Running - Maria Runs

Stevenage 10K 2022

My Dad was quite keen to run another 10K race, as he had not run one since before lockdown. I looked around for a local race and found the Stevenage 10k, one neither of us had done before. It was on a weekend that we could both manage, so I signed us up as his birthday present.

It was a low key club run event- turn up in the morning and pick up your number, parking right by the race start, a little cake stand and coffee van in the field and free kids races too. Perfect. My mum came along too- they picked me up and then we headed up there.

Before and after, and my vegan cupcake!

Dad said to me that he had three aims- to finish, to run the whole way and to finish in under an hour. In the end we managed the first 2, but came in just over the hour (1 hour and 46 seconds). I was keeping an eye on my watch and we stopped for the water station half way around. There was a fairly long hill that neither of us was expecting, (from mile 4 to mile 5, so a mile of uphill) and I know our pace slowed there. But really we enjoyed running the whole thing together. Mum was there at the finish, we picked up our free cake (they had a selection of vegan cakes and bless my mum, she had gone to ask the person at the stand what the vegan options were for me while we were running) and headed home where we had tea and chatted together for ages. It was such a nice morning. Those local races are my favourite, and to be able to run with my dad is just so special.

What type of races do you like? Does anyone in your family run with you?

Clermont Waterfront parkrun- reclaiming my USA flag!

Back in 2015 I ran at Crissy Fields parkrun in San Francisco (my first parkrun tourism as I’d only run at St Albans and Panshanger before then), but sadly it has since closed, and this meant that on the fab parkrun challenges chrome extension I lost my USA flag, as only current events show there.

I’ve wanted to run at Clermont Waterfront for years, but have never managed to sort the logistics (our last 2 Florida holidays were for one week and so the only Saturday was the Saturday that we were leaving, and one of those was spent with us taking part in a Run Disney event). But this time, it all worked out! We flew into Tampa on the Tuesday morning, and had a hire car for the first week, and Andy had agreed to drive me.

So, logistics first. There’s not public transport available, and it was around a 35/40 minute drive from where we were staying (just to the west of the WDW gates). WDW covers a huge area so depending on where you are staying it could take much longer. I had looked at ubers before, but I don’t have roaming so would not be able to get one for the way back. Car seems to be the only real way of getting there. It starts at 7:30am due to the heat, so something else to remember!

Sunrise on arrival and the flags at the finish funnel

The directions on the website were excellent. I had read that they had two different routes, and was slightly worried after reading a post on the UK parkrun tourist facebook page where the people ended up on the wrong side of the lake, but I needn’t have worried. They use the same car park for both routes, and the Lake Hiawatha Preserve car park was easy to find via google maps. We double checked that the route matched up with their directions (West on HWY 50/ Turn right onto 12th Street) and all was good. I wanted to get there in plenty of time, so we left at around 6.30am and arrived just after 7am, as the sun was rising over the lake. Beautiful.

With regards to facilities, there was a big car park opposite the start, and just down from the start was a block containing toilets, as well as drinking water fountains. These blocks were repeated along the lake shore too.

There were no worries about finding the start- I could see the parkrun flag from the turning into the car park and the finish funnel had already been set up, decorated with flags from all over the world.

Run briefing, sign on the path and a few views from the start

So, onto the morning! As the sun was just coming up, we walked to the lake to watch it (and look for alligators), and then I wandered over to the start area. I chatted to a few people who turned out to be locals, and then listened to the new runners welcome. It was a simple out and back route, with a downward slope before the turnaround point to help you work out where it would be.

I decided to have a quick dash to the toilets before it started, as I had more water than usual before we left (because it was just so hot and humid there)- at around 7:23 am I was deciding if I had enough time, but the blocks were so close and no queues so it was all fine and I was back before the main briefing started.

It was lovely to have lots of tourists as it felt like a holiday event, but equally there were lots of locals there too- a nice balance. There were lots of runners from the Clermont triathlon club and from Clermont runners listed on the results. Fun fact- someone in my running club did a triathlon there. I asked her about alligators and she said that they had put food on the bank on the other side to tempt them over, and also there were trained marksmen in boats while they swam (a few km- not just a dash in the water either)- I do not think that would convince me!

Leading up to this, we’d been in Florida for a few days but I am not sure how well I ever adjust to the heat. It was mid to high 30’s with such high humidity (average is 80% but it had been much higher that week) that I knew I just had to run gently to finish it. This was a run to enjoy the scenery and not a run to go for a specific time. One of the regular runners asked me if I had run in Florida before- I think they were worried about Brits abroad struggling and underestimating the heat/ humidity combo.

Anyway, we were soon off and I was just loving the scenery. Running by water is always fantastic, and this was no different. The path was wide, with 4 lanes marked on it- the outside two for walkers/runners and the inside two for cyclists. It was busy with other people as well as parkrunners, but it soon thinned out.

