There’s a list picture that often does the rounds on social media, with the things runners have to take to parkrun (their barcode) vs the things the core team have to take (lots and lots of stuff). The idea being that given the long list of things required to make a parkrun happen, asking a runner to take a barcode along is pretty reasonable.
While technically true, and a good point to make, it is slightly amusing given how long it always takes us to get stuff ready to go out to parkrun. And how often we forget to take something vital. So with that in mind, here is the list of stuff we (should) pack when we go parkrun touring.
Running buggy/ies
Pretty essential. Just one if Lani is definitely going to run. Two if she definitely isn’t or isn’t sure. As the item that the car is packed around, we’ve always remembered this one.
Buggy rain covers
Fairly critical if it’s raining, windy, or even just plain cold. These have been left behind on too many occasions. Special mention to the time we took the wrong rain cover for the buggy we had.
Mobile phones
Used for so many things. Double checking the post code and directions. Playing music in the car to keep the kids happy. Using Google Maps when we don’t trust the car sat nav. Answering any questions about the course that pop up on the way. Taking photos. Always remembered, but we have occasionally had to charge in the car.
Garmins
Kind of obvious here. We’re fairly good at remembering these, but have forgotten on occasion.
Ventolin inhaler
So a responsible asthmatic should carry their reliever inhaler at all times. Particularly when exercising. Sadly I don’t seem to be that responsible, so I need to work on that.
Correct type of running shoes
Ideally taking a spare just in case of last minute change of plan. We’ve definitely had a few misses on this one lately.
I spy with my little eye… road shoes on a hybrid course
Nappy changing bag
Kind of self-explanatory when you have a toddler. Probably the single most forgotten item on this list, which has lead to a fair few leaking nappies by the time we arrive back home.
Nappies and wipes
Yeah, we took an empty changing bag one time…
Water bottles
Between travelling and running there’s a lot of need for water. We rarely take enough for everyone, which leads to a lot of groggy Saturday afternoons.
Snacks
Depending on timing this could be for before the run as well as after. As with water, we should take more.
Money
For car parking, cafe, and post-parkrun adventures. We usually remember some form of money, but don’t always remember to check we have change.
Tissues
Between the four of us, someone almost always has at least a bit of a cold. Bizarrely, even though this is something we could keep in the car (or the elusive changing bag) all the time, we rarely have them.
Contact lenses
Running wearing glasses is just not as comfortable, and is a pain when it rains. Usually put them in before leaving the house, but sometimes take them with us for longer drives. Or sometimes just forget.
Running gloves
When it’s cold, buggy running without gloves is pretty painful. I should know, I’ve done it when I’ve forgotten to pack them. Now I’ve (finally) worked out to store my gloves in the buggy pockets.
Suitable layers for the kids
Again, particularly when it’s cold. Remembering that a kid sat in a buggy is not going to warm up when running is pretty important. We find puddle suits good for blocking both wind and rain. That said, we’ve had a fair few times when we could have done with taking more layers.
Possibly we had to supplement her layers with our jumpers…
Wellies
Essential if you’re taking kids out in the rain, or anywhere with decent exploring potential. Also pretty useful if you’re buggy running through muddy puddles on Christmas Day and you don’t want your son’s shoes to get covered. Or they would have been, anyway.
Bib and kids cutlery
To make post-parkrun breakfast that little bit easier. I think we’ve remembered these once.
Change of clothes
If we’re going somewhere after and don’t want to be in our running kit. We’re fairly good at remembering this when required, but typically miss at least one item.
Oh, and of course…
Our barcodes
The only thing we actually double check before getting in the car (looking at this list, maybe we should check other stuff too). Even if Lani is intending to go in the buggy we still take hers. We haven’t yet forgotten to take our barcodes with us on tour, which I’m extremely grateful for. I did once commit the parental cardinal sin of not taking Lani’s barcode to junior parkrun. Having spent the whole event dreading the attitude I would get all day, she cheerfully met me at my marshal point at the end and announced that the people had written her name down. The parkrun purist in me was mortified, but the rest of me was so so so thankful.
Special mention to hoodies, which we usually wear before and after running. Not something that we have to remember to pack, as we wear them when we head out the door. They are something we have to remember to bring home though. Which we sort of failed to do the first time we went to Minehead.
So there we have it, our list of things to take. Or probably our list. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I’m pretty forgetful, and so there’s probably something else I’ve forgotten to mention…
I had a pretty bad cold, which by the time we did Southwick Country parkrun meant that even running with Lani wiped me out. The cold started to get quite chesty, so I did the only sensible thing for an asthmatic – keep on top of inhalers and don’t run. Which was pretty painful for last week as we were in Center Parcs, which is one of my favourite ever places to run. But ultimately worth it, as I recovered pretty quickly considering how bad my lungs felt at one stage.
Step counts (or lack there of)
I always do a lot of walking at Center Parcs, and last week was no exception. Particularly given the lack of running, and the fact that our toddler mostly only slept when in the back carrier. I used to have a Garmin Vivoactive for tracking my steps, but after 3 years of service the strap broke at the end of last year. Ever since I’ve been putting off the decision of what to replace it with. Last week that really annoyed me, as I would have loved to see my step count for some of the days. So now I need to actually decide. Do I get a new simple fitness tracker watch? Do I get a fitness tracker watch I can use GPS with as well? Or do I go all out and replace my Garmin Forerunner 220 with something that does everything? Any comment suggestions much appreciated!
Running where you love
Happily my reluctant resting meant that my lungs had just about recovered in time for me to run on Thursday evening – our last night of holiday. I thought up a route with some of my favourite paths in, and headed out for 2 and a half of the most enjoyable miles I’ve run in quite a while. It was such an enjoyable experience that, when we decided it would just be me running parkrun on Saturday, I chose to go to Killerton. The trees were totally worth it. Hopefully I can keep getting enough runs in places I love that I can motivate myself to keep training.
