Category: parkrun tourism

Our hotel in Nagoya was about 2.5km away from the parkrun (as the crow flies), however due to the gridded streets it would have been further (and longer due to the fact that no-one jaywalks so you have to stop at every intersection) and the heat (high 30’s) and mad humidity meant I decided to walk a bit of a way to the train station, and then get the train a few stops to the park. The line I needed ran clockwise and anti-clockwise so again it was very simple to check on the platform that I was going the right way as the signs showed clearly which stations would be next.

Getting the train part of the way turned out to be a very good decision- the humidity was so crazy that by the time I arrived at parkrun I already had rivers of sweat pouring down my legs, and the walk to the station took even longer than anticipated due to all the road crossings.

The station (Meijo Park train station) was right by the park, and the instructions said to use exit 2 (train stations in Japan have many many exits so you need to pay attention to the exit number)- however once crossing the road I passed exit 8 which was closer? I always have a bit of anxiety around whether a parkrun is actually on or not, especially when teams don’t use the volunteer roster or are not that active on social media, but the team had posted on facebook a day before to say they would be on, so all I had to do was locate it. There were lots of runners meeting up but this didn’t match the pin in google maps, so I followed that and saw the actual parkrun flags- hooray!

The parkrun sign and all the cut outs of the milestones (I love that they already have the 1000 ones ready)/ a picture by the flag/ the run brief

As soon as I arrived, I was spoken to by an English person who was living in Nagoya for a few months- she was part of the volunteer team and so explained the course to me. The course was a simple one- 4 laps of the park- and there was plenty of shade around too. When I commented on the heat and humidity she explained that because Nagoya is surrounded by mountains it is notorious for being hotter and more humid than other places in Japan. This parkrun cancels for all of August as it is too hot, and I can see why. A new runner approached her, explaining that he was from South Korea and wanted to know if he could run, so she tried to help him register there and then.

I had brought water + electrolytes with me, so had some before we started before leaving my bag on the little wall that everyone seemed to be using.

There was a first timers welcome in Japanese, and at this point a Japanese man came to speak to me and ask me where I was from. When I said England, he said to me that it was where parkrun originated, and he would love to go there. He offered to take my photo by the flags, which was very kind of him. Later on a different person spoke to me, and we had almost the same conversation where they commented that England was where parkrun started. It was nice to have these brief chats and to hear that people are positive about parkrun and would like to tour.

The main briefing was in Japanese, and the noise of the crickets/ cicadas were so loud that I could barely hear the RD, and then we were off.

The route was shady and fairly flat so that was good. I had thought (incorrectly) that I’d be able to see Nagoya Castle from the route, but there was still lots to see. There is a huge arena in the park, decorated with flags on thick bamboo poles, and this was because there was sumo wrestling going on there at the moment (the next day when we were leaving we saw lots of sumo wrestlers at the train station). There were lovely lakes/ponds with little bridges going over them, and lots of trees and plants to look at. There were also so many other runners out, not taking part in parkrun, so I did have to concentrate a bit. There were a few people with milestone shirts, so I kept them in sight for the first lap, and then I knew where I was going (past the arena, to the perimeter of the park, past the pond, alongside the moat and back to the start/finish area). On my first time of passing the finish area the volunteers were cheering and taking photos of us, and then the next time they were getting ready for the first runners, still cheering us as well as getting themselves ready in the funnel. Each time I passed I had some encouragement from the volunteers and this is definitely a plus point for a multi-lapped course (and the reduced risk of getting lost).

A few mid-run photos

It was so hot, but at least there was shade. I was concentrating on the laps which meant I didn’t think so much about how hot I was. It didn’t feel like long before I was heading into the finish funnel after completing my 4th lap.

