Category: Travelling Tales

Bug Hunter Waters parkrun

I mean, with a name like that, who doesn’t want to go there?

Bug Hunter Waters is just outside Cambridge, so just about within driving distance. This was a fun little parkrun road trip, with me picking up Branka and meeting Holly and her friend Lou (and baby) there.

This is a relatively new parkrun, with my visit being the 12th event. That was the reason why we went that day, as Holly wanted to do event number 12, a fact she only remembered when they announced the number in the run brief!

The website directs you to park at the park and ride, although I used the postcode and got us slightly lost. I was following the park and ride signs, but they were a bit sporadic and so I turned off (where google maps told me to) and we ended up in a section of the housing estate. Thankfully we turned around and although the maps were not loading we saw a park and ride bus and followed that until we saw signs again (we were only about 2 minutes away). There was a parkrun car park marshal directing us to a section of the park and ride car park, there were toilets by the bus stop, and then it was around a km walk along a path which was part of the route, to get to the start. Very easy to find.

It reminded me a lot of Great Denham, with the parkrun course right by a new housing estate. The lake made it very scenic, and it was a very flat course too. It was narrow in places, and we were warned to slow down at certain pinch points on the course.

The start line by the water, some of the houses and of course the pop up. Branka and I were accidently twinning with our black shorts and green tops!

We took the obligatory pop up photos (Branka is teaching me how to line up the sign in my selfies too!), listened to the first timers welcome and then the main run briefing which was hilarious as the RD had managed to fit in a lot of Oasis quotes (they were off the previous Saturday for something else but he mentioned that everyone was trying to get Oasis tickets that morning instead).

Then we walked to the start. As it was narrow, they asked people to seed themselves which I always think works well but I ended up being a bit too far back- it’s always hard to tell!

A few photos taken while running, plus the token and solo pop up photo

I was going to run, Branka was run/walking intervals and Holly and Lou were walking so we spread out, and then we were off. It is two laps, with a sort of out and back section and then a lap of the lake. I really enjoyed the scenery, although at the moment there isn’t much shade so on a sunny day it would be quite tough in that respect. There were 249 parkrunners that day and it felt quite busy due to the paths being narrow in places, but it did thin out. I didn’t get lapped which surprised me, I thought I would at the end of my first lap. I did pass Holly and Lou walking towards the end of my second lap but by then there were not that many people running around me so it was fine to have people passing at that point.

Once I finished I made sure I stretched and had some water, and then not long after Branka finished. I really liked their token sorting board (see photo below)- I do love it when you visit different parkruns and they have their own way of doing things.

We walked to the cafe (of course we ended up getting lost going there too) and found a table so that Holly and Lou could join us when they finished. The cafe was really nice (Northstowe Tap & Social), with lots of outdoor seating. They had the most enormous pastries that I have ever seen, but the only vegan option was banana bread (which was tasty- I had packed an emergency cereal bar in case they didn’t do anything), and of course oat milk for tea. We sat in the sunshine for ages- I regretted leaving my sunglasses in the car as it was quite overcast during parkrun but the cloud really burned away after.

Banana bread and Earl Grey with oat milk, the token sorting board and the finish area by the water

So that was location 119 for me, and my 373rd parkrun in total. I’ve not been to many Cambridgeshire events, just Pocket and Wimpole before this one. It did get me a nice big purple chunk on the Voronoi map!

Before the after- look at that big purple chunk!

How do you choose new events to visit?

Futakotamagawa parkrun, Tokyo, Japan

Japan has been on our list of places we’d love to go for a while, and once we booked flights I had said to Andy that I wanted to do one parkrun while we were away. We were away for 3 Saturdays, but the middle Saturday was already taken with Ghibli Park, so I had two others to play with. Thankfully Plan A worked out well, as the parkrun I was planning on visiting went ahead- they were cancelling if the heat index was forecast to be too high. Just the 33C before 8am!

