The 1st April was the start of the Easter holidays- usually a good opportunity for parkrun tourism due to the weather, lighter mornings etc. The original plan was for my parents to be up in St Neots for the Friday, and I would drive up on Saturday and meet my dad at Pocket parkrun, and then we’d have a wander around St Neots together after before coming home. It didn’t happen in the end due to illness, but it’s still on our list for the future.
We ended up at Jersey Farm instead, for a very enjoyable run together (far less flooding that I had expected after the rain we had in the week), and then breakfast at home.
parkrun number 312 for me
On the Sunday I was off to junior parkrun (via a run through the woods first) as my niece had completed her 11th junior parkrun the time before, so it was time for her to collect her wristband- how exciting!
Then I had to drop Andy off in St Albans, and noticed that the vegan market (that travels around) was going to be there too. I decided I would pop there for a wander around as I’d not been to St Albans for ages.
There were loads of stalls- the vegan hot dog stall was doing a roaring trade with such a huge line. I wandered around for ages before choosing us a couple of cakes to take home for later. My favourite, the Planted Coffee Co (usually in Panshanger park) were there too, so I picked up a chai latte for the walk back to the car. The lady even recognised me so we had a little chat. I am sure all the dog walkers from Panshanger would have missed them as they are always so busy.Easter holiday running scenes and the website
I was also super chuffed to see that my blog was on a list of the 70 best running blogs here https://blog.feedspot.com/uk_running_blogs/ (is that because there are only 70?). I was looking to see if there were any new ones I fancied following (although I need to find a better system as I used to use Bloglovin but that never seems to work any more), so it was a really lovely surprise.
I was off to France shortly, but I’ll save that for another post.
For IWD I decided to volunteer as parkwalker. I’d not done the role since the launch weekend, so it felt about time to get the blue bib back on. It was a really cold day, so it was hard to work out what to wear as I would warm up while walking, but obviously not as much as if I was running. As a last minute thought I took my RU2C hat with me and was very glad of it- I kept it on the whole time.
Stevenage is a well resourced parkrun with a free car park, a cafe and toilets all there in the centre of the park. The start and finish area are in slightly different places, and at first I walked to the start before realising that the volunteers were collecting at the finish funnel.
Volunteer team photo, sunny views and my token- with 2 people behind me they were just shy of 300.
I loved the welcome chalk board close to the start.
When I arrived, there was another parkwalker (recovering from a hip operation) and we ended up chatting with the tail walker rather than being a big ahead. Just ahead of us were a couple who were walking it, but they were chatting to each other and so we just hung behind them.
Amazing brunch plate from Mildred’s, sticky toffee pudding, the tea chest and a latte.
When I finished I could not hang about for too long as I was off to London to meet with some friends. We were going to lunch at Mildred’s, and as I got there a little early I had time to pop into Bird and Blend.
I’ve been a member of their Brew Societea for ages, and one perk is that if you are in store, you can ask to see the tea chest and take a sample from it. I have been to the stores plenty of times, but never been brave enough to ask before. As they were preparing my drink, I plucked up the courage to ask. Of course they were fine, and I was very excited to find some mulled cider tea- usually a Christmas only drink (but a lovely apple and spiced fruity blend) and we had run out at home.
At Mildred’s I could have chosen so many things, but in the end went for one of their brunch plates with scrambled tofu, black bean mole, sweetcorn fritters, blue corn tortillas, pink pickled onions, avocado and salsa- so many delicious things. We chatted for so long that we even had space for dessert, so I had the sticky toffee pudding and it was amazing.
Sunday running through the woods to junior parkrun, vegan strawberry cheesecake doughnut from Crosstown and lunch at Caffe Nero- I really like that their vegan ‘sausage’ roll has lots of veggies in there rather than a fake meat filling.
Sunday was another parkrun themed day, this time meeting our niece and nephew at junior parkrun. I ran through the woods first which was lovely but also very muddy! I thought it would be better as the weather had been dry for a few days.
Andy had been into London too, and popped to Crosstown (he was after the St Patrick’s Day Guinness doughnut so got me a doughnut too), so I had that to enjoy on Sunday.
I was signed up yet again for the Brighton Half Marathon, one of my favourite races, so of course no excuse is needed for a weekend in Brighton around the race.