Mid run photo/ a photo taken by the team as I went past the finish area/ passing the tail walker

The scanners were right there, and after scanning I quickly got my bag so I could have more of a drink. I was keen for a photo with the sign (the roll out ones as they don’t have the big pop ups)- it had been beautifully displayed on the ground along with little t-shirt cut outs for each milestone, but I couldn’t find it and didn’t know if it had been moved or packed away. I can only say a few words of Japanese, so I was not that confident asking, but I can say excuse me, and so I then pointed to a photo on my phone of the sign, which thankfully they understood!

Both directions from the finish line (towards the finish line and back to where everyone had left their bags)/ my pop up equivalent

This parkrun was very different to the other parkruns in Japan that I have been to, in that they didn’t seem to get many tourists/visitors, and it had a proper local vibe. (For example all the other ones have taken first timer photos with all the first timers together) It was good to experience a more local one rather than a super touristy one. And as has been my experience wherever I have been in Japan, the people are extremely welcoming and friendly, and really willing to help with whatever is needed. One of the volunteers took photos while I held the sign, and then I chatted a little more to one of the Japanese people who I had talked with at the start. He even thanked me for coming to Japan.

It briefly began to rain here, but it was such light rain it wasn’t doing much, and it was so hot and humid that it was a relief to not be in the baking sun. I walked around to look at the castle (and popped into the toilets to change- PSA is that the toilets I went into were footplate only, however I’ve been in others where there is a mixture, and the train station ones tend to be ones with seats).

A selfie by the castle/ the castle

It is a really beautiful castle with the pale green roof and gold details, and I could hear some sort of announcement happening (this must have been 9am) but I couldn’t see the entrance- we had looked before and thought it was closed for renovations while we were there. Anyway, then it was time to head back, via Starbucks for a cold drink and to get us some breakfast. The train and then walk back were fairly simple- I was glad I had noticed the big ferris wheel near the station on the way in, as when I came out of the station it was a different exit a few roads over so it took me a bit of time to orient myself and work out where I needed to go.

Voronoi update:

This parkrun covered most of Nagoya- there are others on the outskirts including one that is very mountainous, so had we been here in August there would have been options still.

That was my 460th parkrun, my 5th in Japan and my 162nd parkrun location, and even with running at Clermont in Florida in August, Meijo Koen was the most humid parkrun I’ve ever done!

Up next? Back in the UK for some local events and a bit more touring- maybe a few more Lon-Done events while the early mornings don’t seem so bad!

This was the parkrun that escaped me on my last trip to Japan, as we were staying nearby, but we were flying to Hong Kong on the Saturday and the timings of the bus to the airport didn’t really work (and I had a bad cold which meant the 2.5km each way from the station to the parkrun would have been too much). So, this trip I was keen to head there.

This parkrun is very close to Tokyo Disneyland (only a few more stops on the train) but at this point of the trip we were staying in the centre of Tokyo, so my journey was quite a bit longer than it would have been if I were travelling from the hotels in the vicinity of Disney. I had to get 3 trains and then either a bus or a 2.5km walk from the final train station, so it was an early start (5:30am- thankfully the jet lag worked a bit in favour of this) in order to get all the connections to line up. Ideally I wanted to be at the station near parkrun (Shin-Urayasu Station- on the Keiyo line) at about 7 to give me time to walk there as I had not got a bus before, and the walk was a straight line so very simple. I slept so badly as I was having all sorts of worries about missing train connections and getting lost, but thankfully my journey went fine (in that I got there in the end) but even finding tracks at the first station (that was literally right next to our hotel) was challenging as the line I needed turned out to be in the Basement-2 level and accessed by one lift going down to B1, walking a bit and then finding a way down to B2. Google maps is your friend when navigating trains in Tokyo, and it does leave time for transfers as it knows how far apart the platforms can be, but any sort of error and backtracking can mean you miss a connection. I had purposely gone this way rather than a two train option that went through Tokyo station (the Keiyo line to Disney goes from there, however it’s such a long walk through the station (at least 15 mins) to the tracks that I wanted to avoid that as I thought I probably knew the way but if I got lost in a huge station like that I would probably miss parkrun).

