Category: Stuff I love!

parkwalking at Letchworth and enjoying the sunshine

After my weekend in Brighton, I was home for the following week, and had arranged to head up to Letchworth to parkwalk with Branka. It turned out that the High Sheriff was there too (after seeing her at St Albans a few weeks before)- she really is doing the rounds.

It was the most beautiful day, although it started off quite overcast and I only made the decision to wear my sunglasses at the last moment as I left the car.

After the briefing a lady sidled up to me and said rather apologetically that she might be walking too. We chatted for a bit and it turned out that she had not been to a parkrun since before the pandemic, so was feeling quite nervous. I reassured her that there was always a tail walker as well as the parkwalkers, and hopefully me telling her to take her time and just enjoy it made her feel a bit better. We didn’t see her as we walked but of course if we had have done then that would have been fine. I just hope she enjoyed it.

The Sheriff, scenes from the parkrun and my token

It is such a pretty route with views across the fields- it’s two laps which can feel harder if you are walking, but with the scenery and company it was enjoyable from start to finish. We had one incident with one of the front runners. We were walking on a narrower part of the course, and suddenly we heard this guy shouting “ladies, ladies”, he then basically ran into me and grabbed my shoulders, trying to get past, and then once he’d passed us shouted “I said ladies but none of you moved”- I was taken by surprise and couldn’t react quick enough to reply- had he said something helpful like “coming up on your left” then we would have moved over. We did try to be considerate, going single file through the field opening (but then why should a faster runner get priority over a walker? Maybe we were on for a walking pb?) and everyone else was very nice.

Standard purple sign photo (although we should have got one with the three of us) and a mid parkrun pic

The bottom photo above is one of my favourite parkrun photos- we were keeping over to the side as the runners finished their second lap, everyone looks so happy, the sunshine is filtering through the trees, it’s fab.

I absolutely love chatting about parkrun, and it was exciting to hear about Branka and Holly’s alphabet plans, how they try to wangle parkruns into other trips (eg wedding weekends) and chatting about places we have already visited because of parkrun. An hour well-spent for sure.

I’d given Branka some Brighton Rock Bird and Blend Tea (we’re now doing tea exchanges!) and I knew she had to head off pretty quickly as she was off to Oxford (handily with a B&B store there- more on that in another blog post) so I headed off to Vutie Beets for a solo parkfaff (a “me party” if you are a Muppet fan). I listened to With Me Now so it was very much parkrun-flavoured.

Pancakes, buns and my parkrun socks

Of course once I got home my parkrun socks had arrived – I feel like they purposely make sure their deliveries arrive on a Saturday so they are always too late to be worn to parkrun! Also with a random parkrun magazine that was about a year old.

Loving the sunshine at Panshanger park

We couldn’t go to a B&B store but we could go to Panshanger park and visit the Planted coffee van for an iced tea, which is the next best thing! It was a gorgeous day for a walk.

On Sunday our club had a run for the new and back to runners graduation, so we had a lovely run to the lakes (so many goslings!) and then breakfast after. I was very glad I’d put on suncream before I left in the morning. I always forget that in the summer although you have less layers to put on, getting ready still takes ages because of those sorts of things instead.

Another lovely parkrun visit- that was my 4th time at Letchworth, and my first this year which meant I visited another Herts parkrun for the Herts Vegan Runners most events table! I think I’m going to try and revisit a few of them this year as I really enjoyed the more local tourism for when I was chasing Queen of Herts. It’s just a shame there are not more Saturdays really!

Do you have local events that you like to revisit? I’m still working on my single-ton for Panshanger too.

January parkrun touring- close to home

Of course my first parkrun back after having a holiday was going to Jersey Farm and running with my dad. I’d been away for all the extra parkrundays over the holidays, so I was really looking forward to getting back to one.

I nearly forgot my barcode, and had to run back inside and could only find this one! Whoops!

Jersey Farm was actually not too muddy, as it had rained a lot in the week. There was one big puddle but actually if you stepped gently the water didn’t even go over the top of your shoe, so it was OK. We ran together and after finishing, walked back to the big puddle so I could get a picture in it.

The puddles and then a cup of tea to warm up after.

There were two girls trying to pick their way around the outside, and I did try and show them that the middle was actually better as it wasn’t that deep, compared to the squelchy mud around the outside, but they weren’t convinced!