As we headed down on the Friday, it meant I could go to parkrun on Saturday morning. After going to all the parkruns in Brighton (there are 5), I tend to go between the two most central, Hove Prom and Preston Park. Our hotel was closest to Preston park, so that was where I headed to. This also handily works on my p-index (the number of parkruns you have visited for that amount of times, eg if you have been to 5 different parkruns 5 times each, your p index is 5). (Currently my p-index is 6, as I have been to 6 parkruns 6 or more times- Panshanger(87), Ellenbrook Fields (39), St Albans (28), Jersey Farm (30), Hove Prom (9) and Preston Park (6). To get it up to 7, I need to get the lower ones up to over 7 visits, so the Preson park visit would help. (My next highest is Westmill at 5, so I need to go there 2 more times…)
Preston park parkrun, the statue at Hove, Bird and Blend tea, and parkrun token
I headed to the parkrun, taking my time as it was not far from the hotel. There were loads of runners there, including lots of people down for the half marathon weekend. They had pacers and I was very tempted to go for a faster time, but then I had to be sensible as I had had a bit of a cough and didn’t want to make my cold any worse. In the end I ran 29:02, which I am pretty pleased with as I have barely been below 30 minutes this year.
Andy had been to the Flour Pot bakery to get breakfast for us to have in our room (delicious vegan croissant) and then we were off for our traditional walk to Hove. It was glorious weather so we made the most of it. Of course we had to go into Bird and Blend for a tea latte to accompany the walk.
The pavilion at dusk, a walk by the sea, Purezza pizza and Crosstown
Crosstown had recently opened so we bought a couple of treats, and had dinner at Purezza- good carb loading.
The forecast for Sunday included sleet, so it wasn’t that great. I could not decide what to wear, as one year I was way too hot, but equally you don’t want to be freezing cold for a couple of hours. In the end I went for capris, t-shirt with my club vest over the top, buff and gloves. I wore my jacket to the start and at the last minute gave it to Andy, and at the end he walked to meet me with it.
The race was enjoyable, although I got a bit of a stiff leg at one point. I stopped to stretch a few times, but it just wasn’t right. I think the adverse camber of the start just aggravated something. I didn’t have any aims for time, but estimated I would be similar to the last two years (2:08:23 in 2021 and 2:07:37 in 2022- I had to look it up on the text message). I finished in 2:07:04, so pretty consistent with those times, and if I had not had the sore leg I would have been a little faster too.
I do love this race, but the start/finish area is what needs working on. This year they tried to have a dedicated runner space close to the start pens, to try and help with the congestion, but at the finish there was nothing. I timed it on my watch and it was 30 minutes from finishing to meeting Andy by the pier (which is right by the finish)- we were given foil blankets and thankfully the forecast sleet had not made an appearance, but I was really freezing by the time I met up with him.
Medal and Kermit at lunch, race finish, amazing mega latte and marmite fries.
We went straight for a cup of tea to warm up a bit as I was not feeling great, and then to lunch at Oowee burgers- it’s all vegan and they do marmite fries which is just what you want when you have finished running. Tp stay hydrated we also went to Bird and Blend- they were advertising a mega latte with their seasonal strawberry and nutella pancakes tea, and even offered vegan squirty cream (who even knew that was a thing?) so I had that and it was just what I needed.
Since January I have stopped working Mondays, so to make the most of this we actually stayed down in Brighton for the Sunday night and travelled back the next day, which was a revelation!
So, a weekend of running, fresh air and eating delicious vegan food.
I ended up resting for the entire next week as my leg still had a tight muscle and I didn’t want to do any damage. By the next parkrun, I was OK to take it gently and thankfully felt fine.
Half term was a chilled out affair. After my little solo parkrun adventure into London, I was local on Sunday morning, marshalling at Beehive juniors.
Marshal at the ready, the view, breakfast after and the whistle. I was even given a whistle (a good idea to attract attention if needed) but thankfully all was well. I do love cheering people on at parkrun, and the children seem to particularly appreciate it.The clear chalk stream in Panshanger, running through Ellenbrook Fields on the way to the car garage, and my reusable cup. I had a couple of longer runs (good half marathon training) as the car had to go to the garage so I dropped it off and ran the long way home one day, and then ran straight there the next day and picked it up. The contrast in the weather was crazy though- the day I ran home it was still foggy in the middle of the day and really cold, and the next day was t-shirt and sunglasses weather. I went for a couple of walks in Panshanger (still bringing my reusable cup, although the lid broke- it was many years old- so I started looking for a replacement).A visit to Vutie Beets (gorgeous vegan cafe in Letchworth) and parkrun planning
One day I headed up to Letchworth for a little walk around and a visit to Vutie Beets. I had a delicious chai latte in the cafe, and then bought cinnamon buns to take home and share with Andy.
