Festive Five 2024

This is one of my favourite races of the year, and somehow I didn’t even do a post about it!

The Garden City Joggers put this event on each year- it’s a five mile race consisting of two laps around the centre of town- all on pavements but with marshals at all the road crossing points. It’s the type of low key event I love, where you collect your number on the day, and it just had friendly vibes. Loads of people dress in festive gear, lots of the marshals do as well, and it’s just good fun.

The weekend that it took place on in 2024 had big storms everywhere, with lots of parkruns called off the day before, so rather than running there and getting drenched, I took up my friends offer of a lift (she lives around the corner from me and we often share lifts for parkruns or club runs). Thankfully it didn’t rain before the start, although it did rain a bit while we were running.

I absolutely love seeing people run in inflatable outfits- no idea why it amuses me so much but seeing the inflatable Santa run past us in the road just really tickled me.

Before, during and after

I ran with Nicola and we just had a great time- no worrying about times, just enjoying all the festive outfits and wishing all the marshals a happy Christmas. Thankfully it didn’t rain too hard, but there were some huge puddles that I didn’t expect and that you couldn’t avoid so I got very cold wet feet. The rest of me warmed up, as you can see I ended up taking my jacket off.

I tried to get some photos and selfies with the inflatable guys!

At the finish we were given a little selection box- in previous years there has been a vegan option but sadly not this year (so that was donated to the food bank collection at the parkrun the following Saturday), however we had our OH ladies Christmas brunch so post-race treats would soon be coming.

As we had a bit of time in between the race ending and the brunch booking, Nicola kindly offered for a group of us to pop back to her office (in the town centre) so we could get changed in the warm and dry, and even made us cups of tea. I had packed a complete change of clothes, but had forgotten about shoes, so I had to put on my soggy cold trainers as we headed out for brunch.

OH ladies having brunch (I am very hidden on the left in that photo), oat matcha latte, pancakes and my With Me Now Christmas jumper (which is always fun to try and explain- “Maria I didn’t know you liked cats?” ” No, I don’t like cats, but there is this podcast…”)

Brunch was fab- so nice to catch up with everyone, enjoy some food (I had vegan pancakes, tea and then a matcha latte) and chat about our Christmas plans. I really love this tradition.

Do you have any running club Christmas traditions? I always love festive parkruns too.

Hove Prom parkrun – keeping up with the pacers

After a week away from parkrun (due to a visit to DLP- sadly no parkruns in France for now or the foreseeable future), the following weekend we were down in Brighton for our wedding anniversary, so I opted for Hove Prom.

It was my 12th time there, and as always, fab. Our hotel was around a mile away, and the run there was straightforward, along the seafront, and a good warm up. Rather than a tarpaulin of trust, they have boxes by the beach huts, and the first timer welcome was right there too. Even though I’ve been there lots of times, I like to still listen to the welcome, just in case there is a course change. There are so many people there now (850 that day) that you cannot hear the main briefing because of people talking. It’s also really nice to see the new runners and tourists coming along- that day there were a few running club trips from various places including Kent, so you get a bit of a feel for the people there that day by going along to the briefing.

Photos taken on the way to parkrun

I’d seen that they had pacers, so I decided to try and come in under 28 minutes as I have not managed many speedy times this year. The start area was so busy, and I could not hear (as previously mentioned) and could not see any of the pacers either. As we started I was a bit boxed in with people, but managed to overtake a few people and could see the 29 pacer (who I overtook quickly) and then the 28 min pacer up ahead. I kept them in sight and at the first turn around point I was pretty close. I managed to get ahead of the group and just tried to stay there. Hove Prom is out and back twice (but you start in the middle, so you really go out, turn, back, turn, out, turn, back, turn, into the finish) and so at the turn around points you can see how close you are ahead of the pacers, and in the second lap I managed to get a bit further ahead, and could even see the 27 min pacer up ahead. It was so busy there that as I got to the finish, the queue was backing out of the finish funnel and onto the course, so I stopped my watch, but with a combination of not hearing the start, and of course not knowing when they would stop meant I didn’t know if I’d managed sub 28 even though it should have been OK.

Watch and token showing my possible time…

I scanned, got my jacket from the box by the beach huts, got a few photos by the purple pop up and then headed back to the hotel for breakfast (Andy had popped out to get vegan croissants). When my text came through later, I was so pleased to have achieved 27:12 – well under the 28 minutes I was aiming for. This was actually the same time that I managed on my first ever parkrun back in 2013- I had signed up to Marathon Talk’s Jantastic, and as part of that you had to do some sort of time trial, where you estimated your time, then entered your actual time, and then gained points the closer you were. I had put down 27 minutes for a 5k, and did my first parkrun as the time trial, and then it turned out I had actually filled it in on the website as 27 hours so I was way off!

