I’ve joined in with this race for a few years now. The first time I attended it started in Welwyn village, and was a crazy hilly course starting close to midday. Last year it moved to Panshanger park, and it stayed there this year, albeit with a slightly different route.
As my dad has been keen to do a 10k every now and then, I got him race entry for his birthday, so we travelled there together. It’s a lovely low key event where you park close to the start, pick up your number from a tent in the morning, and then head off to enjoy the race. I was very happy to hear that Planted Coffee co would be there too- looking forward to one of their iced drinks is a highlight of the final mile!
Before the start, and then a few mid race views.
It was a hot day, and although the race started at 9:30 it was already baking, so we stood in the shade before the start as much as possible. I’d just had my shoulder injection, and Dad had been cycling around Scotland so we both needed to take it easy. I had explained to him that this was not like a road race- we would enjoy the scenery and walk the hills and water stations, and not worry about the finish time.
This worked well, and we both managed to chat all the way around. At one point someone commented that they were amazed that we still had the energy to talk, but the run/walk really helps, as did stopping at water stations and drinking an entire cup.
A mid race photo of us, the lovely medal with the cow on it, a lovely wooden carving seen on the route and my hilarious tan lines that were actually dust stuck to sun cream!
I worked out on the way around that it was the same route as last year, only in the opposite direction and starting and finishing in a different place (it started where the parkrun starts now, whereas last year it started in the middle near the lakes)- I think this worked really well as you still get the hills out of the way in the first half and have a relatively flat and downhill second half. The marshals were all so encouraging, and the atmosphere was great- we finished in around 1 hour 15 with lots of people walk/running around us too.
After finishing and picking up our bags from the bag drop area (tarpaulin of trust) we queued up at Planted- I had an iced matcha and Dad had an iced chocolate. We sat in the sun on the grass and just relaxed after the race before heading home a bit later- such a perfect morning.
It’s been hot when I’ve done this before, but the end of June is pretty much going to be guaranteed heat, but the pretty views and relaxed atmosphere make this on my “must do” list.
Do you have any races that you like to do each year?
Last Saturday I was going to stay local, however a few OH ladies were heading to Pymmes, and as I enjoyed it before, I thought I’d go along.
I first visited Pymmes in February 2024, and remembered it being very friendly, flat and quite fast- I ran 28:04. After my recent attempts to get a sub 28, I was happy to see that they were having a pacer event. Perfect- I would try to keep up with the 28 min pacer and push to speed up in the final section.
We car shared, so I drove to Catherine’s house, where her and her husband Dave gave lifts to me and fellow OH lady Carol, (plus their dog in the back who kept licking my ear!). Once at the park we met up with another car load of OH ladies- although we were there so early that the event team hadn’t even arrived yet!
I was so excited as when we got into the park I saw my first ducklings and goslings of the year! This amused everyone else, but made me very happy.
Breakfast in the sun after, our purple pop up group photo, and the finish area with everyone hanging around
After hearing the first timers welcome (3 laps, mind the bumps in the path where the CCTV cameras are) the main briefing started. And went on. And on. I am not kidding when I say we started at 9:15am! The local running club were doing a pacer event to promote a local race, so they talked about that for a bit, and then there were goslings at the start so we had to be warned to not scare them.
Goslings by the start!
Anyway, as we started I could see the 27 and 28 minute pacer but they were a bit of a way ahead and I knew I could catch up once the people thinned out a bit. But I just could not catch them, and could not even keep up with the 29 minute pacer. I glanced at my watch on a couple of occasions but don’t like looking at it as it stresses me out and I get a bit adrenaline rush, so I just had to keep pushing on feel as hard as I could. I knew that some of the pacers were not quite correct, as the 28 was about 2 metres behind the 27 (I could see them in the distance) but I could not catch up with the 29 minute pacer at all.
Each lap seemed to go by quickly- it’s lovely flat paths, fairly wide and fairly flat. You run ever so gently up on one side, and then gently downhill on the other, looping around a little pond and then a short slope of a metre or so up to the start/finish area. A lapped course is lovely when you are there with friends as you see them as you pass them or as they pass you. As I was coming into the finish, Mel’s husband was by the pond cheering us all in which gave me a boost. I was so glad that I kept on pushing as when I got to the finish funnel (behind the 29 pacer) my watch said 27:51! Sub 28! Hooray!
Pacers lining up, finish token, finish line watch and one of the signs
(I totally appreciate how tricky the pacer job is so I am not complaining at all- I am just glad I kept on pushing- official time 27:49, which is a course pb and my fastest time this year. Good stuff.
