Travelling Tales - Maria Runs

Bedford parkrun

Some of my club mates had been doing a “Stay in Beds” parkrun challenge- all the parkruns in Bedfordshire, so I joined in. When I looked, I only needed 2, Bedford being one of them. After we’d driven up there for the George Ezra concert and I’d seen that it wasn’t to bad of a journey, I decided to head there. The Cambridge and MK Vegan Runners were having a meet up there too, so another reason to head there.

parkrun were celebrating 75 years of the NHS, and had asked everyone to wear blue, so I wore my Ware 10k race top.

The drive up there was fine, apart from me going slightly wrong in the centre and then having a bit of a diversion, but I arrived with plenty of time, to find that the car park had free parking for 3 hours on a Saturday, you just had to get a ticket to display. I had a bit of a jog around the park first, and then got very confused as to where the start area was, as I found the finish area but could not work out for ages where it started. It turned out to be close to the car park, so when I had run past in my warm up, I hadn’t noticed it as not many people were there yet.

I saw a few of the vegan runners, so had a little chat with them. We asked someone to take our photo, and then the weirdest thing happened- after they had taken our photo with one of the VR’s phones, they got their own phone out and asked us to stand still while they took one with their phone. It’s a public place but that felt a little strange.

The RD at the start gave a wonderful little speech about the NHS, and pointed out a few of the team who were NHS workers. I saw a couple of people running in their paramedic gear which didn’t look like the most breathable fabric- kudos to them.

I loved the wildflower meadows that were part of the park. It was a varied town centre park, with a little lake (featuring cygnets), a few wooded areas, a band stand and a cafe. It tipped with rain at the end!

The route was just under 3 laps (I think they said two and a half), starting lower down in the park and finishing in the centre. It felt like a well supported event with lots of marshals on the route, and loads at the finish area (reminding us to keep right as faster runners headed left into the finish). It was pretty flat, but as you went past the lake it then went gently uphill- all fine but the third time up there I was feeling more tired.

After I’d finished, I ran back over to the lake to see if I could spot the cygnets again, as I’d seen them while running, and while I was there is started tipping it down with rain. I had seen a nice vegan cafe in the town centre, and was originally planning on going there before driving home, but I was soaked through so quickly so decided to just head home instead.

I’m there in blue with the other VR’s. Plus cakes, matcha and pistachio butter.

The vegan market was in WGC, so in the afternoon I popped in. I got myself a strawberry matcha (so good), picked up some pistachio butter (I’ve not yet opened it) and bought some cakes from Kim’s Vegan Cakes as they were half price.

102nd parkrun visited, and only one left for the Beds challenge now (Great Denham)- that will be in the autumn I think.

Do you like different parkrun challenges? Did your parkrun do anything for the NHS 75?

Lordship Recreation Ground parkrun and a vegan market visit

Lordship Rec has been on my list since it started, as it’s fairly close by in North London, and accessible by underground. I had looked into it before but rail strikes meant I went to Grovelands, and postponed this visit.

After achieving my Cowell (100 events) in Norway, this was my 101st event. I drove to Oakwood tube station (there is on street parking not far from the station) and then got the Piccadilly Line to Turnpike Lane, where it was less than a mile to walk. Now, that might sound simple, but I get lost very easily. However, Andy had pointed out to me that within Google Maps there is now a Live View within Google maps- if you press it and hold up your phone, it inserts large arrows (and writing that says “this way”) so you can easily see which way to start walking. This is an actual game changer (see below for a couple of screenshots)- so often I walk the wrong way for a bit, and it takes a while for the maps to update. It really meant the walk/run was so simple and I got there with plenty of time to spare and no stress.

I was there for event 33, along with lots of 500 clubbers- the most I’d seen in one place I think. There were only 131 participants on that day, so it’s a nice manageable size too.

The start line is in a slightly different place to where everyone meets- there is a little lake/pond, with the start line shaded on one side, and then the meeting place (with the flag) on the other side, outside the community centre. The park is quite small so I don’t think you would have trouble finding the start. I saw lots of the high viz signs as soon as I got in there, as the route goes right around the perimeter of the park.

It was a baking hot day, even stood in the shade on the start line I already felt too hot, so knew I needed to take it gently.

The route is three laps of the park, it’s pretty flat so could be very fast on a cooler day. There was little shade, and in the final lap I stopped and walked for a bit as I felt like I was really pushing myself.

The park itself is great, packed with facilities such as a skate park, pump track, splash pool, playground, community centre…. the list goes on. Before the start I was looking in the pond and a dog walker started chatting to me, pointing out the turtles, and then asking about the runners as he had seen them from his window. I did tell him about how there were always walkers and tail walkers as he said he would never run, so you never know, he might get involved.

