Author Archives: Lolly

Lolly’s 2019 running reflections

by Lolly

I’m not entirely sure how it’s the end of December already, but it is and so it seems a good time to reflect on the past year as I plan for the year ahead. It’s certainly been a strange year for me in terms of running, lots of meh but also plenty of spectacular highlights.

I didn’t officially write down any goals for the year, but in practice they were:

Beat my long-standing parkrun PB
Get a friend to run their first parkrun
Visit 12 new-to-us parkrun events
Do the Somerset Series
Make running a habit (again)

Beat my long-standing parkrun PB

Straight in with one of the undeniable highlights of my year. Right back in January I went to Burnham and Highbridge parkrun and somehow achieved what I thought I was still months off. The write up of that morning was also one of my favourite blog posts of the year.

Get a friend to run their first parkrun

Or even better, get more than one friend to run their first parkrun. I took some of my colleagues through Couch to 5k at the start of the year, at the end of which I was able to introduce them to Longrun Meadow parkrun. And they’re still speaking to me as well!

Visit 12 new-to-us parkrun events

We made it to 13, so definite tick here. More would have been nice, particularly with the momentum we had at the start of the year, but tourism is always a compromise in this house.

And what would tourism be without a family start line selfie?

Do the Somerset Series

This is where it goes downhill a bit. I tried to make this work, and worked with Ben to get a schedule that fit both of us. I pushed myself to do some races I normally wouldn’t consider, and even got a very painful 5k PB at Yeovilton. But skipping out on a few options early on left me needing to do the Mells Scenic 7 and Brent Knoll to get enough in, and I wasn’t well enough to run Mells. I would say there’s always next year, but I think this is a goal I’ll park for a little while.

Make running a habit (again)

Ohhhh wow. I failed so badly here. My monthly mileage chart looks bad enough, with its gradual climb through the year, but when you see the scale it’s flipping awful. As Ben has pointed out, in each of 3 months I ran less miles than he would consider the minimum for a satisfactory week. Total mileage for the year 337, and that includes a lot of running to assist other people.

Anyway, goal analysis out the way, here’s the other highlights from a year that had a surprising amount of good packed into its low mileage.

New 10k PB

I put a lot of pressure on myself to be ready for the Glastonbury 10k, and was a massive bag of nerves that morning. Everything clicked together at the right time, and the race that saw my first sub-60 back in 2015 got my new PB in 2019.

The angle of my front foot makes me wince

Sub-30 buggy parkrun

This was a huge milestone for me, as before this year I didn’t consider myself much of a ‘proper’ buggy runner. And my very first sub-30 was at the stunning Eden Project, which had the added boost of knowing I’d managed the hills well.

CiRF

Or Coach in Running Fitness for the uninitiated, which is what I have officially been since the start of June. Not going to lie, I found it tough going and decided I was going to drop out multiple times, but I’m glad I stuck with it as it’s really helped with…

Beginners Groups

Back in March I volunteered to take over running the beginners groups at my club (Running Forever Running Club). The two groups I’ve run so far have been a big confidence boost in a year where self-belief has been in short supply. And I love chatting to group graduates at club night or parkrun and hearing how their running is going.

Tamar Trails parkrun

I ran 36 parkruns this year, and every single one was an achievement or learning experience of some kind. But I need to single out Tamar Trails on my personal achievements for the year, because it’s something that 12 months ago I wouldn’t have thought I could do, and I did it at a crazy time. After a month when I’d missed parkrun every week, and really getting inside my head, I ran a tough trail course, with a buggy, in a storm. And when I finished that run I really felt like I could achieve anything.

Mini running buddy

I hate to end with a cliche, but some of my truly proudest runs this year have been running with Lani. There was her 10th parkrun at Severn Bridge, the “I don’t want to run” turned PB at Torbay Velopark, and the pure joy of running at her 50th junior parkrun. And set apart from the milestones, the girl who used to run at Heavitree every week in winter to avoid puddles became the girl who ran straight through near knee-deep puddles on Christmas Day.

Team Awesome strike again! (Photo from Longrun Meadow parkrun Facebook)

So, no pressure 2020, but your highlights reel has a lot to live up to.

parkrun tourism: Clevedon Salthouse Fields parkrun

by Lolly

I don’t know what it is about winter, but for some reason a lot of our touring seems to happen in the dark, cold and miserable months. Having floated through most of the year, suddenly we found ourselves creating tourism plans for November and December. This weekend we needed to be in Taunton at 11am, so we needed one of those magical events that is less than an hour away; oh and buggy friendly of course. Happily, just such an event started in September.

Clevedon Salthouse Fields parkrun takes place in Clevedon Salthouse Park and surrounding area. The easy drive from Taunton meant that, having left the house just after quarter to 8, we pulled up at half past 8. This was just as well, as we’d completely failed to read on the course page that the toilets cost 20p. So we popped down the road to Asda to use their toilets (which I feel justified doing given the small fortune I spend at Asda each week), and also noticed they have an instant photo printer by the tills (useful for forgotten barcodes).

Back at the park, we paid for our parking by app as usual (one day we will take coins to these things) and got set up. Ben took Lani to look at the marine lake, and re-iterated that she was not allowed to push him in it (unlike big puddles). Meanwhile KK and I made it round the park in time to hear the run briefing, which covered everything you could wish for, including emphasising the importance of things like not double-dipping in a friendly way. We all re-united on the way to the start.

A family group preparing to run — One day we’ll get good at this…

After a very audible countdown (thank you!) we were off. The first lap is a short trip around the main part of the park. The closed-off section of car park is nice and wide, with a couple of speed bumps that went down well with KK, but the rest of the lap involves narrow paths and sharp corners. I did look at going out onto the grass to overtake a couple of times, but it was completely sodden and so not worth it. We went past the station for the miniature railway, and apparently the train was out, but I was too busy focusing on not clipping ankles.

Once we’d completed 6 sides of the field, the clear signs directed us left onto the seafront, and down to the marine pool. The path runs right along the side of the pool, and the uninterrupted sea views are a massive contrast to the fairly typical park that was left behind. The path slopes back up at the end of the pool, and we re-joined the raised seafront path.

