Category: Travelling Tales

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?

Ah, this has been such a long time in the making!

Fast forward over 2 years and I finally got to run there!

The Queen’s Jubilee meant that we had an extra day off work on the Friday before half term, and the day before was a training day, meaning we could book a Thursday night Eurostar and then have all day Friday to be in The Hague, minimising the chance of me getting lost. (And of course also sightsee).

The journey was good although there were very long queues at the Eurostar check  in- at least unlike flying you know they are not going to let you get stuck in security. The train went to Amsterdam but we had booked to Rotterdam, and then it was around a 20 min train journey to The Hague, all very easy (apart from the ticket machines being outside of the barriers of the station in Rotterdam). Our hotel was right by the station which helped.

I will do a separate post on the trip, but I absolutely loved The Hague and am so glad that I went. Without the pull of the parkrun alphabet, I would probably have never been there, but I am so glad I did because it was a wonderful city- so pretty with canals and parks, but also by the sea with a huge sandy beach. Honestly, even if you don’t care about parkruns or alphabets, have a look at it.

The huge copper building in the centre of the park is amazing! Plus makes it easy to find the start. I loved the Dutch signs.

Zuiderpark parkrun is a few km from the station, and there was a tram (9) that went straight there. After my disaster in Dublin it was just sensible to get the tram there. I couldn’t quite work out the times, but they were pretty regular (every 10/15 mins), with pay stations on board to get your ticket. I had only packed a t-shirt, no long sleeved tops, but it was pretty fresh at 8am and so I took my rain jacket with me for an extra layer, and standing by the station in the wind I was pretty glad of it.

I got on the tram and tried to buy a ticket, but it said “no tickets available, no card purchase available, no cash accepted”- a woman approached me and asked if I was going to parkrun- she was too. I showed her my tram ticket from the previous day (bought on board) but neither of us could get the machine to work. We had to hope that if a ticket inspector got on the tram we could explain why we didn’t have tickets for that day. We had a lovely chat on the way- she was based in Brussels and had been doing lots of European parkrun tourism (that morning she’d got a bus at something like 4am to get over here)- it turned out we had been to lots of similar parkruns in the UK too.

The trams were easy to navigate as they all had electronic screens announcing the next station, so it wasn’t long before we arrived in the park and started looking for the start. I’d seen the big copper building on their course page, so knew to head to that. Of course we met more tourists walking through the park, and it didn’t take long to see the sign directing people to the start (if you walk the circumference of the building you will find it).

Photo op by the big sunglasses!

The run briefing was completed in English first, and then in Dutch, and of course there were plenty of tourists. We were warned to watch out for bikes and with perfect timing a bike sped past. Some people had emailed in about them completing the alphabet, other people were doing their 100th- it felt as if everyone was celebrating something. I took a few photo by the huge sunglasses, and some of the signs in Dutch (making the most of a new parkrun country too), and decided to tie my rain coat around my waist as I knew I would get warm running. I particularly liked the “Let op:renners” sign which means “watch out riders”- I think warning cyclist of runners?

Then we walked to the start and we were off! It is a fast course- two flat laps around the park. Lots to see on the way around, and a few marshals at key points who were all very enthusiastic. I had a total mental blank over what thank -you was in Dutch, but they all seemed to be speaking in a combination of English and Dutch anyway.

My pace was fairly quick (and a lovely royal flush negative split too)- 8:55, 8:46, 8:44 and 8:30 for the finish. But it was pancake flat with nice wide paths and not many runners so no congestion at all. I didn’t want to rush through and not enjoy the experience, I was so happy to be there after the 2 year wait.

There were 85 runners and I had token 50. I took a few more photos at the finish but didn’t want to keep Andy waiting too long (and we had a train to Rotterdam later in the morning) so I jogged the 1/2 mile back to the tram stop and got one a few minutes after arriving. Perfect.

Starbucks from the station to warm up after too!

So there we have it, the parkrun alphabet has now been completed. I am so glad that I chose this one as my Z, as it was a great place to visit and I am sure we will now go back at some point.

I do love seeing the new badge appear on the chrome extension (third from the left on the top row) and of course a new country flag, although sadly since Crissy Fields stopped I’ve lost my USA flag. I shall have to remedy that soon, as more parkrun tourism calls of course …

Have you visited anywhere that surprised you? Where has parkrun taken you to?

In March 2018 I started looking at completing the parkrun alphabet. Back then I had been to 38 different events and so had filled in lots of the letters without trying. However I still needed D, I, J, K, N, O, Q, U, V, Y and Z. Quite a few!

I could tick off a few fairly easily- I drove to Oak Hill one Saturday, Northala Fields a few weeks later, and managed to go to York parkrun as we stopped there on a journey back from Scotland. A few weeks after that I drove to Upton Court, and then we had a weekend in London (seeing The Muppets Take on the O2) and originally I was going to do Victoria Dock, but it was cancelled, so I went to Valentine’s. Ticking those letters off nicely.

Bruce Li was at Northala Fields taking photos when I visited, so here I am just finishing and getting my phone out to take a picture!