Look how beautiful!

I kept the steady pace, and took a few photos while I was running. The path started off being shady, but then the trees disappeared and I was thankful of my sunglasses (and wishing I’d remembered my visor). I didn’t see any marshals on the way, and at one point felt slightly lost as there were a few paths to choose from, with runners and walkers on all of them. I chose to keep closest to the lake, which turned out to be correct, and I soon saw the 2 mile sign pointed in the opposite direction so I knew I was still in the correct place. There was a marshal at the turnaround point (a very enthusiastic one it must be said) and there were more signs on the way back. Near to the part where I nearly got lost was a sign with an arrow showing parkrunners to go straight one. I could have done with that on the way!

As it was an out and back, lots of the faster runners were heading back before I reached the turnaround point, and lots of them were waving and being very friendly – it had a good atmosphere. I was feeling the humidity by that point so made myself stop and take a few photos every now and then. I didn’t want to get to the point where I just wanted it to be over, because I’d looked forward to it for so long.

Coming towards the finish funnel was brilliant, as lots of people who had finished were hanging about and cheering the runners in. There was a board to hold (rather than a selfie frame) saying “I completed Clermont Waterfront parkrun”- I took the photo for someone else and then asked if the next person would take mine for me- it turned into a little queue!

So, that was my 87th different location, parkrun number 282, and as mentioned previously, I have reclaimed my USA flag!

I was absolutely drenched in sweat- I’ve never seen my top so wet through. I had worn a buff on my wrist which I used to frequently wipe my face, but I had to sit on it on the car journey back! My time was 33:58, which for a flat course is on the slow side for me, but I think I was sensible because I was not used to running in that heat. We had packed some rehydration tabs to take with us anyway, so I’d put one in a bottle of water and put that in the car so I could drink it on the way back to the hotel.

Do you have any parkruns on your bucket list?

July – junior parkruns, the vegan market and trying to keep cool!

Stanborough lakes as seen on my run, a cinnamon roll from the local vegan market, iced tea and the Euro’s, Starbucks plant based cheese toastie.

July was hot! I don’t think you need me to remind you of that. Climate change is real and it is awful.

So, how did I try to keep cool during July? Mainly, running first thing before it got too hot, or in the week of the crazy 40C, not running at all. Heat exhaustion and heat stroke is dangerous, and I saw no point in going for a run when it was already over 20C at 6am as I would not have a chance to cool down at work. I did go on a few early morning walks but that was enough.

Of course iced tea was good for cooling down too. We often cold-brew fruity tea (basically add fruit tea and cold water to a bottle, pop into the fridge and leave to infuse during the day)- and this was a lovely refreshing drink to have in the evenings.

I kept seeing that Starbucks now do a plant based toastie (cheese and tomato) and I really love a toastie and it is something I miss since being vegan. (A cold falafel wrap just doesn’t seem like as much as a treat as a hot toastie, although if they could replicate the delicious Pret hummus chipotle wrap then I would choose that over anything else). One Sunday I decided to walk into town and treat myself to one to see what they were like. It was really good, but of course it was a baking hot day so I got really hot on the walk home!

One weekend the vegan market was in town- we missed it last time, so I was keen to get there. There were loads of amazing looking food stalls, but I could not resist a cinnamon roll. It was more of a pastry than a dough-like roll, but very delicious. And let me remind you that if you convert to a vegan diet you will reduce your carbon footprint by around 40%. Even if you don’t care about the ethics of animal agriculture, it really is so important to look at the bigger picture of how we can limit climate change. 51 per cent of worldwide greenhouse-gas emissions can be attributed to animal agriculture. So maybe give it a go…

Early run/walk scenes, foot soak and ridiculous temperatures

I was given this Tropic foot soak a while back and discovered that sitting with your feet in cold water (plus some of the soak) was another good way to cool down in the evenings.

Haircut, end of term flowers, trying my tea blend and junior parkrun course

I’ve been a fairly regular visitor to our local junior parkrun too- our niece and nephew have been enjoying it and as it’s less than a mile from home it’s been easy to head down and meet them. Typically I’ve gone out on a run first (before it got too hot) and Andy has walked down and we’ve all met at the start. In the winter I may opt to have my run after as then it would at least be light.

