Category: Travelling Tales

As mentioned previously, we had a weekend in London and so of course I had a look to see if I could visit a new parkrun. I’ve been to some of the most central ones, and not knowing the underground map it took a bit of time looking at course pages to see one that I could get to via the tube. I settled on Clapham Common as I could get to it from the Northern Line to Clapham Common station (although afterwards someone let me know that Clapham South was nearer the start/finish area and on the same line). After briefly going the wrong way to the tube (Borough station is not that near to Borough market it seems) I got there with plenty of time to spare, and was happy when I came out of the station and saw the Caution Runners signs very quickly. However the actual start area was nearly a mile from the station, right on the other side of the park. There were loads of runners heading in that general direction, but I was glad I’d left plenty of time as I got there just in time for the new runners welcome. This was delivered in a very entertaining way, with an interactive element- the volunteer would say “we have two laps. How many laps?” and we would all have to say “two” etc.

They asked people to line up in order of finish times, although there were not actual signs (Preston Park in Brighton have signs out in the start area which is very helpful), but then when the RD spoke I could not hear them at all- there was so much chatting and despite several runners shouting “quiet” people were just not paying attention. In the new runners welcome they had warned us of roots and low hanging branches, so I was glad I’d listened as I could not hear the main briefing at all.

The course is two laps of the perimeter of the park- very flat but as it was so busy (and with tree roots) not one to aim for a fast time I don’t think. I was there to enjoy the experience, but I think if I was aiming for a faster time I would have been quite stressed as it didn’t even thin out on my second lap. At times it felt like runners were making up their own routes across the park- there would be 4 or 5 paths being created by runners rather than everyone following one path, and I had no idea if I was on the correct one or not! You can sort of see this in the photo above- there are runners to the far left of where I was running, and two other paths on the right of me, as well as the one I was on at that point.

I didn’t get lapped but I did hear the first finisher head in just as I started my second lap. As I got to the finish line, the funnel was full and backing out onto the course (again, I don’t mind this but if you were aiming for a certain time it could be a bit frustrating). I was very surprised that they didn’t have a double funnel, as other events with similar amounts of participants do. On the week I was there, they had just under a thousand people taking part (and if you added in the nearly 50 volunteers, it would have been over a thousand). The funnel was out, back and out again. The guy in front of me tried to let me go in front of him, as it turned out he was with the guy behind me. I just said something about keeping in order, but then as they chatted I realised that it was their first one, so I explained how the barcodes and tokens worked. They then could see why I needed to keep in order. We had a nice chat about the various London parkruns that they could head to in the ten minutes ish that we were in the funnel for!

I did like their token sorting buckets, clearly labelled for each lot of 100 tokens.

Zig zag finish funnel, token sorting and of course the purple sign picture.

I couldn’t hang around after as I needed to get back for the hotel breakfast. We then had a busy day in London, walking all the way to Camden (8 miles), having a late lunch/early dinner at Purezza and going to see the moon exhibition in Southwark Cathedral.

The cup again makes an appearance at Bird and Blend- one day a pumpkin spiced latte and one day an Earl Grey Creme latte (basically a London Fog).

(Not the best vegan options in the hotel so when we saw that Buns from Home did a vegan cinnamon bun I got one to supplement my fruit and yoghurt).

Seeing the moon, and total step count from Saturday!

This summer we were off to Florida with Andy’s family- there were ten of us in total (including 3 kids) and it was a fantastic, but very different holiday to usual. We were away for several Saturdays, but only had a car for a couple of them. Andy had agreed to drive me to the parkrun once, and so I got to return to Clermont Waterfront parkrun (as I had been there last summer too).

