vegan food - Maria Runs

Charlton parkrun- 6 trains!

This Saturday had been earmarked for train tourism as Andy had the car for the day, so Branka and I decided to head to Charlton parkrun to continue on our Lon-done quest.

I needed to get three trains (changing at Finsbury Park and Farringdon- there was an alternative route changing at FP and then London Bridge) and my first train was before 7am. In the end I drove to the station and texted Andy so he knew where it was parked, so he walked to collect it on his way (his suggestion) as otherwise it would have been an even earlier start to allow time to walk to the station.

I met Branka on my second train as when I got on at Finsbury Park she was already on the train, so that worked out well and we could do the rest of the journey together. (What wasn’t so good was that Branka accidentally left her phone on a previous train so we then had to call it and find out where it was and ask for it to be handed in).

Charlton station/ the house in Charlton park/ the cafe decorated with Tudor royalty plus QE2

The park was about half a mile from the station, but a very simple walk up a hill and into the park next to the very grand looking house. The toilets in the park were open, and as we arrived we saw the team setting up. At this point we called the lost phone and heard it being handed in to a member of staff (the guy who found the phone was so kind and helpful) so Branka at least knew her phone wasn’t going any further away and could be collected after parkrun.

Their noticeboard and our pop up pic

We admired their notice board, took pop up photos and I was very annoyed at myself for forgetting my sunglasses. When taking our photo I couldn’t even look at the phone screen to see where the button was or to check we were both in the photo- definitely more luck than judgement! We liked how the pop up was lined up with the house in the background.

Main briefing

The first timers welcome was really friendly, and then during the main briefing they explained that as their team volunteer during the London marathon, they have one place to give away, and this was the day they pulled a name from a hat.

Solo pop up photo/ views from the parkrun including London skyscrapers in the distance

Then it was time to begin. We walked together and enjoyed the route- it’s three flat laps, mainly on grass, and you could see most of the parkrun from wherever you were (apart from a small wooded area).

You went closer to the house towards the end of the lap, and along one side it was very shaded under the big trees. I imagine it could be a quagmire in winter but at the end of a dry summer it was firm and flat. It was enjoyable to walk and chat (with me wittering on trying to distract Branka from worrying about her phone). If you looked in the distance beyond the trees you could see some of the London skyscrapers (possibly Canary Wharf area?).

Mid parkrun view/ The view of the finish area as we began our final lap/ token

After finishing we didn’t hang about as of course we needed to get back on the trains although we did briefly chat to the RD as the team were really friendly. We walked back down the hill to the station and then got a train back to London Bridge, as Branka had to go to Gatwick to get her phone and this was where I could find trains going from.

Highbury and Islington park/ me on my final train of the day/ breakfast and then a matcha by Islington town hall (the red bus was transport for a wedding that was going on there)

I went to get some breakfast by London Bridge (Ole and Steen do an amazing vegan cinnamon slice), heard from Branka that she got her phone back (hooray!) and then got the underground to Angel to have a wander along Upper Street. I collected my free matcha from Bird and Blend, and got some cookies from a little vegan bakery before walking along to Highbury and Islington. When I got there and looked up the train times, it was about 30 mins away so I went for a walk around another parkrun location (Highbury and Islington)- although I did one lap rather than 5! After a longer train back, I then had the final walk back from the station (as Andy was still out with the car) so I think I got home at about 3pm!

Voronoi update:

Stats:

parkrun 465 and location 165

44/65 (currently) London events visited

Coldham’s Common parkrun, Cambridge

As we were in Cambridge for Friday night, I looked up the nearest parkrun and it turned out to be Coldham’s Common, one I had not been to before. It was 1.7miles from the hotel, so a nice distance for a parkrun sandwich but also meant I could be back early enough for a shower and breakfast before checkout without feeling rushed.

I was surprised when I got to the common (the route there was along a main road, then past an industrial estate before getting to the common) to have to walk over cattle grids and to then see a load of cows in the field. It turned out it was a proper old fashioned common.

Brooks were also there, with people having reserved trainers to try out during parkrun, so the start area was busy.

Cows on the common and the Brooks stand

Before the start, I ended up chatting to a couple of tourists from Wanstead Flats parkrun- it’s always good to chat about the random challenges and have someone else understand why you head off to different events and complete these arbitrary challenges!

Pop up photo and the view as everyone headed off around the first field

After the pop up photo, it was time for the first timers welcome (2 laps- mind the rabbit holes) and then onto the main briefing. Despite the large number of people (417) the briefing was well-listened to and I could hear all the milestones and announcements.

