vegan food - Maria Runs

Brockwell parkrun, Herne Hill

It was time for some more London parkrun tourism with Branka, and this one was going to fill a nice hole in our Voronoi maps. Brockwell parkrun is very close to Herne Hill station, which is on the Thameslink line, so I headed to St Albans to get on a direct train from there, meeting Branka at Herne Hill station.

You can pretty much see the park from the station, so we just had to walk into the park and locate the start, which was very simple. It was great to walk through the park so early- we could see lots of the central London skyline from the park, and on our way to the toilets saw the team wheeling their kit up to the start.

It was very windy so we had to hold the pop up while we took photos, but thankfully after what felt like a week of rain, the morning was fairly bright.

We left our bags on a bench inside a sort of shelter (it looked like an old concrete bus stop but it couldn’t have been as it was a traffic-free park), listened to the first timers welcome and then it was time to head down to the start line. They seemed to have a bit of trouble with people chatting during the run brief, even with their speaker system set up (and some people shouting “quiet!” to try to help), but we could just about hear the warnings against funnel ducking and the reminder to keep right rather than the more common left. They mentioned that they had received complaints from members of the public using the park at the same time, and so the compromise was to ensure that the parkrunners kept to the right so that some of the paths were clear for others.

After a few milestone announcements we realised that everyone was moving and the parkrun had started.

It’s pretty much a two lap course, with a little bit of extra in the first lap, and it’s undulating for sure. It is all on tarmac paths which was partly why we had chosen it (so many local runs to me are muddy and we just fancied finishing a parkrun without muddy socks). It was a really pretty park with lots to see on the way around, although I found the circular nature meant I totally lost my bearings. At one point on the first lap I noticed a lovely carved frog bench, and so on the second lap I got my phone out ready to take a photo, but I was so early I kept thinking I’d missed it.

The finish is pretty tough too, as you think all the hills are done but the short section into the finish funnel slopes uphill too. I was happy when I could stop!

The team had moved the pop up to the top of the hill (by the finish) rather than by the start line, so I got a few photos there as there was a lovely backdrop of London behind, plus some nice autumn colours and even a hint of blue sky.

We walked back to the station and popped into a bakery (there are plenty of very posh looking bakeries and cafes near the station) but nothing was labelled vegan and so I said to Branka that I’d get out the train at Kings Cross and head up to Angel to visit British Patagonia (a bakery and cafe that does the most amazing vegan pastries)- Branka decided to come too so we headed straight there. Angel also houses a Bird and Blend, so of course we popped in there on our way past. I had a matcha latte because I need some caffeine after I stop running.

We got the pastries to go, so luckily I had a cereal bar in my bag which I could have with my matcha for breakfast, and then I had pistachio pastry when I got home. Oh my goodness me they are delicious. (Top tip- they sometimes have bags of mixed pastries that are close to their sell-by date- I got one this time to pop in the freezer but they are always a good deal- the one I got had 3 or 4 pastries and was about £7).

Onto the map update:

It was very pleasing because after going to Dulwich and Peckham Rye, I had a little gap in the map, but going to Brockwell filled that one in. We didn’t get our results through until about 10:30 pm, and my placing was quite different to my token number, so I imagine the poor team had a few things to sort (even though they reminded people in the briefing not to funnel duck…).

That was parkrun 429 and location 146. Obviously with more events, Lon-DONE is one of those where the goal gets ever bigger, but this of course helped and was my 36th London event (out of 66 currently).

It does remind me that apart from getting up early (my St Albans train was about 7:15am) it can be really easy to do some London train tourism.

Up next? Well, who knows basically. I am not keen on making big plans at this time of year in case bad weather means loads of cancellations, although the peas do have a trip pencilled in for before the end of the year.

Stanborough parkrun- Queen Of Herts regained and my Dad’s Cowell!

Stanborough parkrun started around a month ago, but due to various weekends away and parkrun touring, this was the week I managed to head there.

(Dad was keen to do his 100th different event soon, and we had originally planned Wendover Woods as a venue, but he had family coming over at 11am today so could not go far, which is why we went to WW last week and Stanborough this week)

Matching 100 tops for my dad, brother and me to celebrate!

It turned out to be an excellent week to visit, as loads of OH ladies were there, either volunteering or participating, and Branka and Holly could make this weekend so we planned brunch after as a belated birthday celebration for Holly.