Marine lake and sea, as seen from upper promenade — Not just another puddle

The longest section of the lap is an out-and-back along this path, with plenty of views of the pier in the out section. Advice to keep left was made clear throughout, and repeated by each marshal. The path slopes down before the turnaround point, which was a clearly-signed hairpin round cones. Once I was back on the level path, I saw Lani and Ben heading the opposite way, so managed a high-5 as we passed.

A slope down takes you back to the main park, and the fastest runners were already heading right into the funnel as I got there. For me though there was another lap. The 3 sides of the grass were fine, but as I headed towards the marine pool I realised I was struggling. Happily the beautiful views gave me something to focus on, and I somehow dragged myself back up the slope. On the out-and-back I decided I would walk back up the slope, but of course by the time I got there I chose to focus on cheering other runners and found I got up no problem.

I passed Lani and Ben again as I sloped down towards the finish, and was sadly not feeling strong enough to take a hand off the buggy. Having been entirely tarmac the whole way round, the actual finish itself is on the grass, but thankfully it wasn’t too soggy. Stopping my watch I saw I’d taken a little over 32 minutes, which seemed a fairly accurate reflection of my fitness levels.

Three runners going past a skate park — How long has Lani been able to levitate?

The queue for scanning was really long, so having collected my token I took KK out the buggy and went to take some photos. Knowing we still had a few minutes left, I let KK have a little run around on the upper path. To my surprise, I then saw Lani and Ben running towards the finish. Lani beat her PB (from Torbay Velopark) by almost 4 minutes!

It was a shame that we had to go straight home, as there was an amazing food smell from somewhere, and a fantastic looking playpark. But we did have to get back to Taunton – albeit slightly late and via an obscure route thanks to the motorway closure.

Clevedon Salthouse Fields parkrun gets the best of two worlds with its location – both park and sea. The volunteers were amazing; such a supportive and welcoming team. The course was very accessible, and clearly PB friendly! Buggies will need to remember to be patient on lap 1, and it’s worth noting that dogs aren’t allowed. We’d all very much recommend this one, and we’ll definitely be heading back in future.

So… where next?

A family group in front of a sea view — With thanks to the guy who made sure to include the pier in photos for at least 4 groups of tourists

parkrun tourism: Tamar Trails parkrun

by Lolly

Since running at Torbay Velopark back in July, Tamar Trails parkrun has been the only event in Devon, and the only event south-west of Taunton, that we had yet to complete. And so in an attempt to rectify this, and have a family weekend away in a beautiful location at the same time, we made our very first Airbnb booking for the weekend at the end of half term.

During the week, it became clear that the weather fairies would not be in our favour, with weather warnings for wind and rain appearing across the South West. We arrived in Gunnislake on the Friday evening in less than desirable conditions, and spent the evening watching the ever-growing parkrun cancellations list. By the time we went to bed only two events in the extended area were still hoping to go ahead – Eden Project and… Tamar Trails.

After spending the night listening to rain hammering down, I was convinced that it was going to be cancelled on the day. So it was a bit of a shock at 7:50 when I refreshed my Facebook feed and saw that it was actually going ahead. Happily we were staying only a 5 minute drive (or 1 mile run if you don’t have two small children and a buggy) away. We easily found the car park, and after a slight panic on arrival realised we could pay for the parking by phone (disorganised family strikes again).

Family preparing to run — Ok, so not our best picture, but you should see the other attempts…

Tamar Trails parkrun is set, unsurprisingly, at Tamar Trails, which is a network of trails amongst the forest designed for cycling, running, walking and other outdoor activities. From the car park we followed the other runners towards the start – I believe we may have taken a longer route due to a fallen tree, but definitely allow a little time to get there. The run brief covered all the essentials – conditions underfoot were wet and muddy, course was mostly downhill except a kick at 2k and then 4k onwards. Everyone who ever speaks about Tamar Trails talks about the hill at the end, so that wasn’t much of a surprise.

We were all prepped for storm conditions, with KK kicking the unfamiliar rain cover and Lani wearing her splash suit over her running kit (“but how will they see my 10 top?”), but as we set off in the dry I wondered if we’d gone over the top. There were puddles right from the start, but the terrain was fairly solid as everyone worked into the correct positions. We’d decided way ahead of time that Ben would run with Lani and I’d have the buggy, and while Ben had offered to swap when we saw the conditions I decided it was a good opportunity to face some demons.

We quickly got to a short section of puddle-covered mud. The puddles were clearly the safest parts to run on, and while I slowed down both the buggy and I got through intact. I realised that running by myself I’d likely have tiptoed through that section, and so the 3 extra points of contact with the ground, along with pigheadedness, clearly did me some good. I later found out that Lani had completely lost her footing here, and if it wasn’t for Ben holding her hand she’d have faceplanted and their run would have been over near the start.

And then the storm appeared. Any thoughts of having over-dressed the kids were replaced with parental guilt, as the heavens opened and the visibility dropped. It was just a case of focus on how pretty the trees were and try to keep going – particularly as I’d forgotten my watch and so had no clue how far through I was.

The trees opened up, and the views and terrain changed to an old mine. I was surprisingly happy to see a hill (particularly given I had to walk it) as it meant we must be around 2k. There was a rare sighting of some marshals halfway up the hill, but with the rocky conditions I wasn’t even going to try to run past them. The views at the top were spectacular, if a bit hazy through the rain. As we re-entered the trees I saw some signs off to one side, which Ben later explained were markers for mountain bike routes.

A view of hills and trees — Ben took this later in the day; there was less visibility when we ran. Also, Lani pushed Ben into that puddle.

The next section was back to tree-lined trail path. I was lucky as despite the small turnout I was running near a couple of guys, so didn’t feel like I was going it alone. A marshal appeared in view down the path, and a glance to the left revealed we were about to be pointed round a hairpin to a big descent.

