Tag: parkrun challenges

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.

The original parkrun plan for this weekend was going to March (in March)- well, I say original plan- that was meant to be earlier in the month but things happen- I think I re-did my parkrun planner about 4 times just for this month alone- however that changed when we got tickets for a gig in Nottingham (Paul Draper who was in Mansun was touring and playing Mansun hits) so we ended up going to Nottingham for the weekend.

We’d been to Nottingham a fair few times before, and I had been to Forest Rec (Feb 2017- my 16th parkrun location) and then a NYD double of Gedling and Colwick in 2019 (here I got a taxi to Gedling, ran it, then ran to Colwick which ended up being further than I thought- I never learn- arrived just in time to parkrun and then Andy picked me up after on the way home). I don’t mind repeating, but when I looked, a new and very central one had started in Nottingham a couple of weeks ago. This was just over a mile from the hotel so it was absolutely perfect for a parkrun sandwich.

The pedestrian suspension bridge by the start/ Poddington ready in the hotel/ the Notts County football ground as seen from the finish area/ the start area before the first timers welcome

The route to get there was very straightforward too, basically a straight line until I reached the river, and from there I could see the embankment path and very soon I could see the parkrun finish funnel being set up. I knew it would be busy as it was only event 3 (and 1 had 573 finishers and 2 had 896) and I could see that the finish funnel was a long one. There is a pedestrian suspension bridge to the other side of the bridge and loads of people were coming over (I think the parking is possibly on the other side of the river) and it had the feel of a place where lots of people were getting active outside (a bit like a place with a seaside prom)- loads of cyclists, people rowing, people out walking and running.

Pop up photo with Poddington

As you can see on the course map below, the start and finish were in slightly different places. The pop up was by the start, but the team were advising people to leave their things by the finish as they said they would move there, however lots of people did leave jackets etc by the start, and because there was a marshal by the start (directing people to either do the loop again or go straight on to the finish) it probably would be OK. After getting a pop up photo (there was a volunteer there who was basically offering to take your phone and do photos rather than the usual thing of asking someone in the line to do it) I went to the finish to leave my jacket and bag. I left my gloves in the bag (as usually my hands heat up quickly and I end up taking my gloves off) but I wished I hadn’t as the wind was strong and cold and my hands didn’t feel like they were working properly.

Volunteers holding up the signs to help people seed themselves/ the path by the start area and then the views of the daffodils and water as we ran

Not many people attended the first timers welcome but I was glad I did, because they had a tannoy for the main briefing but they kept having trouble with it not working (plus of course a lot of people chatting during the run brief). One thing they mentioned was that the river was used by lots of rowers, and they would have their coaches cycling along (which I’d seen when I arrived)- so we were asked to keep left on the lower path as there would be cyclists using the path and going fast to keep up with the boats. They also warned us about the steps (we were not to go on them under any circumstances)- I had no idea the steps were there (they lead from the path down to the river) so I was glad of this warning.

Anyway, the course is very simple- you start and head north-west along the embankment until you reach the turnaround point- here you head down to the lower path (which is right by the water) and go back to the start. You repeat this a second time, and then when you reach the start area again, go straight on (north-east) past the finish area before turning and heading into the finish.

It’s very flat indeed- there is a slight slope from the lower to upper path but that it is. They were trying to seed people at the start by having volunteers hold up times- I stood in the 30-35 min section but I still came across plenty of walkers ahead. However I am sure once more people become regulars here it will become a bit like Preston park in Brighton where the majority of people do keep to the seeding and it means it’s a bit easier to run as you are with people going at your pace.

I really loved this route- running by the river was fantastic and the bank between both paths was covered in daffodils, there were loads of swans and geese on the river, and it was entertaining to see the rowers go by too (and yes the cyclist still surprised some people despite the rowers being clearly visible on the water and people up ahead shouting “bike”).

They definitely did not want us running on the steps- that sign was by the turnaround point/ river views/ views of the front runners heading back on the lower path while I was still running out/ the finish funnel as seen from the lower path before I finished

There was a guy a bit ahead of me running and carrying a proper big camera (one with the big lens) who kept stopping to take photos- he would have taken some fab ones where he was crouched down taking pictures of the daffodils up close with the parkrunners in the background (you can see him below in the top left photo).

The photographer/ the runners nearly as silhouettes on the upper path/ loads of swans/ rowers on the water

This event felt to me similar to some of the bigger London events, or Hove Prom or Southampton Common, in that it felt like there is a big running scene locally combined with great outdoor facilities. The volunteers were fantastic and enthusiastic, and as it’s so central to the city I am sure it will be well-attended by tourists (plus it’s a V). As I finished the funnel was full and backing out onto the route, so the timers had moved up away from the funnel to extend. The funnel managers were doing a great job of trying to keep everyone moving and keeping in order as we got into the funnel. I finished in 535 place with a time of 30:49, 40 people finished between 30:00 and 31:00 so it was a very busy time to finish. I heard one person complaining about the congestion on the course but when there are so many hundreds of people at an event it is to be expected, and it did thin out fairly quickly.

The timers moving away from the funnel (I was just in the funnel here and took a photo behind) and one final pop up pic

It didn’t take long to get through the funnel and the scanners were just past it, so after scanning I decided to get a pop up photo at the end before putting my jacket and gloves on and heading back to the hotel to warm up.

So that was event 444 and location 152 and such an enjoyable one it was too.

Voronoi update:

Up next? Well, after having to rearrange my March planner so many times I have not got anything concrete in the works, but there will definitely be more tourism coming up, just arranged a bit closer to when they happen!