Category: Travelling Tales

Great Denham parkrun- completing Stay in Beds

If you have the 5k app (the purple one) then as well as keeping track of things like the alphabet challenge, you can also create your own challenges. A few members of my running club had started tracking the Bedfordshire parkruns, after completing all the parkruns in Herts, so I added it to my list of challenges. At that point I only had a couple left, Bedford and Great Denham, and visited Bedford last summer.

This April was finally the time for me to head there, as Dad fancied doing some tourism too. In fact my brother even joined us which was lovely, as he often plays football on Saturdays so then doesn’t do parkrun as much as he used to.

I was a little worried about the parking situation, as there is a car park right next to the start, but they ask parkrunners not to use it, as it is used for things like kids football matches, and instead they ask you to use a park and ride car park 1km away. We left a little later than I would have liked, but the traffic going up there was fine, and in fact the walk from the park and ride to the park didn’t take long at all (it was 0.6 miles according to Strava) so definitely a good option. We were a bit late for the first timers welcome, but at the main briefing they mentioned they are trying to get a junior parkrun agreed, but it wouldn’t be if the residents were upset with the parking arrangements, so it is important to adhere to their requests. (If you go to the parkrun page and look at the course map, you can expand the map and it opens google maps, you can then click on the green start pin and navigate towards it)

The course itself is two laps of the park, it’s very flat and all on paths. It was a beautiful day with blue skies, although there was quite a strong wind, which of course you never feel when it’s behind you, but as soon as you turn and run into it, it’s there!

Scenes of the route plus the pop up at the start.

I really enjoyed the route- the park was quite varied with grassland, a few wooded areas, some ponds, and at times you ran past a row of trees and could glimpse the river through them.

I ran with Dad and as usually chat and don’t look at watches while we run (he doesn’t have a GPS watch or anything, and I just press start and stop and that’s it) but he commented that we were going pretty quickly. I think he said more than me in the second lap. I don’t look at splits much but when cropping the route map it was pleasing to see a royal flush negative split (each mile quicker than the previous one), particularly as I felt I really slowed in the final section as we ran into the wind towards the finish line. My time was 28:23 so a fair bit quicker than I have been running recently.

The finish funnel bunting, obligatory token photo and purple pop up picture.

On that note, I loved their finish funnel! It reminded me of Clermont Waterfront, which has flags from around the world decorating their funnel. This one had bunting made from old high viz jackets- it looked so pretty fluttering in the wind.

Photos of my brother with me, and then Dad joined us. I was glad of my sunglasses as my eyes would not have been open for any of the pictures otherwise!

Time for some photos before we walked back to the car and drove home, as Mum was at home ready to cook us some breakfast.

New and old Vonoroi map! Before- that green triangle was Great Denham, and now it’s purple because I’ve been there.

The 5K app also had an update where you can now select Vonoroi when you look at the map of events. This was available if you use the google chrome extension- parkrun challenges- still the original way to track challenges. However even if you have chrome on your phone, it wouldn’t work, but now you can have the fun of looking at the map on your phone instead.

So, Stay in Beds complete, and here are the dates I visited first:

Bedford- 8th July 2023

Dunstable Downs- 2nd March 2019

Great Denham- 20th April 2024

Henlow Bridge Lakes- 27th November 2021

Luton Wardown- 4th September 2021

Houghton Hall- 27th January 2018

Millennium Country- 13th April 2019

Rushmere- 22nd September 2018

(Complete until of course another one starts in Beds…)

Have you been to any of all of these events? Are you as taken as I am with the Vonoroi map? Which challenges are you working on if any?

Holyrood parkrun – what a treat!

I absolutely love going to Edinburgh and have had many happy times there, both with and without parkruns. I’ve been to both Portobello parkrun and Edinburgh parkrun before, and when Holyrood parkrun started it was on my list as I’ve been there to run and it’s just so scenic.

We drove up via York on the Thursday night, and then up to Edinburgh on the Friday. We parked the car on the outskirts of the city (booking a car park space) by a tram and train stop, and then got the train in, so we had not car for the weekend, but you don’t need it as Edinburgh is fab to explore by foot. We were there until Monday so plenty of time to spend in the city.