Burgess parkrun- a last minute decision and a panic jog

Burgess parkrun scenes including the lake that you run around

On the 15th July I was in London and so of course looked for a new parkrun to go to. Initially I had pencilled in Highbury Fields because it was fairly easy to get to (tube to Angel and then a mile walk up the high street), however due to the heat there were loads of issues with the trains and on Friday night when I checked, Angel station was closed and had been all day. I was also fairly near to Burgess (a couple of tube stops to Elephant and Castle, then a mile walk along Walworth Road), so opted for that. The journey planner said that the tube would only take 3 minutes, so I left later than I should have done. By the time I had walked through London Bridge station to the tube, time was getting on, and I came out at E&C at nearly quarter to 9! That didn’t give me a long time to get to the park and I was starting to panic about missing it. I thought I knew which way I needed to go as I’d looked at a map, but to be certain I looked at the maps on my phone but it was directing me to go a different way, so rather than risking running in the wrong direction I ran into a Sainsbury’s and asked a very helpful member of staff. Thankfully she pointed me in the right direction (the way I thought I needed to go until I checked my phone) and I made it to the park just as they called for the new runners welcome. Phew.

The route looked a little complicated online, and I had read on the excellent Blog 7t (amazing if you are a parkrun tourist) that you could get lost, but in the welcome they specifically said that you could not get lost on this course. Here’s hoping!

In fact it was pretty simple- basically a lollipop course, so out, around the lake, then back again. There were lots of marshals and I have to say that they were so enthusiastic (it reminded me of Ellenbrook Fields in that sense)- some of them were stood on benches but they were all whooping and cheering- not easy as some of them were in the full sun too.

As I got close to the lake the faster runners were heading back, but it didn’t ever feel congested (there were 322 runners that day to fairly busy). It was very hot that day, and the RD had warned everyone to take it easy. Some of the course had shade, but some was across open grassland so it was baking hot there. It is very flat though so on a cooler day it would be good for chasing a fast time. I somehow managed to finish in under 30 minutes which for a hot day was good for me.

In the out and back portion you ran through an underpass, and it had some interesting artworks, so once I had finished I walk/jogged back to take a look before heading back to the station. It had all these boats to commemorate the canal that was there (but had been filled in), some had things like wooden bottles carved into them (there used to be an R Whites warehouse in this location so it commemorated that too). I could also see The Shard across the park too- it really is quite central.

I was so pleasantly surprised by the park in general- I hadn’t been there before and didn’t know what to expect, but it had lots of interesting features including lots of wildflower meadows and flower beds, tennis courts, and a very nice looking café. Check out Blog 7t if you want to find out more about the history of the park.

That was my 280th parkrun and my 86th different venue- ever so slowly creeping towards the next milestone!

Ally Pally parkrun!

Yes, that’s it’s actual name!

(It takes place in the grounds of Alexandra Palace but it really is called Ally Pally parkrun)

The train line from WGC to London goes through Alexandra Palace so quite often I’ve looked out of the window at the big TV aerial, but I’ve never been to it. I really enjoyed my mini parkrun tourism to Finsbury park (also on the same line) so I decided that I’d head to Ally Pally this summer. They were cancelled on many weekends, so my only option was 9th July, and I got chatting to two running friends who fancied heading there too, so a date was booked.

To get to Alexandra Palace train station means taking a slow train, as the fast ones don’t stop there. It also meant there was only one train every half an hour, and the last possible one was around 8am getting in just after 8.30, meaning that if that was cancelled or delayed, the train after that would be too late. Happily my co-tourists agreed that the 7.30 train was not ridiculous but sensible, so we met on the train (I ran to the station, they drove to Hatfield and got on there).

The park is right by the train station, so we had plenty of time to wander around, walk up to the palace, admire the views across London, look at the ducklings in the lake and find out that no toilets were open before 9am. (This is fine for me because I hate using public toilets, but could be useful info for others).

At around 8:45 we wandered down to the start line and there was hardly anyone around! I wondered if because they had been off for a few weeks people had gone elsewhere, but it was a proper flash-mob parkrun in that one the new runners welcome was finished, it was packed (274 runners in a fairly narrow start).

They told us it was their summer route, essentially two laps but starting in the centre. You ran out from the centre, did two laps, and then ran back in to the start/finish (in the opposite direction). It was really varied, with parts of it being through open meadows, with views up to the palace, and parts in woods which were lovely and cool. Some of it was on tarmac paths, but some were dirt paths where you had to watch out for tree roots. There were a couple of steep hills, but one of them had the most enthusiastic marshal at the bottom reminding everyone that they could do it. There was also one very steep downhill section which I just could not run down!

I did speed up a bit too soon for the final sprint as I didn’t realise quite how long we had run before joining the loop!

Scenes from the run, finish token and the 3 of us at the sign

Because the trains weren’t that frequent and I needed to get back (we had to pick up some medication from Watford hospital) we didn’t hang around for too long after, but of course we had the train journey home to chat together too.

It was such an enjoyable morning out- I would happily go back there, and I’d be interested to see their winter route too. I don’t mind hills (we don’t have that many flat parkruns in Herts) and it was very varied which made it interesting.

That was my 85th parkrun venue, for number 279. Slowly heading towards the big 100!

Which parkrun do you think has the best name?