Long-time readers of this blog will know that off-road downhills are my biggest weakness. What makes them even harder is having a buggy that is determined to get down as fast as possible. Mostly I did a lot of quad-braking to try to remain in control. At one point I got a bit concerned, so gripped on the handbrake only to realise that when the wheels are wet and muddy that achieves nothing. Happily at that moment the trees opened up, and I saw the path was straight at the bottom of the hill, so I was able to stretch out and nearly enjoy the last bit of down.

And so we carried on along the trail paths, until reaching the marshal who pointed the way to the much-foretold final kilometre. I immediately slowed to a walk, and it has to be said it wasn’t the fastest of walks. The two guys quickly overtook me, as I had to squat down to get power to push the buggy. On a tarmac path it would have been fine, but this was pretty rocky, slippy off-road and so a whole other beast. A woman went past me, hobbling slightly but very complimentary about my efforts.

parkrun volunteers at the finish — Truly heroic hi-viz

Eventually the path veered to the right and flattened off, and I very much enjoyed stretching my legs to the end. Tip for parkruns everywhere – however tough your course is if you give people a good chance to sprint finish they’ll love it. The very soggy finish volunteers were super supportive. I checked my phone and had nothing from Ben, which meant they were still out on the course (as oppose to dropped out in the cafe).

Despite all the rocks, KK had fallen asleep in the buggy, so I stayed and chatted to the volunteers, cheering the next two runners in. And then a shout came out that the tail walker had been spotted. I looked down the path and saw the unmistakable pink of Lani’s splash suit, her trademark finish acceleration kicking in as soon as she spotted me.

A man and girl run on a forest path — I spy with my little eye, something beginning with L

It was a short walk down the path to barcode scanning, and then we continued across the car park to the cafe. Bacon rolls, toasted teacake, and a massive piece of victoria sponge were all very much enjoyed, before we headed back to our Airbnb to fight over the shower.

Although the weather was clearly not ideal, we all ended up having a great time visiting. The Autumn leaves, while slippy, were beautiful to see. The route was fairly straight forward to follow, but a few more signs would have been nice to confirm you’re still going the right way – particularly when running slowly it’s easy to notice every small path off to the side and wonder if you were supposed to take it.

It’s definitely a trail shoe course, and very much falls under the category of buggyable as opposed to buggy friendly. This was by far the hardest buggy run I’ve done to date, and has been a big confidence booster. Very much recommend it, just try not to go during a storm.

And so with Devon now complete, we’ve run every parkrun south-west of Taunton. And we will maintain this target for all of a week, until the next event in that direction starts this Saturday. Lots more family parkrun adventures await!

parkrun goals

by Lolly

Our trip to Rogiet parkrun took us up to 50 different events, so it seems a good time to reflect on my current parkrun goals, both short and long term.

Milestones

I’m currently on 138 runs, so my next milestone of 250 is well over 2 years away. Being on exactly 50 events means I have another 50 to get to the Cowell club, which will most likely take me even longer. So milestones aren’t exactly something I’m working towards, they’re just something I see as an eventual result of turning up at parkrun.

The black top just goes so well with Tikiboos…

Time

At the moment, my parkrun PB is 25:41. If I actually train at some stage this should be easily beatable. And, of course, I have a big goal of going sub 25. My ultimate ultimate time goal at parkrun would be 23:16, as that is exactly 15 minutes faster than my very first parkrun. I don’t know that I could ever get that fast, but that would be the dream.

Geographical areas

We’ve talked for years (literally) about trying to complete the South West region. We’ve made pretty good progress on the whole, but a few different factors are making us consider the feasibility. Firstly, the regions are becoming much less visible in parkrun, making it harder to track what goes where. Secondly, with two small children, one of whom gets car sick, there’s only so much distance it’s fair to cover at a time. And finally, while we’ve already been wondering how on earth to deal with the events on North Gloucestershire, someone has classified an event in Herefordshire as the South West. Which sort of makes a mockery of it.

So we’re looking at some sub-regions to focus on. We’ve only got one parkrun south-west of Taunton left to do, and obviously we’d also like to finish Somerset again some time (2, soon 3 left to go). Further afield than that, a few tourists use the idea of everything within a certain straight-line distance of where they live, but unfortunately for us that quickly includes a lot of Wales. As a result, we’re looking at creating our own line of virtual pill boxes to mark out our own South West sub-set.

Further afield

It would be nice to do a parkrun in a different country one day. It’s not going to happen this year now. A country that we absolutely love should be getting its first parkruns next year, so that will be very tempting. Longer term, it would be amazing to parkrun somewhere like New Zealand or Australia, but I wouldn’t want to make the trek over until the kids were old enough to appreciate it.

NT & FC

It’s no secret that I love both National Trust and Forestry Commission parkruns. Fantastic courses, and great places to have a family day out afterwards. Although I know that completing all of them is not in any way practical, it would be great to get through more of them. For the National Trust, Penrhyn stands out, but it’s a pretty long drive away with windy roads. For the Forestry Commission, Whinlatter Forest is on my radar, but it’s even further away. Definitely some proper planning needed here.

Family with a statue of the Gruffalo's Child — Moors Valley remains one of my favourite parkrun experiences (how small are the kids?!)

p-index

There are loads of obscure parkrun challenges out there, and the vast majority don’t interest me. The p-index is one that does, however, as it encourages visiting the same event multiple times. It’s calculated as the number of events you have done that number of times or more. So if you have done 2 events at least 2 times it’s 2, if you’ve done 10 at least 10 times it’s 10. My p-index is currently 3, as I’ve done Longrun Meadow, Burnham and Highbridge, and Minehead at least 3 times. I’ve also done Killerton 3 times, which means to increase my p-index to 4 I need one extra trip to each of Minehead and Killerton. Increasing to 5 would mean an additional trip to each of those and 3 or 4 trips somewhere else (depending on the event I picked). Definitely a long term project!

Volunteering

I have two favourite volunteer roles – marshaling at junior parkrun, and barcode scanning. Family life and a need to keep my balance means I don’t do either that often, but that’s just how it is right now. My current goal is to try out some different volunteer roles. I recently did a First Timers Briefing, which I really enjoyed. My current wish list includes Funnel Manager, Pacer and Results Processing. Pacer is something I can do at my second home of Burnham and Highbridge. Results Processing is a little trickier, as most people only let you do it if you’re in the Core Team, but I think I’d be good at it.

