vegan food - Maria Runs

Dulwich parkrun- not dull at all!

Welcome to another edition of Maria and Branka go on tour in London!

We are getting to be quite the fans of the train travel parkrun tourism. After going to Walthamstow on the overground, many more parkruns have opened up for us as the tube and bus combinations look rather complicated but the overground rail network gets close to lots of parkruns too. On the way back from Walthamstow we were looking at the overground maps and making mental notes of other places we could get to on those lines.

Dulwich was on the Southern overground, which stops at London Bridge, so that was an easy train journey via the Thameslink overground. It meant an early start (well, as early as a work day really) with a 7:13 train from St Albans for me, but now the mornings are lighter and the weather isn’t as cold, it doesn’t seem too bad to be up and out at that time.

After meeting Branka at London Bridge, we got the overground a few stops (passing Peckham which was 1.7km from that parkrun according to the 5k app…) to North Dulwich, and then walked the mile or so there from the station to the start. Dulwich was so posh! It was such a contrast from the views from the train which were the typical London tower blocks with brick balconies and little green space. The walk to the edge of the park passed mansion after mansion, a Gail’s and a lovely pedestrianised traffic calming zone. The park reminded me of Finsbury park but flat, with a wide carriage circle style drive, a lake/pond in the middle, plenty of facilities like tennis courts and playgrounds, and toilet block handily close to the start of the parkrun.

The purple pop up on arrival, one of the selfie frames, the view of the start area and the flag.

We got into the park at around 8:35, so it was nice to not need to rush- we found the start, took pop up pictures, went to the toilets, found a bench of trust to leave our bags and listened to the first timers welcome. We were excited to find the old selfie frames too, so of course took advantage of more photo ops!

It was a busy parkrun, but it didn’t feel too overwhelming. The route is three flat laps on the wide road, so apart from the first few hundred metres where people were still getting into sort of speed order, it was not congested at all.

A few pictures taken while I was running and the finish funnel cones– I also took a photo of my watch as I was quite surprised by my time- 28 something!

I was (and am) still getting over a cold, so did not want to push too hard, but of course the temptation when it’s flat is to just go for it. I enjoyed running and the laps seem to tick by fairly quickly. The park was varied so there was lots to look at (including some bit metal sculptures that looked like pretzels- I spent some time wondering what they were for). At one point I did have to speed up as the guy in front of me kept spitting on the floor (how gross) and the guy behind me was breathing so heavily and noisily, grunting and groaning and making weird horse noises (Toast of London anyone?) so I wanted to get away from those people if possible!

Before long I was heading into their double funnel- this was not like other double funnels I’ve been in as were were colour coded (blue or orange) and they were giving out tokens to both queues at the same time (there was someone with a clicker who was counting, so they must have divided up the tokens in advance)- lots of the people who finished behind me were directed into the funnel next to me and given their tokens before I reached the end of the funnel I was in. Clever stuff.

We both loved the smiley face on the run briefing sign! Our traditional pose with us both by the pop up, plus the pop up and token photo. You can’t see here but we were accidentally twinning with grey leopard print leggings and green milestone t-shirts!

After finishing I waited for Branka by the pop up- I ended up taking lots of photos for various people (as you do) and of course it meant they could take pictures of us when we were ready.

Once all the photos were sorted, we walked back to the station and went back to London Bridge, and then popped out to Borough Market to visit Bird and Blend for a tea- the perfect drink after a parkrun! I had a chocolate digestives tea latte (I was deciding between that and a matcha latte for ages), and Andy had requested that I went to the Crosstown truck to get doughnuts so we went there too, before getting a pastry from Pret for our journey home. It was such a lovely morning- great to visit a new parkrun, great to spend time with Branka and great to have some time for parkfaffing after.

Doughnuts from Crosstown (buy two and share them both is what we do), The Shard as seen from Borough Market, vegan croissant for the journey home and a tea latte.

That was parkrun number 396 for me (that 400 is getting close now!), 128th parkrun location and 30th London one (out of 65 currently but of course that will keep going up). Another purple chunk- see below!

So, which London one is next? Both Branka and Holly are now on slight limits as they have chosen dates and locations for their Cowells (100 different events) so can’t go to many new events between now and those summer dates. We do have a few London ones booked in together, and there are a few that they have done that I have not (such as Victoria Dock) which I am sure I can persuade my dad to come along to. So we shall see. Next weekend is a close to home parkrun as we have afternoon plans locally, and I can’t plan any further ahead than that right now!

Brighton Half Marathon 2025

I’ve completed this race so many times now, I really do enjoy it. Any excuse for a reason for a weekend in Brighton is good by me, but the course is always good (running by the sea) and the support is always fantastic from the locals.

