Tag: parkrun

As my birthday usually falls around the May Bank holiday weekend, we often make the most of it by heading away for the weekend. This year we headed up to Norfolk, staying near to Norwich and handily where we were on the Friday was a 15 min drive to a new (to me) parkrun- Dereham.

The No Parking sign was by the track to the start, and the car park was just beyond it and clearly signed/ pop up/ visitor board and course map/ the start area as seen from the track

The information on the website mentioned parking at the local football club, and you would need cash for a donation (which went towards the youth football team)- it was very well signposted and there were marshals on the entrance with donation buckets. From there it was a short walk along a marked track to the start.

I was there fairly early (about 8:30) and so chatted a fair bit to the volunteer doing the first timers welcome- he was asking all the new faces where we were from and wrote those on the little whiteboard. They had a sign up showing the map of the course (they had it was 1 and a half laps, although you did the half first so to me it felt like a small lap and then a larger lap) and pointed out the final mini loop of the “trim trail” before the finish.

After the main briefing we walked to the start (only a few metres away) and then we were off. I think they had more people that weekend than usual, as the guy said to me they usually had around 150 ish, but it was more like 200. The start was quite narrow and as there were lots of walkers it took a while for everyone to seed themselves but I just enjoyed taking photos of the course, especially as across the fields you could see everyone up ahead.

The “trim trail” loop at the end/ everyone ahead on the field/ bluebells

It was a really enjoyable route- I had road shoes on and they were OK but I would have been happy in trail shoes as the ground was stony and rough. The course went across fields, through little areas of woodland and along some shaded paths (where I even saw bluebells still flowering). It was lovely in the sunshine but it would be really tough in wintery and windy weather as there wasn’t much shelter on the fields.

The route below- you began by doing the loop to the left, and then once back at the start went beyond that to the loop on the right, and then finished with the loop on the left again before the teeny trim trail section at the end.

There were plenty of marshals out there as well as lots of cones and signs (one sign had a message that said “tail walker take me back with you” which I liked).

More mid-run views of the fields and shaded areas

When I finished I had to rush off really quickly, as our hotel was only serving breakfast until 10 (we thought it was 10:30 when we booked it)- I raced back to the car and my ETA was 9:58! Luckily Andy had gone in and ordered and explained I was on my way so it was OK in the end but I only just made it.

Pop up at the end/ token/ hotel breakfast

Voronoi update:

A nice big chunk filled in -one more to join up Thetford with Blickling and North Walsham!

That was parkrun 449 and location 155 for me- now I need to plan something for parkrun 450! (Which has not been planned sooner as Southampton making the play offs meant that we could have been in Southampton next weekend, but now we are not…)

Back to the weekend, after showering and checking out we headed to Cromer for a walk by the sea and then to a National Trust place for a walk around the grounds- it was such a gorgeous day.

Beach huts/ matcha (my birthday fell on matcha day!)/ sea views

We happened to be down in Brighton for the same weekend as the marathon this year, although this was not planned- it just coincided with going to a gig (Idlewild) and celebrating Andy’s birthday. Our hotel was closest to Hove Prom parkrun, but that was off due to all the fencing and vans driving around setting up the finish area (the marathon starts in Preston park and finishes on the seafront and the 10k starts on the seafront, the kids races were in Preston Park so it was happening all around).

I had an enjoyable run along the seafront on Friday morning and could see that there was no way a parkrun could have taken place there as it was really narrow in places with so many people working to construct the race village. The beach huts that are behind the pop up sign were already behind barriers (with no public entry allowed) and more and more barriers/ fencing/ infrastructure was being added all the time.

My Friday run to Hove including some of the marathon fencing being put up and some soot sprites!

I did briefly look at some other parkruns along the coast such as Shoreham or Worthing (as I got the bus out to Peacehaven on a previous trip and that was fairly easy), but our hotel was 11am check out time and from what I could see the bus journey would have been about 45 mins so I didn’t really have enough time for the journey back, so I opted for my 10th visit to Preston Park as this was the closest to me of the other parkruns.

