people actually ran in full length costumes and masks which would have been tough in the heat. I admire their dedication. I have a Grogu Christmas jumper but there was no way I was running in that, I would have been overheating in no time.

Hove Prom is out and back twice, but you start in the middle, which sounds complicated, but basically you run out towards Hove, back along the front passing the start line, up to the Peace statue, then back along towards the start/finish line, and then repeat. It is very inclusive with a separate start for VI runners and wheelchair participants, it’s flat, well marshalled and really friendly. This time as well as people in Star Wars outfits there were a few hen dos – there were 762 runners in total which seems mad! I first went there in 2015 and there were 108 runners! They had pacers so I tried to keep up with the 29 minute pacer. I think if it had been less busy then the 28 minute pacer could have been an option but it takes a while for the crowd to thin out enough to get into your own pace. The pacer was great, turning around and cheering on the group frequently, and I was very happy with 28:38 as my time. I do really think they need a double funnel though- the funnel loops back and forth around 4 times I think and there were people trying to duck out, people milling about and not closing the gaps- the poor funnel managers were having a terrible time. It wasn’t as bad as Clapham Common but it does seem to be really exploding in size- the course can cope with big numbers but the funnel really can’t. I got there just as the funnel was filling, but a bit behind me people were stopping before the finish line as there wasn’t space in the funnel.

The most delicious pancakes from Nowhere Man (my new favourite Brighton breakfast spot), the funnel going on and on, up and down, finish token and another beach hut photo.

Andy messaged as I was in the funnel to say he had ordered breakfast so I couldn’t hang about for long- time to get scanned, get my top and head back into town. Those pancakes are delicious- Nowhere Man do vegan pancakes and also non-vegan ones. These were dark chocolate raspberry ones. They also serve Bird and Blend tea which of course makes me happy.

Children’s day parade, iced matcha and tea at breakfast

On the way back to the hotel after breakfast we stumbled across a children’s day parade- all the schools had decorated floats and were parading them down the main street. We watched for ages- they were all so brilliant. After finally having a shower and getting changed we then had our standard Brighton Saturday afternoon- a walk to Hove, a drink from Bird and Blend, a wander around the shops in the lanes, and a delicious Purezza dinner.

Sunset views, more tea and the talk at the Brighton festival

On Sunday we had tickets for a talk by Caroline Lucas, about her new book, as part of the Brighton Festival. It was a bit rainy that day but had stopped raining once we came out of the talk. We saw some more beautiful sunset views on our evening walk. Then on Monday I went for a run in the rain, picked up breakfast (The Flour Pot bakery do amazing vegan croissants too) and then headed to the train station via Bird and Blend for a final matcha. That was less fun as lots of trains were cancelled due to a reported landslip, but thankfully we got home, albeit rather later than planned.

A rainy morning run, and the matcha wall of dreams!

So, another pretty perfect weekend in Brighton.

Where do you like to head for a weekend away? Which parkruns do you like to revisit?

A new course at St Albans parkrun

St Albans parkrun is where I started parkrunning all those years ago, but since Panshanger, Ellenbrook Fields (sad face) and Jersey Farm started and they were all closer, I don’t tend to go back to St Albans much. The course has changed since I first started there, due to flooding but also the huge number of runners.

The first course was a lollipop with 3 laps (start at the car park and run out to the lake, 3 laps of the lake then back along the path to the start), but it got busy on the narrow paths as inevitably there was lots of lapping- we always got lapped by the people on their 3rd laps when we were on our 2nd. My first run there had 131 runners, and a year later there were 350. They had an off road course for when the lakes were flooded, which was a similar lollipop shape, but laps of an undulating field rather than flat laps of the lake. Then they changed the main course to incorporate one side of the lake.

Recently they’ve been trialling a new course for when the lake is flooded, around an old golf course, and I was quite intrigued by this so persuaded my dad to come along. We both needed a fairly local run, so this fit the bill nicely.

We just made it there on time, as it turned out my brother was also coming, but didn’t realise we were going to St Albans rather than Jersey Farm- we would walk to Jersey Farm and drive to St Albans, both taking maybe 10 minutes but you had to allow time to park and pay at St Albans. Anyway, when he turned up we decided to chance it and just about made it, paying for parking at 8:55! The start area is still close enough to the car park to make it there thankfully.

There was a bit of pomp and ceremony at the start, as initially named as the major of St Albans but was actually the High Sheriff of Hertfordshire (an ancient ceremonial role apparently…)- the theme was something to do with helping or sport, I couldn’t hear all the announcement, but she said she would be visiting all of the parkruns in Herts and had started at St Albans.