Miscellaneous events

There are a couple of parkruns that for various reasons I would really like to go to.
Barry Island – In a straight line, Barry Island is 26 miles away from Taunton, and as such has often been our NENYD on the Tourist Tool. The actual driving distance is 90 miles, so it will be a pain to get to, but it would be worth it.
Rushcliffe – Bit of a random one, perhaps. I see Rushcliffe Country Park every few months, but always mid-week during work trips. One day it would be nice to go do the parkrun, if only so it doesn’t nag me the next time I visit with work.
Bakewell – Pre-kids, we had a couple of lovely trips to the Peak District, and I really loved the place. One of the highlights was walking on the Monsal Trail, and that is exactly where Bakewell parkrun takes place.

The Biggest Goal of All

The most important thing for me is to keep turning up at parkrun, keep creating precious memories with my family, and keep the focus on what it means to me. In the tourist world it’s easy to get sucked into other people’s goals and dangerous comparison games. But that’s not what it’s about for me. So I guess my important goal is to keep parkrun as my happy place.

Oh, and to not forget my barcode.

Lolly’s Summer Summary

by Lolly

It’s fair to say that the summer holidays sent me a little off track this year. It was our first year of experiencing a school summer holiday, and the break in routine was tougher than expected. One of many things I dropped in an attempt to balance was blogging, and so I thought I would return with a little summary of my summer’s running. Unfortunately, I also seem to have dropped running, and so this is literally every run I did in those 6 and a bit weeks.

20th July – Longrun Meadow parkrun
We’d taken the decision not to tour over the summer – Ben spends enough time in holiday traffic at work without doing it for fun. So I kept it local at Longrun Meadow, taking the buggy round in a satisfactory 32:05

26th July – 4 mile run
The first week of the holidays, I took the kids to stay with my parents on the Isle of Man. We packed a lot in, but I struggled to find time and energy to run. The final morning was all or nothing, and so I had to choose between running somewhere new and doing my standard 4 mile loop. I kept it with what I know, and didn’t regret it one bit.

Crazy hair? Check. Broken contact lenses? Check. Amazing sea views? Check.

27th July – Longrun Meadow parkrun
I tried my hand at the First Timers briefing, which I’ve wanted to do for ages. Typically I picked a week with a course diversion. I then headed over for my run. At the start I bumped into Chris, who had been in my Beginners Group at RFRC this Spring. I kept him talking enough to slow him down for the first mile, then we kept things going til the end. He smashed his PB with a very respectable 28:11, and I had found a purpose to keep positive while running.

3rd August – Burnham & Highbridge parkrun
While I was struggling with being ‘trapped’ at home, my primary reason for heading away was that I was feeling rubbish and antisocial, and there was a takeover at Longrun Meadow (they got record turnout that day). So I took KK and the buggy over to Burnham. We got the last space in the car park (yay), got set up, and headed off for what I swore would be a gentle trot. Somewhere during one of the overtakes I remembered I am incapable of taking it easy at Burnham, and I finished in 29:11, a new buggy PB.

4th August – junior parkrun
11th August – junior parkrun
Consecutive runs at junior means one thing – I missed parkrun on 10th August.

17th August – Longrun Meadow parkrun
Starting to feel the pressure of an upcoming race, I pushed myself hard at parkrun. I felt pretty close to the limit the whole time, but the lack of running was really showing. I finished in 26:59, which was insanely good given my state of training, but absolutely gutting at the time when I knew I’d pushed so hard to get there.

18th August – junior parkrun + 1 mile buggy run
In a desperate attempt to get even the smallest run in, I ran a mile back from junior parkrun. With buggy, naturally.

24th August – Longrun Meadow parkrun
This was a bit of a weird run for me. The day before a race is often a time to go slow, but I’d already screwed up any chance of properly racing so just took it at what felt right. Mostly I spent the whole 29 minutes and 27 seconds thinking about how damn hot it was. And the fact that my race the next day would be starting an hour later.

Running Forever RC runner in Tikiboo zig zag leggings — As a coach, I have so much to say about this race photo…

25th August – Battle of Sedgemoor 10k
Ben’s done this race before, and wrote it up here. With my lack of training, I was purely running this for the Somerset Series, and gave myself the target of finishing in an hour. Since Ben ran it, the start has moved location, which means the race starts with a downhill, followed immediately by a long uphill. It was insanely hot, and the start was pretty crowded. There were a few too many cars close to runners on the course for my liking. I got to the 5k marker in around 28:30, and remember thinking how grateful I was to parkrun for knowing full well that I can run 5k in 31:30 when completely exhausted. And sure enough, I finished in 57:33.

31st August – Longrun Meadow parkrun
Rounding off the summer, I ran parkrun with both kids (one in the buggy, naturally). Lani struggled with her energy levels after a busy summer, and also with the fact she hadn’t been doing as much running recently. But we made it round in 50:58. It was also a great opportunity for Lani to showcase her brand new 10 top, which got her a lot of welcome attention.

Naturally I look a mess and she looks like a model.

So there you have it. Clearly my big success of the summer was to just keep turning up to parkrun. I’ve come to realise that if that’s the only run I do each week then at least I’m doing that. Obviously, I’d like to get my act together and start training properly, but I need to keep the balance so I appreciate the little bits.

But seriously, can we tour again now?

I don’t want to race (Yeovilton 5k race report)

by Lolly

I don’t want to race.
I’m tired.
I feel rundown.
I don’t want to see people.
I just want to curl up and read.
But I’ve signed up, so I’ll go.

I don’t know where anything is.
The air is hot and heavy.
I don’t run well in the evening.
I pick up my number.
I get changed.
I hide in my car.

I feel silly warming up next to fast people.
I avoid conversations.
I’m uncomfortable waiting for the start.
I listen to the race brief.
I start running.
I want to get sub-25 today.

I hate running round the car park.
I hate there jostling for position.
I hate how fast the 25 pacer has gone off.
I feel broken already.
I’m glad I warmed up though.
I just don’t want to race.