As we were going out for brunch after, I took a rucksack with me as I wanted a jumper for after (and I was doing a tea swap with Branka), so the 2 mile run there was a bit of a run-walk where each time the rucksack got too annoying I would stop and walk! But it was lovely weather, not as cold as I was expecting, and I arrived nice and early at around 8:30. I think Stanborough is now marginally closer to home than Panshanger is, but I feel very lucky to have two events within running distance.

OH ladies pre parkrun and the three peas after!

The queue for the pop up was pretty big- I was called over for an OH ladies photo, but the rest of us decided to wait until after where it would be a bit quieter. Dad spoke to Jacqui (the RD) about his Cowell, but his name was already on the list (thanks to lovely Nicola- one of the ED’s -as she had already put his name down)- he was very chuffed to have his name mentioned at the start.

Soon the main briefing started (a big clap for my dad) and then we moved a few metres on to the start line. The course is very simple- 3 laps within the park:

Each lap began on a short slope, and then you were up running along a ridge with views down to the lake. I was regretting no sunglasses as the sun was shining right into my eyes as I ran up – not so easy to see the rabbit holes! You then turn right and have a lovely long gentle downhill, a sharp right (almost a u-turn) near the lake, and then run back along the bottom, finishing each lap with a gentle incline.

It really didn’t feel that the uphill matched the downhills in this route. It is all on grass, so after a few weeks of rain it will be more muddy and slippery, but this week was pretty perfect as it was firm enough that you were not sliding about, but not hard rutted earth that can be sore on the ankles.

I run through this park a lot on my runs anyway, but wasn’t expecting to like the course as much as I did. Of course the weather helped- it was a glorious autumnal day. But what really made it for me was all the people- I saw so many OH ladies (and hangers on e.g. partners/ family members), and it almost reminded me of Ellenbrook Fields as I felt like I was among friends.

I ran with Dad, a little way behind my brother, and had a good catch up. We considering the number of people participating (351) we didn’t see too many people overtaking us on our second (and their third) lap, however that was probably down to us chatting as we knew one of the barcode scanners was running first (hi Tim) and didn’t notice him passing us! If you were being overtaken on the ridge it is a bit narrow there, but we were down in the main part of the park where the paths were very wide so there was plenty of space.

After finishing, we took a few photos to celebrate his 100th location, but then they had to head off. Once the three peas had all finished, we visited the purple pop up together, and the started making our way into town for brunch. After Holly changed her shoes (a good idea- mine were muddy but I didn’t want to carry trainers in the rucksack too), Branka drove into town while Holly and I jogged up there. If you are thinking of visiting, the town centre is around a mile and a half from Stanborough, and after running uphill to the Gosling sports centre it’s a flat route from there and was very enjoyable to run and chat. There were a few potential brunch locations, and we opted for Megan’s. They do delicious vegan pancakes so I was a happy bunny, and they even brought out a birthday brownie for Holly! Holly was keen to see the Knife Angel sculpture (pictured below) as it is touring the country and will be in WGC until the end of October, so there was plenty to do during parkfaff time. A police officer said it would be going into storage after this month (I guess no town centres want it next to their Christmas trees) but would probably be back out touring in the spring.

All in all it was such a happy morning spent with friends and family- the best kind of parkrunday.

Pancakes, the knife angel and the fountain that is pink for breast cancer awareness month.

Voronoi update:

So that was parkrun 424 for me, and location 143. Queen of Herts is again achieved after having a gap when Stanborough started, and I am on event 26 of my tourist streak. I would very happily go back there, so it’s fab to now have two events that are so close. If you are visiting and planning on driving, I would recommend that you look closely at the parking information on the course page, as you need to register in advance via a link on their page or send an email (again the address is listed on the page) to avoid being charged for an entire day.

Up next? Well, I have one more week here before a bit more travelling, so of course now the temptation is to go to another event (not already in the streak)- local ones that are not already within my streak include Stevenage, Westmill, Leavesden, Henlow Bridge Lakes… But I might decide that going to a local one with friends will end up being more enjoyable and easier!

Who knows! Are you good at planning ahead or do you just see what you fancy each week?