I did a bit more parkrun tourism planning. I actually just realised that the NENDY icon on the 5k app is purple with a sort of cross hatch in the middle rather than the tick (if you’ve been there) or the parkrun tree (if you haven’t). For some reason I hadn’t realised it before, even thinking when I was in Southampton that the one nearest to be had disappeared from the app. So I think when seeing Grovelands as my nearest, I thought it was further than it actually is as I had not realised the symbol matched up with it. More on that in my next post…
OH ladies Friday run and another peanut butter covered breakfast
I was so happy on Friday to be able to join in with the club run. They always post pictures on Fridays of their runs and coffee after, and as it was half term it meant I could come along! We had a lovely walk along an old railway line first (a route I wouldn’t run on my own, but in a group it’s great) and then we went for a hot drink after (tea for me). I love my running club- it’s so supportive and the social side is just as important as the running. I tend to meet up a lot at parkruns, but don’t make the club runs very often so this was great.
I also got my hair cut- it suddenly had got very long. I actually went on the Monday after half term- since Christmas I’ve gone to working 4 days a week, Monday being my day off, and I absolutely love it. I love my job but it is so exhausting and time consuming- there is always work to do at the weekends and in the evenings, and so having a little longer at the weekend has really made a huge difference. Half term also included some baking from my latest vegan baking book (by Freya Cox from Bake Off), and catching up on the next Disney movies for the Disniversity podcast (Aladdin).
It’s been a while since I’ve had a solo parkrun adventure, but the start of half term coincided with my dad being away, so I decided to head to Highbury Fields parkrun. I’ve quite like going to parkrun via train, and have been working my way through the parkruns on the train line between here and Kings Cross. Highbury Fields was the only one left, and as it’s 5 laps I’ve been intrigued to see how it works. I have been to a 5 lapper before, at Heslington in York- it was on a cycle track- so this would be quite different.
The quickest way for me to travel was to get the train to Finsbury Park, and then change to the underground and go one stop on to Highbury & Islington. You can pay contactless on that route now, rather than having to buy tickets, so that made it easier., and the park could not get closer to the tube station- a very easy one to get to via public transport.
I had written out my instructions as I am very liable to forget them. It all worked out well, and I got to the park nice and early, around 8:30, so had a little jog around the outside of the field. This was when I really wondered how on earth the parkrun fit in there. On the map, the park looks like a triangle shape and so I headed up to the wider part, but it was still really small and I don’t think I managed 1km.
There were lots of people warming up, and some friendly volunteers standing around and chatting- there seemed to be a lot of tourists but I wonder if half term had something to do with that. There was a couple who I wanted to speak to but were always a bit far away, wearing t-shirts that when they stood together said ‘we love parkrun”- fantastic.
I left my jacket on the tarpaulin by the start/finish area at the last possible moment as it was quite brisk, but of course I warmed up as soon as I started running.
I also got to see The Garage- I wonder how many gigs I had seen there in my younger years!
Once we started, the course became clearer- we actually ran laps around the outside of the park, mainly on pavements and a small part in the top section of the park on the paths there. They had told us we had to keep track of our own laps (of course) and I ended up running behind the same 3 people, so that made it easier. Each lap went gently uphill for one side of the park, across the top, then downhill and around the outside/bottom of the park. I wondered how congested it would be, and I did start getting lapped by the super speedy runners in my second lap (I think), but it wasn’t ever too bad, and of course by the time I was on my third lap onwards, the speediest ones were finishing so the course was thinning out. At the final corner was the most enthusiastic marshal who was cheering everyone and ringing a handbell- he was brilliant.
After I finished, I jogged along Upper Street towards Angel, via Bird and Blend. They weren’t open until 10, so I hung around outside for a bit before getting a chai latte (they do the best ones and I wasn’t passing up an opportunity to visit). I was going to get some breakfast too, but the trains back from Kings Cross were only every half an hour and I didn’t want to have to wait until the next one, so I waited until I got back to WGC, heading into Caffe Nero for a vegan croissant and tea.
That was my 94th different parkrun location and number 305, and I am quite pleased that my map on the parkrun challenges chrome extension joins up home to central London without any gaps.