I scanned, had a photo by the flag and pop up, and then joined everyone else who had finished, waiting for the rest of our group to come in. The event had that lovely feel with so many people hanging about and chatting (helped by the weather I’m sure). After everyone had finished, we walked around the corner to a local cafe that had been recommended to us- no dogs allowed inside though so we got a takeaway and took our breakfast back to the park (I had packed a vegan croissant as I didn’t think the cafe would have good options, but I could at least get a cup of tea with oat milk).
Pop up picture at the end!
So all in all a great revisit there. I love going to new parkruns but I am equally happy revisiting ones if other people want to go there.
The next few weeks are very exciting for me parkrun wise- a UK one with friends this week, and then a flag (or two if all goes well) …
I was staying in London on the Friday night as we had tickets to see the Manic Street Preachers, so of course I was going to head to a London parkrun. I’d not been to Victoria Dock (I had actually planned it once as we were staying close by, but on that day it was cancelled so I went to Valentines instead), and Branka had already been there (we are doing a lot of London tourism at the moment) so I decided to opt for there. At one of the OH ladies club runs I mentioned this, and a few others decided they would come into London and meet me there- Catherine and her husband Dave (who was doing his 250th- a real milestone!), Helen and her partner Eddie who do lots of tourism, and Mel. Our hotel was around a half a mile from Farringdon, so happily I could get the Elizabeth Line rather than mess around with the DLR (because I do not understand that)- Custom House was about half a mile from the start of the parkrun, so a perfect little warm up.
The cable car/ our purple pop up pics and my token
When I arrived the rest of the crew were already there- of course we got some photos by the cable car and then found some shelter as it was cold and windy. There was a big queue for the pop up sign so we knew there were a lot of tourists there- maybe for the Easter weekend? They did the first timers welcome only for first time parkrunners, and then the main briefing was for everyone else. The RD asked for tourists and then asked “hands up if this is your local parkrun” and about 3 people put their hands up! I am sure it was more but it did feel like a lot of tourists.
I hadn’t said anything about my “milestone” as it isn’t official, but when they asked for milestone shout outs a guy near us shouted “150”, so after we shouted out Dave’s 250, Helen called out “400”- I had on my back a 400 I’d made from paper and attached with race clips (so no safety pin holes in my 100 top) so that was my way of marking the occasion, but it was nice to have the cheer and a few people congratulated me on it as well (including at the end when I took a few photos for other people by the pop up).
The course was twice out and back, and we were warned of lots of hazards on the route including bollards, cobbles and fences. It is flat and fast, but it was also a lot on the streets/ pavements, so at times we were running past bins, trees and the little metal protection grids that they have, and you had to look out for kerbs and uneven pavement. I had decided to push quite hard, but didn’t look at my watch while I was running. I wanted to enjoy it too and not feel like I was pushing too hard, although I did get a stitch towards the end so maybe I was.
I really liked the out and back nature of the course, as I was kept busy looking out for everyone at each of the turns. Catherine took that photo of me as I passed- I finally wore my parkrun shoes (the ones I won on Instagram from With U) and they really stand out in the picture (this was the first guaranteed non-muddy course so I decided to risk it!).
Purple pop up photo and one with my 400 top to celebrate!
As I came into the finish it was a bit confusing as I was not quite sure where the finish line was, so had to ask the marshal where to go (basically I needed to know if I went right by the water or further back by the building)- she pointed the way and then I put on a final push- as I rounded the corner my visor blew off in the wind so I had to grab it, which hurt my shoulder (my poor frozen shoulder)- I could see a lady running up ahead and wondered if I could catch her. I was gaining on her but didn’t want to be rude and go past her at the last minute, and also I don’t want to confuse the people doing timing. Anyway, with hindsight I should have done as she stopped just before the line rather than running through and into the funnel, so I had to almost stop to avoid bumping into her. I stopped my watch and noticed 28:02- this would be my fastest time of the year officially (Garmin says 27:55 for Battersea but that is not my official time- a side point here that on with With Me Now pod this week they shared that the person who was treated with the AED on that day has recovered and attended Battersea last weekend along with the paramedics who helped, so that was really nice to hear about)- so that would be good.