They had warned that it would be busy because the marathon starts in the park, so the paths were also lined with fencing and lots of tents were being set up on the grass in the centre of the park too. I’d seen that Brooks would be there with the opportunity to try on trainers for the parkrun – I wear their shoes anyway but I would have been interested to try a different model, but when I looked my size was already sold out and this was probably a good thing as I did have to hurry back to the hotel after.

Handily there were signs from the station directing you to the park as that is where the marathon started/ all the fencing around the park- this part of the photo is the u-turn section of the course if you know it

It was super busy when I arrived, with so many marathon runners or supporters out to do their parkrun the day before. I got chatting to one woman from Australia who was doing her first parkrun abroad and was about to pace 4 hours for the marathon the following day, and another person who was here supporting others who were running it. It added to the atmosphere and I felt very excited for the people doing the marathon.

I had seen on social media that they were doing “the real double funnel” (rather than the original double funnel)- their post explained it clearly with a visual, but basically when you finish there were two funnels side by side, and you could either choose which one or at busy times you might be directed into a specific one. Your token would not match your actual finish position, but by the magic of some maths your time would be correct by the time the results were through. This was explained in the first timers welcome as well (carried out by Mark Brocklehurst of With Me Now fame)- it seemed simple enough and I was intregued to see how it would go.

Preston Park have always had self seeding whenever I’ve been there (signs on the path with estimated finish times)- they asked people to do that and mentioned that did not have pacers today because that caused congestion and as the course was narrower people would have to slow down.

Briefing from the balcony/ running through the “finish” arch/ running past all the fencing and the Brooks tent set up

They had also said they needed to start very promptly as there were kids races happening in the park that morning too, so it was a quick main briefing and then we were off, although it was very stop-start-walk-jog-stop etc for a fair bit- until I was past the u-turn really (which I did not mind at all- I was there for a parkrun and not any sort of time). I do find the logistics of these events really interesting so I enjoyed looking at everything being set up (didn’t enjoy the tannoy system being tested as it was very on- off and kept making me jump), plus seeing all the club tops from everywhere really reminded me of what a big event it was.

Finish token and the big screen and HERO lettering as part of the marathon set up– lots of people were having their photos taken by the letters

As I finished I chose the right hand funnel, and I was only in the funnel for the amount of time it took for me to walk through it. The last double funnel I was in I must have waited for a good 5 minutes while other funnels emptied, and often at Preston park I’ve been in the funnel for a while, but this was so speedy. My token was in the 700’s whereas I heard a person who chose the left hand side say they had two hundred and something, so definintely more people chose the same side as me. I ended up in the results as number 521, so no relation to the token I was given, but the time was pretty much the same as my Garmin time so I am impressed with it. It was a busy morning and I finished with lots of other people, so I am guessing this is fairly indicative of how it usually goes vs the traditional double funnel.

As I didn’t have too long I headed off as soon as I had scanned (via a lovely bakery as it’s right by the park) and then it was back to the hotel for a quick shower and some porridge before checking out.

It was a fab few days and of course it’s always good to fit in a parkrun while somewhere else.

No voronoi update so another photo from my run by the pier and a matcha on the beach

Hopefully on another trip to Brighton I can get to a new (to me) event. Closer to home we’ve got a parkrun in Harpenden now (Rothampsted parkrun) so I shall be heading there fairly soon, and probably a few times so I can go there when various friends (and family) want to visit it. What luxury to have a new event so close!

This week my Dad fancied some tourism, and although I have said I am happy to repeat (e.g. he’s not been to Northala Fields and I’d happily go back there) he was keen to find a new one for us all, so after looking at my list of Nendys he chose Stockley Country parkrun, which is very near to Heathrow. (Branka and I had originally planned visiting here a while back but the weather was awful and we didn’t fancy driving around the M25 that day so went somewhere else instead). My brother was able to come too which was great as he often works or plays football on Saturdays so doesn’t come to as many.