This path is genuinely one of my favourite things about Center Parcs. Which is probably a bit weird…
In our list of South West parkruns ordered by travel time from home (yes, we have one of those), certain events are marked out with how far they are from other key locations. For example, for anything in Cornwall we’ve recorded the travel time from Ben’s parents’ house. Southwick Country parkrun is noted as being local to Center Parcs, and so has been an obvious choice to tick off 3 times previously. Only on one holiday Ben was injured, on another we left so early we ended up going to Melksham instead, and on another we just wanted a lie in. So trip number 4 to Longleat Center Parcs it was…
Southwick Country parkrun is, perhaps unsurprisingly, in Southwick Country Park near Trowbridge in Wiltshire. Amusingly, in the very short journey there we travelled from Wiltshire into Somerset and back into Wiltshire, reminiscent of our slightly longer journey to Henstridge Airfield. We were able to park in the free car park, although grabbed one of the last spaces. As we assembled the buggy we could hear a 5 minute warning for the first timers’ briefing, which is always reassuring that you’re in the right place.
Sure enough, entering the park revealed a mass of runners assembling in a buzz of activity, and I had fun playing ‘spot the Tikiboos’. I knew from the course page that it was an almost 3 lap anti-clockwise course (Lani asked on the way there, I haven’t suddenly become organised), but the first timers’ briefing provided the clarification that you run past the statue twice and then finish next lap. The briefing also dished out ‘Top Tourist’ bibs to the two tourists who’d travelled furthest (needless to say, not us by a long way).
One day we will learn to take a decent start-line selfie…
Following a call to head to the start, we followed the crowd along the path. Quite a way along, as the start is actually a third of a mile along from the gathering/finish area. On arrival there was a call to be quiet for the briefing. Sadly, other than the odd spot of clapping, this was the only reason I was aware a briefing was taking place, as with no PA system (unlike at the gathering area) there was no chance of hearing from the back. As is traditional, I became aware that we’d started once I saw movement up ahead.
I was running with Lani again, and so Ben quickly sped past us with the buggy. The surface was pretty similar to Longrun Meadow – in fact there were quite a few similarities in terms of event feeling – and so I had to remind Lani to watch her footing with loose gravel. We quickly reached the first marshal, as the path turned the corner to be surrounded by trees. There were a few small paths off to the side on this section, but every time there was a nice obvious ‘straight on’ arrow to make the route clear.
After a pretty glimpse of some water, the path opened out to round some fields. A couple of the corners had mud on the inside, and unfortunately Lani took a tumble at one point. Luckily between me holding one hand and her breaking her fall with the other she was absolutely fine, and to the surprise of most around us got straight up and carried on running. She was definitely more cautious on that section after that though!
Definitely lap 1, as I was still cold enough to wear Ben’s hoodie
Another sweep round a field took us to the hill. Well, incline really. At the top was a cheery marshal and a cheery photographer – both very much appreciated when running with a 5 year old. Once at the top you get a clear view on the nice downhill stretch that takes you to the finish, or in this case down to start a full lap. At the bottom was the landmark statue, and yet more cheery marshals (so many fantastic marshals).
Statue!
At this stage all the route was familiar, having walked the section of path before the start. By this point we were being lapped pretty continuously, but happily the path was wide enough all the way round and the runners were friendly. We got a fair few shout outs for our leggings, which always goes down well. Unsurprisingly Lani started to get a bit tired, and so the stretches of walking increased a little.
Ben lapped us on the sweeping bends before the incline. This meant that by the time we reached the top of the hill I could see him parked up at the side near the bottom, giving Lani a much-needed boost in the form of a high five. The final lap was a little slower, but also a little easier as we didn’t have to make way for people lapping us (just the odd overtaker). Full credit to the marshals who were still just as supportive. And massive credit to the photographer, who was still there when we got to him on our last lap – so many photographers sadly disappear before everyone finishes.
Love the determination so much!
Just after the photographer, right at the top of the hill, was our personal cheering and high five squad. This just left the downhill to finish. One fantastic thing about our daughter is that, no matter how tired she is, she’s always up for a downhill sprint finish. All the volunteers around the finish area were great, and barcode scanning was pretty obvious in the field. Once scanned in, the four of us headed to the car to ditch the buggy.
Sibling high five!
We all headed to the packed-out cafe, managing to find a table in the outbuilding area. Thankfully there were toasted teacakes on offer, as Lani had already declared that was what she wanted. Ben opted for cooked breakfast, and I went for flapjack – something for everyone to enjoy before we headed back to enjoy the rest of our holiday.
Southwick Country parkrun feels very much a community event, and is very enjoyable for it. The atmosphere was so friendly, and it was definitely a positive addition to our day. And the array of high-quality photos means it will be even easier to look back on with a smile. I’m sure we’ll be back here at some stage, although next holiday we may just venture a little further afield…
Saturday was the graduation parkrun for my work couch to 5k group! Their hard work paid off, and all three had smiles on their faces at the end. Having 3 runners with very different paces was a bit of a logistical challenge. In the end the fastest ran with a friend, I ran with the middle runner until near the finish, then darted back to join the third. Honestly one of my proudest ever parkruns. And seeing the amount of effort they put in is making me want to kick myself into gear with training.
Home runs
I really enjoyed having a home parkrun weekend. All 4 of us walked to Longrun Meadow parkrun on Saturday for the graduation run (I ran and the others were cheering spectators). Then on Sunday we drove over for Lani and I to run junior (with the others cheering again). With most of our parkruns being on tour, and Lani preferring Heavitree juniors in winter, it’s been a long time since we had the local familiarity both days.
Your pace or mine?
I went running 5 times last week. Once was with our running club’s Beginners group (also running the half mile there and back), once was with my work group, once was parkrun and once was junior parkun. Other than the mile around club and the dart back at parkrun, my 3.5 mile run when I was off work last Monday was the only time I ran at my own pace. I am really really enjoying helping people discover a love of running, but definitely need to make more of an effort to run for me as well.
It’s not often that we consciously wait for a specific parkrun location to start up. Most of the time we’re wishing they would stop appearing so that we actually have some chance of catching up! But we’d been hearing rumours about Haldon Forest parkrun starting for ages, and the idea of a Forestry Commission parkrun so close to home sounded fantastic.
