Tag: parkrun tourism

We were staying in Buxton as we were seeing Pulp in Manchester on the Friday night, and Buxton was a good location to stay vs the city centre. After a late night I was very happy that parkrun started so close to where I was staying.

The day before I’d had a run down there to check I knew where it started- but it’s very simple as the gardens are very close to the main town centre. When I arrived (at around 8:30) the team had set up the course and start/finish area. They were holding a “Dolly Day” to commemorate Dolly Parton, so music was playing from the loudspeaker (the RD said that 9-5 could have been a parkrun tribute because it started at 9 and if you were still running at 5 something had gone wrong- I liked to think we started at 9 and ran a 5k). Rather than a tarpaulin of trust, they had large wheelie bins (bins of belongings?) and they mentioned that if you left jackets in them, they’d be wheeled over to the finish area. This seemed a great idea in the rain as then the lids could be closed to keep everything inside them dry.

Pre-run pop up photo/ my token and their new sign

The first timers welcome was huge, and looking at the results they had 120 people visiting for the first time. I suppose with it being in such a touristy area this isn’t a surprise, but the community feel of the parkrun was still very evident. They were very proud of their new signs (scan over the bridge), thanked the council for sweeping up all the goose poop (that got a big cheer) and mentioned a few of the cafes in the town. They also warned us of the bridges, saying that you need to slow down unless you’d practised them (I had found this out on the previous day) as they were going through lots of plasters. The bridges had long narrow slats and it seemed easy to get your feet stuck in them- I found if I ran with my feet at an angle so they went over two slats at once this seemed easier but I did have to slow down.

They asked everyone to seed themselves as the start was quite narrow, and this worked well as very soon the people thinned out enough, even with it being a lapped course it wasn’t too busy when I was being overtaken. There were quite a few buggy runners, but dogs weren’t allowed so I think that helped with easing congestion.

It’s a three lap course and on the strava trace it doesn’t look that complicated, but the park is criss-crossed with paths, bridges and paths under the bridges, so I would have a hard time following it for a freedom run. The team had coned off any paths that you were not meant to take and there were plenty of arrows out as well as a few marshals so no chance of getting lost while parkrun was going ahead.

It’s a very pretty park- a classic Victorian landscaped park but with so many features- a boating lake, bandstand, Roman soldier statue, play parks and even a miniature railway. Lots to see. There seemed to be lots of people out who were just watching and cheering (possibly tourists bringing their families along). The marshals were so enthusiastic and the RD was standing by the finish area giving everyone a countdown each time you passed (“two more beautiful laps left, you might make it back before the rain”).

Seeding signs for the start/ views on the way around

The course is fairly flat (considering how hilly Buxton itself is) but I was happy to run gently- as well as having a late night (as we had to queue for a bus to get back to where our car was parked, and then drive around 50 mins back) the fire alarm had gone off in our hotel at 2am and 4am so I hadn’t slept particularly well.

More mid-parkrun views

The rain started in my third lap, thankfully not too hard at that point as I still had to run back to the hotel.

After finishing and getting a token, the funnel continued over the bridge and ended right by the scanners, so this seemed to work very well. I didn’t hang about, heading into town to pick us up some breakfast and then walking back up the hill to the hotel in the rain.

A very enjoyable if brief visit here, for my 466th parkrun and 166th location.

Satisfyingly this joins to Monsal Trail parkrun in Bakewell, so I now have a little cluster of two in the Peak District!

And to give you a better idea of the park, a few photos from the park on my previous run there as it was sunnier:

I also loved that the sign had both 5k parkrun and junior parkruns marked on there, with the routes marked out as well as QR codes to scan to find out more.

Up next? Hopefully some tourism with the three peas!

Our hotel in Nagoya was about 2.5km away from the parkrun (as the crow flies), however due to the gridded streets it would have been further (and longer due to the fact that no-one jaywalks so you have to stop at every intersection) and the heat (high 30’s) and mad humidity meant I decided to walk a bit of a way to the train station, and then get the train a few stops to the park. The line I needed ran clockwise and anti-clockwise so again it was very simple to check on the platform that I was going the right way as the signs showed clearly which stations would be next.

Getting the train part of the way turned out to be a very good decision- the humidity was so crazy that by the time I arrived at parkrun I already had rivers of sweat pouring down my legs, and the walk to the station took even longer than anticipated due to all the road crossings.

The station (Meijo Park train station) was right by the park, and the instructions said to use exit 2 (train stations in Japan have many many exits so you need to pay attention to the exit number)- however once crossing the road I passed exit 8 which was closer? I always have a bit of anxiety around whether a parkrun is actually on or not, especially when teams don’t use the volunteer roster or are not that active on social media, but the team had posted on facebook a day before to say they would be on, so all I had to do was locate it. There were lots of runners meeting up but this didn’t match the pin in google maps, so I followed that and saw the actual parkrun flags- hooray!