The course page is very helpful, listing the car park to use as there is a dedicated one that is only unlocked for Saturday morning for parkrunners to use (at the end of Chestnut Avenue- google maps shows it as closed as it is only unlocked by the parkrun team), as well as mentioning the nearest Tesco for the toilets (as there are no toilets in the park either). We drove and stopped at Tesco on the way, and it was about a 3 minute drive from the Tesco to the car park so easily done if you were driving there.

The name “country park” made me picture something else in my head, but this really is a patch of maintained greenery in the middle of a very built up area of London. As mentioned there are zero facilities- no toilets, no cafe, no information signs- however it was such an enjoyable one to visit.

The walk from the car park was well signposted (they had the parkrun signs up by the entrance to the car park and then an arrow showing which way to walk)- just after exiting the car park and walking through a tiny wooded area we could see the field with the pop up and collection of parkrunners. We probably parked at about 8:45 but this was fine as the start was so close.

Pop up photo and of course Poddington came too

The pop up was framed with two flags, so we got a few photos before leaving our jumpers on the tarpaulin of trust. The volunteer who did the first timers welcome was great, and then the RD came and joined in, saying he’d finish the talk and then walk us to the start line. The RD was quite humorous with his briefing, reminding us to turn right twice and left once (and then making us all chant “right twice, left once” before continuing), reminding us to get the cars out of the car park by 10:15am (unless we wanted them to be there for the week- he did mention free Heathrow airport parking!) and then quickly walked us over to where the parkrun begins.

It started a little way back from the finish area, and this is very narrow so although there were low numbers, you’d want to try to seed yourself a bit. After doing an anti-clockwise lap of the first field (which did have a wooded section in it too), you then turned right at the top and did two clockwise larger loops, and then at the final time of reaching the top you turned left to run back past the start area and into the finish. The course was very well marked with cones on all the junctions of the paths showing you where to go, and a few arrows up as well. There were a couple of marshals out there too, and the RD walked around so we got to thank him as we passed him at one point too (I think he maybe walked the first small loop but in the opposite direction of the runners as he would have to go from the start to the finish).

Map of the course– the white box to the left of the finish area was the event car park so you can see how close they are

Despite it being close to Heathrow, it felt really peaceful there. We could hear so many birds (and running with my dad meant that he could tell me which birds I was hearing) and loads of the trees were covered in blossom so it felt very much like an oasis of nature in such a built up area. There was a faint background hum of a busy road nearby, but that was easy to tune out.

I’d worn trail shoes and I think that’s what I would always choose, as although the ground was dry and the paths were stony, I prefer the thicker sole of the trail shoes on uneven ground. It wasn’t too hilly, but it wasn’t flat either and as you were running through wooded areas as well as track-type paths you did have to watch your footing. It wasn’t busy though and we didn’t get lapped (we were not sure if we would as it’s more than two laps)- there were only 90 finishers that day and that seems fairly standard looking at the recent results.

Token 57, a pop up photo after running and some blossom trees– much respect to the person who ran with a buggy as that cannot have been easy!

After finishing we chatted with the RD and a few other parkrunners (one who had travelled from Crystal Palace parkrun and was trying to go to one parkrun in each London borough) but then it started drizzling so we headed back to the car, and thankfully the journey home wasn’t slower than our journey there- about 45 minutes.

Voronoi before and after:

I’ve had this collection of 9 in the u-shape close to Heathrow for ages and ages, so it was good to finally visit one of these. Also, note the change of nendy as the new one in Harpenden started. The 8 left in that section are Bedfont Lakes, Hazelwood, Hanworth, Crane Park, Kingston, Richmond Park, Old Deer Park and Gunnersbury so still two months of touring left just for this one section!

So that was parkrun 445, location 153 and another one towards Lon-done- currently 60/85 visited

What next? Similarly to last post, no concrete plans yet but of course the new Harpenden one in due course as well as local events and touring.