Haldon Forest parkrun, as the name suggests, is in Haldon Forest, which is around 15 minutes drive South-West of Exeter. The event started on 23rd February 2019, and so we intended to go visit the following week. Unfortunately Ben was ill that week. And then our son was ill the week after. And then I had day 3 of my CiRF course. Having not made it to a new-to-us event since Henstridge Airfield at the end of January, it was therefore with an air of desperation that we headed down to week 5 of Haldon Forest.
Uncharacteristically, we left a few minutes earlier than planned, and the 40 minute drive was really straightforward. It’s a pay and display car park, which thankfully you can pay by card for if you go to the Ranger’s Office (we might have forgotten change). While Ben set the buggy up, I took the kids off to the toilets – or to be precise the row of portaloos opposite the cafe.
Getting to the start requires heading out the path back near the car park entrance, across the road, and then along another path. Definitely somewhere to allow yourself a little extra time to arrive. The excitement of being in a forest started to bubble, and the kids had a little explore while we waited for the briefing.
Who would choose to stand still and wait when there’s a forest to explore?
The run briefing was an all-in-one, which isn’t uncommon for newer events with lots of newbies and visitors. The run director stood up on a bank and had a megaphone, so was both visible and audible which always helps. The course was described to us as one small lap and one big lap, and there was also mention of a steep hill. Happily, Ben had the buggy and so I wasn’t too concerned.
The route starts on a nice wide compacted trail path, that soon starts descending with a sweeping turn. The trees sloping off to our right were a pretty impressive backdrop, and it really felt like setting out on an adventure. We continued on the same path until just over half a mile in, where we met a cheery marshal who pointed us up another path. Up being the operative word, as it’s a short sharp climb on looser terrain. One of those times I was grateful of having a 5 year old as an excuse to walk.
At the top of the hill was another marshal, and one of my favourite little sections as the path twisted through the trees. This section was also part of the Zog trail (although I assume in reverse), which gave a few extra things for us to spot. Shortly after a tree ‘tunnel’, the trees opened out and stunning views appeared, including across to what I assume is the sea. As we re-entered the forest, the first runners started to lap us. The path was a little uneven and twisted downhill, but Lani suggested we should stick to running on the left in case people needed to get past. Clearly parkrun etiquette starts at a young age!
The bottom of the hill saw the end of the short lap, with the faster runners heading right to the finish and us heading left to start the big lap. At this stage we were 1.2 miles in, which threw me a little as in my head short laps are less than a mile for some reason. The lap was the same, albeit slower due to tired 5 year old, until the cheery marshal, who this time directed us to continue further along the main path.
After another third of a mile of being asked if every tiny path was the one we needed to take, we got to the marshals for the turn off. This hill path was wider and better surface than the first, but it was also much longer. Good thing the setting was so beautiful. At the top there was a slight downhill, although this didn’t register as much as the large number of dogs that were with us on the path at this point – it got a bit crazy.
Soon enough though we rejoined the first lap and found ourselves back by the Zog signs. We admired the views again (I’m kicking myself for not getting my phone out to take photos), and as we re-entered the forest got a cheer and high five from the other half of our touring party. Once back down the hill, we turned right to top up the 3 miles to 5k, and headed across the finish line.
The winner of ‘best face’ is pretty clear here.
After chatting a little at the finish, we walked back to the road and then past the car park to by the cafe again. Barcode scanning was well signed, and there was also someone by the scanners handing out information sheets on how to volunteer and the roles available. I think this is a great idea to raise awareness, although you obviously need to be careful to make it clear that volunteering is still voluntary.
By the time we were back the cafe was packed out. This didn’t make a difference for us, however, as we had to head straight back to Taunton to meet some family we hadn’t seen for far too long. If we’d had more time we would definitely have stayed for some food and to go out exploring.
Overall it’s fair to say we all loved this parkrun, and are definitely planning to go back when the opportunity arises. We did get a comment from one of the volunteers at the finish that it’s not good for children to run this one frequently due to the compacted nature of most of the surface, but given the variety Lani is exposed to it isn’t too much of an issue for us.
This week has been one of those weeks. Nothing has been really really bad. But lots of little things going not quite right, combined with feeling more tired every day, have made things generally a struggle. The one big positive in my week was starting a Couch to 5k group at my work, which is the sort of thing I’ve wanted to do for so long. The buzz afterwards made me determined to get out running myself, but sure enough being tired and feeling a bit meh ended up winning again.
So far this year we’ve managed a fair bit of parkrun tourism, and while it’s been fantastic it’s not always that good for our energy levels or domestic productivity. This, combined with our kids having a party invite for Saturday lunchtime, meant we reluctantly postponed our planned trip to Henstridge Airfield in favour of a more normal Saturday morning. Whatever one of those is. Naturally, this meant I had no motivation to actually get up and run. After confirming I didn’t want to go to Longrun Meadow (not feeling the puddles today), Ben told me to get my running kit on and head to Burnham.
Burnham and Highbridge parkrun is my second most-run event (after Longrun), and perhaps unsurprisingly my second closest (no prizes). We went to the inaugural back in 2015 (don’t go to those), and got what at the time was my second fastest time (27:12). Since then I’ve returned for my first fully run parkrun after our son was born (following a spell of run/walking), early last year to prove to myself how fast I could go (sub-30, it turned out), and later last year for a normal run.
Driving over I was thinking about the blog post I intended to write this afternoon. With it just being a normal run, I wouldn’t need to write about the run itself, and so instead could finally write my 2019 goals post, with my one key goal for the year and several sub-goals. With my indecision first thing, I was cutting the timing a bit tight and so the car park was already full, and I ended up parked way down a side road. As I got out the car I saw a text from one of my friend’s who’s in the Couch to 5k group, saying she’d just completed run 2. Talk about a much needed boost!