This time the weather was pretty amazing- sunny with a gentle breeze. It had been frosty on the Saturday morning, but it was not frosty on Sunday. Andy was running this year too, which meant I took a jacket to tie around my waist so I had something to wear at the end, as usually he would meet me at the finish with another layer to put on. I get cold very quickly when I stop so I knew I’d need something and didn’t want to use the bag drop. After not wearing sunglasses to parkrun the previous morning, I knew I would wear them for this run, and at the last minute decided on a visor too- I was glad of both of these as it was so sunny the entire time.

The race had a new start/finish area on Hove Lawns this year, which worked so much better than the previous start area of Madeira Drive- there is a lot of work going on restoring the arches at Madeira Drive so I think that was why, but the Hove Lawns area was so much wider. Often it is so congested and it’s hard to get past the queues of people at the port-a-loos, and it can take a good 30 mins to get out of the finish area. This year was a lot better so I hope they keep it in the future.

Back to the morning- our hotel was less than a mile walk along the seafront to the start, so we left the hotel at around 8:45 with the race starting at 9:30. We were not using the bag drop or anything, so just had to get into our start pens before it began. On the walk we saw some people riding penny farthings- I remembered seeing them last year out on the route while I was running it, so this must be some sort of tradition!

*The penny farthings, before the start, heading to Hove Lawns*

Andy is a quicker runner than I am, but we started in the same pen so we could chat up until the start. I decided to let the runners go so I stood to one side (I was in the sub 2 hour pen, which was not a time I would be running! I have done that once but it’s probably a never again!)- I didn’t fancy being swept up by all the faster runners.

The route covered pretty much the same ground, but in a different order. Previously you head east along the coast first, then do the out and back in the city centre, and finish by heading out to Hove and back.

*A few pictures from the route, and Joe Wilkinson starting off the race (before joining at the back- I saw him at one of the out and back sections too)*

This year, we ran into the town first, then headed east along the coast (this is the trickiest bit as it’s uphill and the road has quite a camber), back to the centre, then you had a small out and back along Madeira Drive, you then ran along west towards Hove, and then looped around to head to the finish. Usually when you turn at Hove you have a parkrun to go, but this time it was around 1.5 miles so I quite liked that we were closer to the finish at this point.

I’d looked at my time from last year and decided to aim for a similar time- between 2:10 and 2:15 would be realistic. This meant I needed to hover around 10 minute miles, so every now and then I would glance at my watch and I was always below that pace. I think starting in the faster pen meant I got a bit swept along with all the speedier runners.

I enjoyed the out and back sections- if you know someone running it’s always fun to look out for them. Andy saw me as I was heading up the coast, and I saw him at Madeira Drive, so that was nice. I enjoyed seeing the various supporter signs, running club vests and of course just looking out to sea and enjoying the views.

I usually get a drink at the turn around point, but realised after not having anything at the penultimate one that because the start and finish had moved, the water stations were in different places. I was struggling a bit by the time I got into Hove, and made myself stop and walk and drink the whole cup of water- this was at the 11 mile mark. Around this point we were all held back for a few moments while bin lorries drove across the course- it was a bit confusing as marshals were stopping us but other people were shouting “keep going”- I think they were supporters just being encouraging, but after running 11 miles and being tired it wasn’t easy to register what was going on!

Anyway, after the water I felt a bit better (I had a very dry throat, which I put down to being thirsty, but in fact this week I lost my voice and am now getting a bit of a cold, so I think that was actually what was happening with my throat there) and as we turned it was around 1.5 miles to go. I enjoyed this bit, looking at the beach huts, thinking about the parts of Hove Prom parkrun that we were running on, and soon we were being directed into the finish chute. This was actually quite a long chute so I was very relieved when we finally got under the finish arch. My official time was 2:11:06 so I am very pleased with that (last year was 2:13:59). Looking at my splits only miles 11 and 12 were in the tens- where I walked to have some water and then took a while to get going again, the rest were sub 10 min miles.

*Medal, pancakes with tofu scramble and blueberries (we shared this as we knew we’d have an early dinner) and the sea*

I should have put my jacket on right away, but instead I got my medal, can of water and banana, and then wandered about trying to find a good place to take a photo (as it was so crowded). Andy had messaged to say he was back at the hotel, and I had decided to head into Bird and Blend to get a tea for the walk back. After taking a photo I was just soooooo cold. I put my jacket on but that was probably too late, and then in B&B there was a bit queue so I had to wait ages for them to make my drink.

I made sure I stretched while I was standing and waiting at least!

*Pavilion seen during our post half marathon walk, Nowhere Man mirror (for the best pancakes), B&B tea and marmite fries.*

After a shower in the hotel we headed out to get some pancakes (for who knows what- brunch/ lunch?), and then a bit later on we had the star of the weekend, marmite waffle fries from Oowee! We stayed until the Monday, so we had a nice seafront walk in the morning before heading home- very nice not to have to rush back on the same day.

All in all, a great weekend. I’ve not signed up to 2026 just yet, but I am sure it won’t be long before I do!

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.