vegan food - Maria Runs

Battersea parkrun (not parkrace)

Just a note to say that a runner collapsed at this event, but the Battersea parkrun team posted on their facebook page later in the day to say that they were recovering in hospital, as well as huge thanks to the 4 doctors who stopped and helped them.

Another weekend and another visit to a London parkrun with Branka and Holly! This had been in the diary for a while as Holly wanted event number 16. It was half term and we had tickets for an exhibition on Saturday afternoon, so Andy booked us a hotel and I went into London straight from work on Friday evening.

The hotel was fairly close to Embankment tube station (on the Northern line- the line needed for Battersea) so it was a nice warm up on Saturday morning. The train didn’t take long, and I arrived on the tube ahead of Branka and Holly (who travelled in that morning) so I waited for them at the station. The walk to the start (1.3 miles on Strava) so we were glad of arriving with plenty of time.

Tube station/ finish cones out/ huge tarpaulin of trust and the view of the old power station from the tube station

The start and finish are in different places, with everyone leaving their bags on the biggest tarpaulin of trust that I’d ever seen! It was super busy with tourists taking photos- I even saw parkrun Karen (from Insta) again- we were waiting around to see where the first timers welcome would be, and I noticed people heading away from the finish area. We decided to follow them- lucky that we did as it turned out everyone was walking to the start. They walk you around in a loop, so that the first people to begin walking end up first on the start line. It definitely had the feel of a race rather than a parkrun, with huge groups of people warming up, loads of runners in club vests and loads of secondary school age kids looking like serious runners. I felt very nervous, as if I was about to do a race, whereas I don’t usually feel this way at a parkrun.

We couldn’t even hear the main briefing as we were so far back, but luckily Branka had checked the course page and reminded us that it was two laps! People started moving so the parkrun had begun!

I tried hard to run fast but didn’t look at my watch at all, just wanting to run on feel- I am really impressed with those splits as it was a perfect royal flush negative split.

The course is basically two anti-clockwise laps of the park, it’s flat and fairly wide (it’s a road, like Finsbury Park), although we had to keep left as there were plenty of runners out in the park heading in the opposite direction. It took a while to find my speed, and I kept having to overtake runners and then settle into a pace once there was space. I still felt very nervous and it wasn’t until the second lap that I felt more relaxed and as if I was at a parkrun. I saw the first finisher head into the funnel as I began my second lap- he was way ahead of the next few runners- very impressive. It does seem to attract the faster runners- there were nearly 200 who ran under 20 minutes (out of 1159 in total)!

The avenues of trees in the park/ the tourist board/ the front of the start line with loads of club runners/ pots set out for the tokens

I knew they had a multiple funnel system, and as I headed into the finish on my second lap I could see two funnels being closed off, and they were sending us over to the left of the funnels. Everyone bunched up and they asked us to try and keep in order after we had all spread out. I chatted to a guy who had finished just ahead of me- my watch had said 27:55 so I was really pleased to have managed such a fast time, and didn’t mind waiting in the funnel for a bit. I think after around 10 minutes they moved us up a bit, and we realised that in the funnel on our right, a runner had collapsed and was receiving medical treatment from a paramedic, with an ambulance coming too. I was trying not to look- mainly because if it was me I would not want people staring at me, but also if I do look I know it would upset me, but the guy I was chatting to was giving me a bit of a running commentary on how the collapsed guy was doing. I was very relieved when our row was finally moved on and I could meet up with Holly and Branka. Holly had finished a bit behind me but her funnel had been cleared ahead of me, so we knew our times would be messed up a bit of course. The team had posted that results would be delayed (understandably) and that they might not be correct, and I was expecting a 59:59 for everyone. I had token 711 and my watch had said 27:55, but when the results came through my token was 801 and my time was 28:49 (with Holly being ahead of me in the results on 775) but the team had warned us and I was just happy to get any time. It’s now set as my course pb so I shall just have to go back.

After we finished, we took a few photos by the pop up and then headed out of the park and over to the converted power station building- it’s now a huge shopping centre with restaurants, cafes, a cinema, bowling alley and all sorts of other things. Holly had seen a picture of the pancakes at Where the Pancakes Are and they cater for all sorts of dietary requirements, so we headed there for breakfast.