As I walked over towards the park, I could see that the runners were already gathered at the start and that the run brief in progress. However, the PA system was so good I could hear the run brief while waiting to cross the road. I heard that there were pacers, which meant when I reached the mass of runners I made sure to get further forward than the 30 bib. Because I swear 30 minute pacers are the hardest things to get past in all of parkrun.
If only we’d noticed we could turn off there to finish… Credit Mark Benton, from Flickr
The loud and clear PA system and countdown meant I started my watch bang on time. Being familiar with the course, I knew the start would be congested due to the narrower paths. But I also knew not to worry too much about this. I wasn’t able to weave around people as much as on my previous visit, as the grass to the side of the path was sodden, but I could still make up a bit of ground. I caught the 29 minute pacer near the play park. Thankfully he didn’t have too many followers, and so I got past relatively easily.
I started to wonder what I was doing, trying to make up so much pace when I haven’t been training lately. But then I remembered the text I’d received, and thought that if they’d managed to get themselves out to run then I should be able to put some effort in as well. I dialled in and as I reached the riverside path was fully focused on tracking down the 28 minute pacer. This is where goals start to snowball. I got the idea that maybe I could get a Burnham PB. But then I realised that 27:12 isn’t all that far off 26:49, my PSBPB (post-second baby personal best), and so maybe I could go for that instead?
The self-critical part of me was, of course, gleefully pointing out that I still had 2 miles in which to collapse, or at least drop off the pace entirely. But then something strange happened. I saw the 28 minute pacer… and then about 10 people ahead of him I saw the 26 minute pacer. Clearly one of them was in the wrong place. As I slowly caught up to the 28 bib I did some rough calculations from my watch, and determined that we were closer to 26. With that in mind, I made sure to overtake the 26 bib as well, and then gave myself the single goal of staying ahead of him the rest of the run. Which is funny, because of course if I achieved this goal I would have no idea how close or far behind me he was.
Always wear something that allows you to find yourself in photos. Credit Mark Benton, from Flickr
The esplanade section of the course is always a highlight. Sadly the tide was out, but the views were still good, the path was still solid and wide, and there was still the camaraderie of runners going in different directions. I even got to say hi to Al, one of our parkrun friends, when I saw him run past the opposite way. I realised while looping round and heading back down the other way that I was being a lot quieter than my usual cheering self. But I decided that actually sometimes it’s ok just to run for yourself instead of with the community.
As we headed back into the park I, somehow, still hadn’t completely collapsed. I felt pretty good considering how hard I was working myself. There were a few nervous watch checks as I tried to ignore the photographer, rounded the lake, and tried desperately to remember how far it was to the finish line. Approaching the line, the people in front of me came to a halt to allow plenty of space in the funnel. They were pretty understanding about my shout to keep moving…
Really must learn to take natural selfies one day
Stopping my watch, collecting my token (position 100!), and walking all the way round to the scanning area was a bit of a daze. Had that really happened? I’m not properly in shape. I haven’t been training. There’s no way that can be right. I headed back to my car, and on the way home started to cry a little as the wave of emotion hit me. You see..
My Burnham and Highbridge parkrun PB was 27:12. And I beat that.
My post-second baby PB was 26:49. And I beat that.
But this, this was special. You see, 3 years, 3 months and 9 days ago I ran a time that has been etched into my brain ever since. 25:54. 3 years, 3 months and 9 days this has stood as a reminder of what I can do, but also a taunt of how I am not as good as I once was.
Until today.
Because today didn’t need the clarifying as a course PB, or even as a PSBPB. Today I completed a parkrun in 25 minutes and 45 seconds, and I still can’t quite believe it.
Sure, it’s somewhat ruined my 2019 goals blog post, what with having completed my main goal for the year already. But the really nice thing is that I’m pretty sure it won’t be another 3 years, 3 months and 9 days until my next PB.
Our ‘to do’ list of South West parkruns contains some events that were around long before we got our barcodes. There are some events that we want to get to soon, but haven’t had the right practical opportunity. And there are some where the timing works perfectly. Like when a beach parkrun starts a few weeks before you have parents visiting.
Woolacombe Dunes parkrun is, unsurprisingly, in Woolacombe, Devon, and takes place on the sand dunes. The terrain meant we needed to leave the kids at home, and so while we would probably have preferred to parkrun a little closer to home after our trip to Cornwall, the timing of having my parents available to look after the kids was too good to miss. And so we found ourselves leaving the house at 7am to head for the coast.
Once we were in Woolacombe itself, the directions on the course page easily took us to the long car park, which is free in the off-season (November-March). We did misread the facilities information, and so after checking with the RD had to head back into the village for toilets (just a couple of minutes away). On attempt 2 we still easily found a parking space, in a car park that’s slightly above average for its outlook.
It’s entirely possible Ben stood on the car to take this photo…
We quickly located the start (mere metres from the end of the car park), and then returned to the car to get the right layers sorted. Ben went off for a warm up (sensible, given the temperature) and I chatted to a lovely lady from Cardiff who’s getting closer to the Most Events table. There was a call for the First Timers’ briefing, and what felt like everybody (over 50% were first timers at the event) huddled round. Except, of course, Ben and the other people warming up!
The first timers’ briefing was delivered with a PA system (big tick) and was sensibly split to cover the course elements first, so that us tourists could disappear and leave the actual newbies in peace. The microphone was then handed over to the RD for the actual run brief, before we all went over to the start. Some time around this, I saw Ben sprint past towards the car. It turned out that after his warm up he’d decided to ditch his Parkclaws in favour of his Speedcross. I own far fewer pairs of trail shoes, so it’s much easier for me!
Unusually, I actually heard both the countdown to the start and the start itself. The first section is downhill on a cross between rocky trail path and bad road. This didn’t last long, before we turned right onto the sand dunes. To start with it felt like any other trail path – compressed mud with a fair few rocks – but soon some sand started creeping into the mix. Over the dunes it became less trail and more beach, with a few steeper descents.