I’d slightly twisted my ankle the week before so had rested it and tried a few walks, but no running as I really wanted to be able to spend time sightseeing, but also I really wanted to take part in parkrun on the Saturday. My jog there from the hotel was about a mile and a half, and I ran/walked it, enjoying the scenery and listening to a podcast. My ankle felt fine so I was happy that I’d be OK to run rather than walk it (which of course is an option but just delays breakfast!).

Of course once I arrived I just could not stop taking photos. It is such a stunning location with Arthur’s Seat in the background.

The scenic start line and the purple pop up and flag

I was there ahead of the first timers welcome with plenty of time to get photos by the purple pop up, as I was meeting Andy at the breakfast place after so would not hang about too much at the finish.

I had been warned about the elevation- you basically run one lap but it’s a mile uphill, then a mile of flat, then a mile downhill, although you finish slightly uphill again so save some energy for that! The first timers welcome shared that, and mentioned how they encouraged walkers too. It felt very friendly.

Toad crossing signs, the very busy start, the beautiful yellow gorse bushes and the lake at the top

I couldn’t hear anything at the main briefing and didn’t even realise that it had started. I chatted to a local guy for a bit before he stopped to walk, and that was good as it meant I didn’t set off too fast. I’m used to courses with undulations (Panshanger and Jersey Farm are both up and down courses) but running a mile uphill is very different to short up and down sections. As it was curved you couldn’t see the next part of the course and I kept thinking that it must be the top, but no, it kept going. It was however absolutely stunning. The forecast rain had stayed away, but with the darker skies it looked even more dramatic. Once at the top the course went around a lake, so up ahead I could see all the runners reflected in the surface. Then the downhill started- I got overtaken more there than anywhere else. I’m not the best at steep downhill anyway, but with my ankle I needed to be even more careful. I just loved the views- if you looked to the left and slightly behind you could see the sea, you could see all the monuments on Calton Hill, it was all there.

I was so happy to be running again after a week off, and then the views on the downhill section

Once finished I got a few more photos before heading to breakfast.

Purple pop up pictures

There were 445 participants that day- it’s a popular one but after the first part it thinned out quickly so it can take that number of people.

You can see the elevation below- they have a chart on the FAQ section of their facebook page too- be prepared!

After the photos, I ran/walked to Loudon’s where Andy had booked us breakfast- he was walking from the hotel and met me there. They do delicious vegan pancakes so of course that is what I had.

Then we had a wonderful few days in Edinburgh. It was super windy (up to 50mph) due to a storm, so all the gardens were closed, as well as the botanical gardens, and we didn’t think a walk up Arthur’s Seat was advisable in that weather so spent more time in the centre instead, going to a museum, visiting Bird and Blend and of course enjoying all the amazing vegan food options available.

A windy walk in Edinburgh/ sunshine in the park/ pancakes at Loudon’s

It was coming up to Andy’s birthday so the Buttermint matcha was something he chose for a birthday treat.

Black Rabbit vegan cinnamon and Biscoff buns (heavenly), Bird and Blend matcha, the amazing tea chest in their store, and our purchases!

All in all, a fantastic weekend in Edinburgh. I’m so glad I got to experience Holyrood parkrun, it really is special because the scenery is so amazing. Definitely one to add to your list if it’s not already on there.

For me it was parkrun 353, course number 111, my third Scottish and my third Edinburg one!

Is Holyrood on your list?

Medina IOW parkrun- the parkrun with the most courses?

For the Easter weekend we were off to the Isle of Wight, and hooray, there is one parkrun on the Isle of Wight (Medina IOW), so guess where I’d be on the Saturday morning!

Now, Medina IOW is known for being a bit rogue as they seem to have many locations and many courses. I did email the team to check, as they are not that active on facebook, and it says to check the news page for the current location but I could not see anything referring to it on the course page. The team were very helpful at replying, telling me that the current course page was correct. It definitely was correct for the location, but see below for what I thought I was running:

And then compare it to what I actually ran:

Slightly different! I did think it was strange that there was no mention of a second lap in the first timers welcome, but then I thought I must have remembered the course wrong.

