Travelling Tales - Maria Runs

Rheinpark parkrun, Cologne, for Germany Unity Day 2025

A bit of background- parkrun countries can hold an additional parkrunday (as well as NYD) if they so wish. Each country has a set one (all the Nordic countries have Ascension Day, UK has Christmas Day), and for Germany they have Unity Day, which is always on 3rd October. This year that happened to fall on a Friday, so it was perfect for a weekend to Germany to visit two different parkruns.

Branka and Holly had booked their transport and hotel a while back- I had an invite but was not sure where I would be with regards to working, so didn’t book it until quite late on. They had chosen Cologne as it was easy to get to via train and had two central parkruns, and I was happy to head there, having previously been there for a Christmas market weekend. When I looked at booking (hooray for the Eurostar sale) the hotels for the Friday night were very expensive, and this turned out to be because the Cologne marathon was happening that weekend. This resulted in my only staying in Cologne on the Thursday night, and getting the train elsewhere for a different parkrun on Saturday- more on that next time!

So, Thursday was travel day- a train into London, a Eurostar to Brussels and then a train to Cologne. It was all very relaxed as I had lots of time between trains, getting into Cologne around 8pm. Holly and Branka had arrived much earlier and came to meet me at the station as my hotel was very close to theirs, and we sorted our plans for the morning.

We met around 8:15 am (read Branka’s blog for their early awakening) and started to head to the bridge to get to parkrun. As they were going to both in Cologne, they let me choose which one I’d do on the Friday, and I opted for Rheinpark as it was the closest (I had an 11am checkout to make) and just looked pretty by the water with stunning views of the huge cathedral. Anyway, it turns out although it was 1km away, we must remember that is as the crow flies, and so our actual walk there was 1.4 miles- a little further! We joined the huge queue of tourists getting their photos by the pop up, which had a lovely bespoke metal sign for you to hold, as well as some little German flags.

I enjoyed spotting all the German signs and labels on the volunteer vests (“Helfer” is a particular favourite) and just seeing big groups of happy tourists together.

We had a wonderfully welcoming briefing (the RD jokingly asked if there were any locals), and the team shuffled everyone over to one side for a photo- it’s on their facebook page but everyone is tiny as there were around 300 people in the photo (participants plus volunteers).

The course is one lap- a round loop of the park that you start in, and then what looks like an out and back but is really just a thin loop going to the end of a park that juts out into the river. Coming back we had stunning views across the river to the city- it certainly was memorable. It is totally flat so would be potentially a very fast course too. I ran with Holly and we as usual had a lovely chat. It was great to spot all the tourist tops and buffs and hear everyone saying “danke” to the marshals.

The finish area was decorated with strings of German flags and also bunting made up from old volunteer tabards (Wonky Bear style). Once finished I saw that they had moved the pop up and someone had donated a massive German flag- I decided to risk it and join the queue- just as we got to the front, Branka appeared so it was perfect timing for us to have a photo with the city as a backdrop. I then dashed back to the hotel on my own.

I was very excited to get the results email through- I love getting the emails in different languages- and with that I had been to my 140th parkrun location and my 420th parkrun in total, my second one in Germany.

Clockwise from the top left- Exploring Cologne- posing by the sign, cinnamood buns (white chocolate macadamia nut and spiced apple), gorgeous stained glass window in the Dom, delicious tofu salad from the vegan restaurant.

After a speedy shower and tea in the room, I checked out and left my case at the hotel, and then the three of us met in the lobby of my hotel to have a fab day in Cologne. Branka had arranged for the two of us to give Holly a German notch as it was her first parkrun in Germany. Holly then gave us each a Unity Day notch (with the map of Germany on it), and Branka also handed over my little Lego figure- they had gone to the Lego store on Thursday (as it was closed on the Friday) and made little custom mini figures to commemorate our trip.

At first our meal plans were slightly scuppered by us missing the brunch window at a lovely looking restaurant, and then we walked to a different one only to find it closed, but on the third try we found a wonderful vegan restaurant where we had lunch, before more exploring. We went into the cathedral (and I made it part way up the spire- somehow I managed the spiral staircase but when I saw the metal stairs that you can see through I knew I had reached my limit), bought some amazing buns from Cinnamood and spent ages chatting about parkrun plans (and of course life in general).

I’ve been thinking about why I loved the atmosphere so much, and I have come to the conclusion that I agree with the sentiment of their special day if that makes sense. Not being religious I did not really know about Ascension Day, and it seemed to be more like a UK Bank Holiday- something from the past which now just means most people have a day off work. Unity Day felt different. It was 35 years ago this year, so I have vague memories of seeing the Berlin Wall fall (probably on Newsround), but as a fan of Europe and of countries working together, it meant I could get behind the reason the day is celebrated far more than I could with a more historical day. Something about the atmosphere really spoke to me and I am so glad that I was there to join in with the celebrating. Yes, the weekend was a fun way to visit two new parkruns, but it’s always more than that, and this weekend showed me that again.