It’s fair to say, I’m still pretty rubbish at running downhill, but I coped reasonably well to start with. And then there was a fairly steep downhill. With a bend in it. Entirely on loose, sinking sand. I lost my footing a little, and with it my nerve. I actually stopped to the side to let a few people past, and when it became clear that walking would just make me sink took a deep breath before running down to the beach.
The beach is spectacular. The section lasts from around three quarters of a mile in until around 2 miles in. This was the first time I ever stopped during a parkrun to take a photo. I slightly regretted it when it took me ages to get my phone back in my pocket, and when I found out Ben had also taken a photo. But it was amazing. The tide was fairly low when we ran, so there was a nice wide area and also plenty of damp sand to make it as compact as possible.
This is Ben’s photo, as witnessed by the small number of people ahead.
I probably could have run faster through this section, but I ended up running with (I assume) a father and son, and enjoyed the company. It was also far too much fun to over-exert myself. After a mile of flat (albeit on not the easiest surface), the uphill to re-join the dunes was pretty intense. Particularly with the soft sand surface. Yes, I walked it. The terrain changed back to being more compacted, and we started a steady incline back up the hill. Or so I thought.
Being down on a beach and looking all the way up to where your run started is pretty intimidating. Being up on a dune, looking all the way up to where your run started, and realising the next section is downhill is a little demoralising. But we did indeed spend a third of a mile descending, as the path through the dunes went a little closer to the beach.
Then the uphill arrived. Steep uphill to start with, part of which led us to re-join the path we’d taken down to the beach. More annoying than my lack of fitness to tackle the hill was the fact that I had to stop to re-tie a shoelace. Again. The gradient got a whole lot friendlier as we turned back onto the track at the top. I did have a momentary blank as to which way to go, as there was no marshal or arrow here, but the runners around me pointed out the people off to our left.
Ben ran down from the finish area, and ran me in the last section. Which was pretty helpful, as it made me actually run rather than crawl. The kid I’d run with on the beach put on a massive sprint finish and sped past me at the end. Which is unsurprising given how children run. Scanning was right near the end of the finish funnel, which made it easy to find.
We chatted to a few people, including the RD, before heading back to our cars and round to the Beachcomber Cafe for second breakfast. Once it opened (at 10), the place was absolutely packed with happy parkrunners.
View from by the cafe. I look well rested, as usual.
At the time of writing, the course description says that buggies are allowed, however I personally don’t think that the course is buggy friendly, particularly with the downhill sinking sand. It probably goes without saying, but this is definitely a trail shoes course.
Woolacombe Dunes is a pretty special parkrun. It has to be right up there with the most stunning locations we’ve visited, if not at the top. The long stretch on the beach makes it truly fantastic, and I’m always a fan of anywhere you can listen to waves the whole time. I imagine in the summer months they will get a fair few holidaymakers, and what better way to spend part of your holiday than running such a scenic parkrun.
New Year’s Day is a special day in parkrun world. Not only can you run a parkrun on a non-Saturday, but you can actually run (and register times at) two different parkrun events on the same day. Neighbouring events set their start times to allow runners to ‘do the double’. We’ve done it once before, running Ashton Court and Pomphrey Hill in 2016, but since then have only managed one parkrun on New Year’s Day. This year we were determined to get somewhere new, and seeing the option of Penrose and Heartlands on the list was a dream come true.
We ran the original course at Penrose back in 2015, and they changed their course not long after. We had good intentions to go an run the new course but the timing never quite worked out, and once there was another event local to Ben’s parents our odds really decreased. Which is why we were excited at the opportunity to run two new events AND return to Penrose in the space of a few days.
Having run Trelissick on the Saturday, we enjoyed a couple of days being holiday tourists in the area before getting an early night on New Year’s Eve. As is well documented on this blog, I am almost always tired, for the similarly well documented reason of having small children. And so it should come as no surprise that our son picked that night to be wide awake for as long as possible. Not like I was planning to run the furthest I’d run in months, or anything.
Penrose parkrun
The Penrose Estate is an area of woodland, coastline and parkland maintained by the National Trust. Penrose parkrun starts right on the edge of the estate, next to a big car park in Helston. Which is handy because a) there’s parking and b) Ben’s parents live in Helston. We allowed plenty of time, as we weren’t sure how quickly the car park would fill up, and so actually had a time to look at the start of the course and confirm it was indeed tarmac path.
For a parkrun away from home, we had a lot of company. We’d parked next to Helen from Pomphrey Hill (who we’d met on the Saturday), and were also joined by Ben’s family. The run briefing was held in the field between the car park and the run start, and contained the usual mix of information and celebration. Unsurprisingly there were lots of tourists, but happily there were a few first timers as well, including Ben’s sister. They also mentioned that someone was going to try for the course record.
Waiting for the briefing
It was a bit of a squeeze getting to the start on the path, and so I opted for socialising with other tourists instead of trying to barge through into an approximate position. As is becoming customary, I didn’t notice the start and just started my watch when I saw people moving. It was slow-going to start with, and with the number of people close together it was hard to make a move through. Then I noticed on my watch I was doing 11:15 min/mile and realised I really had to get a move on.
At this point, I really regretted my choice of road shoes. While the surface was good throughout the run, sections had a mud covering, and the point I was trying to mass-overtake also had lots of mud round the edges that I’d have happily sped through in my Parkclaws. But I did eventually make progress, helped immensely by trying to stick with a tall guy from Exeter.
I was pretty pleased to hear the 1 mile beep on my watch before the first runner passed me going back the other way. There was a gap before the next few runners, but then people started coming past thick-and-fast, which was a great addition to the atmosphere. I even remembered to acknowledge my brother-in-law and husband. The path is surrounded by trees on either side, and after a while you catch glimpses of Loe Pool off to the left, which is a pretty distraction.
Either through excitement or exhaustion, I’d forgotten to double knot my shoelaces, and I could feel my left lace loosening. Stopping to re-tie my laces was so frustrating when I’d got good momentum, and I was a bit concerned if I’d get it back. Immediately after restarting, I crossed the bridge and went up the hill to the turnaround point – a fairly significant up when a) the run has been flat and b) you’ve just restarted. This is the first course I’ve run that is an actual out-and-back, as in we turned around a post rather than having a lollipop loop.