I’m way behind at 1k.
I hope the marker was wrong.
I need to keep pushing.
I start to feel stronger.
I’m only just behind at 2k.
I start to believe.

I struggle with tiny undulations.
I worry that there might be more.
I barely notice people cheering.
I’m getting tired.
I try to keep focused.
I’ve slipped a bit at 3k.

I hear my 2 mile beep.
I know I need to give it my all.
I don’t know if my all is enough.
I start to get stomach cramps.
I’m so close to time at 4k.
But how fast can I run the final 1?

I turn back onto the main road.
I pass the 25 minute pacer.
He says we’re 15 seconds ahead.
I know he’s wrong.
I start to feel sick.
I might not actually finish at all.

I turn towards the finish.
I see the clock.
I give it my all.
I know it won’t be enough.
I keep going.
I don’t want to.

I watch the number tick over.
24:57, 24:58, 24:59, 25:00, 25:01…
I cross the line.
I didn’t make it.
I’ve failed.
And I feel really really sick.

I walk to my car.
I have a drink.
I text a couple of people.
I try to take it all in.
I try to tell myself I’ll do it next time.
But will I want to try again?

I get changed.
I buy cake and squash.
I talk to nice people.
I tell them I failed my goal.
I admit that my PB had been 25:41.
They remind me I did really well.

I eat and drink.
I start to feel better.
I drive home.
I think about my new 25:03 PB.
I didn’t want to race.
But I did.

parkrun tourism: Torbay Velopark parkrun

by Lolly

In our never-ending quest to conquer the South West region, Torbay Velopark has started to stand out as being merely a few minutes over an hour away. There was a reason we hadn’t been yet. When the event first started, early reports were of it being unsuitable for buggies due to waterlogging. Then we decided to go just the two of us, but got caught in traffic and went to Exmouth instead. But we heard on the grapevine that ground conditions are pretty much perfect for buggies right now, so decided it was time to make the trip.

Torbay Velopark parkrun is, perhaps unsurprisingly, based at Torbay Velopark, which is an outdoor closed road circuit used primarily for cycling. More surprisingly, if you don’t know the area, is that it is in Paignton, as Torbay is actually the council area and not the name of a town (Ben will laugh when he reads this, but I genuinely had to Google it as I got so confused). It’s attached to a Leisure Centre, and so is signposted from a little way out. The course page lists Clennon Valley car park by name, which was pretty handy in finding where we needed to be.

Having left home when planned, we had a smooth journey and so arrived in plenty of time to get set up and visit the leisure centre toilets. Runners were clearly visible gathering in the entrance to the Velopark, and the kids were able to have a bit of a run around and play. Ben was still wrestling sun cream onto Lani as the call went out for first timers, so as is traditional only half of us went to it. I didn’t catch much (some tourists bizarrely went over for the briefing but then talked through it), but I did hear that the course was two laps of the Velopark, one lap of a big field, and a lap of a small field.

The briefing location meant that we pretty much just turned on the spot to line up at the back of the field for the start. There were a big group of Couch to 5k graduates near us, which lifted the atmosphere. Lani and I were wearing new leggings, and we were already getting lots of positive comments from our fellow runners. We actually heard the start (yay), and set off around the Velopark. The high quality tarmac surface made for very easy running, and the meadow-like surroundings helped make it feel less like running on tarmac.

The shape of the circuit meant we quickly had people going past in the other direction, which always adds to the community feeling. Lani wasn’t quite feeling it, and so our run/walk balance was a bit more in favour of walking. We ended up skipping, which got some nice comments from people lapping us that really helped lift the mood. Then I spotted that Ben was on track to lap us, and suddenly we were running.

The second lap round the Velopark was actually really nice. Lani enjoyed knowing that everyone she could see was on the same lap as her, and I really appreciated the different views in different directions. Facing inland gave a surprisingly spectacular view of the houses staggered higher and higher up the hill. Having stopped to take a stone out her shoe, Lani was pretty determined to make some places back up.

Finishing our second lap, we turned right to join the path down towards the field, getting high-fives from Ben and KK on the way. The path was similar to parts of Longrun Meadow, with lots of loose rocks in places. Then we reached the field, and to the excitement of my running buddy were then on good quality grass. The path around the edge of the field was well marked out with cones. Like most field sections, there was good visibility that meant lots of other runners were in sight. Or ‘targets’, as I think my increasingly determined 5 year old was viewing everyone.

Having run round the main bit of the field (and made up several more places), we reached the start of the loop for the smaller field. The marshal at this point was fantastic, giving us loads of support and making the effort to give Lani a much-appreciated high-five. There was a (very) short stretch of trail path through trees, which opened out into the (very) small field. The big surprise here was the hill. Sure, it was a small one, but the rest of the course had been flat.

We took the option of walking up the hill, but got our aeroplane arms out to zoom back down the other side of the field (and pass some more people), before making the sharp turn back out towards the main field. The marshal was fantastic again, giving a great boost for the last section of field. Ben and KK were waiting for us at the start of the path. Lani didn’t even mention the surface this time, as she sped up to the finish. Overtaking a group of people just before the line, naturally.

Barcode scanning was easily located a little further down the path, as was the parkrun photo frame. In a break from recent habit, we skipped the café and headed straight back to the car. The long drive of about 5 minutes round the corner took us to Paignton Zoo, where we had a fantastic family day out.

Torbay Velopark is well and truly in my happy parkrun memories section. I loved the course, which had a bit of something for everyone – although Ben said that with the buggy he’d have happily just kept going round the Velopark. The community atmosphere was fantastic. Oh, and Lani smashed her PB by over 2 minutes! A great parkrun experience to start a great family day out. And we’re already planning to go back at the start of next year.

But until then, we’ve got more events to visit. When we first decided we wanted to be regionnaires there were 33 events in the South West (one of which has sadly finished) and we’d done 7 of them. We’ve now done 40 out of 60. So while our quest may be never-ending, we’ve already come an awfully long way. Now, where to next?

parkrun tourism: Tamar Lakes parkrun

by Lolly

After the success of our Eden Project weekend, we were quick to book another trip. The destination seemed fairly obvious – of the 7 Cornish parkruns (for now) we’d done all but 1. So a trip to Bude and Tamar Lakes parkrun was in order.