Their facebook page said they would be on the alternative course for that Saturday, but it started in the same place, Lake Hiawatha Preserve which is to the west of Lake Minneola. They start at 7:30am (sensible due to the heat and humidity) and it was around a 45 minute drive away, so we were in the car at 6:30. The main course is an out and back along the waterfront by the lake, on fantastic foot and cycle paths. As we drove alongside there at around 7:10, there were loads of runners out. I had an absolute panic that I had missed the start, worried that they had changed to 7am rather than 7:30, and worried that we had got up early and driven all that way for nothing. Andy noticed that they had bibs on, as I frantically googled the course to confirm the 7:30am start time. It turned out that I did not need to panic, because there was a triathlon taking place on their normal route (hence the alternative course) and so all the runners we could see were doing the triathlon. Panic over. I had time once we had parked to run over to the toilet block, before heading to the start area. They even had helpful signs at the normal start/finish place, directing you over the road, back through the car park and to the alternative start/finish area. (You could see this from the car park, but it was very helpful nonetheless).

Views of the waterfront at sunrise, the park map and the helpful sign showing parkrunners where to go.

The alternative course was two (and a little bit) laps under trees and on trails. You had to watch out for tree roots as they were plentiful, but the route was fairly flat and the paths were packed firmly so it was a nice surface to run on. The shade was very much appreciated- Orlando was having it’s hottest week since records began, being in the low thirties as soon as the sun was up and with the crazy high humidity it was pretty tough to be outside.

Before running, after the panic! And the walk to the lake.

They only had two marshals out on the course- both near the start/finish area making sure people didn’t trip on the edges of the paths. The rest of the course was marked with little flags (the small flags on little wires that are often used on building sites), and it was fairly busy with 143 runners that day. It’s well established (and had celebrated it’s 10th birthday a few weeks prior to my visit), so I thought I could keep the person ahead in sight and be OK. The first lap went fine, and then partway through the second route I realised that I hadn’t seen any of the little flags for a while. The person up ahead had pulled away from me and was not in my view, so I stopped and started to retrace my steps. Two people who were behind me (using my tactic of following the person in front) asked me what I was doing, so I explained that I’d not seen the flags and thought I’d gone wrong. They retraced their steps with me, but another runner ran past in our original direction, indicating that we were on the right track. We then followed him for a bit, before deciding to go back to the last place we’d seen the flags. Thankfully it wasn’t far before I could see runners looping around, but in looking at my Strava after, had I continued I am not sure I would have rejoined the route.

With the flag at the start area, and all the flags in the finish funnel and my token.

As I was coming towards the finish, another runner asked me where to go- she was a bit confused by them telling us to pass the finish line 3 times (as it was two full loops and a bit, and you started a bit further back from the finish, passing it after a few minutes- see the map below). I explained to her to run to the marshal, follow the path around and then go through the finish, and she then put on an amazing sprint to speed ahead of me at the finish funnel! Looking on the results it was her first ever parkrun so I hope she enjoyed it and returns. As I ran through the finish funnel, the lady giving out the tokens asked me where Ellenbrook Fields was (I was wearing my EF vest) and I said Hertfordshire. “Ooh, posh” she replied in a Yorkshire accent, and I realised that I’d spoken to her last year too! I mentioned it to her and she laughed (last year she had asked me and I’d said near London, which usually seems to be enough info for Americans, but she was an ex pat and wanted more info). A bit of a coincidence but also lovely to see that it is a proper community and not just full of tourists.

Even with the getting lost, I somehow managed a course pb of 32:47 (vs 33:58 in 2022). I think the shade really helped! Also, this was a couple of weeks into our holiday and I’d been running regularly around the hotel grounds, so was a bit more acclimatised to running in the humidity, as opposed to last year where it was our first Saturday and I’d not run at all there.

My full up wrist with Garmin, parkrun barcode and Magic Band (needed to unlock the hotel room), flags at the finish funnel and a sweaty face after running!

After finishing, I took a few photos and then walked back to the car to find Andy. I cannot convey how sweaty I got running in that humidity- even my legs were pouring with sweat! Thankfully we had brought a towel for me to sit on (last year I sat on my buff in the car on the way back which didn’t do much!). We always pack little rehydration tabs to take with us to Florida, and I’d added one to some water to take with me, so as Andy drove back I drank it up and gradually cooled down.

Another enjoyable parkrun morning, and with the early start it meant being back super early for a shower and breakfast.

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?