What goes up must go down, and I sped back down the hill, powered mostly by a fanatical obsession with re-joining the runners I’d been with. I was so focused I almost missed my sister-in-law running the other way. Oops. The rest of the run back was a bit weird, as there had been so few landmarks on the way to count back down. And I was pushing myself quite hard. So I was quite glad for the 3 mile beep, the cheering spectators, and the inevitable being out-sprinted by tall people.
The barcode scanners were just behind the funnel, which made them easy to find. I also noticed various signs dotted around reminding people not to leave with tokens. After saying hi to family, I went to the car to sort bits out while Ben went back along the course to run in with his sister. She finished her first parkrun with a burst of speed (welcome to the community!), and my mother-in-law took a family group photo to celebrate.
1st, 141st, 3rd and 112th parkruns successfully completed. Remind me not to stand next to Callum in photos.
Having said goodbye to most of the family, Ben, Lani and I got in the car and joined the train of vehicles heading to Heartlands.
Heartlands parkrun
The drive from Penrose parkrun to Heartlands parkrun was less than 25 minutes, and took in some amazing mining scenery. Heartlands is a visitor attraction area in Pool, Redruth. I hadn’t really looked into it before we arrived, and so hadn’t been sure what to expect. We found it easily, obviously helped by following a line of cars, but also the SatNav postcode provided on the course page was spot on. There’s a huge pay and display car park, but surprisingly there’s free on road parking right outside the car park, which is where we stopped.
We walked over towards the start area, and Ben checked with Lani that she had her barcode wristband on. She did, but the guy walking in front of us patted his pocket and promptly headed back to his car. As per usual, we asked someone in hi-viz where the toilets were – happily very close by and with not too long a queue. Then we had time to appreciate the area while walking back to the start. A mix of crisp, modern buildings and paving, with historic mine workings. Amazing.
As we all gathered round, someone stood up and announced that the course was going to be reversed, and described the new route. I didn’t really take it in – partly the description was very specific and made lots of references to the previous route, and partly the people around me got lost too and started talking so I couldn’t hear. There were then a couple of minutes chatting (and taking photos) with other tourists before the actual run brief.
How cool is this to run past?!
We moved to the start for the briefing, which meant I was mostly being nagged by Lani that she couldn’t see anything and wanted to go nearer the front. The vantage point we got at the side did at least mean I noticed the start fairly quickly. The first tiny bit is essentially moving from the wide start onto the main lap path. It’s solid paving, although there’s gravel out to the side as you join the lap that lots of us went on to end up in the right position.
The lap starts with a nice straight down past some buildings, at the end of which we came to an abrupt halt to queue to get round a tight corner. The course page currently says no buggies or dogs, and while I think this is changing (there were 2 of each on the day) the tight corner here may be part of the reason. Once through the corner, I was surprised as we switched to more trail path, verging on grass, for a couple of small inclines up to an old mine chimney. Again, I considered if Parkclaws would have been the right choice.
The downhill that followed was very popular with my running buddy, who sped down it every lap. The scenery then changes again as you enter the gardens, and wind round all the paths. This area was well marshalled, and also had cones indicating which way to go round various sections (although apparently some of the faster runners didn’t notice this first lap). Heading out the gardens, there’s a bridge back to the first area.
Running past the start, we paused to leave Lani’s jumper with Ben’s, and also have a drink from the bottle we’d left there. The second part of the lap continues through a play park. I’ve been to lots of parkruns where the route goes past or near a play park, but this actually went on the path through the middle. And it looked a pretty amazing play park. By this stage we were being lapped fairly frequently, and I have to say everyone was fantastic with the encouragement they gave Lani on the way past.
Ready to jumper drop
After the play park you head round the edge of a grass area (still on solid park), with a long straight section to complete the lap. We decided this could be another ‘super speedy straight’, which is what we call the one at Longrun Meadow, and Lani suitably obliged by overtaking lots of people around us. We were then lapped by Ben, and Lani made a few people smile by announcing she wanted to catch him back up.
And so onto lap 2, which was much the same but with less congestion, more being lapped, and more walking breaks. We were doing really well for pace, and so I was conscious to make sure we kept it fun and didn’t push too hard. As we headed towards the park half of the lap, I noticed some fast runners cutting up through the middle of the park at the lap point towards the finish. Always good to see how things are going to go.
Finishing lap 2, Ben gave us a cheer and made a comment about having gone completely wrong but still done 5k. Heading past the mine and through the gardens for the third and final time, we clearly weren’t being lapped any more, but were near to quite a few people and so kept a good atmosphere. Passing the start to head to the second half of the lap, Ben handed us a water bottle and said we had to do the loop of that side of the park before heading to the finish.
Lani was starting to get tired as we neared the end of our third lap, but I knew we didn’t have far left to go. I saw the sign pointing that lap 4 had to cut back across the park instead of heading to the mine works, and checked my watch for pace. We’d only done 2.65 miles. I frantically waved Ben over in confusion, and he confirmed that his earlier message had been for after the end of our lap. It turns out that the course is 3 laps of both mine/gardens and park/field, 1 lap of just park/field, and then a kick into the finish.
Ben stayed with us for the last loop through the play park. I’m glad he did, as it seems everyone else around us had got confused and finished already. When we left the play park, we were momentarily confused about directions as the marshals had started to head off already. We saw them further down the path, and they said the tail walker had been through already. Ben explained about the extra loop, and I got a little worried.
Up from the start, round to the right and all the way round the outside 3 times, then cut across, loop round the bottom section, then cut across and round to finish.
At the start of the straight we could see the tail walker up ahead, which was reassuring to know where they were. Lani was starting to struggle, so we had to take a few more walk breaks at this stage, which didn’t help my nerves. Rounding the corner to cut back across to the finish, we saw the runners in front of the tail walker turn to head straight to the finish, instead of doing their loop back through the park. And then we saw the tail walker do the same. I sent Ben ahead with one clear instruction: do not let the tail walker cross the line before us.