Tamar Lakes parkrun takes place at Upper Tamar Lakes, near Bude in North Cornwall. It’s about 1 hour 40 minutes’ drive from Taunton, but with two small children (one of whom gets car sick) there was no way we were driving down on the day. So we stayed at the Premier Inn in Bude overnight (possibly one of the nicest Premier Inns I’ve ever stayed in) and so had a drive of less than 20 minutes instead.

The postcode from the website took us to the right area, with signs guiding us the rest of the way. There was a car park marshal guiding people to free spaces – although we arrived before they’d taken up position. The kids were quick to spot the play park, and we had the obligatory chat about not visiting it until after the run. The first thing I noticed, on the other hand, was the absolutely stunning backdrop of the lake.

A lake aurrounded by greenery and the edge of a weir — Not a bad first impression to make

Toilets were easily located at the back of the car park, and with the buggy assembled we headed down to the lakeside. The Start sign was clearly visible on the dam, and the kids had fun running across. I mentioned to Lani that perhaps it would be better to save her energy for the actual run, but she insisted that she was just warming up (which she backed up with the entire junior parkrun warm up). We eventually managed to get KK back in the buggy, just in time for the run briefing. There wasn’t a first timers’ briefing that I noticed, but the main briefing included a course description (round the lake) and other details. Crucially, for those of us starting at the back, it was run on the right pass on the left.

As we lined up to start, the other two buggy runners were discussing avoiding the gully down the middle of the dam. Always good to have a warning. Ben asked me if I’d seen the finish, and wished me luck. A glance over showed that the finish was on a grass incline. Not the best thing to be thinking about, but good to know at least. As is traditional, somewhere in the midst of lining up I missed the start. But I quickly tucked in behind the other buggys (being honest about your pace makes for a much easier parkrun life) and set off across the dam.

People walking over a weir next to a lake — Pre-run course exploration

The paving slabs were a little uneven, and with the congestion it was tough to avoid the aforementioned gully without almost grinding to a halt. But we were soon across the dam and onto the main compacted gravel path around the lake. The surface was pretty familiar, being virtually identical to that at Longrun Meadow. What was less familiar was the beautiful backdrop of the lake. Oh, and the undulations. Because there was a surprising amount of up and down for going round the lake.

Unsurprisingly, I had passing conversations with quite a few people. Including the Event Director, who was running her 100th parkun (congratulations!). She confirmed that while it’s a gorgeous place to run in good weather, it’s pretty unforgiving in the wind and rain. I settled into a sort-of rhythm, holding my ground on the ups and doing my overtaking on the downs to work my way into the right place.

The greenery to the left (lake side) became thicker and thicker, until we’d veered away from the lake and could see only trees at each side. Around this point (about halfway through) I realised two things. Firstly, the course at this stage was very reminiscent of Southwick Country parkrun. And secondly, I was very tired and didn’t feel like I was going to manage to keep running. This thought mostly lead to spiralling thoughts of how little I’ve run recently, and how it was highly unlikely I’d actually make it to the end without walking.

Two runners on a path next to a lake — Another gratuitous lake photo

As the path rejoined the lake, I found myself more and more having to keep to the right as people overtook me. Which was a slight issue, as there was a relatively smooth track on the left and significantly more rocks on the right. Just before the 3 mile mark a path veered off to the side, and so there was a marshal pointing the way. I realised this was the first marshal we’d seen, and was slightly worried how Lani would be given this was her first single lap course and she normally relies on cheers from marshals to get her round.

We quickly reached another marshal, who guided us past the front of the fishing permit hut towards the end. That just left the simple matter of the uphill grass finish, marked out by cones. Literally the only thing that kept my legs turning over was that I wanted to prove to myself I could run the whole thing. I parked up the buggy and released KK, giving him the important role of handing my finish token to the scanner.

People running up a grass hill towards a finish funnel — Every buggy runner’s dream finish

We had a little walk round while we waited, including talking to the second marshal (who it turns out was originally from Bridgwater). Lani was clearly tired when she came into view, but as ever managed a decent finish and got a good reaction from people watching. It turned out her warm up had worked a little too well, giving her a fast first mile that tired her out.

While Ben went out for a more structured training run, the kids and I headed to the play park. It was fantastic, and easily kept us occupied until Ben was back. We then moved to the café to enjoy the range of breakfast choices on offer. Well most of us enjoyed it – KK tried to escape back to the play park. Which we did of course pay another visit, before heading back to Bude to hit the beach.

Two children climbing a play park net — In case you’re wondering, he climbed right to the top

So would I recommend a visit? Let me think about that. Buggy friendly, beautiful backdrop, lovely people, great café, fantastic play park. I actually texted two of my friends saying they should go some time before we’d even left. And I’m pretty certain Lani will be keen to visit the area again soon as well.

But by the time we make our next trip to Cornwall, there may well be a new parkrun event to explore…

Start line selfie substituted with “just before we go back” selfie

parkrun tourism: Eden Project parkrun

by Lolly

Ever since we did Lanhydrock parkrun last year, we’ve been planning to have a weekend in Cornwall to go to Eden Project parkrun. But, as always, there have been so many reasons for it to not happen. Happily, my brother-in-law and sister-in-law recently had a baby, which gave us the perfect excuse to head down to see them… and take in a parkrun on the way of course.

Eden Project parkrun is, unsurprisingly, based at the Eden Project, near St Austell in Cornwall. In case you’re not aware of it, the site is an old clay pit that was transformed into spectacular gardens, with two giant biomes housing plants from around the world. We stayed over on the Friday (and Saturday) night at the St Austell Premier Inn, which is approximately 10 minutes drive away (parking space to parking space) and so we managed a fairly laid back start to the day.