As I finished I had to go and stand in the shade for a bit to feel OK, and then I scanned. There was a lady talking to the scanner who had not printed out her barcode, so she was about to walk away, but I asked her if she had registered, thinking there was a way for me to find her barcode on the 5k app, but when she pulled up her email and I showed her the link to click on, she got it up on her phone- phew! I am still so annoyed about my friend who came with me once (literally the week before they accepted phone barcodes)- she hadn’t printed it out and they would not scan her (well, one scanner was about to and then another one came over and told them not to)- I am sure this is one reason why she hasn’t been back. Anyway, I digress. This parkrun had such a strong community feel, the park was full of facilities and the route was all paved and pretty flat. Lots of ticks all round.

After finishing running, I headed back to the tube and then drove to Hatfield House as the vegan market was there. I was hoping to bump into some Herts VR’s, but I didn’t see any of them there. I did get the biggest iced chai, but there wasn’t really anything breakfasty, so after buying a few bits (the vegan honey was the main reason I went there as I had bought some before and ran out) I came home as by that point I was very very hungry and needed breakfast (well, lunch by that point!).

Sunday was time to marshal at junior parkrun, again in the sunshine. I was glad of the shade of the big tree as I could wait there before they started running. Once home I got to try out my newest vegan purchase on a homemade açai bowl. Perfect in the hot weather.

I was thinking about my preference for touring – driving or public transport (and this was a combination). I get anxious when driving somewhere new, so I like the trains or undergrounds as then I don’t need to stress about getting lost while driving, or getting stuck in traffic, but of course with trains you can have cancellations etc. I will count myself lucky that I have so many parkruns that are within travelling distance.

Do you have lots of parkruns near to you, or do you need to make more of a day of it if travelling? Do you prefer public transport or driving?

Norway 2023

Following on from parkrun in Oslo, we had another day there before picking up a hire car and doing a little road trip. We spent Saturday in Oslo.

We hired e-scooters for a bit (something I would not wish to repeat- they were OK when there were cycle lanes but I was not a fan of being on the roads, especially with the trams)- this was mainly so we could get to Handbakt, a bakery selling lots of vegan goodies (including school bread which I’ve not had since going vegan).

We wandered around the palace gardens, walked up the opera house (it has a sloped roof so you can walk up it), found a cool sculpture park where all the sculptures had been designed by children, and went to Nordvegan for dinner. We shared a salad bowl (you picked mains and toppings etc) and lasagne, and then carrot cake after.

On the Sunday we got the train back to the airport to collect our hire car, and then we were off on our road trip- one night in each place. We went to Voss, then stayed in a mountain lodge on the way to Fjellstove where we had a little self catering place too, then to Alesund, then a hotel on Geiranger Fjord, the Friday night in Lillehammer before driving back to Oslo on the Saturday. There was amazing scenery the entire time- we stopped the car so many times to hop out and take photos. We also had places to stop at including a wooden stave church, walks to glaciers, amazing waterfalls and even a skywalk with public toilets that had windows so you could look out across the fjord as you used the facilities!

When in towns, vegan food options were easy to find, but we had a couple of days where most places were shut due to Whitsun (late May Bank Holiday) so we ended up with a supermarket picnic one day. I got quite good at using the breakfast buffets and sorting a vegan breakfast- they all had allergens clearly marked so I could easily see if the bread was OK. Rye bread with fruity jam and lots of fresh fruit tended to be what I went for, plus cups of tea of course. I was amused by the sizes of the cups as they got smaller and smaller as the holiday went on (we even started with teapots)- seems such a waste of teabags having to brew such a small cup as I am going to brew multiple ones, whereas with a big cup I’m just using one.

The drives often went through long tunnels (up to 25km long) and some even had roundabouts in them. They also had sections of coloured lights to help keep drivers alert- such a good idea.

And yes, one place had whole avocados at the breakfast buffet so of course I made myself avo on bread for breakfast!

The overlook on the top right picture looked down onto a tiny town- it had a glass floor section and I wasn’t keen at standing on it. One couple were having wedding photos there- a very spectacular place for them. The bottom right is the view from the public toilets there- the cubicles had windows that looked down onto the fjord- amazing.

We did some walks to see some glaciers. Both so interesting, but also really worrying as they had markers to show where the glaciers were even ten years ago- climate change is having such a huge impact in places like this. A good reason to swap your dairy milk for plant based milk if I ever heard one.