The following week we had been asked to wear red for Comic Relief (and donate some money too- I even got an email from Sir Lenny Henry thanking me for the donation). I was keen to visit somewhere else, so in the end we opted for Aldenham. We’d been there once before, back in 2016, and on that day there were only 25 runners, I finished 16th with my dad and brother 10th and 14th! They were all runners too, with the final person coming in at 36 minutes! How things have changed. Two of my friends were parkwalking, and of course they have the tail walker role too.

Views of the lake (?) and the fab keyring for completing the 12 days of Christmas challenge with my running club.

It was a cold morning and I rally didn’t want to take my jacket off at the start area. Usually I wear gloves in the winter and my hands warm up quickly, and I would tend to take the gloves off after the first lap of a two lap route, but this time they stayed on the entire time.

My nails matched my tribesport top but that was being covered with the red top for Comic Relief anyway.

The route is two laps of the water (reservoir/lake?), very flat but lots of tree roots to look out for. I managed a course pb which was quite unexpected and nice to see in the text, this time 56th out of 110 runners- slightly more than last time! It’s a pretty route, but you have to pay to park (although there is a reduced rate for parkrunners) and I wonder if this puts people off.

Beautiful sunrise at home and then on my way to Panshanger plus all the ice.

For the third weekend I was off to Panshanger. One of my aims is to get to 100 runs at Panshanger (a single-ton)- I started the year on 90 and so this was my 91st run at Panshanger. Even though it’s my closest, I don’t run there as much as if my parents are about I’ll head over to JF, however they were away so I opted for a parkrun sandwich. I wore all green in celebration for a club mate who was doing her 250th parkrun, but in South Africa so it was being with her in spirit. There were huge frozen puddles near the end of the course but you could easily avoid them and the going was pretty good. An enjoyable run chatting to someone who recognised me from Instagram (hi Sam) but I was pretty cold by the time I got home!

I also marshalled at a couple of junior parkrun events over the course of the month, always a fun thing to join in with on a Sunday.

One Sunday above and another Sunday below!

My final January parkrun was a brand new to me event so I’ll save that for another time.

How has your January been? It seems like parkruns are getting a big boost in numbers at the moment.

Jersey Farm- running one week, volunteering the next

After being in Florida for nearly 4 weeks (and being happy to make it to one parkrun while I was out there) it was lovely to be home and back to a parkrun routine. It was Jersey Farm parkrun for two weeks in a row- the first one was a lovely run with Dad.

We ended up being in matching outfits unintentionally (250 tops and blue shorts/crops) so had to get a picture of course. Jersey Farm is obviously a tourist magnet for those alphabet hunters as J is a rare letter, so there is always someone by the sign who you can ask to take a photo for you (and take one for them in return).

It was quite a warm day and I was still struggling to sleep with the jet lag, so we took it easy and chatted (as we so often do) and it was very enjoyable. I couldn’t decide whether to wear sunglasses or regular glasses, and I’m so glad that Dad persuaded me to opt for sunglasses as it got very bright not long after we had left.

After breakfast at my parents, I had some jobs to do in town, and treated myself to a matcha latte from a cafe- it was so good (and so pretty).

The following Saturday we were both back at Jersey Farm again, this time as marshals. For the last couple of years, I’ve got Dad a 10K race entry for his birthday, and this year we were doing the Bedford 10k. It started at 5:30pm on the Saturday, so not a good idea to run parkrun the same day. We both decided to volunteer, and ended up being at a marshal point together. (I had mentioned this in the email as I knew a few of the points had more than one marshal, but of course said we were fine to be at other points if needed).

We ended up being at one end of the park, where there is a track that leads to a house. The “Caution Runners” sign was to warn motorists of the runners, but we were instructed to stop runners and let any vehicles pass. They were only expecting the post van, but we had a couple of vans drive up and back, but when it was quiet. The summer route (that we are on) has an outer and then inner lap, and so the marshal point has to cover both paths during the run. There were 3 of us (we had a lovely D of E volunteer with us too), so after the first runners went through on the outer lap, I stayed with the D of E volunteer, and Dad moved to the inner loop ready for the front runners. They were passing by before the tail walker was at the outer loop, but once they had gone through we were all back together on the inner loop.

I do love cheering on the runners and walkers (even saw some vegan runners- yay). So many of them say thank you (we always do when we run, but you don’t always hear others around you), but a lot of the walkers apologised for being slow- they are not by us for long but I kept saying that they were all welcome to walk the whole way. I really wish this message was out there more because people should not be feeling guilty for walking at these events.