When you look at your summary stats you can see your fastest time of each year, and I’ve been pretty consistent with getting 27 (or even 26) somethings as my fastest times (apart from 2021 where I only had 28)- anyway, it’s a little challenge for me to get to. Of course, I may not have pressed start on my watch at the same time as the timers, and I may not have stopped it right away either. When the results came in I got 28:00- my fastest time of the year (hooray)-but I also slightly regretted not going past that lady because then I could possibly have got a 27 time! Ah well, I shall have to try harder at some other flat parkruns (as Panshanger and Jersey Farm are not pb courses for me!).
So, back to the morning! After I finished running and scanned, I had a quick chat with some of the others before heading back to the station, as we had to check out by 11am so I didn’t have too long.
After and then before.
So, the stats. That was my 400th parkrun and my 130th venue, and my 31st London one. But mainly a great morning out and it was lovely to meet up with some friends while I was there- they had a pretty easy journey on the trains and all said they’d go back there too as it was certainly a unique location.
So, what next? Possibly some touring with my dad next week (we will wait and see what the weather is like)- he’s on 88 venues so is counting up towards 100! I’m away for the Bank Holiday weekend at the start of May so no parkrun for me that weekend, and that will be followed by a local weekend and possibly some touring before hopefully visiting a new parkrun country! But more on that later 🙂
Welcome to another edition of Maria and Branka go on tour in London!
We are getting to be quite the fans of the train travel parkrun tourism. After going to Walthamstow on the overground, many more parkruns have opened up for us as the tube and bus combinations look rather complicated but the overground rail network gets close to lots of parkruns too. On the way back from Walthamstow we were looking at the overground maps and making mental notes of other places we could get to on those lines.
Dulwich was on the Southern overground, which stops at London Bridge, so that was an easy train journey via the Thameslink overground. It meant an early start (well, as early as a work day really) with a 7:13 train from St Albans for me, but now the mornings are lighter and the weather isn’t as cold, it doesn’t seem too bad to be up and out at that time.
After meeting Branka at London Bridge, we got the overground a few stops (passing Peckham which was 1.7km from that parkrun according to the 5k app…) to North Dulwich, and then walked the mile or so there from the station to the start. Dulwich was so posh! It was such a contrast from the views from the train which were the typical London tower blocks with brick balconies and little green space. The walk to the edge of the park passed mansion after mansion, a Gail’s and a lovely pedestrianised traffic calming zone. The park reminded me of Finsbury park but flat, with a wide carriage circle style drive, a lake/pond in the middle, plenty of facilities like tennis courts and playgrounds, and toilet block handily close to the start of the parkrun.
The purple pop up on arrival, one of the selfie frames, the view of the start area and the flag.
We got into the park at around 8:35, so it was nice to not need to rush- we found the start, took pop up pictures, went to the toilets, found a bench of trust to leave our bags and listened to the first timers welcome. We were excited to find the old selfie frames too, so of course took advantage of more photo ops!
It was a busy parkrun, but it didn’t feel too overwhelming. The route is three flat laps on the wide road, so apart from the first few hundred metres where people were still getting into sort of speed order, it was not congested at all.
A few pictures taken while I was running and the finish funnel cones– I also took a photo of my watch as I was quite surprised by my time- 28 something!
I was (and am) still getting over a cold, so did not want to push too hard, but of course the temptation when it’s flat is to just go for it. I enjoyed running and the laps seem to tick by fairly quickly. The park was varied so there was lots to look at (including some bit metal sculptures that looked like pretzels- I spent some time wondering what they were for). At one point I did have to speed up as the guy in front of me kept spitting on the floor (how gross) and the guy behind me was breathing so heavily and noisily, grunting and groaning and making weird horse noises (Toast of London anyone?) so I wanted to get away from those people if possible!
Before long I was heading into their double funnel- this was not like other double funnels I’ve been in as were were colour coded (blue or orange) and they were giving out tokens to both queues at the same time (there was someone with a clicker who was counting, so they must have divided up the tokens in advance)- lots of the people who finished behind me were directed into the funnel next to me and given their tokens before I reached the end of the funnel I was in. Clever stuff.
We both loved the smiley face on the run briefing sign! Our traditional pose with us both by the pop up, plus the pop up and token photo. You can’t see here but we were accidentally twinning with grey leopard print leggings and green milestone t-shirts!
After finishing I waited for Branka by the pop up- I ended up taking lots of photos for various people (as you do) and of course it meant they could take pictures of us when we were ready.
Once all the photos were sorted, we walked back to the station and went back to London Bridge, and then popped out to Borough Market to visit Bird and Blend for a tea- the perfect drink after a parkrun! I had a chocolate digestives tea latte (I was deciding between that and a matcha latte for ages), and Andy had requested that I went to the Crosstown truck to get doughnuts so we went there too, before getting a pastry from Pret for our journey home. It was such a lovely morning- great to visit a new parkrun, great to spend time with Branka and great to have some time for parkfaffing after.