Anyway, back to Friday- parkrun preparation included eating lots of delicious vegan food in Cafe Thrive (in Southampton), having a walk around the park while Andy was at football, and then getting the ferry over on the Friday night. I know some people would do the trip in the morning but I would be quite stressed by that, plus you had to be at the ferry terminal an hour before, and it then takes an hour, so that’s an early start.

Delicious salad for lunch, hot cross bun cookies, chai latte and a magnolia in the sunshine

The Isle of Wight is pretty small, so although our hotel was on the south of the island, and the parkrun was back where the ferry docked, it was only around a 20 minute journey in the morning. Andy came with me as we had our eye on a breakfast place after, close to the parkrun start.

Finding the parkrun signs is always a bonus! The briefing area by the leisure centre, the purple pop up and a tree covered in blossom by the finish area.

It was such a beautiful spring day with beautiful blue skies. I ran through the park and was happy to find arrows and the finish area quickly, but everyone seemed to be heading up to the leisure centre, and this was where the first timers welcome and main run briefing were held before walking to the start. The main briefing was a long one, with the ED playing a song from the olympics over a tannoy to inspire everyone with their run, and then there were many thanks and milestones and other arbitrary things. By the time we had walked to the start line it was nearly 9:10 so messaged Andy to let him know we were about to start, as I thought he would wonder otherwise, (although he had no phone reception so he didn’t even get my message).

The route started with a lap of the field, before heading along the river for an out and back section, and then retracing your steps around the field again. It was pretty flat, but the section by the river had very uneven ground (which we were warned about in the briefing)- the path had been created with the hexagonal plastic grid sheeting, and filled with gravel, only most of the gravel was gone so you were running on the edges of the sheeting, and it had cracked in places so you had to look carefully at all times to check your footing. I would have preferred to have my trail shoes on as they have thicker soles so are easier on ground like this.

The out and back section was narrow and we had to keep to one side as other runners were already heading back. Once the tail walker had passed it was OK to overtake runners when needed, but it was a busy course, a bit like Maidstone where you feel like it should be fast because it’s flat, but it isn’t really because of the number of people. I did like that it had such a welcoming atmosphere and lots and lots of walkers as well as runners. As it was the Easter weekend, lots of the volunteers had various Easter hats or bunny ears on and we were even offered sweets at the finish line.

After the standard purple pop up selfie attempt, when someone usually takes pity on me and offers to take my photo, I walked back to the leisure centre to get my jacket from the tarpaulin of trust, and then walked back through the park to meet up with Andy and to get some breakfast. Although he hadn’t got my message, he realised that he hadn’t seen any runners go past for a while so had worked out it had started late.

So that was my 110th different parkrun course, and 352nd parkrun overall. It was very enjoyable and if I ever decide to work on all the parkruns in Hampshire (Champshire?) then I have one of the more difficult to get to ones ticked off.

Acai bowl, the port, pancakes and a Mermaid matcha

We went to Peach Cafe in Newport- a vegan cafe with lots of delicious options and amazing looking cakes on display. We shared an acai bowl and pancakes topped with scrambled tofu and smoked coconut (I think meant to imitate bacon), plus a matcha and some tea. I was very excited to see that they served Bird and Blend matcha- especially Mermaid matcha which has been discontinued. It was really good, but it was fairly slow service and I was sitting there staring at the pastries the whole time, so I ended up buying a chocolate hazelnut croissant to have later- maybe that’s their tactic?

Views of the coast, posing by the needles, NT tearoom and more coastal scenes

The weather was beautiful so we headed over to The Needles (along with everyone else- we sat in a queue for the car park for around 45 minutes)- we enjoyed a long walk along the coast and up to the lighthouse and were very excited to find a National Trust tearoom still open as we hadn’t had lunch. They were doing hot cross bun scones (their fruit scones are vegan and the guy checked and these ones were too) so of course we had to get those.