Lego figure (I am holding a cup of tea!) and new notch for my keyring

Back to the Friday- I hadn’t booked my next train as I could buy a ticket on the day for a commuter train rather than a high speed booked one, so around 6pm I left Holly and Branka in Cologne while I headed on the train to Aachen (just under an hour away on a regular train- I think the super speedy ICE trains were more like 30 mins).

And the parkrun adventure will continue in another post…

A revisit to Clermont Waterfront parkrun (Florida)

I was in Florida for a family holiday (11 of us), and happily we had one Saturday spare, so parkrun was on the agenda for me.

Compared to the UK where we have so many close by, the parkruns in the USA are spread very thinly- it always amuses me to open the 5K app and look at the NENDY list on there- the next event can be hundreds of miles away. This meant a revisit to Clermont Waterfront parkrun, but I was very happy to go back there.

I first attended this location in 2022 (reclaiming my USA flag, which had gone from my profile after Crissy Fields ceased), and really enjoyed the out and back course by the lake.

In 2023, I went there again, and this time ran their B course, as the main course was being used for a triathlon (this totally panicked me, as we drove in at about 7:10 and I could see the path was thick with runners so I worried that it was in fact a 7am start rather than 7:30). The B course was two laps away from the lake, under trees and between scrubland and bushes, and I was daydreaming and managed to get lost on the second lap!

*View of the sunrise over the lake right by the start area*

This time, there were no dramas. I had looked online and saw that the triathlon was being held on the Sunday, so I wouldn’t need to worry about that, and of course I double and triple checked that it started at 7:30am. We were staying in a Disney resort, and it’s a fair way (around 45 min drive)- it would be a long uber/lyft and I am not sure how easy it would be to get one back after the event. There are no public transport options at all, and I was very glad that Andy had agreed to drive, as I am not the most confident driver when following directions. When we arrived there was a bit of a queue to enter the car park, so I hopped out and popped to the toilet block while he found a parking space. I then had time to wander around, walk to the lake to take some sunrise photos, listen to the welcome and the main briefing, and take a few pre-run photos of the start area. One of the Australian boomerangs was there, but they had already handed it over to the next family when I got there- I did consider asking for a picture but it was being looked after by some kids so I didn’t feel it was appropriate.

First timers welcome and the main briefing- the parkrun flag is by the road and car park entrance so it’s very clear when you arrive where you need to go. I love all the Spanish moss hanging down from the trees too.

I did feel sorry for one of the volunteers who was tasked with keeping people to one side of the walking/cycle track, as there were loads of members of public out walking/running/cycling who were not part of parkrun, and during the briefing it got very crowded around there.

It was a prompt start, and it felt a little crowded while everyone settled in to their pace. I overtook lots of walkers, and had to weave around a bit before I found a place to settle into. It wasn’t surprising- the previous week they had a course record of 274 people attending, and this week was just shy of that with 264. The paths by the lake are lovely and wide, with cycle and walking tracks for each direction, clearly painted on the floor, so after the initial section there was plenty of space. The sun was up just before 7, there were beautiful views across the lake with the early morning sunlight, some of the path was shaded with big trees, and there was lots to look at (boats on the water, bird boxes along the shore, facilities such as play parks).

*Top right is the slope down to the turnaround point. There are a few signs on the route, as a few points the path splits so you just follow the signs. There was a marshal at the u-turn.*

I had been in Florida for a couple of weeks by this point, and had been out running every 2 or 3 days, so I was more acclimatised to the heat and humidity, and I think that helped as I managed to push on and keep up quite a high pace. Near the turnaround point there is a slope which you run down on the way out, so I walked back up that on the way back and I think that helped to power me through.

*They have so many flags fluttering by the finish line- I got a photo soon after finishing, and then went hunting for the sign to hold.* Note the two buffs to help with the humidity situation! I usually just have one!

I had looked at my previous times on the 5K app, so when I finished in just over 30 minutes I knew it should be a course pb, as my previously fastest time was nearly 33 mins.

*Course pb sign, and some of the other signs available*

This turned out to be lucky, as when I finished I went looking for their little photo prop signs. They have them for each milestone, and also ones that say “I ran at Clermont parkrun”- I got that one, asked someone to take a photo and was then congratulated by them- I realised after that the signs were double sided but said different things on the reverse, so where I thought I was holding the general “I ran here” sign, I was actually holding a “I got a pb” sign.