Building in car park — Meeting point. If I’d taken the photo at 8:30 not 15:30 it would have been a bit busier…

The parkrun course starts in the car park, and so as long as you park in ‘Banana’ it’s really straight forward to find. Having set up the buggy and walked over, we made use of the toilet block, and then decided we all had too many layers on and sent Ben back to the car with an armful of them. Had we wanted to keep coats or hoodies on a little longer, there are bags provided for the volunteers to take your layers to the finish for you (which I imagine is most welcome in winter).

The first timers’ briefing was very well attended – not exactly a surprise that on a sunny May weekend we weren’t the only tourists. From the course description I picked “2 and 3/4 laps”, “hill” and “go past the big tyre 3 times”. The hill part (which we were well aware of before arriving) was the bit that worried me. Particularly as Lani had decided to run with Ben, and so I had KK in the buggy. And hadn’t really had a proper run since Glastonbury.

Family gathered for run — Still need to work on our start line selfies…

The actual start is on nice wide road. At the briefing here we were reminded that the route we were about to take into the Eden Project is not regular pedestrian access – you need to make sure to leave through the main visitor centre. After a quick countdown (which we could actually hear from the back!) we were off. It was quite busy near the back at first, so Lani and Ben initially got away from me (with being able to weave through), but I slowly started to pick my way through. My legs were feeling pretty rough, and so the slight incline didn’t help to warm up. But we quickly turned a corner, and the downhill began.

When you’re on solid path (which we were), running downhill with a buggy is pretty fun. My biggest worry was weaving round various people as I tried to find where in the pack I should be. This continued for almost half a mile, at which point we joined the main lap and were well and truly inside the Eden Project. Now surrounded by beautiful plants, the path took a sudden turn up. Around this point I found myself running with two BHAM runners and a guy from Shepton Mallet – somewhat of a Somerset takeover!

We quickly reached the top of the hill, with my thoughts consisting of “Oh that wasn’t so bad” and “Hmm I bet that will feel harder later”. We passed the massive tyre mentioned in the briefing. Looking at it later, it is from one of the trucks that worked on the clay pit. The actual truck is the size of a 3 bedroom house! I was a little confused, though, at it being used as a lap reference as we didn’t seem to be anywhere near the finish yet.

Top of zigzag path, with biomes in background — By the end of this path, you’re down at the bottom of those giant biomes!

There’s then a short sharp drop down, which is great for getting some momentum going again, that takes you to by the visitor centre path. The next section of the course is amazing. It’s called the Zigzag through Time, and is the main path that sweeps down from the visitor centre towards the biomes. There’s so much to see, with plants and information panels surrounding you. My main efforts focused on a) making sure I was in control not the buggy and b) not knocking into anyone, but I still managed to appreciate the scenery.

At the end of the zigzags you turn right and continue down towards a marshal. The path then follows to the left to go around the back of The Core and, you guessed it, has another little incline followed almost immediately by more downhill. The path on this section was much narrower than other places, and felt almost like a tunnel of wildlife. We then re-joined the main path and headed alongside the front of the Mediterranean biome, towards the stage area.

Running alongside the stage area, the finish line was in sight ahead. Except, of course, we had to turn left and do another two laps. And so begins the proper hill. Steep uphill zigzags, with just a short section of down a little way in for relief. Particularly challenging for me was staying to the left of the path. We’d started being lapped a fair way earlier (due to long first lap), and so I had to stay tucked in on sharp turns I would normally take the outside line for with the buggy. Not helped on a couple of these where the runners lapping me decided to cut to the left to take the inside line for a corner!

Path surrounded by plants, with drop visible to left. — Look at the height Lani is stood at compared to the path…

By the time we made it up to where we’d joined for lap 1 I had nothing left, and so slowed to a walk. Which I should point out is not exactly a rest, as fast-walking a buggy up a steep hill is arguably harder on your arms than running it is. Needless to say, I was relieved to get to the top and enjoy the downhill. Although I was surprised to see at this point that my average pace was still pretty good. The zigzags down did not disappoint, and I managed to read a few more information signs on the way past. The trickiest bit of this lap was the narrower path round The Core, as I was both lapping and being lapped at the same time. Typical timing!

And so to lap 3, by which stage I was definitely feeling tired. I ended up slowing for a walk considerably earlier than on previous laps, but this did give me extra time to enjoy the scenery. And got me a couple of complaints from my buggy buddy. At the top of the hill I lapped Ben and Lani. I could hear Lani saying that she wanted to catch up with me, but as I launched myself down the zigzags one last time she had no chance.

Other than getting stuck behind someone on The Core path, I managed to finish the rest of the lap feeling strong. And even correctly aimed the buggy into the finish funnel. Tape guided you from the tokens to the barcode scanning. There were a few steps in between, but someone kindly helped me carry the buggy down.

Having scanned in, I took everything out the buggy so I could leave it there and head back to find Ben and Lani. KK had a great time exploring round the path, and trying to get into the stream when he thought I wasn’t looking. My aim was to get somewhere I could take a nice photo of Ben and Lani running. Naturally, irregular toddler pace meant that I actually ended up just near a corner when they came past and so I didn’t spot them in time.

People running through gardens, with biomes and stage in background. — There are worse places to run!

Once we were all gathered back at the finish, Ben grabbed the buggy to take it back to the car (and pick up our backpack). The kids and I headed straight to the café, which was selling bacon rolls, spinach & mushroom rolls, and an insane collection of cake (the cinnamon buns are AMAZING). Once Ben had joined us and we’d finished our food, we got changed and headed off to explore. Because, as if this parkrun wasn’t already amazing enough, you get to stay in the Eden Project as long as you want, for free!

I can’t really recommend this parkrun highly enough. The surroundings were simply beautiful, with so much variety that there’s no chance of saying multiple laps is boring. The volunteers were fantastic – apparently on the final trek up the hill Lani was given a high-five by every marshal. And the course was challenging and yet surprisingly accessible.

One word you cannot use to describe it is ‘flat’. I think over the entire 5k there was about 50m where we weren’t going either up or down. But the surface was solid throughout, the worst of the hills were in sharp bursts, and it was massively net downhill. There’s no denying I’m in pretty good shape at the moment (just think how good it would be if I actually trained), but there was no way beforehand I expect to walk away with a buggy PB. I think what I’m trying to say is, don’t be put off by the hills, just be aware of how you handle them.