The course was as if you were running around the outside of an hourglass (around the right of the field, through the gap, around the other field, back through the gap and then around the left of the field) so there were no cross over points but you could see people from wherever you were which I liked. I managed to not get lapped which is always good on a two lap course!

The route is very flat with only a few short up and down sections (as if you are going down into a ditch or something like that) but there were plenty of rabbit holes (as we had been warned) and tree roots, so you did have to watch your footing. It was an overcast day so I was enjoying being outside and not being instantly baked by the sun. The course had a small wooded section but other than that it is very exposed so it would be tough on a sunny day.

Finish token/ small shaded area and the second field

I didn’t hang around when I had finished at all as I was keen to get back for breakfast. I did impress myself however by getting back to the hotel without using google maps at all- go me!

Andy had popped out to get us breakfast (some lovely vegan Chelsea buns from Fitzbillies) and once showered we checked out and headed into Cambridge for some more touristing (and of course a matcha from Bird and Blend)

Matcha latte from Bird and Blend/ pop up selfie at the finish (people token sorting behind me)

Voronoi update:

Not a big chunk added as there are lots of other parkruns around the outskirts of Cambridge.

That was parkrun 464 and location 164 for me- I quite like that that numbers line up in that way.

Up next? Hopefully something else for Lon-Done, and fairly soon a weekend in (or near) Manchester, so the plan is for a parkrun up there too.

Keeping it local- from zero parkfaff to extended waffling

The last two weeks have been local parkruns, for two different reasons.

Week 1- walking at Stanborough parkrun. Andy and I were off to London for a Jet Lag The Game premiere which started at midday. (I initially thought it started at 1, and my dad was going to drive me to and from Panshanger so I could have a quick shower and turnaround- however this was not possible with the 12 start)- the plan was that I would get up early and showed, walk to Stanborough, parkwalk it, then get picked up my Andy on the way to the station. It was a bit stressful but it all worked out well in the end.

Happily, Branka was already planning on being there (she was also going to the Jet Lag event but a bit later), as well as club mate Emily who was parkwalking, and then Danny from the With Me Now podcast was there. He did the first timers briefing which we listened to as Emily was considering offering to do this role in the future and wanted to see what it was like. Of course we got told off my Danny (in a jokey way) as he knew we were not first timers here!

Can you spot us in the first timers welcome photo? And pop up fun with Branka

All three of us in green! And the view of the start area when I first arrived

Stanborough is three laps, and I didn’t know how it would be as a walking one, but I really enjoyed it, with the three of us had a lovely chat on the way around. Lovely Lynne (from Birchwood juniors- and Danny’s mum) was marshalling and cheered us as we passed her (“Branka! Branka! Maria! Maria! Emily! Emily!”). I was carrying my tote bag with change of clothes- I would usually leave a bag on the tarpaulin of trust but for some reason (maybe because I had a different bag rather than my usual parkrun rucksack) I didn’t, so when we passed Danny after our second lap he asked me what was in it and suggested I leave it with them rather than carry it for the third lap- I said I would but said I really had to go straight away!

Token and a photo from parkrun down to Haribo Dave

As it’s fairly flat (there is a hill in each lap but not too bad when walking) I managed to finish in just over 51 mins giving me time to grab my bag from Lynne, have the briefest of chats and rush to the toilets to get changed. Andy picked me up at 10am and we got to St Albans train station with 5 mins to spare ahead of our 10:27 train. Perfect!

A photo of Ben on the stairs/ Ali Plumb (BBC film critic who hosted the Q&A), Adam, Ben, Sam and Tom on the stage after the premiere, and my excited face by the entrance!

The Picturehouse cinema had gone all out with Jet Lag branding and the day was great with a quiz hosted by the three of them, a podcast recording, director’s commentary on their first Tag season, the finale and then a Q&A with them after. As you can see by my expression I was very excited! Anyway, I was glad to have still managed to fit a parkrun in, especially as August is an empty month for me and I have many dates to fill for date bingo, including that date.

Week 2: Branka, Holly and I had planned to meet at Rothamsted Park parkrun as although we had all been, the three of us had not been there together. Plus, very close to the parkrun is The Waffle House which is a perfect parkfaff location.

Pop up photo– the person taking our photo suggested we turn around to show the backs of our t-shirts as we each had a different milestone top on- Holly’s has her Cowell (100 events) listed and mine is my parkrun alphabet (as there are 25 possible letters).

Scenes from parkrun- I love seeing the stream of colourful runners ahead/ finish token

It was a gorgeous but hot day- I ran with Holly and it was very enjoyable to catch up but it was tough in the heat as there isn’t much shade and the avenue that you run up (4 times) is quite steep at the top! After we finished and took our pop up photos, we walked around the corner for our parkfaff location. There were tables inside but it was the perfect temperature in the shade outside, so we opted for that.