(If anyone is interested I went Shiodome station – Tsukishima on the Oedo line, then Tsukishima to Shin-Kiba on the Yurakucho line, then Shin-Kiba to Shin-Urayasu on the Keiyo line, and got briefly lost in one of the stations where I had to change, but had left enough time to still be OK to walk. The good thing about the Tokyo metro is that on each line, each station had a number (so the Oedo line are all E, so I went from E19 to E16, and then Y21 to Y24, and then JE05 to JE08)- the platforms and maps are all clearly labelled, even with arrows showing which station and direction is next, so it is very clear once you are at the platform that you are going the right way. I got a little confused at the final platform as that line shared a platform with another line, but I worked that out too).

It was a warm morning, so I pretty much walked the whole way there. I’d taken water +electrolytes with me, and a tshirt to change into for the journey back. They post a bit on social media, generally posting photos after the event, and there were previous posts about a cancelation due to a typhoon, and posts about the meeting point changing, so I was pretty sure it was going ahead, however I was still relieved to see the parkrun flag at the end of the road.

The course is right by the water, so this was the view from the end of the street right by the meeting point- pretty impressive.

The view from the end of the road, right by the starting location

After taking some pictures I headed into the park to the meeting spot.

As has always been the case at parkruns in Japan, the team were incredibly friendly to the visitors. As soon as I walked over I was shown the course map and had it explained to me (basically out along the coast in one direction, turn at the u-turn sign, back along the coast past the start area until you reach a marshal, up a little hill and back towards the finish). I am sure they always get people from other countries due to their proximity to Disney (and Tokyo station)- there were some tourists from Denmark and Australia as well as the UK. A lovely UK tourist came to chat to me (she guessed I was a tourist as I had my 250 shirt on) and we were all asked to have a first timers photo and then they took a photo of all the participants.

The briefing was done in Japanese and English, in that the RD would say something in Japanese, and then another volunteer would say that in English, alternating all the way through. As it was very hot, they really emphasised the need to run gently, be aware of the heat, and keep hydrated (even telling us that it takes around 30 mins for water to be absorbed so they hoped we had hydrated in our hotels before coming here).

Views from the run- bottom right is the marshal at the final turnaround point before you go up the hill

And then we were off. At times there was a lovely breeze from the sea, but not much shade so I was careful to run gently. You run next to the sea wall, so you had views out to sea and across the bay. Jo (the tourist from Sheffield) ran with me and we had a lovely chat which definitely helped to keep me going. She was so enthusiastic about running in general and was cheering on all the runners but giving big “girl power” cheers to the women who were passing us in the opposite direction.

More views from the run and the u-turn cone

Once we turned the breeze stopped and it became really hard work. I just tried to focus on looking at the views and keeping a steady pace.

The participants were quite spread out (there were only 50 according to the results), with lots of other runners out not doing parkrun, and mostly the course was very simple as you were by the sea. After the u-turn section and passing near the start/finish, there were suddenly loads of groups of runners setting off, and I did wonder if I would go wrong. However they had a marshal at the bottom of the little slope, and I could see them in the distance so I knew I was going the right way. The slope was steeper than I expected, but in the shade so that was a welcome relief.

The course:

As you can see it was very simple and pretty much by the sea the whole time.

Briefing/ some of the shaded route/ the scanner set up/ table with water and snacks/ blurry token

As I ran towards the finish the volunteers directed me in- I think I was heading past it to the flags as I didn’t notice the cones set up in a funnel shape!

I loved their finish area set up- they had a little stand that the scanner had put their phone in (and at times this was just left there- Japan is such a trusting society- people leave their phones on tables in cafes to indicate that they are using the table) so you could hold up your barcode and then token in front. They also had a table with cups of water and various snacks that they were offering to everyone as well. I made sure to have the rest of my drink and cool off in the shade a little before doing anything else.

