Holyrood parkrun – what a treat!

I absolutely love going to Edinburgh and have had many happy times there, both with and without parkruns. I’ve been to both Portobello parkrun and Edinburgh parkrun before, and when Holyrood parkrun started it was on my list as I’ve been there to run and it’s just so scenic.

We drove up via York on the Thursday night, and then up to Edinburgh on the Friday. We parked the car on the outskirts of the city (booking a car park space) by a tram and train stop, and then got the train in, so we had not car for the weekend, but you don’t need it as Edinburgh is fab to explore by foot. We were there until Monday so plenty of time to spend in the city.

I’d slightly twisted my ankle the week before so had rested it and tried a few walks, but no running as I really wanted to be able to spend time sightseeing, but also I really wanted to take part in parkrun on the Saturday. My jog there from the hotel was about a mile and a half, and I ran/walked it, enjoying the scenery and listening to a podcast. My ankle felt fine so I was happy that I’d be OK to run rather than walk it (which of course is an option but just delays breakfast!).

Of course once I arrived I just could not stop taking photos. It is such a stunning location with Arthur’s Seat in the background.

The scenic start line and the purple pop up and flag

I was there ahead of the first timers welcome with plenty of time to get photos by the purple pop up, as I was meeting Andy at the breakfast place after so would not hang about too much at the finish.

I had been warned about the elevation- you basically run one lap but it’s a mile uphill, then a mile of flat, then a mile downhill, although you finish slightly uphill again so save some energy for that! The first timers welcome shared that, and mentioned how they encouraged walkers too. It felt very friendly.

Toad crossing signs, the very busy start, the beautiful yellow gorse bushes and the lake at the top

I couldn’t hear anything at the main briefing and didn’t even realise that it had started. I chatted to a local guy for a bit before he stopped to walk, and that was good as it meant I didn’t set off too fast. I’m used to courses with undulations (Panshanger and Jersey Farm are both up and down courses) but running a mile uphill is very different to short up and down sections. As it was curved you couldn’t see the next part of the course and I kept thinking that it must be the top, but no, it kept going. It was however absolutely stunning. The forecast rain had stayed away, but with the darker skies it looked even more dramatic. Once at the top the course went around a lake, so up ahead I could see all the runners reflected in the surface. Then the downhill started- I got overtaken more there than anywhere else. I’m not the best at steep downhill anyway, but with my ankle I needed to be even more careful. I just loved the views- if you looked to the left and slightly behind you could see the sea, you could see all the monuments on Calton Hill, it was all there.

I was so happy to be running again after a week off, and then the views on the downhill section

Once finished I got a few more photos before heading to breakfast.

Purple pop up pictures

There were 445 participants that day- it’s a popular one but after the first part it thinned out quickly so it can take that number of people.

You can see the elevation below- they have a chart on the FAQ section of their facebook page too- be prepared!

After the photos, I ran/walked to Loudon’s where Andy had booked us breakfast- he was walking from the hotel and met me there. They do delicious vegan pancakes so of course that is what I had.

Then we had a wonderful few days in Edinburgh. It was super windy (up to 50mph) due to a storm, so all the gardens were closed, as well as the botanical gardens, and we didn’t think a walk up Arthur’s Seat was advisable in that weather so spent more time in the centre instead, going to a museum, visiting Bird and Blend and of course enjoying all the amazing vegan food options available.

A windy walk in Edinburgh/ sunshine in the park/ pancakes at Loudon’s

It was coming up to Andy’s birthday so the Buttermint matcha was something he chose for a birthday treat.

Black Rabbit vegan cinnamon and Biscoff buns (heavenly), Bird and Blend matcha, the amazing tea chest in their store, and our purchases!

All in all, a fantastic weekend in Edinburgh. I’m so glad I got to experience Holyrood parkrun, it really is special because the scenery is so amazing. Definitely one to add to your list if it’s not already on there.

For me it was parkrun 353, course number 111, my third Scottish and my third Edinburg one!

Is Holyrood on your list?

Medina IOW parkrun- the parkrun with the most courses?

For the Easter weekend we were off to the Isle of Wight, and hooray, there is one parkrun on the Isle of Wight (Medina IOW), so guess where I’d be on the Saturday morning!

Now, Medina IOW is known for being a bit rogue as they seem to have many locations and many courses. I did email the team to check, as they are not that active on facebook, and it says to check the news page for the current location but I could not see anything referring to it on the course page. The team were very helpful at replying, telling me that the current course page was correct. It definitely was correct for the location, but see below for what I thought I was running:

And then compare it to what I actually ran:

Slightly different! I did think it was strange that there was no mention of a second lap in the first timers welcome, but then I thought I must have remembered the course wrong.