Pop up photo and waffle!

They offer a vegan waffle as an option, and some of the toppings are vegan- this time I opted for banana with blueberry compote plus an iced oat matcha. We spent ages catching up and chatting- some more parkrun plans are materialising too.

Brook Leys parkrun

After a couple of weeks of staying local (Panshanger one week, Jersey Farm the next) I was happy to be off touring again, this time with my dad. We opted for Brook Leys parkrun outside of Cambridge as it was around a 45 min drive away (not too far), the parking was easy (park and ride) and the course looked pretty by the lake.

We arrived in plenty of time and followed a few people in parkrun gear out of the car park and along the road to where it starts (there were also street signs showing Brook Leys)- it was about a half a mile walk so nice and close. We were admiring the buildings on the way (they had lovely tiles on them) and as we were chatting about them one of the volunteers explained that the housing in the estate was mainly for researchers and academics who worked at the uni.

Post run pop up photo/token/ wildflowers seen by the park and ride

The first timers welcome volunteer explained the course in detail (along with a large map)- there was a section where you ran around the lake, and then an out and back section on a path, and you alternated (lake- path-lake-path-lake). I was picturing the lake at Millennium but it was of course way smaller and harder to spot at times due to the large reeds. More of a large pond than a lake I would say.

You had to keep left around the lake (both beginning with L handily) and right for the rest of the course (both R), so that was easy to remember.

Buildings seen on the way/ parkrun flag/ Start area/ buckets for tokens

We didn’t expect it to be quite as busy as it was (the buckets out for tokens up to 500 should have been a clue!) and as it was not too busy during the first timers welcome it was funny to turn back around and see how full the start area was. We lined up and tried to seed ourselves (and even looked for signs for approximate finish time) but didn’t see any- it turned out they were on the right of the path and we were on the left hand side so didn’t see them at all. The briefing was useful as they mentioned the benches on the course too- the team had put high viz on them but wanted to make everyone aware as the first lap would be crowded- and also reminded people about taking the corners gently as the gravel meant that people could skid over easily- not something for us to worry about today as it was so warm, but good to be aware of.

Pre-run pop up photo- the whiteboard pen had dried up so no writing on the board for us/ a few mid run scenes

It did start off fairly busy but nothing as congested as some get, and it did thin out quite quickly. I was hoping for more shade (just picturing other lakeside runs) but it was pretty exposed for the most part. The out and back section was on pavements by buildings so part of that was shaded by the buildings, and there were a few sections with taller trees. One marshal had an umbrella which seemed like an excellent decision.

The shade of the buildings/ the large mirror/ high viz bench

There was also a large reflective block next to the lake- not sure if it was art or something else? We could see ourselves reflected in it (a bit like the bean in Chicago). The lake had a viewing platform next to it and we could see people going up there to look- we saw a heron and cormorant from the path and I am sure there were lots of other birds in there too.

Shade by the buildings/ the viewing tower by the lake/ beautiful purple flowers (and the marshal with the umbrella)

There was also a bank covered in beautiful purple flowers along one side of the path by the lake. I really enjoyed it- yes it is flat so it is a fast course, but it was also varied with the two sections that you ran around, and neither section felt particularly long (sometimes out and backs can feel like they drag on a bit).

The finish area set up was perfect for not losing tokens as after you exited the funnel you had to pass through a sort of wall of scanners, who then said to you “remember to put your token in the bucket” each time (well done to them!).

Almond croissant at home for breakfast/ parkfaff location in the shade/ post run pop up photo

After scanning we had a few more photos- my dad ended up taking photos for probably about 6 groups of people before we managed to inch away from the pop up and get out things. I had taken my rucksack with me which had our water bottles in, and we were both very glad that we had them with us and had not left them in the car. We couldn’t see an obvious cafe where we were, but we’d seen people with coffee cups and one of the volunteers said that if we headed into the main square we would see a few cafes, so we walked there and enjoyed a drink outside, cooling down in the shade for a bit before walking back to the car (I had breakfast at home as we had ordered some amazing vegan croissants for the weekend).

Voronoi update:

It’s quite satisfying when you join together two sections of your map. Dad had the same as he was joining Wimpole and Milton Country while I have joined Wimpole to Bug Hunter Waters and then Ben’s Yard.