For this part of the holiday we stayed in Shibuya (by the famous crossing) and Futakotamagawa parkrun was about a 20 minute train journey with no changes, so this looked to be the simplest one. I was quite anxious the night before about navigating on my own, as we had only arrived a few days before, and then this was not helped by an earthquake alert on our phones and then an actual earthquake. Anyway, to the morning…

Due to jet lag and feeling stressed I was awake before my 6am alarm, took my time getting ready (lots of suncream) and I packed a bottle of water with a rehydration tab in it, plus a t-shirt to change into for the journey back. Our hotel was a short walk from the train station, but the station itself is huge so I allowed plenty of time to get to the platform (there are just so many). Google Maps was a great help as it tells you the end station, direction, platform number and time of departure so you know you are on the correct train, and then once on the train the screens show the stations clearly in English, so the journey was all good.

I’d watched their You Tube video of how to walk to the start from the station, as the construction work around the river was ongoing, but as I walked I met one of the volunteers, who walked with me and another tourist, and we also saw a volunteer at one point (in front of the bike shop) directing us to the cut through to the river, so no worries about getting lost.

First timers and volunteers photo, and a photo by the artwork under the bridge (no purple pop ups here)

(I used a Suica card, which is a bit like a travel card but you get the app and save it in your apple wallet- you then don’t even need to unlock your phone as you go through the barriers, you just tap your phone on the barrier and it pops up on the screen that you have an active journey and the total amount of Yen on your card)

I was there with plenty of time (around 7:30 for the 8am start) so I chatted with some other runners- one guy had on a Dunstable running top and this is just up the road from where I live, so we chatted for a while. He was intrigued as to how I would get on a as a vegan in Japan (as I had on my VR visor)- he was vegan but was not going to be for his trip. This was only a few days in to the trip but it had been fine until then, and we were there for 3 weeks and didn’t have any issues.

Anyway, back to parkrun. They did the welcome in both English and Japanese, and took a photo of all of us before the main briefing which again was in English and Japanese. We also got interviewed by one of the volunteers- I thought he was taking our photo but then he asked us about our home parkruns, and if you follow them on facebook there is a link to their You Tube (the channel I’d used to see how to get there from the station) and a lovely cringey bit of video of me saying that I was not travelling with the two people I was chatting to, and that Panshanger is my home event.

Heading to the start and then a few mid run scenes.

The route seemed fairly simple- along a path, two laps around playing fields, back along the path, a little out and back section next to some tennis courts and then back to the bridge for the finish. Sounds a little complicated but it was simple and there were lots of cones, arrows and volunteers out.

I really enjoyed the course too- in one direction you could see back to Tokyo and the skyscrapers, but we ran alongside a nature reserve so you could hear the circardas (which was the soundtrack to our whole Japan trip) and I saw loads of swallows and little wagtail birds. There were people paying baseball and tennis, one part of the park had these small man-made boulders which might be for dog agility? Not sure. The volunteers were all so wonderful, cheering us all on. I was still trying to be confident in saying thank-you in Japanese (“arigatou gozaimasu” as just arigatou is a bit too informal) but I waved and smiled and clapped as I passed each one and they were all fantastic at cheering back. It was a real mix of Japanese locals and ex-pats who were on the team, participating and volunteering, and of course a few tourists as well as local first timers.

There was not much shade out there- just this small section (below) under the large tree, so it was quite brutal, but I loved it. I did stop and walk a few times to try to cool down, but also I didn’t want to take too long to finish as then I would be out in the sun for longer.

They also took photos of us and these were on facebook so I have a couple of me out on the course too which is always a real bonus.

They had a tail walker and a few walkers and run/walkers as well as runners, so I felt confident taking my time and trying not to overheat, although I did get a bit carried away in the final finish stretch and felt a bit dizzy when I stopped. I was wearing my Ellenbrook Fields vest and one of the scanners asked me about it as he knew of it, and I think I answered him quickly and then had to apologise and say I needed to get my water as I felt not great at that point, but I did soon recover once I had cooled down.

Red and sweaty face after I had finished, and my token, plus views of the bridge and river.