Anyway, back to Friday- parkrun preparation included eating lots of delicious vegan food in Cafe Thrive (in Southampton), having a walk around the park while Andy was at football, and then getting the ferry over on the Friday night. I know some people would do the trip in the morning but I would be quite stressed by that, plus you had to be at the ferry terminal an hour before, and it then takes an hour, so that’s an early start.

Delicious salad for lunch, hot cross bun cookies, chai latte and a magnolia in the sunshine

The Isle of Wight is pretty small, so although our hotel was on the south of the island, and the parkrun was back where the ferry docked, it was only around a 20 minute journey in the morning. Andy came with me as we had our eye on a breakfast place after, close to the parkrun start.

Finding the parkrun signs is always a bonus! The briefing area by the leisure centre, the purple pop up and a tree covered in blossom by the finish area.

It was such a beautiful spring day with beautiful blue skies. I ran through the park and was happy to find arrows and the finish area quickly, but everyone seemed to be heading up to the leisure centre, and this was where the first timers welcome and main run briefing were held before walking to the start. The main briefing was a long one, with the ED playing a song from the olympics over a tannoy to inspire everyone with their run, and then there were many thanks and milestones and other arbitrary things. By the time we had walked to the start line it was nearly 9:10 so messaged Andy to let him know we were about to start, as I thought he would wonder otherwise, (although he had no phone reception so he didn’t even get my message).

The route started with a lap of the field, before heading along the river for an out and back section, and then retracing your steps around the field again. It was pretty flat, but the section by the river had very uneven ground (which we were warned about in the briefing)- the path had been created with the hexagonal plastic grid sheeting, and filled with gravel, only most of the gravel was gone so you were running on the edges of the sheeting, and it had cracked in places so you had to look carefully at all times to check your footing. I would have preferred to have my trail shoes on as they have thicker soles so are easier on ground like this.

The out and back section was narrow and we had to keep to one side as other runners were already heading back. Once the tail walker had passed it was OK to overtake runners when needed, but it was a busy course, a bit like Maidstone where you feel like it should be fast because it’s flat, but it isn’t really because of the number of people. I did like that it had such a welcoming atmosphere and lots and lots of walkers as well as runners. As it was the Easter weekend, lots of the volunteers had various Easter hats or bunny ears on and we were even offered sweets at the finish line.

After the standard purple pop up selfie attempt, when someone usually takes pity on me and offers to take my photo, I walked back to the leisure centre to get my jacket from the tarpaulin of trust, and then walked back through the park to meet up with Andy and to get some breakfast. Although he hadn’t got my message, he realised that he hadn’t seen any runners go past for a while so had worked out it had started late.

So that was my 110th different parkrun course, and 352nd parkrun overall. It was very enjoyable and if I ever decide to work on all the parkruns in Hampshire (Champshire?) then I have one of the more difficult to get to ones ticked off.

Acai bowl, the port, pancakes and a Mermaid matcha

We went to Peach Cafe in Newport- a vegan cafe with lots of delicious options and amazing looking cakes on display. We shared an acai bowl and pancakes topped with scrambled tofu and smoked coconut (I think meant to imitate bacon), plus a matcha and some tea. I was very excited to see that they served Bird and Blend matcha- especially Mermaid matcha which has been discontinued. It was really good, but it was fairly slow service and I was sitting there staring at the pastries the whole time, so I ended up buying a chocolate hazelnut croissant to have later- maybe that’s their tactic?

Views of the coast, posing by the needles, NT tearoom and more coastal scenes

The weather was beautiful so we headed over to The Needles (along with everyone else- we sat in a queue for the car park for around 45 minutes)- we enjoyed a long walk along the coast and up to the lighthouse and were very excited to find a National Trust tearoom still open as we hadn’t had lunch. They were doing hot cross bun scones (their fruit scones are vegan and the guy checked and these ones were too) so of course we had to get those.

We stayed until the Monday so it was good to make the most of going there and seeing lots of the island, which is definitely my preferred way of parkrun touristing- I’d like to be somewhere that happens to have a parkrun, or go to a parkrun and then spend time there seeing what else is there. I think we definitely visited most of the vegan cafes on the IOW while we were there!

Does your local parkrun have different courses? St Albans is trialling a new one at the moment as the lake is so often flooded, and Panshanger has a “cow” course for when the cows are in one of the fields, but both of these start at the same place as the regular courses do.