The parkrun app had updated the challenges this week (they had renamed challenges that were named after people, so the Cowell club (100 events, named after Chris Cowell who was first to complete 100 events) is now Explorer 100 (which just makes me think of Up) and again it’s now Explorer 250. But the update that I liked was that when you get the notification about your “achievements” (towards challenges) on the app, rather than being a small fiddly button you could swipe between the main event stats and then any achievements, which I think is much clearer.

So that was parkrun 453 and event 157 and another very enjoyable one too.

Up next? Maybe another London one? The rail replacement buses have been out and about which has scuppered a few plans recently, but I am hoping to head back in soon to continue on the Lon-done quest.

Clare Castle parkrun to celebrate my 450th!

Due to various factors, I didn’t know that I’d be home for my 450th parkrun until the weekend before, so it was a bit of last minute planning. After finding out I’d be home I looked into some London ones (I really wanted to see some bluebell woods), however rail replacement buses at the weekend just made the journey to any new one a real faff, so I started looking at drivable ones instead. Branka moved some things around too and so she was coming with me to celebrate, and to make it a new event for us both (and a pretty one), Clare Castle was chosen.

It was about an hour drive from picking up Branka so not too bad, the traffic was good and when we arrived in the car park we could see the parkrun flag so we really could not get any closer to the start.

I had drawn and coloured a 450 logo and used race clips to attach it to my 50 top, but I didn’t want it to tear while I was driving so I changed in the back seat once we got there.

The visitors board, my 450 logo and my top

As we walked into the park we could see the ruins from the castle that was once there (it reminded me a bit of Berkhamsted castle), as well as some wooden sheep sculptures, old railway tracks and little wildlife areas. They had a visitors board so I added the two of us, and then soon after the volunteer gave the first timers welcome, explaining the course- it is three laps with each lap including an out and back section. There were lots of narrow paths so you needed to keep left- sometimes you’d be overtaken and other times you’d be having other parkrunners heading back towards you on the other side of the path.

Pop up photo (from before- do you like how our socks match our tops?) and the selfie frame which we found after

We took a few photos of course- the pop up had the castle behind so it was a great backdrop for the photos, and then it was time for the main run brief- as I’d written my milestone up on the board I got an unexpected shout out from the RD which was lovely. (Someone had on the board their 250th and I was briefly worried that I was overshadowing a real milestone but it turned out to be their 250th different event so that was OK!)

Photos of the course

Then we were off! We had been warned that it was narrow and would thin out, and definitely the first lap felt a little crowded. There were lots of tree roots (the team had marked lots of them with cones) and little uneven bits of ground, so although it was fairly flat, not a pb course because of the ground but also the narrow paths. I just loved it though. The park was so pretty, and each lap had a good variety of things to see (play parks, a river, wooded areas, the castle ruins)- there were lots of very enthusiastic marshals out too (wishing everyone a great weekend on their final laps).

The route:

The strava trace illustrates how we must not rely on GPS to measure accurately though (it said 3.09 on my watch but now says 3 miles)- each lap was identical but the tracing is all over the place due to the twists and also the trees.

More photos from the course

It was a warm day and I was very glad of the shady parts of the route. At one point I went past a parkwalker and they said to me “well done- only another 6 months to go!”- I think it’s going to be about 13 months until my 500th!

Token/ finish area/ Found the selfie frame

The finish area was compact with the scanners at the end of the funnel (I just had time to take my routine photo of my barcode before it was scanned) and then I noticed the ‘selfie frame’ so of course had to have a photo. Loads of people were hanging about chatting and cheering, it had such a good atmosphere. Branka actually managed to take the photo with us both in the frame so we can call it a selfie frame when she is using it!

I did look at the cafe on site, but the only vegan options were chilli (not sure I fancied that for breakfast) or a pre-wrapped flapjack, so we decided to head to Vutie Beets on the way back instead.

Pop up photo after so that it actually happened/ Breakfast bap and mango matcha

The journey back home wasn’t much longer than the way there (a little traffic by Duxford)- a bit easier than any M25 parkrun that always seems to take twice as long getting back from. We managed to have our breakfast baps before midday anyway!

Voronoi update:

As you can see I have some big gaps around Cambridge, so at some point I need to visit some of those events to join up some of the orange squash.

So event 450 completed at location 156! And what a pretty event it was too.

Obviously it’s a while away, but I have started thinking about my 500th.

My participation milestones (official and arbitrary) so far have been:

50th- Panshanger

100th- Ellenbrook Fields

250th- Henlow Bridge Lakes

300th- Church Mead

350th- Lee on the Solent

400th- Victoria Dock

450th- Clare Castle

So, no discernible pattern apart from no repeats (and HBL for 250 was because EF hadn’t come back- if EF was still going it would have been there).

Where do you go for milestones?