We stayed until the Monday so it was good to make the most of going there and seeing lots of the island, which is definitely my preferred way of parkrun touristing- I’d like to be somewhere that happens to have a parkrun, or go to a parkrun and then spend time there seeing what else is there. I think we definitely visited most of the vegan cafes on the IOW while we were there!

Does your local parkrun have different courses? St Albans is trialling a new one at the moment as the lake is so often flooded, and Panshanger has a “cow” course for when the cows are in one of the fields, but both of these start at the same place as the regular courses do.

My 350th parkrun!

I know it’s an arbitrary celebration, but I like to celebrate each 50 as it’s a long way to 500 (the next official milestone). I wanted to make it a special event, and it took a while to decide where to go. Initially I realised that Dad was away, so we would not run together, then I found out I wouldn’t have the car (Andy would be at football in Southampton), so I started looking at Cambridge parkruns as the train could have been an option (I’ve been to the parkruns that are fairly easy by train, so now it’s further afield that I have to look) but then Andy suggested going down to Southampton on the Friday. What a good plan.

I’ve been to a few around there already (Southampton, Eastleigh, Bartley Park, Netley Abbey, Itchen Valley, Winchester, Andover, Portsmouth Lakeside and Queen Elizabeth), so I had a choice between Whiteley, Fareham and Lee on the Solent. As I like Hove Prom so much, and as it had been wet weather and the risk of cancellation felt the lowest there, I opted for Lee on the Solent. It’s an out and back along the prom- there is some elevation as you run up a slope to a higher path and then back down for a bit, but it’s minimal. The parking was close by and free, and it was a fairly easy drive from where we stayed.

I got there nice and early, and had a gentle warm up along the prom, finding the purple pop up and getting a picture, and then further on finding the board for tourists to write on.

There wasn’t a new runners welcome that I saw, but as it was out and back one way, then out and back the other, maybe they don’t feel the need? It was very narrow in places (I’ve not seen a marshal with a sign warning you of rocks before) and we had to keep left for a lot of it as the front runners were heading back. At one point I realised I recognised one of the marshals as being someone from the With Me Now patreon group (and Instagram- hi Rebecca)- I managed to say hi as I ran past so that was lovely to see a friendly face.

I have to say that the whole event was really friendly- I had on my vegan runners leggings, and a couple of vegan runners chatted to me at the start, asking where I’d come from etc, and one of them bumped into me at the finish and we carried on our conversation for a bit too. I did love running by the water, but I also felt really sluggish and not great. (The benefit of hindsight as I was very sick on Saturday night and not feeling great all afternoon but I put it down to being tired) My time was 28:30 which I should be very pleased with and I was just so happy to have completed my 350th parkrun! My 250th feels like so long ago. I worked out as I tend to manage about 40 a year that my 500th will be around 3 years away still!

The finish on the beach, my token, a post parkrun purple pop up picture, and then heading back to the car.

Once finished I had to head back as the parking was only free until 10am, and I had to be back to shower and check out so we could get lunch before the football.

After my quick shower and hotel room breakfast of a porridge pot I was ready to head out! That chai latte from Cafe Thrive was really good.

I loved my visit to LOTS and I would happily go there again- it’s always good to run by the seaside and Rebecca, next time we will have a proper catch up.

Do you like to celebrate arbitrary milestones? How far away is your next parkrun milestone?

Brighton Half Marathon 2024 weekend

Brighton half is really one of my favourite races. I love any excuse to visit Brighton anyway, and the route by the sea is really pretty (although on a windy day it can of course be brutal). The crowd support is always great too- lots of people out supporting but not overwhelming.

Before (in the sunshine) and after parkrun (soaked through), pancakes and lovely Hove beach huts.

We headed down on the Friday night. After going to my running club’s Friday coffee run (I walked) I decided that I would do parkrun on the Saturday, but take it gently. Preston Park parkrun was slightly closer to the hotel, so I visited there for my 8th visit there. Although it’s not flat, it is a fast course but I started a long way back and tried to keep running steadily, finishing in 31:25. I started in bright sunshine but it tipped it down with rain on my last lap so I finished rather drenched. The sun at least came back out so I could head out for breakfast straight away (the recently discovered Nowhere Man does amazing vegan pancakes).