Selfie by the old pier and the purple pop up

I don’t often aim for a time at parkrun- I am more than happy to run around and chat to people as I run, and if I am touring I like to see the new event, take photos as I run around and so on. But on this occasion it was good to have something to aim for.

So that was parkrun 380 and my 12th time at Hove Prom.

Do you like aiming for a time or are you happy to enjoy the atmosphere?

PS A few Brighton photos – delicious vegan pancakes from Nowhere Man, Bird and Blend cups and a walk to Hove.

Highbury Fields revisit for Plan C

The plan for this weekend had always been for some parkrun tourism with Branka, and originally we were going to head to Stockley Country parkrun (not Stockwell as I kept telling Andy- he was very confused when he couldn’t find it, and could find a Stockwell park elsewhere in London while I was insisting it was close to Heathrow…). Anyway, the weather was not forecast to be great, and we didn’t fancy driving around the M25 in torrential rain, so looked at a few other options. Branka mentioned Raphael, but looking at journey times it was going to be similar, so we decided to look at train options. I am happy to repeat venues, and Branka hadn’t done Highbury Fields yet, so we decided to head there. We could both get trains to Finsbury Park, and from there it was one stop on the Victoria Line to Highbury and Islington station, and the parkrun is so close to the station (just across the road) it seemed ideal.

Plus, as a bonus, the Angel branch of Bird and Blend is about half a mile along Upper Street (and the walk passes British Patagonia who make amazing vegan pastries)- parkfaff would be sorted too!

My train was due to leave at 7:55, and with the rain I decided to drive to Hatfield rather than run to WGC, so I didn’t need to leave home until 7:30. (Branka had called me as she had a slight issue with her train ticket but she had plenty of time to sort it thankfully) My train was running a few minutes late but even with that (and me having a slight panic as I got off the train that I couldn’t find my car keys and worrying that they had fallen out- they were actually just deeper into my pocket than I had felt when I first checked), a visit to the station toilets and then getting the underground, we were at H&I for 8:30 -plenty of time!

My improving selfie, a photo mid-run, token photo and our pop up picture

We took our purple pop up photos before, and Branka continued with tutoring me on my selfies- I am getting better!

The first timers welcome was very amusing- I would not be surprised if the person ended up doing stand up comedy. She was very engaging and it really made the event feel welcoming. There did seem to be a lot of tourists- of course if you hang around the sign for a bit you end up taking photos for other people and then them taking your photo. One couple had come from north Wales! We said we should look up in case it was a specific event number (but it was 609- that’s not a prime and I can’t see what the fascination would be)- maybe just the proximity to the tube means they get lots each week.

I’d packed a t-shirt, jumper and waterproof in an old race bag to leave on the tarpaulin of trust, but thankfully the torrential rain that was forecast didn’t arrive, just a few spots of rain here and there.

The main run briefing was a bit disappointing as we just could not hear a thing- people all around us were talking, and I think I heard a few milestones announced, but it was one of those briefings when you just clap when other people clap. At least in the first timers welcome they mentioned some of the course hazards such as the uneven pavement and the muddy slippery puddle.

Now, if you don’t know, Highbury Fields is 5 laps. The only other 5 lapper I’ve done is Heslington in York, around a bike track. Here, you start in the middle on the grass, head out to the perimeter of the park (and really it is the perimeter as it is on pavements outside the park- it feels very un-parkrun in that respect as you are by houses and roads and parked cars and all sorts), and then run 5 laps before heading back in to finish on the grass. I decided that to keep count, I would try and have a different song in my head for each lap. I was hoping for songs with numbers, but the first lap was to the tune of Frère Jacques (this is the first lap, this is the first lap, around we go, around we go, run around the park, run around the park, keep on going, keep on going), and I realised that I could easily change the number for each lap and then I’d get muddled. For Lap 2I wanted a song with 2 in it (not sure why I didn’t choose Song 2 by Blur) but I ended up with Bones by The Killers in my head then. Not sure why. Lap 3 was the turn of Three is a Magic Number by Embrace (good for learning that 3x table backwards), Lap 4 was All For One from High School Musical, and then lap 5 was the theme tune from Girls 5 Eva (‘what are you waiting five?’).