The parkrun sign and all the cut outs of the milestones (I love that they already have the 1000 ones ready)/ a picture by the flag/ the run brief

As soon as I arrived, I was spoken to by an English person who was living in Nagoya for a few months- she was part of the volunteer team and so explained the course to me. The course was a simple one- 4 laps of the park- and there was plenty of shade around too. When I commented on the heat and humidity she explained that because Nagoya is surrounded by mountains it is notorious for being hotter and more humid than other places in Japan. This parkrun cancels for all of August as it is too hot, and I can see why. A new runner approached her, explaining that he was from South Korea and wanted to know if he could run, so she tried to help him register there and then.

I had brought water + electrolytes with me, so had some before we started before leaving my bag on the little wall that everyone seemed to be using.

There was a first timers welcome in Japanese, and at this point a Japanese man came to speak to me and ask me where I was from. When I said England, he said to me that it was where parkrun originated, and he would love to go there. He offered to take my photo by the flags, which was very kind of him. Later on a different person spoke to me, and we had almost the same conversation where they commented that England was where parkrun started. It was nice to have these brief chats and to hear that people are positive about parkrun and would like to tour.

The main briefing was in Japanese, and the noise of the crickets/ cicadas were so loud that I could barely hear the RD, and then we were off.

The route was shady and fairly flat so that was good. I had thought (incorrectly) that I’d be able to see Nagoya Castle from the route, but there was still lots to see. There is a huge arena in the park, decorated with flags on thick bamboo poles, and this was because there was sumo wrestling going on there at the moment (the next day when we were leaving we saw lots of sumo wrestlers at the train station). There were lovely lakes/ponds with little bridges going over them, and lots of trees and plants to look at. There were also so many other runners out, not taking part in parkrun, so I did have to concentrate a bit. There were a few people with milestone shirts, so I kept them in sight for the first lap, and then I knew where I was going (past the arena, to the perimeter of the park, past the pond, alongside the moat and back to the start/finish area). On my first time of passing the finish area the volunteers were cheering and taking photos of us, and then the next time they were getting ready for the first runners, still cheering us as well as getting themselves ready in the funnel. Each time I passed I had some encouragement from the volunteers and this is definitely a plus point for a multi-lapped course (and the reduced risk of getting lost).

A few mid-run photos

It was so hot, but at least there was shade. I was concentrating on the laps which meant I didn’t think so much about how hot I was. It didn’t feel like long before I was heading into the finish funnel after completing my 4th lap.

Mid run photo/ a photo taken by the team as I went past the finish area/ passing the tail walker

The scanners were right there, and after scanning I quickly got my bag so I could have more of a drink. I was keen for a photo with the sign (the roll out ones as they don’t have the big pop ups)- it had been beautifully displayed on the ground along with little t-shirt cut outs for each milestone, but I couldn’t find it and didn’t know if it had been moved or packed away. I can only say a few words of Japanese, so I was not that confident asking, but I can say excuse me, and so I then pointed to a photo on my phone of the sign, which thankfully they understood!

Both directions from the finish line (towards the finish line and back to where everyone had left their bags)/ my pop up equivalent

This parkrun was very different to the other parkruns in Japan that I have been to, in that they didn’t seem to get many tourists/visitors, and it had a proper local vibe. (For example all the other ones have taken first timer photos with all the first timers together) It was good to experience a more local one rather than a super touristy one. And as has been my experience wherever I have been in Japan, the people are extremely welcoming and friendly, and really willing to help with whatever is needed. One of the volunteers took photos while I held the sign, and then I chatted a little more to one of the Japanese people who I had talked with at the start. He even thanked me for coming to Japan.

It briefly began to rain here, but it was such light rain it wasn’t doing much, and it was so hot and humid that it was a relief to not be in the baking sun. I walked around to look at the castle (and popped into the toilets to change- PSA is that the toilets I went into were footplate only, however I’ve been in others where there is a mixture, and the train station ones tend to be ones with seats).

A selfie by the castle/ the castle

It is a really beautiful castle with the pale green roof and gold details, and I could hear some sort of announcement happening (this must have been 9am) but I couldn’t see the entrance- we had looked before and thought it was closed for renovations while we were there. Anyway, then it was time to head back, via Starbucks for a cold drink and to get us some breakfast. The train and then walk back were fairly simple- I was glad I had noticed the big ferris wheel near the station on the way in, as when I came out of the station it was a different exit a few roads over so it took me a bit of time to orient myself and work out where I needed to go.

Voronoi update:

This parkrun covered most of Nagoya- there are others on the outskirts including one that is very mountainous, so had we been here in August there would have been options still.

That was my 460th parkrun, my 5th in Japan and my 162nd parkrun location, and even with running at Clermont in Florida in August, Meijo Koen was the most humid parkrun I’ve ever done!

Up next? Back in the UK for some local events and a bit more touring- maybe a few more Lon-Done events while the early mornings don’t seem so bad!