I cooled down in the shade for a bit before walking back to the train station. I changed into a clean t-shirt as I didn’t want to be all sweaty on the train back. The journey back was fine- I didn’t need maps to get me back to the station as I just retraced my steps and it was simple enough, and the train back was fine as that station only had one line and Google Maps made it very clear which platform I needed, but back at Shibuya I came out of a different entrance (there are so many) so when I was back at street level I realised I was quite a few blocks away from where I needed to be, but then I had my bearings and could get back to the hotel fine, it just took a bit longer! Andy had popped down to Starbucks and got me a blueberry bagel (plant based and delicious) and made me a cup of tea plus another water with a rehydration tab as the aim was to have as much liquid as possible!

Walking back to the station by the river/ changed to a dry top/ back at the hotel/ the train station by parkrun.

I loved getting the results email as it’s all in Japanese! I can see my time (32:57) and if I click to translate I can get more (eg I was 62/76 people).

Of course I had to check the 5K app and now I’ve got a little purple chunk in Tokyo, and a Japanese flag!

I am so glad I got to go along to this parkrun- the experience was really special, every volunteer was so welcoming and friendly (we experienced this with Japan as a whole- everywhere we went the people were wonderful), so thanks to everyone there!

So, my 9th country and again just a really special place to visit.

A revisit to Leavesden and a volunteer celebration!

In the wilderness between milestones (still well over 3 years to my next one) chasing random challenges (hello Wilson Index) is a fun way to occupy the time and also to help me decide where to go. I know I go on about it, but as Ellenbrook Fields didn’t come back after the pause, I do not feel I have a home parkrun. I think Panshanger is my official one, and I do love it there, but it’s not the same.

Anyway, the Herts branch of Vegan Runners UK have a fab stats person (Gary) who each week produces some stats linked to parkrun attendance in Herts- number of Herts locations visited, number of VR’s at each location and so on. I have been to all the Herts parkruns, but not in this calendar year, and so I decided that this weekend I’d head to a Herts parkrun that I’d not been to this year, to move myself up on that table. I’d been to Jersey Farm, Panshanger, Letchworth, St Albans and Aldenham, so my choice was between Leavesden, Westmill and Stevenage.

A couple of other members of my club fancied Leavesden, so it was decided!

It is a super convenient parkrun- there is parking right by the start (you can see the flag from in the car), there is a little cafe and toilets by the start, it’s not too far a journey and not too difficult to find. It doesn’t seem to get huge numbers, but I think that’s a good thing as it’s a 3 lap course with one section where you have to keep to one side as runners come in the opposite direction (almost like a figure of 8 with the middle section where people meet). For us this was fine but if it was busy then it would be harder to pass- we had 99 participants that week.

I ran with Fiona and we had a lovely time chatting about all running and parkrun (and how much we missed Ellenbrook). It was sunny as I left home, but as we drove it had started to rain, and it drizzled on and off during parkrun. Nothing too bad but not really the weather we expect in June! The shade of the trees was still appreciated more as shelter from the rain.

Of course once finished we had to get a few photos. Gary (of VR stats fame) was also there so we got a picture for the VR club, plus of course we needed one of our little touring group too. Gary was also with a guy who used to run at Ellenbrook, so the day felt very themed towards that- lots of our club got into parkrun tourism after the pause because they didn’t have a parkrun home any more.

The cafe at Leavesden is really nice but we all had to head home so just went back to the car after taking the photos and scanning.

When the VR stats came through my name was on several of the categories-

Finished Top 20 for Gender: 13th at Leavesden Country parkrun – Maria W, Fastest Female Times: (I was number 3)- 00:29:57 Maria W Leavesden Country parkrun, Most Herts Finishes -11 (along with several others- the top person has 24 this year), Most Herts locations visited in 2024- I am on 6 which is now joint top of the table! I think this is the one I am most likely to do well at as I could potentially visit them all (although maybe would choose not to revisit a couple…). So it was worth me visiting there just to see my name in lights!