I felt like I was running well, and was overtaking people towards the end, but I don’t usually look at my watch. As I crossed the finish line I stopped my watch and saw that the course had measured short- 2.8 miles. I briefly panicked that I hadn’t run the full 5 laps, but I knew I had, and the people around me had finished at the same time. If I had gone for an additional lap it would have been way over. I say all the time not to rely on GPS, and particularly on twisty routes it isn’t 100% reliable. Looking on Strava later, I could see the 5 laps (and the 5 bumps for the slope in each lap), and I could also see that it had cut off the corner each time as the route takes you out of the park at the bottom.

After I finished, I changed my top as it was still on and off raining and I didn’t want to get cold. Branka finished soon after me, and we chatted to a few tourists before walking along to our parkfaff locations. Just after we commented on how lucky we were with the weather, it rained quite hard, but thankfully we were soon in Bird and Blend, getting matcha lattes and topping up our tea collections.

Purple pop up “after” photo, the matcha wall of dreams, heavenly vegan pastries and a matcha latte.

We popped into British Patagonia on the way back, although I saved mine for when I got home as I didn’t think I could eat one of those pistachio pastries without getting in a bit of a mess! I had packed a cereal bar and water, and remembered to drink my water before I changed my t-shirt, but I really should have had the cereal bar too, as walking to B&B and back took time and so I was really hungry and tired by that point. I had it on the platform while I waited for the train home.

Once home I got the text saying it was a course pb too! Granted it was only my second time there, but I’ll take it! I was hoping for sub 30 and I ended up with 28:59 so I was pleased to squeeze in under 29. One of my few faster times this year (I’m never running that fast at Panshanger or Jersey Farm so I will make the most of tarmac).

Do you like lapped courses? Which London parkruns are good to visit by train?

Willows 10k 2024

I’ve not done this race in years, but it was one of the events chosen by my club to celebrate their 10 years, and as I was free I signed up. You can choose from either 10k or 5k, and they both started at 11. The number (and t-shirt) was posted out before, so there was no need to get there too early, so I ended up handing out tokens at junior parkrun beforehand- a bonus of a late starting race!

It was sunny when I left which is why I had on sunglasses! The only time I get to handle the number 1 token- that and token sorting of course!

I picked up Nicola and we drove to Hatfield House (where the race was held) together. I opted to take layers with me rather than leave them in the car, as I got really cold at junior parkrun. In the “before” photo I was wearing 4 layers! However I knew I would warm up as I started running. The race raises money for the Willow foundation, started by Bob Wilson, creating days out for terminally ill young adults. He did a lovely speech at the start, as did David Seaman who is one of the main patrons. Annie the high sheriff was also there of course, although sadly none of them were around to hand out medals by the time I finished, whereas in orevious years they have stayed for this.

The “after” picture of some of us (I am back in 3 layers and a hat), two people who ran the 10k as a person riding a horse, the best cheering station, and heading to the finish in a blur!

Nicola was running the 5k, but handily the 10k followed the same route for the first 5k, so we ran together and chatted, and then I only had a parkrun to go- perfect!

In previous years the course has been quite hilly, but they had changed the course this year and it was far less hilly than I anticipated. The grounds of Hatfield House are so beautiful (but don’t get me started on the owners attitude to allowing access), and it was turning into a beautiful autumn day, so running through the woods and fields with loads of other runners was great. Weirdly at times it reminded me of the New Forest race I did years ago (2018 I think?).

Mid-run views and the mini doughnut I had at the end

The marshal stations were all excellent, with all the runners being thanked and cheered- I think the people on them had probably been helped by the foundation. The OH ladies were on one of the marshal stations before one of the hills (or slope of love that they called it) and they really helped to spur me on.

The second lap was not the same as the first, heading off to a slightly different part of the park further north and crossing the river, before crossing back over and rejoining the route and repeating the same few kilometres.

Medal selfie, photo by a giant postbox and a few more run scenes

As I finished I was cheered on by the OH ladies who had run the 5k, and those that had finished ahead of me in the 10k. We were offered doughnuts at the finish line, as Simmons (a bakery with lots of chains in Herts) were sponsoring, but the trays had no ingredients listed and when I googled, their doughnuts aren’t vegan. I had bought a mini one from Crosstown the day before (as we’d been into London) so i knew I could look forward to that. I picked up my bag, put on my layers and joined the others as we cheered in the rest of the runners. It was a really fun occasion.

Once everyone had finished we got a few more photos- medals in front of Hatfield House, and then as we were walking back to the car park I saw a huge postbox, so I had a photo by it. (Apparently the tickets have seeds in them, so you can plant them at home, or if not you can post them in there and then the staff will plant them in the grounds)

Anyway, definitely an event I would do again- it was so close, nice and low key, and the event village, parking and even real toilets to use.

Have you done this event before? How do you choose events to do?