This was a national park we stayed in for one night, Briksdalsbreen, and once the day trippers had headed off on their coaches back to their cruise ships, we pretty much had the place to ourselves. We walked up in the evening, as it was light so late (basically it didn’t actually get dark, so even at 11pm it was still pretty light)- in the daytime there are queues for this swing as it’s a social media moment, but there was no-one else around so of course I had a go!

In Alesund we found a gorgeous cafe (but more of a coffee bar with a proper food menu) for dinner, and lots of places had vegan brownies so I did treat myself one day. Here’s the comically tiny tea cup (I mean, the teabag barely fit in it) and also each time we had to get a ferry, the satnav would just show the route going into the water! The ferries were great- the hire car had a tag (a bit like the tag you can get for the French toll roads), so no need for tickets, the charges were just added to your bill. You just joined the queue and every 20 mins ish a ferry would turn up, you’d drive on (toilets on board were handy during longer road trip sections) and then drive off once you reached the other side.

Another tiny tea cup.

Scenes from the boat tour we did of the Geiranger fjord. It was amazing, and definitely lived up to all expectations.

Then we walked up to a waterfall at the edge of the fjord for more amazing views. I was not a fan of the big cruise ships dominating the scenery though.

On our drive back through the mountains to Lillehammer- loads more snow, snow covered lakes, just beautiful and felt like we were at the top of the world.

Olympic ring spotting in Lillehammer- a lovely walk down to the lake and around the town.

So, there was have it. A wonderful week away with just beautiful scenery at every turn.

Ekebergsletta parkrun for my Cowell!

For May half term, the two of us had a trip to Norway booked, and I had requested a parkrun on one of the Saturdays that we were there.

*Amazing sunset from the plane, soya chai for airport essentials, and the Ruter app showing me the map to get to the bus stop.*

We flew to Oslo on the Friday night, staying until Sunday, so this meant I could visit an Oslo parkrun. I had already been to Tøyen parkrun back in November of 2019, so if possible I was keen to visit a different event. There are 3 parkruns in Oslo (only 7 in the whole of Norway though), but of course cancellations happen for various reasons so I wasn’t sure it would all go ahead.

Anyway, happily it was all fine. Our hotel was only a couple of miles from the parkrun, but the route was hilly and not straightforward, and a bus went right to the start, so I opted for that. Various parkrun tourist tips (from With Me Now pod and the tourist facebook page) meant that I downloaded the transport app in advance, and even went through the motions of buying a ticket (just not clicking on the final “buy” button) so I was confident in how it would work. I’d also finally got a new phone (my old one was 5 years old and the battery sometimes lasted all day, and sometimes lasted a few hours which was very stressful when needing it for navigation, and I had been to the store to see if they could replace the battery but they said no)- this meant that I was a bit more confident at using it for the maps and so on while travelling around.

I couldn’t decide what to do about breakfast until the final moment. I much prefer running first thing without eating, and only really make exceptions for half marathons where there is plenty of time from getting up to starting running. Our hotel had breakfast included, and food is expensive in Norway (although not as bad as we had feared- basically London prices) so I didn’t want to miss it, but it was only being served until 10:30. parkrun in Norway starts at 9:30, so if I took half an hour to run it would only give me 30 mins to get back to the hotel before they stopped serving, which seemed to be cutting it fine as the transport app estimated 25 min bus journey. Previously I had walked Tøyen, but partly this was because we went for a weekend with hand luggage only so I had no room for running things as it was freezing so would have needed many layers. I was keen to run this one, particularly as it was my Cowell, but also because I didn’t run the other one in Norway.

In the end I went for breakfast at 7am, when they started, and then went to get the bus at 8:30. Andy decided to come with me (I was quite relieved about that as I was a bit nervous about missing the bus- I think he sensed my panic)- the Ruter app worked really well and even directed you via maps to the bus stop. The bus stops were clearly labelled so you were on the right side of the road, and the screens on the buses announced the stops so it was all very clear.

*parkrun start area- always exciting to see a parkrun sign in a different language*

We arrived nice and early so had a wander around the park before I went over to the parkrun start. I didn’t fancy announcing the milestone (Cowell- 100 locations), but I did chat to the RD and there were a few tourists there so we had a nice round of applause at the briefing.

The route was two flat laps of the park, and the day was just beautiful so there were lovely views in all directions. I loved it! I ran most of it just behind a parent and child with a dog, so I wasn’t on my own, but it was a fairly small field. One tourist from the UK had run up from the centre, but he’d been there a few days and had tested this out the day before to check he didn’t get lost, so it is doable.