On Sunday I was off to Norton Common junior parkrun (Letchworth), as Branka was celebrating her v250! What a fantastic achievement! It was also their first birthday (which is why we had party hats on). The park is so pretty! I’d been for a little wander around as I sometimes park there when going to Letchworth, but the junior parkrun route is so lovely with all the tall trees. It has a wilder feel than the more manicured parks that other junior parkruns are in. Anyway, I was barcode scanning which was good as I was then at the start/finish area for the event.

Congratulations! Very much looking forward to seeing the green shirt in real life!

It was even more of a celebration as another RD was also celebrating his v250! All the things! Finally the High Sheriff has been making her way around all the Herts parkruns, and she was visiting. I think this is the third time I’ve seen her now- she was at St Albans, Letchworth and now Norton Common juniors.

Of course, if I am in Letchworth I am going to head to Vutie Beets for breakfast after. I opted for a crookie this time (croissant + cookie) and tea, and then bought some buns to take home and share with Andy later. Because the weather was so good (at long last) we had a long walk in Panshanger in the afternoon before watching the football in the evening.

Panshanger park/ breakfast/ on my walk/ the birthday decorations at NC.

How do you choose which parkrun to visit? I know I am in a great situation with so many within a short distance. I am still going for my single-ton at Panshanger so that is still on the cards for when I have a busy weekend too.

Dietenbach parkrun, finally a German flag!

Back in 2018 we had a December trip to Berlin, and as we were flying there on a Friday night, I’d planned to go to a parkrun on the Saturday morning. However, once we had checked in and dropped off our bag, our flight was cancelled (and you would not believe how many hours it takes to get back a bag that only 5 minutes ago was in your hand…)- anyway, the next flight was not until the Sunday, so although this meant I got to go to Ellenbrook Fields parkrun on the Saturday, it meant I had not managed a new parkrun country.

Fast forward to 2024 and the German flag was going to be mine! We were heading to Europa-Park, a theme park in Germany, and happily there was a parkrun about a 25 minute drive away.

A few pictures from Europa-Park

We had a good few days in the park, plus one day where we hopped back into France to visit Colmar. We’ve been there before for the Christmas markets, so it was wonderful to visit in the summer. There are loads of good markets in that region- Strasbourg, Mulhouse as well as Colmar (and all reachable by train which is what we did each time), and then Saturday morning came around.

Beautiful Colmar and a pretzel

Andy had agreed to drive which I was very relieved about. We had driven our car and the roads were all fairly empty, but I am just so bad at interpreting the satnav if I am driving somewhere new. As we drove I kept looking at the maps thinking that if I had been driving, I would have taken that section of the exit- I would have gone wrong twice and one of those would have been driving back up the motorway in the wrong direction. He drove because we had to check out and then were driving to Disneyland Paris on the way home, so it made sense to go from parkrun rather than wait for me to get back and then leave.

The parkrun sign to direct you from the car park, the briefing and more of the signs.

The directions on the website were excellent- the car park was pretty empty as I think lots of people walk or cycle from the town centre (Freiberg), and there were instructions to leave the car park in the direction of the park (rather than walk towards the road), walk right and then next left, but as soon as I left the car park I could see the parkrun sign, and some little signs with arrows showing which way to go. As I took a photo of the purple pop up someone offered to take my photo. She commented on all the green, and I thought she meant all the greenery behind me, but she meant my top and hat!

Purple pop up photo and the foreign parkrun signs never get old! I love trying to guess which one means finish, which one means start etc.

I wasn’t there really early, probably around 8:40, but at that point there were only volunteers setting up the finish funnel. One volunteer came over to me straight away and began talking to me in English, saying he knew I was a visitor because of my 250 shirt! He talked me through the course, pointing out the part where we share a cycle lane so to watch out for bikes, and showing where the one marshal would be on the two lap course. He asked about how many people my local parkrun had, and when I said a couple of hundred he was almost apologetic that they didn’t have so many, and said that the weather would keep some of the sunny day runners away (the fair weather runners or the sugar people of Bushy Park…)- I said that some in the UK were much smaller but that I liked visiting them all. The RD then spoke to me, asking if I could give him some feedback after as they like to welcome visitors, and then checked if I was OK if they did the main briefing in German (which of course I was!). I always feel a bit sad that I can’t speak German. My paternal grandmother was Austrian (but she died before I was born) so my dad speaks pretty good German, but in school we learned French, and then we moved house mid year and the school I joined had German lessons, but as I’d missed the first half year I just never got the hang of it. I feel like I know a few nouns (Kartoffeln), but even words like ‘thanks’ I have to think consciously of because I automatically go to French when abroad.