Vegan food in Japan August 2024

As mentioned before, this was one of the main questions I have been asked since going to Japan, so I thought I’d put a post together with some recommendations.

Lots of places tended to be independent and would have small menus, and items would run out during the day so they would put a “sold out” sign over that item on the menu. We tended to go to mainly vegan places, but we also visited some places that had clearly marked vegan options on the menu, and these places I had seen on You Tube videos or recommendations elsewhere. I would not want to rock up to any restaurant and expect there to be a vegan option (or even vegetarian) but if you are prepared it will be fine.

I had researched convenience stores beforehand, and they were meant to have some vegan options, but even though we went to one Natural Lawson branch (meant to have more vegan options than typical ones) I couldn’t find anything apart from fresh fruit. I used google translate on my phone which was very helpful, but even things that you would assume to be vegan (eg Soy protein bars), some flavours would have dairy or other animal products so I just didn’t risk anything apart from fruit.

Starbucks ended up being a really good option for breakfast, lunch or snacks. They had clearly marked plant based items including a blueberry cream cheese bagel, a vegan cheese and tomato pizza bread slice, lemon cube cake, rice flour banana cake swirl and some crisps. Plus if you ordered alt milk you got a little receipt which said “soy milk” and you had to hand it to the server, and when your drink came it had a little sticker on it showing the type of milk- this really reassured me as I am always paranoid that I will be given the wrong type. We did bring with us cereal bars (I bought a lot of Clif bars from Food Circle Supermarket) and I bought some vegan croissants to take as I had read breakfast wasn’t really a thing, but we did get the blueberry bagel a few times.

Tokyo

We were in Tokyo for 5 days at the start of the holiday and then one afternoon at the end. We stayed in the Shibuya area which was fab for vegan options, but as we travelled around a bit to sightsee we also visited various other precincts. I’d made some notes of various places and had followed a few places on Instagram to keep up to date with menus and opening times and so on.

I was really keen to find a vegan version of the fruit and cream sandwiches that seem to be sold everywhere, and on our day in Asakusa we visited Hatoya’s Vegan Fruit Sandwiches- delicious! They did some fruit ones and a special with red bean paste (the little eyes in those – see below) so we shared one of each and from a person who is not a cream fan this was just perfect in the heat- a cool and creamy filling with fresh strawberries and other fruits. The bean paste was really good too.

Vegan fruit sandwich, falafel bowl, waffle fries and pecan pie from Falafel Bros.

Falafel brothers – a fully vegan place with several locations. They do falafels, pitta, salads, pizza and various desserts. The falafel was so light and crispy and delicious. We went to the one in the Parco shopping centre (also had the Nintendo store in it). The salad had different options, I think I had the Mediterranean one with pickles and various veggies in there too, as well as loads of hummus.

One day we went out to Team Lab Planets (an interactive art exhibition) and they had a vegan ramen place outside. It was so hot so in the end we just had some of their vegan matcha ice cream, but the ramen did look good.

Vegan matcha ice cream from the vegan ramen place, matcha latte and a plant based blueberry bagel from Starbucks.

Tokyo also had a branch of Island Vintage Coffee (which we loved when we were in Hawaii) so an acai bowl from there for breakfast one day was amazing.

Acai bowl, falafel bowl and soy matcha lattes with the cute soy milk sticker just about in the pic!

2 Foods- located inside Loft which is a department store. Fully vegan with Japanese foods like omurice (Japanese omlette rice using vegan egg, topped with tomato sauce), as well as burgers, vegan nuggets and doughnuts.

2 Foods nuggets, omurice and doughnuts

We had some vegan ramen from Jikasei Mensho in the Parco building. They did vegan as well as non-vegan, and they were very careful to point out it was soy meat when handing out the vegan ramen. It was tasty, but the meal was slightly spoilt by our phones going off with an “earthquake imminent” warning which made me have a bit of a panic attack.

Vegan ramen, more nuggets from 2 Foods, matcha from The Matcha Tokyo and lemon/ raspberry and pistachio doughnuts from 2 Foods.

The Matcha Tokyo had several branches and did plant milks for their lattes as well as selling a vegan matcha cookie – I tried it once and it was more like a biscuit, but it was tasty.

Ain Soph- vegan with a few branches across Japan- we went to the Kyoto one as well as the Tokyo one. Their fluffy Japanese pancakes were amazing, and we got to try karaage (a frying technique that is used for nuggets and things like that).

We had a fun hunt on our final day as I wanted to try melon bread and had seen that within a department store there was a bakery that did a vegan version. We hunted for a looooong time in the store but eventually found it! It was in the Shinjuku Isetan store in the basement, the stand was called Maison Landemaine Store.