Wakehurst parkrun- en route to Brighton

We had to be in Brighton for Sunday evening for a comedy show, but at the last minute we decided to head down on the Saturday and spend the weekend there. After thinking we’d head down after I’d been to parkrun, Andy suggested leaving early (to beat the traffic) and doing a parkrun on the way instead. I’d seen Wakehurst parkrun mentioned a few times and liked the look of it, and it had parking and a cafe on site so Andy would have things to look at while I ran, so at 7am on Saturday, off we went. Wakehurst Gardens are a bit like a National Trust place, in that it’s paid entry, but they are linked with Kew Gardens. Our NT cards got us free entry, but the parking is free for parkrunners until 11am, and then after that NT members have to pay.

The journey was great (we have driven to Brighton later on Saturdays before and been stuck in a lot of traffic) and we arrived just after 8:30 so I headed off to find the toilets and start area. Because it doesn’t open until later, there were signs out saying you had to stick to the parkrun route, but the route covers a lot of the grounds so I felt like I saw a lot. The cafe didn’t open until 9am so Andy didn’t head over until after the parkrun had started, but if we went there again I think he’d come to the start area as there were people hanging around.

The start is right by the mansion house, dwarfed by an enormous redwood tree. Next to it is the stump of another redwood that had to be cut down as it was damaged in a storm- seeing the side of the cross section of the trunk was amazing, and it made for some good pop up photos!

I was at event 74, and I think they still get a fair amount of tourists because at the first timers welcome the volunteer said they’d explain the route during the main briefing, so only brand new parkrunners needed to attend. It’s two laps and very well marshalled and signed though so fairly self explanatory.

They did some seeding at the start with volunteers holding up signs (eg 28-35 minute finish times) as the paths were fairly narrow.

I really loved this parkrun as there was so much to see on the way around- all the autumnal colours were appearing and you ran through a range of different gardens.

I wasn’t expecting it to be quite so undulating though! We were warned of a hill that was “worse in the second lap” but I think all of it apart from the section by the mansion house was either uphill or downhill.

After finishing and scanning I met up with Andy at the finish area (a quick photo by the tree) and we headed in to the cafe.

The queue wasn’t that long but the wait was. It looked like an NT cafe with a fridge with ready made sandwiches, stands with cakes (not personally a fan of the help yourself in these types of cafes after seeing the handles of the tongs touching the food etc), hot drinks and some hot food including croissants. They had labels on some items, but not others, so I wasn’t sure what was vegan, so I opted for a tea (I had packed breakfast with me in case). The wait to place our order was probably 15 minutes, and then after ordering the wait was probably that again. I’d bought a change of clothes with me, so after waiting for a bit, I changed in the toilets, came back, and Andy was still waiting for our drinks. We were keen to have a look around the gardens after, but I think it was around 10:20 by the time we had our drinks. They seemed to have a lot of staff there, but maybe it’s busier in one go than it would be usually at other times of the day?

We had time for a quick walk around some of the other gardens (and of course a look in the shop) before heading back to the car for the final part of the journey into Brighton. We’d both go back for a longer visit as you could definitely spend a long time there- both exploring the gardens and visiting the Millennium seed bank.

As it was a new location, it kept my tourist streak going for another week- that was the 24th different one visited without repeating.

That was parkrun 422, and my 142nd location. It was a satisfying chunk on the map too!

Below are a few photos from Brighton- of course walks by the sea were enjoyed (as well as a nearly 12 mile run on the Sunday morning), lots of delicious food, and the comedy show on the Sunday evening. Combining parkrun with a weekend away is the best kind of parkrun tourism for me.

Rheinpark parkrun, Cologne, for Germany Unity Day 2025

A bit of background- parkrun countries can hold an additional parkrunday (as well as NYD) if they so wish. Each country has a set one (all the Nordic countries have Ascension Day, UK has Christmas Day), and for Germany they have Unity Day, which is always on 3rd October. This year that happened to fall on a Friday, so it was perfect for a weekend to Germany to visit two different parkruns.

Branka and Holly had booked their transport and hotel a while back- I had an invite but was not sure where I would be with regards to working, so didn’t book it until quite late on. They had chosen Cologne as it was easy to get to via train and had two central parkruns, and I was happy to head there, having previously been there for a Christmas market weekend. When I looked at booking (hooray for the Eurostar sale) the hotels for the Friday night were very expensive, and this turned out to be because the Cologne marathon was happening that weekend. This resulted in my only staying in Cologne on the Thursday night, and getting the train elsewhere for a different parkrun on Saturday- more on that next time!