Photos with the course signs

They don’t have pop up signs in Japan (I think more people use public transport or bikes so they can’t have loads of kit), instead they have these roll out signs, so I had my photo and I got one with Jo as well. Jo had got the bus from the station here, so said she would show me how it worked (it was very simple but I was so stressed on the way there that the bus would have been one too many things to work out)- this was good as I knew we’d be doing a lot of sightseeing for the rest of the day so it was good to rest on the bus rather than walk another 2.5km.

I popped into the toilets by the park to change into my top (and saw how red my face still was- it still alarms me) and then we caught a bus back to the station (although this did not turn out to be quicker than walking as it didn’t go the direct route but went weaving through lots of side streets). It was a good decision though as in the end I did 37,500 steps so at least I saved some energy for sightseeing!

Finish area with cones and flags/ red face even half an hour after finishing/ vending machine rehydration

I was still so thirsty so picked up a rehydration drink from a platform vending machine to have before getting back to the hotel. I got back to the station by our hotel at 10am, and didn’t get to the hotel until 10:15 as it took me that long to work out how to get back out of the station…

Voronoi update:

3 parkruns in Tokyo visited now-and it’s making a very pretty sort of windmill shape!

That was my 459th parkrun and my 161st location, and my 4th in Japan

Up next? Well, I was hoping for a second parkrun in Japan on this trip, and I managed it, so that will be coming up shortly too.

This was originally meant to be Branka’s 300th parkrun, but due to factors it was her 299th- we had still decided on that date to celebrate, so happy arbitrary 299th!

Branka drove to me, then I drove the remaining hour, and Holly met us there. Handily someone in the UK parkrun tourists facebook page had posted a pin to where the entrance to the car park was, and this was very useful as it is a university campus so I am not sure if all the roads were open on a Saturday. We turned in and saw the car park marshals directing us, and then saw Holly’s car- perfect!

There were toilets in a building by the car park (next to some huge greenhouses) and then clear signs to the start which was just on the other side of the car park.

Poddington and the pop up/ the start sign/ big greenhouses in the car park/ all three plus the pop up

We took our time taking some photos with the lovely wildflower background (it was a very scenic location for a pop up) and then listened to the first timers welcome where we found out it was their winter course as an event was being set up on the summer course. There was a tarpaulin of trust, so I left my bag there so I would have my water as soon as I finished (although it was very close so leaving things in the car would have been fine).

Off we go/ solo pop up pic

The RD did the briefing in the same place, and then walked everyone down to the start, asking people to seed themselves (faster runners to hang back so they’d end up at the front). Then we were off.

It was a hot day, and there was not much shade. I ran with Holly and we enjoyed the out and back nature of it, saying hi to Branka as we passed a few times. They asked us to keep left, and in a few places had small rubber circles on the floor to divide the two directions which everyone adhered to.

The views of the countryside were lovely, but we did have some farmyard smells (as there was a field full of cows that we ran past). I was surprised to see a few dogs out (on the parkrun) as there wasn’t much shade but also the terrain was mainly hard paths rather than softer (and cooler) grass.

Runners out ahead/ hi Branka/ views from the course

It was a bit of a shame that we didn’t get to do the summer course as running by a lake sounds cooler, even if it was just as warm. At the second turnaround point we both felt really warm, so I was glad of the final turn as we headed towards the finish. Holly put on a proper sprint as she noticed we were close to 30 mins (and she managed it bang on 30!) and I was very glad of my water being close to hand when I finished.

Turning/ Holly doing a sprint finish/ blurry token

The course- out and back twice, then a little way along the path back to where the pop up was:

Also how impressive is that pacing? The perfect royal flush negative split.

After finishing we couldn’t hang around for long, so after changing into a non-sweaty top it was back into the car for the drive home. There wasn’t a cafe there, so we would have had to drive into the village to see what was there.