Anyway, the run briefing was very baffling, even though I know what they will say, the only part I worked out was when they thanked the volunteers as the RD read out the names of every one. He also mentioned “UK” and pointed to me. Before the briefing a few more tourists had turned up, and another volunteer had shown them the course map and then shown everyone their visitors book. I recognised one of the people as Jürgen Krauss from Bake Off. At the briefing once they mentioned I was from the UK, he walked over to me and asked whereabouts, so we began chatting. I asked him and he said he goes to one in Brighton, and as I’ve done all 5 there, we could chat a bit about them. I was so sure it was him, but by that point it felt too late to actually say anything, plus if you know me at all you know I feel super awkward around anyone remotely famous (and even get starstruck meeting Disney characters) so I just kept the chat to parkrun. He ran with me for a bit but thankfully soon sped off. I felt like I was struggling a bit- I’d not run all week as I’d had a cold, and although my cold had cleared up my legs felt so heavy. (Look below to see my spectacular positive split with each mile being slower than the previous one!) But this wasn’t about a time, it was about enjoying the run which I certainly did.

The route was fab- two flat laps of a really varied park. You took in some open grassland, ran around a lake and then had an out and back section under trees and amongst long grass.

The well-signed course (and Jurgen heading off in the distance), and me being very happy to be running after a week off!

The parkrun route was very well signposted, with lots of arrows and cones marking off corners. They seem to have a spread of participants, not just loads of speedy runners, with a few people walking as well. It wasn’t busy, with 48 finishers on that day (and around double that the week later when I checked), but I could always see people up ahead, and on the out and back part I could see people behind me too.

After I finished a few of the volunteers asked me how I had enjoyed it, and then I ended up chatting to another tourist from the UK who had been in France but had persuaded her husband to detour over the border to take in a parkrun- sounds familiar! I made sure I signed the visitors book and then briefly spoke to the RD before heading back to the car because we had to hit the road! I’d packed a jumper to wear straight away, and made a tea to have in the car, and then later on we stopped at services and I changed properly. We didn’t get to our hotel at Disney until the afternoon so I didn’t have a shower until then- that’s the longest I’ve been parkrun fresh for!

Tea for the journey, finish area, finish token and change of clothes.

You don’t get a text result with an overseas parkrun, and the email didn’t come through until around 7:30pm, so I was a little relieved when it came through and I could finally claim my German flag! But of course it isn’t just about ticking off a country, it was a really enjoyable place to visit and the team were so friendly, I’m so glad I got to go there.

The gorgeous drawing on the cover of their guest book, my new flag and my message- It was raining so I was trying to write quickly so I could put the book back in the box!

And the updated Vonoroi map! I love looking at this so much.

So, that was parkrun country number 8 for me. I’ve sort of got them in pairs- UK and Ireland, USA and Canada, Denmark and Norway, and now Netherlands and Germany. My next parkrun country is going to be even more challenging with the language barrier than Germany was, so we shall wait and see if I end up getting there.

Do you like visiting different countries for parkrun?

PS a few Disney pics! One by the castle, the castle rainbow coloured at night, the main mice and then the vegan burrito which was the best dinner after no lunch as we were travelling all day.

A birthday Brighton weekend

If you have read this blog for a while, then you will know I love Brighton. Honestly, a weekend there is just fantastic and one of my favourite ways to spend a weekend. There are lots of parkruns to choose from, you can walk by the sea, there are fun little shops to explore in the lanes and of course amazing vegan food options.