Anyway, we were soon off and running along the edge of the field, to the back of the park and then along the path. This was the familiar part of the course as it covered parts of previous parkrun courses. Once we crossed and got into the golf course bit it was all new to me.

I enjoyed it so much! As we ran the first loop we had views of the abbey and the park surrounding it. We ran through trees and then up a gentle slope (which reminded me of the South Oxhey slope) you could not see all the way to the top as there were trees in the way, and the course wound up gently. You could see people on the other side making their way back down, and I always enjoy those courses where you can see people on other points of the park.

Once you got to the top of the slope you headed back down, only after looping through some more trees we were treated to a short steep uphill section which was very muddy and slippery- I was glad of my trail shoes at that point. You then repeated the golf course loop and then went back to the main path, along the path, retracing your footsteps to go back to the finish.

The course had good variation with the flat sections in the park and the undulating section in the golf course, and with all the scenery changes there was lots to look at.

I ran with Dad, and after we finished we took a few photos and cheered my brother in. Lots of people were milling about on the basketball court- there is always a nice feel at St Albans as there is a cafe in the park as well as the Waffle House close by so people can parkfaff (although we usually head home as Mum will cook us breakfast).

It ended up being a parkrun themed weekend, as I marshalled at Birchwood juniors on the Sunday too (along with several OH ladies), and then persuaded Andy to head up to Letchworth together- we had lunch at Vutie Beets and brought home some buns.

Does your local parkrun have different routes?

Great Denham parkrun- completing Stay in Beds

If you have the 5k app (the purple one) then as well as keeping track of things like the alphabet challenge, you can also create your own challenges. A few members of my running club had started tracking the Bedfordshire parkruns, after completing all the parkruns in Herts, so I added it to my list of challenges. At that point I only had a couple left, Bedford and Great Denham, and visited Bedford last summer.

This April was finally the time for me to head there, as Dad fancied doing some tourism too. In fact my brother even joined us which was lovely, as he often plays football on Saturdays so then doesn’t do parkrun as much as he used to.

I was a little worried about the parking situation, as there is a car park right next to the start, but they ask parkrunners not to use it, as it is used for things like kids football matches, and instead they ask you to use a park and ride car park 1km away. We left a little later than I would have liked, but the traffic going up there was fine, and in fact the walk from the park and ride to the park didn’t take long at all (it was 0.6 miles according to Strava) so definitely a good option. We were a bit late for the first timers welcome, but at the main briefing they mentioned they are trying to get a junior parkrun agreed, but it wouldn’t be if the residents were upset with the parking arrangements, so it is important to adhere to their requests. (If you go to the parkrun page and look at the course map, you can expand the map and it opens google maps, you can then click on the green start pin and navigate towards it)

The course itself is two laps of the park, it’s very flat and all on paths. It was a beautiful day with blue skies, although there was quite a strong wind, which of course you never feel when it’s behind you, but as soon as you turn and run into it, it’s there!

Scenes of the route plus the pop up at the start.

I really enjoyed the route- the park was quite varied with grassland, a few wooded areas, some ponds, and at times you ran past a row of trees and could glimpse the river through them.

I ran with Dad and as usually chat and don’t look at watches while we run (he doesn’t have a GPS watch or anything, and I just press start and stop and that’s it) but he commented that we were going pretty quickly. I think he said more than me in the second lap. I don’t look at splits much but when cropping the route map it was pleasing to see a royal flush negative split (each mile quicker than the previous one), particularly as I felt I really slowed in the final section as we ran into the wind towards the finish line. My time was 28:23 so a fair bit quicker than I have been running recently.

The finish funnel bunting, obligatory token photo and purple pop up picture.

On that note, I loved their finish funnel! It reminded me of Clermont Waterfront, which has flags from around the world decorating their funnel. This one had bunting made from old high viz jackets- it looked so pretty fluttering in the wind.

Photos of my brother with me, and then Dad joined us. I was glad of my sunglasses as my eyes would not have been open for any of the pictures otherwise!

Time for some photos before we walked back to the car and drove home, as Mum was at home ready to cook us some breakfast.

New and old Vonoroi map! Before- that green triangle was Great Denham, and now it’s purple because I’ve been there.

The 5K app also had an update where you can now select Vonoroi when you look at the map of events. This was available if you use the google chrome extension- parkrun challenges- still the original way to track challenges. However even if you have chrome on your phone, it wouldn’t work, but now you can have the fun of looking at the map on your phone instead.

So, Stay in Beds complete, and here are the dates I visited first:

Bedford- 8th July 2023

Dunstable Downs- 2nd March 2019

Great Denham- 20th April 2024

Henlow Bridge Lakes- 27th November 2021

Luton Wardown- 4th September 2021

Houghton Hall- 27th January 2018

Millennium Country- 13th April 2019

Rushmere- 22nd September 2018

(Complete until of course another one starts in Beds…)

Have you been to any of all of these events? Are you as taken as I am with the Vonoroi map? Which challenges are you working on if any?