*Finish funnel with Norway tape, mid-run photo (Andy took it while I was running), a mid run photo and my token*

After finishing we of course took some photos and then headed to the other part of the park, across the road, as this is a sculpture park. Andy persuaded me to do the “footballer” pose of pointing at the shirt.

*Showing off my 100 t-shirt to mark 100 locations*

We’d been there on our previous trip and it had been covered in thick snow, so it was strange to visit the same place but in totally different weather- glorious sunshine and blue skies. The park is close to the water, on a hill, so there were beautiful views across to all the little islands.

After wandering around the park, we were by the tram stop rather than the bus stop (I think it says it’s around a 25 min walk on the parkrun course page- the bus is definitely easier as it takes you pretty much to the start). We found some e-scooters and Andy was very keen to have a go. I was reluctant, so he hired one and I ran behind him. Apparently they were limited to 5 miles an hour, but I could not keep up with him on the downhill so they were faster than that! The 1.4 miles back to the hotel took us 14 minutes- and then it was time for a shower before heading out into Oslo again.

It’s crazy to think that in just over 300 parkruns I’ve been to 100 different locations. There have been a few where I’ve wanted to do a particular one so we’ve made a weekend of it (for example Queen Elizabeth Country Park for my Q) but generally I’ve been to them if I happen to be somewhere near to one anyway. We are lucky that there are lots fairly close by, so lots of my list have been Saturday morning trips on a train or up the M1. They’ve mainly been in the UK, but I’ve been lucky to visit parkruns in Ireland, USA, Canada, Norway, Denmark and The Netherlands. A few other plans have been cancelled over the years (I was meant to do one in Germany a few years ago but our flight was cancelled and we had to fly out on Sunday), and we had a long weekend in Finland booked but that was summer 2020 so we all know why that didn’t go ahead. There will be lots more parkrun tourism in the future anyway. For now I shall enjoy hearing my name being read out on With Me Now!

How many parkrun locations have you visited? Which one is top of your list for one you would love to visit?

Sunny Hill parkrun- location 99!

The final part of lining up my 100th event for Norway was completing my 99th event before we went away. Dad had been to Sunny Hill parkrun earlier in the year as it was close to a tennis tournament that he was on, and said it was such a gem, and loved the look of the cafe, so it was on our list.

My mum came to watch, and my brother even came to run. Dad drove there, and I have to say I was relieved as although it wasn’t a complicated journey, the entrance to the car park to me looked more like an alleyway rather than an actual road. It’s a tiny car park but we arrived at 8:30 to lots of space, with the cafe right by the car park (including toilets that were open) and the start to the parkun just past the cafe. Everything you need right there.

The view from the top of the course, the cafe, pictures by the sign, after (the three of us) and before (me- trying to quickly get a picture before the start!)

As the RD did the briefing, they explained that they had more tourists than usual due to the event number being a Fibonacci number (event 144)- I’m not doing that challenge in the app as I tend to stick to the original chrome extension ones, so it was just a coincidence but it’s happened a few times! The start and finish areas are at slightly different places (maybe 100m from each other), and so when we walked to the start I noticed the purple pop up sign and asked for a picture. The RD noticed and explained that they move it to the finish area so we could get pictures then (I don’t think they wanted the start delayed by loads of photos, which is fair enough of course).

The course was hilly, and the sunny weather of course made this perfect. It started off with a short lap, and then two larger laps, each one with a couple of hills. The second main lap didn’t feel as bad, I think because in my mind the hill in the first mini lap was part of the first main lap. At the top of the hill you had fantastic views across London- if we looked behind to the left we could see the Wembley arch.

We kept a good pace, finishing in just under 30 minutes, not bad for a hilly course, and with negative splits too. The nature of the laps meant that we saw Mum in the finish area as we went past- the front runners had just finished as we started our second main lap- very impressive. There was a group of very serious looking runners all aiming for pb’s (from Shaftesbury Barnet Harriers according to the results)- we saw them sprinting across the park as a cool down (? or more training?) once we had finished.

Once we finished of course I needed pictures by the purple pop up, and then we headed to the cafe. I had looked at the menu and couldn’t see anything vegan on the breakfast menu, but plenty at lunch, so I had messaged them and they had replied saying that a few options could easily be made vegan. I went for the avocado on toast, which came with loads of tomatoes and tahini over the top- so good.

Avocado on toast/ hills on the course/ purple pop up sign and finish token

We enjoyed a lovely breakfast- the pitta breads that came with the scrambled eggs looked amazing. Definitely a cafe to recommend. All in all another super morning, and such an enjoyable parkrun for my 99th venue!