So, Thursday was travel day- a train into London, a Eurostar to Brussels and then a train to Cologne. It was all very relaxed as I had lots of time between trains, getting into Cologne around 8pm. Holly and Branka had arrived much earlier and came to meet me at the station as my hotel was very close to theirs, and we sorted our plans for the morning.

We met around 8:15 am (read Branka’s blog for their early awakening) and started to head to the bridge to get to parkrun. As they were going to both in Cologne, they let me choose which one I’d do on the Friday, and I opted for Rheinpark as it was the closest (I had an 11am checkout to make) and just looked pretty by the water with stunning views of the huge cathedral. Anyway, it turns out although it was 1km away, we must remember that is as the crow flies, and so our actual walk there was 1.4 miles- a little further! We joined the huge queue of tourists getting their photos by the pop up, which had a lovely bespoke metal sign for you to hold, as well as some little German flags.

I enjoyed spotting all the German signs and labels on the volunteer vests (“Helfer” is a particular favourite) and just seeing big groups of happy tourists together.

We had a wonderfully welcoming briefing (the RD jokingly asked if there were any locals), and the team shuffled everyone over to one side for a photo- it’s on their facebook page but everyone is tiny as there were around 300 people in the photo (participants plus volunteers).

The course is one lap- a round loop of the park that you start in, and then what looks like an out and back but is really just a thin loop going to the end of a park that juts out into the river. Coming back we had stunning views across the river to the city- it certainly was memorable. It is totally flat so would be potentially a very fast course too. I ran with Holly and we as usual had a lovely chat. It was great to spot all the tourist tops and buffs and hear everyone saying “danke” to the marshals.

The finish area was decorated with strings of German flags and also bunting made up from old volunteer tabards (Wonky Bear style). Once finished I saw that they had moved the pop up and someone had donated a massive German flag- I decided to risk it and join the queue- just as we got to the front, Branka appeared so it was perfect timing for us to have a photo with the city as a backdrop. I then dashed back to the hotel on my own.

I was very excited to get the results email through- I love getting the emails in different languages- and with that I had been to my 140th parkrun location and my 420th parkrun in total, my second one in Germany.

Clockwise from the top left- Exploring Cologne- posing by the sign, cinnamood buns (white chocolate macadamia nut and spiced apple), gorgeous stained glass window in the Dom, delicious tofu salad from the vegan restaurant.

After a speedy shower and tea in the room, I checked out and left my case at the hotel, and then the three of us met in the lobby of my hotel to have a fab day in Cologne. Branka had arranged for the two of us to give Holly a German notch as it was her first parkrun in Germany. Holly then gave us each a Unity Day notch (with the map of Germany on it), and Branka also handed over my little Lego figure- they had gone to the Lego store on Thursday (as it was closed on the Friday) and made little custom mini figures to commemorate our trip.

At first our meal plans were slightly scuppered by us missing the brunch window at a lovely looking restaurant, and then we walked to a different one only to find it closed, but on the third try we found a wonderful vegan restaurant where we had lunch, before more exploring. We went into the cathedral (and I made it part way up the spire- somehow I managed the spiral staircase but when I saw the metal stairs that you can see through I knew I had reached my limit), bought some amazing buns from Cinnamood and spent ages chatting about parkrun plans (and of course life in general).

I’ve been thinking about why I loved the atmosphere so much, and I have come to the conclusion that I agree with the sentiment of their special day if that makes sense. Not being religious I did not really know about Ascension Day, and it seemed to be more like a UK Bank Holiday- something from the past which now just means most people have a day off work. Unity Day felt different. It was 35 years ago this year, so I have vague memories of seeing the Berlin Wall fall (probably on Newsround), but as a fan of Europe and of countries working together, it meant I could get behind the reason the day is celebrated far more than I could with a more historical day. Something about the atmosphere really spoke to me and I am so glad that I was there to join in with the celebrating. Yes, the weekend was a fun way to visit two new parkruns, but it’s always more than that, and this weekend showed me that again.

Lego figure (I am holding a cup of tea!) and new notch for my keyring

Back to the Friday- I hadn’t booked my next train as I could buy a ticket on the day for a commuter train rather than a high speed booked one, so around 6pm I left Holly and Branka in Cologne while I headed on the train to Aachen (just under an hour away on a regular train- I think the super speedy ICE trains were more like 30 mins).

And the parkrun adventure will continue in another post…

Peckham Rye parkrun- learning about the Southwark Slam!