We’re already planning our next parkrun weekend trip, this one was so much fun. But with only one new-to-us course left to visit in Cornwall (for now), I’m pretty sure we’ll be making a return visit to Eden Project parkrun in the not too distant future.

Family on path surrounded by plants, inside biome. — Exploring the Mediterranean Biome.

Round the Tor 10k: 2019 race report

by Lolly

This year Ben and I have decided that we both want to do the Somerset Series (ie 8 qualifying races), which means that at least one of us has to do pretty much every race (factoring in the ones we can’t do). I did the Babcary MT race back in February (and failed to blog about it), and my next outing was scheduled as what is officially known as the Round the Tor 10k. Or Glastonbury 10k as pretty much everyone calls it.

I ran this race back in 2015 and really enjoyed it, helped by the fact that it was the first time I went under an hour for 10k. This year I wasn’t too sure how it would go. A recent parkrun PB indicated that my form was good, but my training was inconsistent to non-existent. Anytime I was asked what I was aiming for, I said it was a benchmark run. Which it should have been. Except, of course, when you’ve set a massive landmark PB at a course once, you kind of want to do it again.

In the morning we set off early, so that we could go to Cheddar junior parkrun on the way. It was a lovely little event, and worked perfectly in terms of timing. I also got a little bit of sprinting practice in when little man decided to run away from my marshal point. After the event finished, we took the short drive to Glastonbury and headed to the designated race parking, where we were able to park easily.

The atmosphere before the race is a bit crazy, with all the other distance events going on at the same time. My prep took the form of: collect number, get Ben to put number on vest, get Ben to re-position number, go to toilet (no queue!), take Lani to toilet (big queue!), panic visit shop to buy pre-race snack. Seamless. I headed over to the start area with 10 minutes to go, and managed a little warm up before chatting with club mates. I was asked again what time I was aiming for. I replied that if it went well then hopefully about 55 minutes, but there was also a good chance of me collapsing at around 5 miles.

The race brief was clear and detailed, talking about potholes we should expect for approximately half the course. Amusingly they couldn’t find the starting hooter, so it was a very muted start. But as it’s a chip to chip race this wasn’t much of a problem. The first task was always going to be getting into the right position – I had no idea where in the line up I needed to be, and the mass of Millfield students always adds the extra random factor.

My entire race plan was pretty simple: Aim to do the first mile in 9 minutes and go from there. I felt pretty strong heading down past the town hall (who wouldn’t on a downhill start), and was excited heading up the high street knowing my family was at the top ready to cheer me. Lani put her hand out to give me a high five, and as a result ended up giving them to several other runners as well.

Heading along the main road I felt pretty good, and tried to settle into some form of rhythm. My watch beeped for one mile sooner than I expected – in fact 20 seconds earlier than my target. This gave me a bit of confidence to push on, although I was wary that my short training runs could lead me to burn out too soon. We reached the next milestone I was looking for – the out and back section down a side road.

Glad to have that ticked off, the next target was moving from the main road to the back roads. Which coincidentally happens just before the end of mile 2. I always keep my watch in mile laps, whatever I’m running, and in a 10k it’s great because it means you get km signs and mile beeps and so there’s always another marker. The promised potholes and rugged edges were clear to see, as were the undulations I remembered this course for. But I managed to keep going at a reasonably even pace.

The water station was at the top of a hill, shortly before 5k. As my fingers touched the water cup, the girl handing it to me let go. So I got one leg absolutely drenched, and a tiny sip of water. This worried me slightly, but I knew there was another water station later if I was struggling.

And so we reached the 5k line, and for the first time I checked my watch against the course marking (because, easy calculation). It hadn’t even got to 27 minutes yet. That calculation was pretty easy then. If I managed to maintain a watch pace of around 8:30 then I would be well under 55 minutes.

I felt pretty good, and so despite the lack of training I was pretty confident I could do it. Until somewhere in mile 4, when I remembered the horrible heartbreak hill that would be greeting us near the end. Which somehow had been removed from all my memories of the course. Now I see why Ben reads his old race reports before he heads out!

Still, the second water station treated me much better (decent sip and splash over face), helped as well by the cheers surrounding it. On the nice gradual downhill that follows I was clearly feeling more tired, but not so much that I wavered from my 8:30ish average. As the surroundings changed to houses I mentally prepared myself for what was to come.

The hill did not disappoint, with most people round me slowing to a walk. I was pretty pig-headed by this stage though, and determined to get through it. My pace clearly did slow, but not beyond control. I reached the top feeling pretty happy, but also out of breath and realising that I needed to recover quickly if I wanted to make anything of the finish. And right at this point was one of the race photographers, just to help the situation!

But then came the moment I was waiting for, as we rounded the corner and saw the downhill stretch towards the finish. It’s fair to say I sped up a bit at this point, in some sort of desperate attempt to put the final icing on my perfect race cake. Just as the road levels of (and in fact starts to go up a little), I saw my family cheering at the side. I had nothing left to be able to move over to give Lani a high five (for which I apologised after), and just about managed a wave as I carried on to the line.

Like I said, I told everyone who asked me that this was a benchmark race. But I clearly wanted a course PB (previously 59:13), and my overall 10k PB of 55:22 looked in touching distance based on my parkrun form. So you might be able to imagine how it felt crossing the line in 53:27. Ben later admitted to being completely surprised at seeing my distinctive running gear appear so early (good job I wear Tikiboos or he might have missed me!).

It’s hard to fault the Glastonbury 10k as a race. Medal, technical t-shirt (if you sign up before cut off), free race photos, and great organisation. Oh and a course that is interesting but entirely manageable. Definitely one I’ll consider in future, although I’ve set my bar pretty high by crushing my PB both times I’ve run it so far!

And now I’m basking in the glow of being undeniably in the best running shape I’ve ever been in. Finally I can well and truly stop running in the shadow of 2015. I can’t bask for too long though – I’ve got another race at the end of the month!