We often head to Bath Christmas markets and I would do a parkrun on the way, so my D was at Dinton Pastures in November 2018, and then a few weeks later Jersey Farm parkrun started less than a mile from my parents home, so I had the first of many visits for my J.  A trip to Southampton in April 2019 meant I could head off and run at Queen Elizabeth, and later a weekend in Kent in May 2019 meant I could visit Kingdom (and meet Danny Norman from With Me Now as he happened to be there at the same time).

So most letters ticked off after just over a year of trying to find ways to incorporate the tourism into weekends away or touring slightly further from home (I feel like a hour drive from home is the most I’ll go realistically unless it’s for a super special occasion). Kingdom was my 62nd parkrun location so I had done lots of other touring too, and the alphabet was ticking along nicely when I got the opportunity to visit another letter.

All I had left at this point was I and Z.

Pointing at the I as my UK parkrun alphabet was completed with that letter!

There were not that many I’s, and none near at all, but then Irchester Country parkrun started. It looked wonderful too (one lap, woods) and I managed to persuade my dad to come along. It was the final parkrun before the pandemic pause, and it did have a bit of a strange feel with people keeping their distance a bit more. However I loved the route and would happily go back. Despite the strange feeling that parkrun was going to stop for a few weeks (how little we knew) I was happy to complete my UK parkrun alphabet. I had seen that Zuiderpark parkrun had just started as The Netherlands had opened as a new parkrun country, and was hoping to get the Eurostar over there during the Easter 2020 break. Of course, the world had other plans….

Are you trying to complete the parkrun alphabet? Or have you finished it? Do you like this sort of challenge?

The early May Bank holiday usually ends up being my birthday weekend too, and after being home from Ireland for a couple of weeks, of course we felt the need to make the most of the long weekend and head somewhere.

We got the train to Brighton on Friday evening, and came home on the Sunday.

On Saturday morning I headed to Hove Prom. Our hotel was slightly closer to here than to Preston Park, and I think I did Preston Park more recently. It turned out very lucky as I saw that Preston Park had to cancel with 5 minutes noticed due to a festival in the park being unaware of parkrun taking place each week.

I ran down to the start for a nice warm up- it was breezy but warm so I left my top in one of the boxes by the beach huts. When listening to the main briefing, they pointed out pacers for 27 and 30 minutes. Since the pause I have not managed to get a time under 28 minutes, so thought I would have a go at that. I don’t often run for time, and usually if I am in Brighton I’d have a race the next day so would be parkrunning sensibly. But I thought if I could keep in between the 30 and 27 minute pacer then I could stand a chance of finishing in under 28 mins.

I kept the 27 min pacer in sight but I was a bit behind her. At the half way point you pass the start/finish area again, and on this occasion the timer was calling out times- I heard 13:42 so spent a bit of time calculating that if I maintained my pace I would be under 28 mins- excellent!

As we reached the final turnaround point, the pacer slowed and gave us some encouragement, saying “try to keep up”- I called to her that I was trying my best, and a guy in front also joined in. I was amazed that I was keeping pace, and for the final section just counted up to 100 over and over again to try and keep my breathing in time with my steps. The pacer slowed as she got close to the  line and cheered us in. I stopped my watch soon after getting into the funnel and was on just over 27 minutes- I was amazed by that and so had a brief chat with her and the guy in front- I was so thankful for her for running such a steady pace and for being so encouraging. When the text message came in, I had gone even better and got sub 27- a 26:59! I’ve only managed a time beginning with 26 on 7 other occasions! This was also a course pb so deserved extra celebrations! And of course it was a post parkrun pause pb too! All the p’s!

Now that Ellenbrook Fields is gone, my local runs are not flat- either Panshanger or Jersey Farm- so I would not stand much chance of getting a similar time, and really I am usually happy to go around at an enjoyable pace and chat or enjoy the scenery. But it was nice to know that a couple of days before being a year older I could still do a fast (for me) time.

Acai bowl, pancakes, iced tea and delicious roasted almond butter chocolate

During the weekend of course we had some great food. Wolfox Café is becoming one of our favourite breakfast spots, with plant based pancakes or French toast (one branch is all vegan, but the other one has “onmi” food too), so I met Andy there after parkrun.

Of course we went to Bird and Blend- it was so warm I had an iced strawberry lemonade for a walk along the seafront to Hove. In the evening we got Purezza pizza which is just always delicious, and as it was so light we even had a walk after dinner along the seafront too.

The Sunday was a bit more overcast. I opted for an acai bowl for breakfast before another walk. We often have lunch at Leon when we are down there, as their Love burgers are so good, but I’d read lots of good things about the Vurger Co, so we tried something new. It was really tasty (loads of pickles- always the best bit) and I loved that you could get half and half fries (half regular and half sweet potato) but it was sooo messy! I am sure half of the filling ended up in the tray!

Time for a final Bird and Blend visit for a chai latte to take on the train to head home. A pretty perfect couple of days.

Do you have places that you like to visit often? Do you aim for specific times in races or at parkrun or are you happy to enjoy the experience in other ways? Do your local events often have pacers?