Lemon pancakes, vegan nuggets from Ain Soph and the vegan melon bread.

En route to Kyoto we visited the Ghibli park. They shut at 5 so we only needed to get lunch, and the grand warehouse had a restaurant attached that did a few vegan sandwiches (clearly marked with allergens displayed)- we both had the avocado sandwich which was absolutely crammed with avocado and fresh tomato- delicious (see below).

Avocado sandwich and iced tea from Ghibli park, vegan matcha doughnut from Nicotto & Mam’s doughnut cafe, and the cute alt milk stickers from Starbucks plus the pot where they put your reciept once you collected your drink

Kyoto

Kyoto had a more alternative vibe than Tokyo and there were lots of little indie businesses. We went to the Ain Soph branch one day, and then discovered a few other gems including one of my favourite meals of the trip.

Gion Soy Milk Ramen Uno Yokiko was amazing. I had seen soy milk ramen on the internet and could not quite imagine how it would be, particularly as I’m not a big fan of white sauces. Anyway, this fully vegan place did amazing soy milk ramen. This was another day that we both overheated a bit, wandering around the Gion district of Kyoto where the buildings are all low (no shade) and open fronted (no A/C)- sitting in the cool and having salty flavourful broth with fresh veggies, tofu and gyoza was just heavenly. Also they did vegan matcha ice cream for dessert that came in little hedgehog dishes- the cutest!

Soy milk ramen and matcha ice cream

Burger and pancakes (shared for dessert) from the Kyoto Ain Soph.

Vegginy in Kyoto was another teeny place- it was in the basement of a building (there was a sign at street level) and it only had 4 tables. They were full so I had to message them on Instagram and they messaged back when there was a table free, so we had a nice wander around the nearby streets. There were two members of staff and we sat at the counter watching them prep the food, they did a couple of options, we both opted for the veggie and hummus sandwich which was totally stacked and full of delicious things like miso mushrooms, shredded veggies and loads of fresh hummus. They did a side of rosemary potatoes which were so much more than just that- there were three types of potatoes and the server explained to use each variety- they were crispy and salty and again just what you needed after sweating buckets!

Veggie sandwich and rosemary potatoes, the streets in Kyoto and the sign outside Vegginy

Osaka

We only had a few days in Osaka and one of those was at Universal.

Universal was pretty good with vegan options with a few clearly marked on their menus- they even had plant based butter beer! We had a salad with loads of fruit for lunch, and then a stew with veggies, salad and potatoes for dinner (just what you want in the heat!).

Stew, salad and plant based butterbeer at Universal

Osaka also had one of our most memorable meals. I was keen to try okonomiyaki  which is a sort of frittata/pancake thing. Oko okonomiyaki  made a vegan version so we sat outside in the queue, and once inside gave our order (you chose 5 vegetables to have with it) then went upstairs to find a table on one of several floors. We noticed a TV screen in the room and could see the person who had taken our order, now busy in the kitchen, and it then transpired that she was the single member of staff, letting in people in batches and then cooking their food. She would call out your number for you to come and collect, and then once she had cooked all the orders she’d let in another batch of people. It was pretty amazing. You could actually speak to her through a microphone in each room but we didn’t do that. Just watching her race around was exhausting but amazing and we could see why that food was a sort of post-drink favourite.

Okonomiyaki and gyoza

Canelita Sweets was another gem- a fully vegan bakery with not only delicious foods but cute foods too- carrot cake with little rabbits made of frosting… we may have visited there twice!

A few of the cakes from there

Things to look out for

A few general words of warning- I had read that Starbucks almond milk wasn’t vegan, so I stuck to soy milk (tried the oat milk once but the soy was nicer), and our first night in Osaka we got in late and were totally exhausted after being out in the heat all day, so Andy suggested McDonalds (which I do not think I have been to since our first trip to Florida in 2002!)- well I googled it and they use beef dripping so the fries aren’t vegan there. Luckily the hotel had a few bits in their chiller cabinet so I could have a little picnic in the room. Lots of the vending machines sold drinks and despite packing rehydration tabs, a few times we were out in the heat and wanted something. Pocari Sweat was vegan, but the version sold at Universal (I can’t remember the brand name) wasn’t, so always double check as animal products seem to make their way into lots of things you wouldn’t expect.

But, I totally loved Japan, we had the most delicious food and I would absolutely love to go again! If you are vegan (or veggie) do a bit of research first, use the Happy Cow app as well as searching google maps, and enjoy all the wonderful food.

Would you like to go to Japan? How do you go about finding places to eat when you are on holiday?