Voronoi update:

A nice big chunk! That was parkrun 458 and location 160

So what next? Hopefully a parkrun on holiday so long as the weather cooperatives, and then perhaps some London tourism in the summer- tourism is much more appealing when you are getting up in the light. I also saw something about London transport being capped at a lower fare for the summer, so that’s something to look into.

This had been my NENDY for a while, so it was good to finally visit, and it was a great option in the hot weather. Branka had suggested it earlier in the week, and as it was going to be my last parkrun with my dad for a while, I’d suggested it to him and he was very keen (although it was dependant on him getting home on the Friday without any train issues so it was going to be a last minute confirmation). Branka decided to head elsewhere in the end, but as Dad was keen and had the time we decided to still go there. We drove which wasn’t too bad- the traffic in the morning wasn’t too busy, although finding a parking space wasn’t too easy. I had pinned a car park but when we got there the gates were closed and it looked like a private one, so we had to hastily find another. We used the tiny Jubilee Pond Car Park on Lake House Road- at 8:40 ish when we arrived there were a few cars parked but still a few spaces, although it only took payment via Ringo, there was no way to pay at a machine at all which of course is always fun when the app signs you out and then makes you set a new password…

Anyway, the walk from the car park to the start was quite short, and so we arrived in enough time to visit the toilets (in the little changing room block at the start) and hear the first timers welcome (2 laps).

Poddington and the gigantic pop up/ the start area on the flats by the flats/ their token sorting table all ready/ pop up pic

We had somehow both worn our Ellenbrook Fields tops (unplanned) so we had a few people ask about our event and one person thought we had toured because it was not on today, rather than it sadly being cancelled. Lots of people had hung their bags on the fencing by the building, but others had left their bags in the building (it was very open at the front) so I did that so it wasn’t in the hot sun while we were running.

We got someone to take our photo by the sign (she asked us to stand closer together and we had to explain that we wanted the sign in the photo!) and then it was time for the main briefing. It was already so warm and we were glad to hear that the route went through woods as well as around the scrub land.

A few photos from the run- we are trying to keep in the shade where we can!

The route was two laps, it’s very flat but the ground was uneven in places, both with little divots in the grass but also with lots of tree roots in the wooded section (which we were warned about)- as it was so hot it was definitely a day to enjoy the route and not worry about a fast time. The section through the woods was so lovely and cool, and there were a few parts of the more exposed section that you could still be in the shade if you kept to the side. It reminded me a lot of Wormwood Scrubs – a more wild area rather than cultivated parkland. I can imagine that it would be quite muddy in the winter so a summer visit was definitely a good idea.

The route:

There was a little section where you passed runners heading back towards you but it was nice and wide so this wasn’t an issue.

A few more photos of the course- the shade was so good in the woods

It didn’t feel like too long before we were heading past the start/finish area ready to do the second lap. We spent some time pondering if it was called Wanstead Flats because of the flat land or because of the big blocks of flats right by the park…

And then we were heading into the finish. They had a long funnel set up but with about 270 participants it wasn’t busy when we finished.

A blurry token photo showing the flats in the background/ a final pop up picture/ the little building that housed the toilets and token sorting and bag storage.

We didn’t hang around too long at the end as we had to be aware of when the parking ran out (I really wish car parks just did pay when you leave as who knows how long you will be?), plus we were hoping to get back to see my brother for breakfast as well. However we noticed that in the little building they had a little self service tea and coffee station (a jar of coffee, paper cups etc) – lots of these older London events seem to have this sort of communal facilities at the end as there didn’t seem to be a cafe nearby. I really enjoyed it and would be happy to revisit.

Voronoi update:

A very satisfying update now I have filled in that little hole!

So that was parkrun 457 and location 159

Lon-done progress: 42/65 (64% complete)

Up next? A bit of touring to celebrate Branka’s 300th parkrun, and then hopefully a parkrun on holiday so long as the weather plays ball.