Doughnuts from Crosstown (buy two and share them both is what we do), The Shard as seen from Borough Market, vegan croissant for the journey home and a tea latte.
That was parkrun number 396 for me (that 400 is getting close now!), 128th parkrun location and 30th London one (out of 65 currently but of course that will keep going up). Another purple chunk- see below!
So, which London one is next? Both Branka and Holly are now on slight limits as they have chosen dates and locations for their Cowells (100 different events) so can’t go to many new events between now and those summer dates. We do have a few London ones booked in together, and there are a few that they have done that I have not (such as Victoria Dock) which I am sure I can persuade my dad to come along to. So we shall see. Next weekend is a close to home parkrun as we have afternoon plans locally, and I can’t plan any further ahead than that right now!
On IWD I headed back to Oaklands College parkrun. After a few weeks of touring, it was good to set the alarm later. Andy and I had plans to head to Oxford in the afternoon (seeing Ash and The Darkness) so I needed to be home fairly promptly too. Happily, Branka and Holly were there for a parkrun RD/ambassador meet up, and lots of OH ladies were there so it felt like a lovely social occasion.
I parked at my parents and jogged up there, testing out to see if this would be an option, and it was perfect as the start is just about a mile away.
All week I’d had a sore throat, and I thought I was getting a cold (I was), so wanted to take it gently. I ended up run/walking with Branka which was perfect, as we chatted all the way and had a lovely time catching up. It was my first time trying out the new and improved Oaklands College route- sadly it doesn’t look like a dog any more!
Old route (dog shaped):
And new route:
Definitely not dog shaped any more!
The previous was two laps, with one out and back section, and now it is a lot of out and backs, but only one lap. I really enjoyed it- it’s flat and you run past “the swamp” rather than through it. It was good to see more of the parkland there too, as you cover more ground, and more interesting parts rather than rugby pitches.
I wore my new parkrun alphabet top as it was IWD (and purple seems to be a theme for them)- I got my run 25 t-shirt for my 250th (as I attached a paper 0 to it for the run) and don’t tend to wear it much. As the parkrun alphabet is 25 letters (no x), it fitted perfectly so I sent it off to Shadow of a Saint for personalising- I am really pleased with it. Branka took a photo below of me running in it:
Swamp picture, purple pop up fun and my purple top.
When I finished we stood around for ages in the sunshine chatting, it was just lovely.
Lots of OH ladies in the before and after photos, plus Lee doing a super job with the first timers welcome. And just look at those blue skies!
A few views from the course. The section was a little muddy in places as tractors had driven over the path and created some ruts, but it was not too bad and my feet stayed dry.
The following week I was back there again- Dad was around but we both needed to be somewhere local (I had a haircut and he was off to football) so we opted for Oaklands. Lee (one of our OH ladies hanger ons) was debuting as RD, so wanted some friendly faces to be there, so we were happy to oblige. I ran to my parents, we ran/walked up together and then ran around the course together too. Dad hadn’t been to the new route yet, and he enjoyed it. I got a course pb too! We couldn’t hang around at the end too long as we had to be out again by 11, so we jogged/walked back to theirs soon after finishing.
Below- celebrating with Lee at his RD debut, a pic with Dad and more selfie rehearsals. When we finished, Dad said “I’ll get our jackets and then we’ll do photos?”- he knows that the photos are a required part of the parkrun experience now!
On the Sunday I was helping out at Birchwood juniors. I have been doing a run before recently, but the cold was not shifting so I had a short walk before volunteering- I was handing out tokens and this marked my v100! The day before was parkrun 395 for me, so it was quite satisfying to reach this milestone a little before my 400th parkrun.
Volunteering at juniors- the novelty of handling the number 1 token has not got old yet!
I also got my parkrun anniversary email on the Sunday too- so what a way to celebrate 12 years of parkrunning- parkrun with friends and Dad on the Saturday and then my v100 on the Sunday with the lovely Birchwood community.
Now I need to decide if I get a v100 top or buff or anything. I do wear my purple v25 t-shirt a fair bit, particularly in the summer when volunteering at juniors, but it’s covered with the high viz anyway. I don’t think I’d be likely to wear it running much so I am not sure. I do think you can never have enough buffs, so I might get a v100 buff? Decisions decisions!