Holyrood parkrun – what a treat!

I absolutely love going to Edinburgh and have had many happy times there, both with and without parkruns. I’ve been to both Portobello parkrun and Edinburgh parkrun before, and when Holyrood parkrun started it was on my list as I’ve been there to run and it’s just so scenic.

We drove up via York on the Thursday night, and then up to Edinburgh on the Friday. We parked the car on the outskirts of the city (booking a car park space) by a tram and train stop, and then got the train in, so we had not car for the weekend, but you don’t need it as Edinburgh is fab to explore by foot. We were there until Monday so plenty of time to spend in the city.

I’d slightly twisted my ankle the week before so had rested it and tried a few walks, but no running as I really wanted to be able to spend time sightseeing, but also I really wanted to take part in parkrun on the Saturday. My jog there from the hotel was about a mile and a half, and I ran/walked it, enjoying the scenery and listening to a podcast. My ankle felt fine so I was happy that I’d be OK to run rather than walk it (which of course is an option but just delays breakfast!).

Of course once I arrived I just could not stop taking photos. It is such a stunning location with Arthur’s Seat in the background.

The scenic start line and the purple pop up and flag

I was there ahead of the first timers welcome with plenty of time to get photos by the purple pop up, as I was meeting Andy at the breakfast place after so would not hang about too much at the finish.

I had been warned about the elevation- you basically run one lap but it’s a mile uphill, then a mile of flat, then a mile downhill, although you finish slightly uphill again so save some energy for that! The first timers welcome shared that, and mentioned how they encouraged walkers too. It felt very friendly.

Toad crossing signs, the very busy start, the beautiful yellow gorse bushes and the lake at the top

I couldn’t hear anything at the main briefing and didn’t even realise that it had started. I chatted to a local guy for a bit before he stopped to walk, and that was good as it meant I didn’t set off too fast. I’m used to courses with undulations (Panshanger and Jersey Farm are both up and down courses) but running a mile uphill is very different to short up and down sections. As it was curved you couldn’t see the next part of the course and I kept thinking that it must be the top, but no, it kept going. It was however absolutely stunning. The forecast rain had stayed away, but with the darker skies it looked even more dramatic. Once at the top the course went around a lake, so up ahead I could see all the runners reflected in the surface. Then the downhill started- I got overtaken more there than anywhere else. I’m not the best at steep downhill anyway, but with my ankle I needed to be even more careful. I just loved the views- if you looked to the left and slightly behind you could see the sea, you could see all the monuments on Calton Hill, it was all there.

I was so happy to be running again after a week off, and then the views on the downhill section

Once finished I got a few more photos before heading to breakfast.

Purple pop up pictures

There were 445 participants that day- it’s a popular one but after the first part it thinned out quickly so it can take that number of people.

You can see the elevation below- they have a chart on the FAQ section of their facebook page too- be prepared!

After the photos, I ran/walked to Loudon’s where Andy had booked us breakfast- he was walking from the hotel and met me there. They do delicious vegan pancakes so of course that is what I had.

Then we had a wonderful few days in Edinburgh. It was super windy (up to 50mph) due to a storm, so all the gardens were closed, as well as the botanical gardens, and we didn’t think a walk up Arthur’s Seat was advisable in that weather so spent more time in the centre instead, going to a museum, visiting Bird and Blend and of course enjoying all the amazing vegan food options available.

A windy walk in Edinburgh/ sunshine in the park/ pancakes at Loudon’s

It was coming up to Andy’s birthday so the Buttermint matcha was something he chose for a birthday treat.

Black Rabbit vegan cinnamon and Biscoff buns (heavenly), Bird and Blend matcha, the amazing tea chest in their store, and our purchases!

All in all, a fantastic weekend in Edinburgh. I’m so glad I got to experience Holyrood parkrun, it really is special because the scenery is so amazing. Definitely one to add to your list if it’s not already on there.

For me it was parkrun 353, course number 111, my third Scottish and my third Edinburg one!

Is Holyrood on your list?

Medina IOW parkrun- the parkrun with the most courses?

For the Easter weekend we were off to the Isle of Wight, and hooray, there is one parkrun on the Isle of Wight (Medina IOW), so guess where I’d be on the Saturday morning!