The rest of the day was a standard Brighton day (trying not to walk too much)- wandering down to Hove to see the beach huts and wandering around the shops, finishing with a pizza from Purezza as perfect pre-race food.

Bird and Blend visit of course, a walk to Hove, Purezza pizza

The weather had been forecast for wind and rain, so I was a bit apprehensive about that as I know I will heat up as I run, but being cold at the start is always really horrible, plus if you get wet it can be hard to warm up.

Smiling at the start, the guy with the surfboard and a few mid-race photos

Thankfully on the Sunday morning it actually started off as being sunny but cold. I was just happy that it was dry! Andy took my jacket for me at the last possible moment, and I kept my gloves with me along with a buff that I could put around my neck if needed rather than my wrist. I was really cold stood in the starting pen, and for some reason the race started late by around 10/15 minutes (something about waiting for the route to be clear)- they set off the wheelchair racers but then didn’t start any other waves for a while, and this didn’t help because I got quite cold and it took me a few miles to warm up again. I hadn’t any plans for specific times so I just wanted to run on feel, and managed to not look at my watch while I was running at all.

See below for the course- you start in the middle, head east along and up the coast, then back down to the centre, do a small loop past the pavilion and around a park, then west along the coast towards Hove, then finally east back to the centre again.

The wind was starting to pick up as we headed up the coast. The route then comes back down towards the city centre and of course you don’t feel the wind when it’s behind you (apart from blowing your hair in your face the whole time).

The section through the city was more sheltered and I enjoyed reading the signs, looking at all the charity vests and other runners. Once along the coast I could feel the wind buffeting us a bit more, already knowing that the final 3 miles heading back into the wind would be tough. At one point I was overtaken and swallowed up briefly by the 2 hour pacer group (I knew there was no way I’d manage that time but expected it to be ahead of me) and then later by a guy carrying a surfboard and wearing flip flops. Actual flip flops.

The rain still held off, and at around 10 miles the route turns back with the final 3 miles heading back along the coast, and I am not kidding when, as you turned, pretty much every runner groaned or said something about the wind. It was really strong and we were running right into it. Looking at my Strava was quite funny as all of my miles up to that point were 9:something, but that immediately dropped for the final few miles. This was head down and get it done. I also got really cold at that point- from being all sweaty from running, to being chilled by the wind was hard. I also had to stop and use the toilets- I thought I needed to go at the start but this is usually psychological and is fine when I run, but this time I still needed to go and would rather use the real toilets rather than the port-a-loos at the finish. It was also so nice to be briefly in the warm (well, sheltered from the wind), and even better, the water was warm! Just one mile to go (and a bit) after that!

It was tough running into the wind, and although I still enjoyed running by the sea, that last mile was just a get it done mile rather than an enjoyable one. I was very glad to finally reach the finish line and see a foil blanket as I was really cold by that point.

Mid run photo (smile to trick yourself into thinking it’s OK/ at the end with my coat

It’s then tricky as you have to try and get out of the finish area but the path next to it is really narrow. Andy had come to meet me (with my coat- hooray) but it probably took nearly half an hour to get out of the finish area and to the pier where he was. We had originally planned to stop for lunch but I was so cold I just wanted to get back to the hotel, so Andy went to get us some lunch (Oowee burgers and marmite waffle fries) and I went to get a mega latte from Bird and Blend on my way back. I realised that we didn’t even get a banana at the finish line- you did get a can of water (bonus for being recyclable) and a few bits in the goodie bag but the only vegan thing was a bag of energy chews so not really for after.

Medal, marmite waffle fries and mega latte (vegan version)

After lunch (and a shower) we popped out for a little walk but it hammered it down so I was even more glad that the rain had held off until after the race had ended.

The most delicious croissant for Monday breakfast, a little walk, topping up tins of tea and a movie once home.

On Monday we popped out for breakfast before heading home- it was really good not to rush back on Sunday afternoon. As always, a great weekend where we packed a lot in over the few days.