I commented on the parkrun adventurers post about marshalling, and so got a surprise on Tuesday morning when I saw they had chosen my photo for the cover of their podcast that week! Fame at last!

Mum made us a delicious breakfast once home (vegan pancakes with apple compote- made with apples from their friend’s garden) and we met up later for the race (but I’ll post that another time).

Bedford parkrun

Some of my club mates had been doing a “Stay in Beds” parkrun challenge- all the parkruns in Bedfordshire, so I joined in. When I looked, I only needed 2, Bedford being one of them. After we’d driven up there for the George Ezra concert and I’d seen that it wasn’t to bad of a journey, I decided to head there. The Cambridge and MK Vegan Runners were having a meet up there too, so another reason to head there.

parkrun were celebrating 75 years of the NHS, and had asked everyone to wear blue, so I wore my Ware 10k race top.

The drive up there was fine, apart from me going slightly wrong in the centre and then having a bit of a diversion, but I arrived with plenty of time, to find that the car park had free parking for 3 hours on a Saturday, you just had to get a ticket to display. I had a bit of a jog around the park first, and then got very confused as to where the start area was, as I found the finish area but could not work out for ages where it started. It turned out to be close to the car park, so when I had run past in my warm up, I hadn’t noticed it as not many people were there yet.

I saw a few of the vegan runners, so had a little chat with them. We asked someone to take our photo, and then the weirdest thing happened- after they had taken our photo with one of the VR’s phones, they got their own phone out and asked us to stand still while they took one with their phone. It’s a public place but that felt a little strange.

The RD at the start gave a wonderful little speech about the NHS, and pointed out a few of the team who were NHS workers. I saw a couple of people running in their paramedic gear which didn’t look like the most breathable fabric- kudos to them.

I loved the wildflower meadows that were part of the park. It was a varied town centre park, with a little lake (featuring cygnets), a few wooded areas, a band stand and a cafe. It tipped with rain at the end!

The route was just under 3 laps (I think they said two and a half), starting lower down in the park and finishing in the centre. It felt like a well supported event with lots of marshals on the route, and loads at the finish area (reminding us to keep right as faster runners headed left into the finish). It was pretty flat, but as you went past the lake it then went gently uphill- all fine but the third time up there I was feeling more tired.

After I’d finished, I ran back over to the lake to see if I could spot the cygnets again, as I’d seen them while running, and while I was there is started tipping it down with rain. I had seen a nice vegan cafe in the town centre, and was originally planning on going there before driving home, but I was soaked through so quickly so decided to just head home instead.

I’m there in blue with the other VR’s. Plus cakes, matcha and pistachio butter.

The vegan market was in WGC, so in the afternoon I popped in. I got myself a strawberry matcha (so good), picked up some pistachio butter (I’ve not yet opened it) and bought some cakes from Kim’s Vegan Cakes as they were half price.

102nd parkrun visited, and only one left for the Beds challenge now (Great Denham)- that will be in the autumn I think.

Do you like different parkrun challenges? Did your parkrun do anything for the NHS 75?

Summer Song Season- 2023 edition

This time of year is just the best for outdoor music. Sometimes we head off to a festival, but this year we went to separate gigs instead.

First up, George Ezra in Bedford. This was a Friday night and just had such a great feel, relaxed and friendly (and the most little kids I’d ever seen at a concert). We just drove up after work and didn’t even get home too late either (although later than planned due to getting a long diversion after a road closure).

Saturday was another one, this time Pulp at Finsbury Park. I went to Jersey Farm parkrun in the morning with Dad, and then we went into London in the afternoon, of course visiting Bird and Blend (and a dinner at Leon- their vegan burger is so good). Pulp were supported by Wet Leg who were good too, and then Pulp were just brilliant- it had such a celebratory feel.

The following weekend on the Saturday we were back in London again, this time going to Wembley for Blur.

This was just amazing. Self Esteem was the support act, and she was brilliant, and then Blur were just fantastic, classic after classic. The only slightly disappointing thing for me was that I could not really see the stage- there were big screens and sometimes if the crowd parted in the right way I could glimpse one of them, but I like to actually see the stage, particularly when they have additional artists on stage (they had the London gospel choir for Tender). But anyway, it was such a great night.

For the antidote of being in loud and crowded spaces, on the Sunday we went for a walk around Panshanger, getting a matcha from the coffee van for the walk (and for the energy after all those late nights!). Then time to watch Disney You Tube videos (with my Orange Bird mug)!

Do you like going to see live bands?