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.
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!).
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.
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 🙂