My birthday is around the May Bank holiday weekend, so we often go away for the long weekend as a birthday treat (last year we went to Bakewell for the weekend), and this year we headed to Brighton. Andy had got the train down earlier in the afternoon so he could check in to our hotel (as it had a time limit for checking in), and I got the train after work and we met up for dinner, then had a sunset walk by the sea.

The run to parkrun by the sea/ the 5K app showing me my options

Of course Saturday morning was time for parkrun. We were staying in Kemp town, so I think I was actually half way between East Brighton and Hove Prom. Before this weekend, I’d been to Hove Prom 10 times, Preston Park 8 times, Brighton and Hove once, Bevendean Down once and East Brighton once. You can see my favourites (but they are also the easiest from the city centre as both are a jog/walk from most hotels). We planned to meet for breakfast after, and this was closer to Hove Prom, so the decision was made. It is probably my favourite of all the Brighton ones.

Photos with the selfie frame (lesser spotted selfie frames now… and of course the purple pop up- the beach huts in Hove make a great backdrop to photos too as they are so colourful.

It was the most beautiful morning, with blue skies and the sun glinting off the sea. It was also Star Wars Day (May the 4th) and I was very impressed to see a few people in outfits. Some people actually ran in full length costumes and masks which would have been tough in the heat. I admire their dedication. I have a Grogu Christmas jumper but there was no way I was running in that, I would have been overheating in no time.

Hove Prom is out and back twice, but you start in the middle, which sounds complicated, but basically you run out towards Hove, back along the front passing the start line, up to the Peace statue, then back along towards the start/finish line, and then repeat. It is very inclusive with a separate start for VI runners and wheelchair participants, it’s flat, well marshalled and really friendly. This time as well as people in Star Wars outfits there were a few hen dos – there were 762 runners in total which seems mad! I first went there in 2015 and there were 108 runners! They had pacers so I tried to keep up with the 29 minute pacer. I think if it had been less busy then the 28 minute pacer could have been an option but it takes a while for the crowd to thin out enough to get into your own pace. The pacer was great, turning around and cheering on the group frequently, and I was very happy with 28:38 as my time. I do really think they need a double funnel though- the funnel loops back and forth around 4 times I think and there were people trying to duck out, people milling about and not closing the gaps- the poor funnel managers were having a terrible time. It wasn’t as bad as Clapham Common but it does seem to be really exploding in size- the course can cope with big numbers but the funnel really can’t. I got there just as the funnel was filling, but a bit behind me people were stopping before the finish line as there wasn’t space in the funnel.

The most delicious pancakes from Nowhere Man (my new favourite Brighton breakfast spot), the funnel going on and on, up and down, finish token and another beach hut photo.

Andy messaged as I was in the funnel to say he had ordered breakfast so I couldn’t hang about for long- time to get scanned, get my top and head back into town. Those pancakes are delicious- Nowhere Man do vegan pancakes and also non-vegan ones. These were dark chocolate raspberry ones. They also serve Bird and Blend tea which of course makes me happy.

Children’s day parade, iced matcha and tea at breakfast

On the way back to the hotel after breakfast we stumbled across a children’s day parade- all the schools had decorated floats and were parading them down the main street. We watched for ages- they were all so brilliant. After finally having a shower and getting changed we then had our standard Brighton Saturday afternoon- a walk to Hove, a drink from Bird and Blend, a wander around the shops in the lanes, and a delicious Purezza dinner.

Sunset views, more tea and the talk at the Brighton festival

On Sunday we had tickets for a talk by Caroline Lucas, about her new book, as part of the Brighton Festival. It was a bit rainy that day but had stopped raining once we came out of the talk. We saw some more beautiful sunset views on our evening walk. Then on Monday I went for a run in the rain, picked up breakfast (The Flour Pot bakery do amazing vegan croissants too) and then headed to the train station via Bird and Blend for a final matcha. That was less fun as lots of trains were cancelled due to a reported landslip, but thankfully we got home, albeit rather later than planned.

A rainy morning run, and the matcha wall of dreams!

So, another pretty perfect weekend in Brighton.

Where do you like to head for a weekend away? Which parkruns do you like to revisit?