They stopped, and we crossed the line with the satisfaction of knowing we’d actually run the full route, and Lani’s shiny new PB was genuine. I made a comment as we crossed the line that most people around us had finished without the last loop. The tail walker, it turned out, checked with one of the core team and then actually completed the last loop.
Looking on Strava, there are an awful lot of people who ran 4.4k that day, probably lots with PBs they may never be able to beat. Changing routes is a hard thing to do, and it’s important to remember the context that Heartlands parkrun is less than a year old, and that the attendance on New Year’s Day beat their record by over 100. So they had a lot going on. The route itself is great, and would just needs a sign at the end of the lap saying “Lap 1, 2, 3 ↑ Lap 4, 5 →” and another by the play park saying “Lap 1, 2, 3, 4 ↑ Lap 5 →”. Sure, there are alternatives like moving the small loop to the start (Ben’s accidental route of going through the gardens 4 times would be too congested), but signage is all that’s needed really.
There’s a cafe on site, but we were all a bit too tired and wanted to get back for family lunch, so we said goodbye to our new friends and headed back to Ben’s parents. It’s a real shame that having run through the play park 4 times we didn’t get to try it out, but the area is now on my ‘must visit’ list for the next time we’re down that way.
This is definitely a parkrun I’d recommend. The varied route is something really special, and there’s something for everyone. Massive thank you to the team for doing a great job on results. I know there were a fair few issues with funnel duckers and double dippers, and so I was really impressed when the results came out to see Lani and I had identical, accurate finish times. That’s not something experienced teams always manage.
Overall we had a fantastically positive start to our year, and spent a fair chunk of the drive home from Cornwall discussing which events we want to visit next, and even a little speculation about where we might head for the double next year…
Some people plan their parkrun tourism weeks or even months in advance. Some just wake up and decide where to go. The latter isn’t really practical for us, with our location and family, and even on the rare occasions we do plan it often needs to change. This weekend was looking particularly unpromising, with yellow warnings for rain and wind across Somerset, and not much better forecast in the helpful parts of Devon. Early Friday evening, the most likely option was me heading to a local repeat. Then we saw on Facebook that Danny from the With Me Now podcast was going to Gloucester City, and it seemed as good a reason as any to actually go somewhere.
Gloucester City parkrun, unsurprisingly located in the middle of Gloucester, is one of those events that really should have been higher on our target list. At only 1 hour 20 minutes away (in winter – it’s all M5 so summer would be awful) and buggy-friendly it hit the necessary ticks. And away from Somerset’s rain warning as well (we’ll ignore the ice warning for Gloucestershire). That just left the simple task of leaving the house by 7:15.
At 6:45 it looked like we weren’t going to go, as having actually persuaded ourselves to get out of bed, our daughter decided to stand her ground and refuse to go. With top-class negotiating skills, we got last-minute agreement to go. Speed prepping of people and stuff got us on the road by 7:25. Listening to the Moana and Frozen soundtracks on the way was a pretty small price to pay!
A combination of an accurate postcode and decent directions on the course page meant we had a pretty straight forward time finding where we were going. The parking is at Go Outdoors, opposite the park, and very sensibly there’s a sign to show which bit of the car park to use for parkrun. After layering up the kids (it was approximately 2 degrees) and getting the buggies set up, we crossed the road and headed into the park.
Spot the bandstand
Gloucester City parkrun is fairly typical of most park parkruns, in that it’s a few laps around the edge, with bits added to make the distance right. The start was pretty close to where we’d entered the park, but the meeting point was at the bandstand. Or, you know, the usual theory of ‘head for the mass of hi-viz’. I was grateful to learn from one of the volunteers that there were toilets in the middle of the park (not the best but I’ve seen far worse). The timing meant that, for possibly the first time ever, I missed the first timers’ briefing but Ben was actually there. Miracles do happen.
The main run briefing was done from the bandstand. With a microphone so big tick there for actually being able to hear it. All the basics covered, everyone started heading to the start. But first, the big decision of starting layers. Last minute I opted for no hoodie but added sleeves. Definitely the right decision, even if it didn’t feel it on the walk over. At the start we counted 5 buggies (including our 2), which is pretty impressive given there were 89 runners.
And so finally, on paragraph 7, we were off. Ben got ahead of me almost instantly, as always, but with the early congestion the gap didn’t get too big. That and I was feeling pretty good and so made a decent start. The short lap at the start involved cutting a corner at one end of the park, following round the edge, and then cutting across the middle of the park to re-join the opposite edge. This is where I get confused describing courses, as the ‘lap’ back to the start was further along the path, but the point we re-joined was pretty much the lap point for all future reference. And now you’re confused too, I do realise.
Too fast for the camera
By the end of the small lap, everyone had started to spread out a little, which could only be a good thing with my rusty steering skills. I was also starting to realise that what felt like pretty good pace was, in fact, pretty good pace. Back by the start I checked my watch and found I was on for a 30 minute parkrun. With a buggy. For the main 3 laps we followed the path all the way around the edge, instead of cutting the corner, and I found myself behind a couple of runners who were clearly aiming for 30 minutes themselves. Unfortunately I got a bit too close and they kindly let me through.
Where the short lap had split off, we carried on round the edge of the park, and the path got slightly wider, with a different surface. There were two slightly hairy moments when I dodged a recovering runner (who I think had just got back up from falling over) and then a dog walker, but thankfully I didn’t hit anyone or take any detours. The next challenge was a right-angled turn, naturally just as the first runners lapped me. Having somehow not wiped anyone out, I followed the path round, up a bump, and back into the main bit of park to start all over again.
Lap 2 was much the same, but I started to fall back a little from the 30 minute runners (as they were named in my head). There was also more being lapped (but amazingly still no knocking people over), and a fair amount of trying to explain to my daughter that I couldn’t really hear the questions she was asking.