I had pineapple and coconut pancakes with lime syrup- good to have something more unusual rather than the standard berries and syrup combo. Then it was time to head back to the train and continue our weekend in London (F1 exhibition, and then later on we went back to Battersea as they had a light instillation- see below for a few pics)

So, Battersea parkrun- definitely one to visit as it has very different vibes to smaller parkruns, and as it’s so flat it is a great one for trying to blast out a fast time (even with the congestion at the start).

Before and after for the 5k app map– another nice big gap filled in

That was my 391st parkrun and my 125th parkrun venue, and my 28th London parkrun.

Thames Path, Woolwich parkrun

Originally Dad and I had planned this towards the end of last year, but a storm meant it was cancelled so we stayed closer to home. This time around the weather looked good (well, no storms) and so we were a go!

I picked up Dad and drove to St Albans station- there we got a fast train to Farringdon and changed to the Elizabeth Line, getting off at Woolwich. The connection at Farringdon was great, and so after getting the 7:13 train, we arrived in Woolwich at 8am. This turned out to be lucky as I went totally the wrong way out of the station, so we had nearly a mile warm up walking through Woolwich (which is very interesting) and along the Thames before finding the start area.

*Can you spot me in the top left photo? Purple pop up and the finish line with the statues in the background.*

Having seen loads of photos of the statues online, it was great to see them in person, although there was no sign (that I could find) telling me about the artist or the artwork.

The toilets were open at 8:30 (when we arrived at the finish area)- they were inside the large cafe and there were plenty of them. It didn’t seem a hugely busy parkrun (not compared to Tooting from the week before)- there were 224 participants that morning. We spent some time taking photos with the statues and sheltering from the wind, before the first timers welcome was at 8:45. We were then all walked to the start, which is maybe a 5 minute walk from the finish area, along the edge of the river. The parkrunners headed down the steps, whereas the RD and time keepers stood on a platform above, and this made for a great run briefing as the RD didn’t need to shout, and everyone could see and hear him.

This parkrun is famous for the spiral- a mount you run up in a spiral and then back down- it makes an excellent Strava map! It felt pretty flat apart from the spiral, and there were a few puddles to dodge along the first part, but nothing swampy (again, nothing like the huge puddle from Tooting last week!). It felt like we had hardly gone any distance when we approached the park with the spiral in it, and I happened to glance at my watch and see we had already gone over a mile. The course really seemed to fly by!

*The start with the elevated bit for the RD, and then views of the spiral on the mound*

It was such fun heading up the spiral and seeing runners above, either heading up, or seeing the faster runners fly back down towards us. I am sure on a clear day the views would have been spectacular, but on this grey day we couldn’t even see the tops of the tallest buildings. No matter, we loved it.

Check out the splits too- perfect royal flush negative splits right there!

*Dad and me heading into the finish, pop up sign at the end, token and the view (and cool sign) from the spiral*

I finished in exactly 29 minutes, my fastest time of the year so far, and also means I get a shout out on the vegan runners facebook post as they have all sorts of challenges and this is the “noughty step” (times ending in :00).

*Avocado toast, views walking back to the station and the view inside the cafe*

As soon as we finished we headed inside the cafe to warm up and dry off. I was super impressed with the prices- my avocado toast was £6 which is a bargain. Dad went for the plant based sausage sandwich, and when he ordered it they asked if he wanted plant based meat or mushroom- they recommended mushroom- we were both expecting a patty made with mushrooms, but instead his roll was filled with sliced sautéed mushrooms. He enjoyed it anyway, despite it not being what was expected. The cafe was cosy and had plenty of space for the parkrunners and others.

We walked the direct way back to the station (literally a few hundred metres) and again our trains on the way back lined up perfectly- as we were going down the stairs at Farringdon a train was pulling in, and it was a fast one to St Albans- couldn’t have planned it better!

We have already made plans to go back in the summer, and hopefully bring Mum along, as she would enjoy watching and chatting while we ran, and then we could have a walk around the Woolwich area after breakfast as there seems to be so much history and interesting buildings there. Such a good parkrun morning!

Before and after map- a nice big segment filled in there!

Stats: 390th parkrun

124th venue

And now I’m making a start on Lon-done, that was my 27th London venue (out of 65 currently but of course that’s going to keep going up)

My slightly zoomed out map showing more of the sections that need colouring in!

Do you have parkruns you’d love to revisit? This one was fab and as the journey was so good it’s definitely on the list to go back to.

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?