Excitingly, after setting up our joint instagram account with Branka and Holly (threepeasinaparkrun) this weekend the three of us reunited at a parkrun for our tourism!

We headed to Peckham Rye parkrun, all getting the trains down to Blackfriars and meeting there, and then getting another train a few stops down to Peckham Rye station. It’s then a 1.25 mile walk from the station, so it’s not the closest, but the walk was simple as the main road led to the park so thankfully no directional errors from us.

The weather was so changeable- it was bright sunshine at Blackfriars and I was saying to Holly and Branka that I was regretting not wearing my sunglasses- however when we arrived at the parkrun start it rained quite hard and we sheltered under a large tree. Thankfully the rain eased off and we got out pre parkrun pop up picture, and hung our bags in the tree of trust (some people had propped their bags against the base of the trunk but after witnessing a dog mark it’s territory at the base of another tree I decided that off the ground would be better).

If you hang around the pop up you often end up chatting to other tourists, and this day was no exception. Aqasa Nu (who has a blog- Nu Horizons) approached us to chat all things tourism and told us about the Southwark Slam- he then revealed that under his jacket he was wearing a t-shirt for it which dated back to 2015! My understanding is that the Southwark Slam means taking part in all 4 parkruns in the Southwark borough in September- beginning with Southwark, then Peckham Rye, Dulwich and then finishing with Burgess. After taking part in Peckham Rye this weekend I have now completed all of those events, but not in order and not all in the same month! It sounds like a fun thing to take part in though, especially if you were nearby.

After a really clear first timers welcome, we lined up and were off! It’s a three lap course on tarmac paths, and although “a hill” had been mentioned, the park looks fairly flat. However, we realised once we set off that it is quite undulating so it is definitely harder than it looks- nothing terrible but I really thought it looked flat and it definitely isn’t! It’s a really scenic park though- we started off on wide paths that reminded me a bit of Clapham Common, before heading off into more twisty paths between various play parks and gardens, including a beautiful Japanese garden. It never ceases to amaze me that London is full of so many huge pockets of green space- we really are so lucky.

I ran with Holly and we had a lovely chat as always- I actually checked my watch after the third lap to be sure we’d done the 5k and didn’t need to do another lap as they felt so short- time flies when you are having fun!

At the end, Aqasa’s partner, Shveta, chatted to us as well- we got some recommendations for Finnish parkruns as well as some chat about the German unity day (extra parkrun day). Aqasa was so enthusiastic when he heard my home parkrun was Panshanger as he had loved his visit there, seeing the long horned cattle (check out his blog if you are interested- there is lots of other info on there too). We were chatting for so long that the team closed down the event around us- by 10am there was no sign of parkrun and it was just the few of us left! We walked back to the station, and by this time it was sunny again.

We had decided to head into the centre of London to get some breakfast (possibly around Borough market area), however when we got off the train at Blackfriars we could see people marching and carrying flags as far as the eye could see and I realised with some dread that it was a right wing march. I’d actually seen some warning posts about it on social media the night before but hadn’t thought that many people would come. The exit to the station was totally rammed and even though we tried to exit away from where we thought the flag people were going we ended up surrounded by these people. It was not nice to put it mildly. After battling through the crush of people we got to the embankment and I knew there was a Caffe Nero close by so we went in there for hot drinks and breakfast- sadly no vegan raspberry croissant so I had an apple crumble slice thing as that was the only option aside from cheesecake- and it seemed more breakfast-like! It was fab to spend time planning future touring adventures, but I did not enjoy the battle to get back to the train as the flag people were multiplying.

We did walk past a hatch selling Crosstown doughnuts so we each bought a couple to share with our partners back home- happily for me all but one of the flavours were vegan so I had a lot more choice than with breakfast!

Onto the stats- that was my 417th parkrun and 139th location.

The 5K app let me know that I had achieved another tick on the date bingo challenge, and of course Peckham Rye counts towards Lon-done, with that being my 35th of 65 of the current London events- I know there will always be more getting added.

There’s a nice gap in the map now (Brockwell) so that’s got to be on the list to fill in, although we are coming up to the season where touring is less appealing. It wasn’t dark when I left home on Saturday morning (to get a train before 7am) but soon it will be, plus you have the added “fun” of the bad weather forcing last minute cancellations.

Up next- a few weekends of local parkruns and then some touring plans with the three peas!

Do you like the sound of the slam? I think challenges like this are such fun, and what a great way to bring local running communities together.