My first thought at the start of lap 3 was how few runners had lapped me. The factors at play here were clearly a) me running fractionally faster, b) the smaller field size, and c) the out-and-back section to the finish at the end of the third lap. I was blissfully unaware of c, until my daughter asked if a runner she could see was doing the bit at the end. Which he was. In fairness, I was struggling at this stage. The pace on my watch was making it pretty clear that I could technically still get sub-30 if I pushed, but I knew that it just wasn’t going to happen.
On finishing the lap, the final stretch takes a path that goes right across the middle of the park, and then takes a sharp turn back along another path to the finish. That turn is on a marked grass section, but I clearly looked like crap and so the marshals took advantage of the quiet paths and let me stick to the tarmac, turning just after the usual point. Mad desperation to at least do as well as I could kicked in, and I somehow managed to speed up before the line.
My Strava map, because I realise my description may not be entirely clear…
My time was 30:20, and I’m insanely proud of that. It’s my buggy PB by over a minute, with a substantially bigger child than before. And to have actually been in with a shot at going sub-30 with the buggy is way beyond anything I thought I would achieve this year. Particularly in windy conditions, which made it much harder work.
Multi-lap park courses get bad-mouthed a lot, but I absolutely loved this one. The atmosphere was fantastic, with cheery supportive marshals all over the place, and a real community feel. After scanning in, we didn’t hang around at the park for too long as it started to rain. Instead we headed back to the car to put the buggies away, and then walked over to the GL1 leisure centre cafe.
It’s been far too long since we chatted with a core team in the cafe after a parkrun, and it was a great bunch of people to talk to. With topics including new years day doubles, barcode scanning, and how Bushy manage with so many people, it was great to just sit and chat. And, in Ben’s case, get asked to write the run report. As we were finally instructed to leave by our long-suffering daughter, we did take the opportunity to ask Danny for a selfie. I’m slightly jealous at how easily he got all 5 of us in the frame, given I struggle to fit 4 in.
Looking tall as ever
Gloucester City parkrun turned out to be exactly what my week needed. Sure, it helped that I exceeded all my expectations in terms of pace. But the main things I’ll remember are the clever route, the absolutely fantastic volunteers, and the community feeling. And possibly the freezing cold wind…
Last week I was fortunate enough to hear an after-dinner speech by the amazing Dame Kelly Holmes, at a work event no less. I have never heard anyone so inspiring, particularly with her ability to make herself seem normal and make everyone feel they have something to achieve. And, of course, I was a little bit excited to hear someone other than me talk about parkrun to some of my colleagues.
Did I mention yet that I met Kelly Holmes?
I headed back to my hotel feeling completely motivated. This was it. This time I am going to put the work in and finally beat my long standing parkrun PB (the saga of my long standing PB is a whole post in itself). My head was buzzing, and I found myself making notes of training ideas and blog posts to write. At midnight. This is not normal behaviour for someone who prizes sleep so much.
And then, as it does, reality hit. Two full-on days, on the back of a particularly busy few months, left me exhausted. And I don’t mean slightly tired. I mean having to stop at services to nap on the drive home. I mean stopping work in the middle of the next day to have another nap. I mean keeping fingers crossed the whole of the day after that the toddler will want plenty of calm activities (he didn’t, he’s a toddler after all).
But still, the positive light of Saturday morning was beckoning. Following a week volunteering we’d missed 2 parkrundays in a row, so we gave ourselves a couple of options. Plan A was for us to visit Torbay Velodrome parkrun, which would have been a new event to us. Plan B was for us to all head to somewhere local-ish like Killerton or Yeovil Montacute for me to do a repeat and get my p-index to 3 (again, a whole other blog post in that story), given Ben was thick with cold.
I woke up at 7:30 on Saturday. It was 7:45 before our little one got loud enough for me to realise what day it was. Ben was still sound asleep, and I hadn’t heard any noise from our daughter yet. So Plan C was formed. If I could get myself and our son ready in 15 minutes, I could get to Minehead and run it with the buggy (which was an extra option for increasing my p-index). Clearly, I was still a bit tired to think this was possible, as it took me approximately 10 minutes to persuade our son to leave his dummy in the cot. By which time our daughter was awake too.
So I resigned myself to Plan D – have a restful morning at home. I relayed this information to Ben at about 8:10 (he was still in bed, but it’s really hard to stay asleep once both kids are up). And about 10 minutes later he appeared downstairs and told me to get dressed and go to Longrun Meadow.
Plan E, it turned out, was exactly what I needed. Just running. Yes, touring would have been nice. But familiar faces, being able to focus on running without working out where to go, and the amazing puddles of home allowed me to run. I was never going to get an outstanding time, but actually it beat my expectations of where I would be. And I got to wear my shiny new 100 top for the first time (probably another post there too, actually). And did I mention there were puddles?!?
Lolly wears the 100 parkrun top, accessorised with trademark hairband barcode, and muddy Christmas leggings
So this was a step in the right direction. My first run that wasn’t a tourism parkrun or junior parkrun since the end of September. Now I just needed to get a run that wasn’t at parkrun at all. Of course, Sunday was a slump day. Everyone tired. Feeling a bit meh. It’s hard to start a new routine in those conditions.
And then onto today. Wow. I had an hour slot in the afternoon where I was actually free, and so I was determined to use it for an exercise DVD or something. My day fell apart with some very sad news, but I became more determined that I would get my time. Then I discovered I needed to head into town during that hour.
This is where running wins.
This is where running was a very practical option to get into town and back in the required time, while still getting my exercise in. Extending the 3/4 trip each way to 2 miles in, 1.1 back (I do love 5k at the moment).
But as soon as I set off, I knew I was running for so much more than that. I wasn’t running to help my body, I was running to help my head. The cruelest thing about feeling tired and down is that the thing that can help most is the hardest to do. What I needed was space and time to process my thoughts. I needed the consistent sound of my feet hitting the pavement. I needed the freedom.
Somewhere amongst goals, comparisons and training targets, I’d forgotten the real reason I run. Yes, some of those goals will always be a driver to improve (until I hit them of course), but the important thing is to get out there and enjoy the run. Because as tired as running can make me, life without running is way more tiring.