*Bespoke token holder, photos (which I need to look at…), the parkrun flag by the path and all the flags at the finish funnel.*

As is always the case, if you hover by the pop up sign, you will end up chatting to other tourists, so of course I ended up finding some people who were fairly local to me, and one of them had managed an all time pb there! That is impressive. It is hard to describe the humidity until you experience it, but I could not take a selfie because my phone was slipping out of my hand- I was glad I had brought a towel for the car seat on the way back!

So that was parkrun 413 for me, and my 3rd at Clermont. I love touring, but it was so enjoyable to visit somewhere that I had been already- I knew where the car park/toilets/start areas were, I knew the route, and as it was so scenic it was just wonderful to be running alongside the lake. One I would happily return to again.

Are you happy to revisit or if you are touring do you like to go to a new parkrun each time?

Haga parkrun in Stockholm, Sweden

As mentioned in my previous post, I was in the nordics and aiming to do the special extra parkrun on Ascension Day, which this year fell on the Thursday of May half term- perfect! We’d arrived in Stockholm on the Tuesday evening, so I had plenty of time to explore the city.

I had opted to go to Haga on the Thursday, as this was the most central one. It was around 4km from the hotel we stayed in (again by the central station), and as public transport didn’t seem to go directly there, I thought I’d go for a parkrun sandwich, running there and back.

As same as in Finland, the parkruns in Sweden started at 9:30, and again, I checked and double checked this many times! I left the hotel at 8:30 and ran/walked there. As there was a big road without footpaths right by the park, the maps took me to the west of the park before curving over to the park. It was 2.7 miles, so a nice warm up, and a lot of it was along one main straight road. (But remember this for my journey back…)

My route there:

As I arrived into the park I could see the pop up and high viz vests right away, so I was relived, as with a big park you never quite know where the start will be, and whether it will be obvious or not, but this one was easy to find once there.

*Frame photos and a few of photos of the route*, *plus the most enthusiastic marshal ever.*

There were already lots of tourists there, and as I got to the park (at about 9:10) they called the first timers welcome, although it turned out that they did a few of these, so as I missed the start of this one, I went back to another one- done excellently by the RD who spoke in Swedish and then English for us all. He explained that as it was a holiday, lots of Swedes would be in their summer homes, and in the main briefing after calling out some tourists, called for a show of hands for local runners, which got a big laugh.

The route was fairly simple- run out of the park into the forest, complete two laps of the forest and then run back to the start/finish area. One side was uphill and then as you ran towards the lake it was downhill, but with beautiful views. It reminded me of Panshanger in a way, although that is one lap, because of the up and down nature, and running through woods and by the lake.

Map

I did briefly think I was lost as when I first entered the park there were two marshals, including the most enthusiastic one (he was literally leaping up and down, cheering everyone, running alongside runners and then running back to his spot and then repeating this!). When I got back to them after my first lap, they had split up, and I thought that the other marshal had moved forwards to a later point, so when I got to the liveliest one, I thought I’d need to turn back to the start. However I was following some other runners and they kept on going. I even briefly got out maps on my phone but it wouldn’t show me in enough detail, so I decided to keep going. I then found the other marshal, so it turns out that the one I thought had moved hadn’t. That sounds confusing, but basically after stopping and then going a bit more, I found the exit to the loop to go back to the finish.

It was such a beautiful course, and perfect to have so much shade on such a hot day.

The copper tents were at the top of the hill, and then as you looked down you could see the water.

After finishing I stood around for ages, mainly chatting to other tourists and hearing about their plans for the upcoming Saturday. Some of them sounded disappointed for me that I wasn’t going to another nordic one (as we came home on the Friday) but I had wanted to run in Finland, and now Sweden was my final nordic country (having already run in Denmark and Norway), so I was pleased to have achieved that and also attended a special event. I loved the feel of it- everyone was so excited and there was so much chat and taking photos and just enjoying the atmosphere of the event.

After a few more photos I decided to start heading back. Now, this below may look like the same map, but it is very much not! First of all, maps wanted me to leave the park by the south exit. This was where the majority of parkrunners were going, so I figured that there must be an exit. Wrong. There was loads of construction work going on, and I reached an underpass with the pedestrian exit very firmly fenced in, with big no entry signs and no way around (apart from going onto a busy road that looked like a dual carriageway). After going for nearly half a mile I admitted defeat and retraced my steps, exiting the way I had come in.

I am just so glad that the getting lost happened on the way back, because if I had been directed to the other side of the construction, I am not sure I could have navigated around it, certainly not in time, so may well have missed out.