Now, Medina IOW is known for being a bit rogue as they seem to have many locations and many courses. I did email the team to check, as they are not that active on facebook, and it says to check the news page for the current location but I could not see anything referring to it on the course page. The team were very helpful at replying, telling me that the current course page was correct. It definitely was correct for the location, but see below for what I thought I was running:

And then compare it to what I actually ran:

Slightly different! I did think it was strange that there was no mention of a second lap in the first timers welcome, but then I thought I must have remembered the course wrong.

Anyway, back to Friday- parkrun preparation included eating lots of delicious vegan food in Cafe Thrive (in Southampton), having a walk around the park while Andy was at football, and then getting the ferry over on the Friday night. I know some people would do the trip in the morning but I would be quite stressed by that, plus you had to be at the ferry terminal an hour before, and it then takes an hour, so that’s an early start.

Delicious salad for lunch, hot cross bun cookies, chai latte and a magnolia in the sunshine

The Isle of Wight is pretty small, so although our hotel was on the south of the island, and the parkrun was back where the ferry docked, it was only around a 20 minute journey in the morning. Andy came with me as we had our eye on a breakfast place after, close to the parkrun start.

Finding the parkrun signs is always a bonus! The briefing area by the leisure centre, the purple pop up and a tree covered in blossom by the finish area.

It was such a beautiful spring day with beautiful blue skies. I ran through the park and was happy to find arrows and the finish area quickly, but everyone seemed to be heading up to the leisure centre, and this was where the first timers welcome and main run briefing were held before walking to the start. The main briefing was a long one, with the ED playing a song from the olympics over a tannoy to inspire everyone with their run, and then there were many thanks and milestones and other arbitrary things. By the time we had walked to the start line it was nearly 9:10 so messaged Andy to let him know we were about to start, as I thought he would wonder otherwise, (although he had no phone reception so he didn’t even get my message).

The route started with a lap of the field, before heading along the river for an out and back section, and then retracing your steps around the field again. It was pretty flat, but the section by the river had very uneven ground (which we were warned about in the briefing)- the path had been created with the hexagonal plastic grid sheeting, and filled with gravel, only most of the gravel was gone so you were running on the edges of the sheeting, and it had cracked in places so you had to look carefully at all times to check your footing. I would have preferred to have my trail shoes on as they have thicker soles so are easier on ground like this.

The out and back section was narrow and we had to keep to one side as other runners were already heading back. Once the tail walker had passed it was OK to overtake runners when needed, but it was a busy course, a bit like Maidstone where you feel like it should be fast because it’s flat, but it isn’t really because of the number of people. I did like that it had such a welcoming atmosphere and lots and lots of walkers as well as runners. As it was the Easter weekend, lots of the volunteers had various Easter hats or bunny ears on and we were even offered sweets at the finish line.

After the standard purple pop up selfie attempt, when someone usually takes pity on me and offers to take my photo, I walked back to the leisure centre to get my jacket from the tarpaulin of trust, and then walked back through the park to meet up with Andy and to get some breakfast. Although he hadn’t got my message, he realised that he hadn’t seen any runners go past for a while so had worked out it had started late.

So that was my 110th different parkrun course, and 352nd parkrun overall. It was very enjoyable and if I ever decide to work on all the parkruns in Hampshire (Champshire?) then I have one of the more difficult to get to ones ticked off.

Acai bowl, the port, pancakes and a Mermaid matcha

We went to Peach Cafe in Newport- a vegan cafe with lots of delicious options and amazing looking cakes on display. We shared an acai bowl and pancakes topped with scrambled tofu and smoked coconut (I think meant to imitate bacon), plus a matcha and some tea. I was very excited to see that they served Bird and Blend matcha- especially Mermaid matcha which has been discontinued. It was really good, but it was fairly slow service and I was sitting there staring at the pastries the whole time, so I ended up buying a chocolate hazelnut croissant to have later- maybe that’s their tactic?

Views of the coast, posing by the needles, NT tearoom and more coastal scenes

The weather was beautiful so we headed over to The Needles (along with everyone else- we sat in a queue for the car park for around 45 minutes)- we enjoyed a long walk along the coast and up to the lighthouse and were very excited to find a National Trust tearoom still open as we hadn’t had lunch. They were doing hot cross bun scones (their fruit scones are vegan and the guy checked and these ones were too) so of course we had to get those.

We stayed until the Monday so it was good to make the most of going there and seeing lots of the island, which is definitely my preferred way of parkrun touristing- I’d like to be somewhere that happens to have a parkrun, or go to a parkrun and then spend time there seeing what else is there. I think we definitely visited most of the vegan cafes on the IOW while we were there!

Does your local parkrun have different courses? St Albans is trialling a new one at the moment as the lake is so often flooded, and Panshanger has a “cow” course for when the cows are in one of the fields, but both of these start at the same place as the regular courses do.