So this was all fine, but added a bit. Then I got a bit lost finding our hotel. The area around the main station is on different levels, and in the morning I left the hotel, walked along the street for a bit, over a bridge (over the road I needed), down pedestrian steps and then onto the road. The maps took me a lot of the same way as I recognised lots, but then I could see the road going over the road I was on, but there were no steps, so I must have come down a similar one. Anyway, I wandered around a bit, followed signs for the Arlanda express (the airport train) and eventually got into the station and then out to our hotel- 4 miles later!

Stats- that was parkrun 405, my 11th country and 134th event. Another flag added to my profile as well.

But also, it meant I got to go back to Stockholm. The only time I’ve been before was in 2011 when Andy and I ran the Stockholm marathon (coincidentally, it was the marathon the Saturday after we flew home)- and although we did some sightseeing it was not the most fun to be walking around a city while struggling to walk down stairs. It is full of beautiful buildings and again being by the water just adds such a good feel to the place, so we did lots of walking around the various areas of the city, onto the different islands and through different parks.

So that wraps up our little trip north, and what a fab trip it was. parkrun is a great reason to travel somewhere else, and all three places that we visited were wonderful.

Next up- some slightly more local touring and some repeats as well.

Tokoinranta parkrun in Helsinki!

Back in 2020 we had booked a long weekend to Helsinki for July, but obviously ended up having to cancel that trip. It’s been on the list, so I was very excited to finally visit after waiting all this time.

We flew out to Helsinki on the Friday, the train from the airport was fairly quick (30 mins ish) and we had a hotel by the central station, which was about 1km from the start of parkrun. Perfect! We had a walk around the lakes after dinner on the Friday, so I was very confident about navigating my way there in the morning, too.

*Our Friday evening walk around the parkrun lakes*

The parkrun didn’t start until 9:30 am (the number of times I checked that!) but I headed off before 9 so I could enjoy the atmosphere before the start, hear the welcome and briefing and of course take some photos.

I love seeing the signs in different languages. I saw the cones set up as I ran there.

I ended up chatting to lots of tourists- lots of people were over for the Nordic additional day (the following Thursday- Ascension Day) so it was fun to hear about different plans. Lots of people were heading to Stockholm (as were we eventually) but most were aiming for the newer parkrun of Judarskogen parkrun whereas I had planned to go to Haga (more on that another day).

Anyway, the welcome was given in English by the RD who said it was his first time doing that role- he apologised if he sounded nervous but he was fantastic, very clear and welcoming. The route seemed simple- out and back, beginning on one lake (keep it to your left), over the railway bridge and then around another lake (keep it to your right), turn at the U-turn point, and then retrace your steps. I had watched Nicola Runs You Tube video of it previously, but nothing compares to actually being there yourself.

A few mid run photos including the little watermill, and my pic by the sign when I’d finished.

I really enjoyed the route- the parts by the lake were very flat and one nice wide paths.

The second lake had a cycle path next to it but this was clearly divided by a kerb. There were loads of other people out, not parkrunning, but there was always space to pass. I was very happy to spot the little water mill that was generating electricity- I don’t think I would have spotted it on the way back as it was tucked below the path a little bit.

*A few more pictures from the route including the railway bridge and the coned paths*

The part by the railway bridge was tough as that was very steep up and down, but at least it was over fairly soon. There were only a couple of marshals out on the route but they were very enthusiastic, and the course was very clear. (Although after I had finished and scanned I met two people who had gone the wrong way after coming back over the bridge, and I realised that the cone in the centre of the path (basically blocking it and showing you to go left towards the lake rather than straight on towards the train station) had been knocked to the side, so I put it back in the middle of the path so hopefully no-one else got lost!

It wasn’t a hugely busy parkrun- that day I was 62 of 119 participants, and that seemed like a good number with a nice spread of runners and walkers. It was really welcoming, although I didn’t go to the cafe after as we had breakfast included in our hotel stay (and we had to book a time slot so I had to be back for the 10:30 booking).

And the stats: parkrun 404, location 133 and country number 10 (when GB counts as 1 country).

We had a lovely few days in Helsinki after. The city is very walkable, so we spent some time walking around the city centre and admiring the different styles of the buildings, walked to the docks to see the local markets and all the boats heading off to various islands, went to the Helsinki museum (very interesting). One day there was a classic car fest happening in the square so we sat for ages looking at all the Cadillacs and other cars stream in, and then one day we got a boat out to an island with a fort on it, and walked around the island. I am very glad that we visited!

After Helsinki, we got the boat over to Tallinn, and spent two days there, before heading over to Stockholm for the final part of our nordic trip.

Victoria Dock parkrun for my 400th!

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.

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 🙂