Monthly Archives: June 2019

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

Ben’s training catch-up – #sub40

by Ben

I got pretty good at keeping a training diary throughout January and into February, until I tripped over and smashed my knee in. Since then, nothing. I basically didn’t run at all for a month, and then eased myself back in. I’ve had a few spring sniffles that have set me back a little bit, but mostly I’ve been racing. The Somerset Series gets pretty hectic through April, May and early June, and so it has been hard to find a training rhythm.

But after the recent Piddle Wood Plod, which I’ve yet to write up, we enter a quieter period through the summer. I’ve still got a few races scheduled, namely the Quantock Beast and the Pawlett Plod, but my focus is switching more long-term. Specifically, I want to address my 10k PB.

I last ran a real 10k ‘PB effort’ at the 2015 Battle of Sedgemoor 10k. That’s right, four years ago this summer. At that race, I ran 42:19. Sixteen months later, I ran 42:06 at the 2017 Chard Flyer, a time that I never really counted as my 10k PB, as I was concerned that the course was short. I’ve since realised that GPS really can be quite bad, and it probably wasn’t short. So let’s call my 10k PB 42:06. It isn’t quite that simple though. Although 42:06 is my 10k race PB, I have actually run a quicker 10k time during a race. At the 2016 Great Bristol Half, I clocked 41:24 for my first 10k.

Hopefully, I’ll look better than I did after the Chard Flyer…

So, I have two 10k times to beat: my official 10k race PB of 42:06, and my quickest time over the 10k distance of 41:24. Except that, actually, as I first discussed in August 2017, what I actually want to achieve is a sub-40 minute time. As such, my three targets for the summer are pretty obvious:

Gold: 39:59 (sub-40)
Silver: 41:23 (distance PB)
Bronze: 42:05 (race PB)

I’m not at my fittest at the moment, but I’m getting there. On the rather undulating Crewkerne 10k course, I ran a 43:48, and I should be able to improve on that fairly significantly on a flatter course. According to Strava, my grade-adjusted pace for that Crewkerne 10k was 6:46, which equates to a 10k time of 42:02. So in theory, without even needing to actually improve, I should be able to hit my bronze target. If I trust Strava, that is.

Of course, the crux of the matter is that there is a reason my 10k PB has got to stale. Yes, partly it is because I keep getting ill or injured. But it is also because I just haven’t run any flat, road 10k courses since that 2015 Battle of Sedgemoor race. This summer, I’m aiming to remedy that. The Chard Flyer has 474 feet of elevation, Crewkerne has 607 feet. The first of my ‘target’ races is the Wessex 10k, 215 feet, on 3 August. The second will be the Taunton 10k, 157 feet, on (provisionally) 29 September. If I don’t pull it off at either of them, I have my eye on some back-up races in November.

I have targets. I have races. All I need now is training. In the past, I’ve trusted to Pete Pfitzinger’s Faster Road Racing. But with an eight-week training window for the Wessex 10k, I simply don’t have the base mileage to be able to adapt his plans easily. So instead, I’m going to use a combination of his ideas, my knowledge, and some other stuff I’ve read, to come up with something suitable. Assuming that I’ve got my mileage up to a decent level during this first eight weeks, then I should be able to use an adaptation of Pfitzinger’s plan for the second eight weeks.

There we go. Sub-40 in either August, September or November. No worries.

parkrun tourism: Severn Bridge parkrun

by Ben

Since it began in August 2018, Severn Bridge parkrun has been a hotspot in the parkrun tourism community. There are various reasons that parkruns achieve this sort of ‘cult’ status. Jersey parkrun had it for a long time due to the fact it was the only UK parkrun to start with the letter ‘J’. Fountains Abbey has it because it is so beautiful. Bushy has it because it was the first parkrun, and remains the biggest in the UK. For Severn Bridge, the attraction is threefold; the parkrun spans two countries (Wales and England), it is run almost entirely on a huge bridge, and it is literally right next to a motorway. Any single one of these elements would have been an attraction, but the three together make it a very unique parkrun.

Before we can run across it, we have to drive across it!

When the event was first started, the bridge tolls were a hindrance for us, as the run starts on the Welsh side of the river, and it would have cost us £5.60. However, the tolls were scrapped in December, making it freeeeeeeeee (other than the circa £12 it cost us in fuel). In fact, despite being outside the South West region, this was probably the quickest parkrun to get to, of those we hadn’t yet done. Parking was well signed and marshalled, but it did fill up early, and is a five to ten minute walk from the start. There are toilets near the car park, at Thornwell Football Club, which is also where people meet up afterwards for a drink.

Runners congregate in the M48 underpass for the pre-run briefing (although it does have to be noted that the volunteer in question was shouting “race briefing” 😲). Honestly, I couldn’t really hear anything of the briefing, despite the fact they used a speaker system, and I was stood relatively close. Having not looked up the course before we arrived, I wasn’t prepared for another walk, up from the underpass to the bridge, where we apparently started. By which I mean, we were still walking towards the start when I heard a noise, and the run had started.

We met, and later finished, at the M48 underpass.

Honestly, I was a little miffed; I wasn’t even that close to the back, so some people would still have been a fair way back down the path, walking along, with no idea that parkrun had started, and they were against the clock already. In fact, Lolly and Lani were more or less in this situation. Anyway, it wasn’t ideal, but it’s not like I’d be getting a PB anyway: I was running with KK in the buggy, and Severn Bridge is NOT flat.

The course runs on the bridge for essentially 4.7 of the 5 kilometres, a simple out and back. The path is about four runners wide, so wide enough for two in each direction; though with the buggy, four was decidedly uncomfortable. As such, the start was pretty congested and slow going with the buggy. I had intended to start a bit further forwards than I usually would with the buggy, expecting the congestion. But never mind!

It took me until about a quarter of a mile in to get above nine-minute miles, as I weaved through runners, and around the odd piece of car shrapnel. There was a ‘gentle’ wind, which seemed like it was diagonally, a combination of a cross- and following-wind. More on this later. The bridge is quite a significant climb to its centre, which I had heard before from club-mates who had run the Severn Bridge Half Marathon, but it’s still something of a shock quite what a hill it forms. We actually went beyond the middle too, so started to drop gradually down the other side before the turnaround point.

Early on during a parkrun with the buggy, the greatest challenge can be not wiping out runners!

And then, oh boy. It was not a ‘gentle’ wind. As usual, what is a barely noticeable following wind turns into a horrible gale-force headwind. Okay… it wasn’t really that bad, but it sure felt it for a while, particularly when pushing what is, in essence, a rolling windbreak. I had been looking forward to the return leg, as it was mostly downhill, but the wind made it such hard work. Still, after passing the tail walker, I knew that I had the full width of the path at least! We continued back to the start point, and then followed the path down off the bridge and motorway to the underpass. In the damp conditions, this path was pretty slippery, though this was probably exacerbated by the fact that I was running sub-6 minute mile pace.

A sharp right turn at the bottom of the hill was followed by a (roughly) thirty metre dash to the finish line. Competitive Ben took over, and I out-sprinted someone to the finish to come in 39th at Severn Bridge’s 39th event. KK was pretty adamant that he wanted to get out of the buggy, which was fair enough, so we abandoned the buggy in the underpass, and went for a walk up to the bridge to cheer on Lolly and Lani when they came through. They’d taken somewhat longer, as they had apparently taken time to appreciate the alleged ‘stunning views’. I wouldn’t know, having spent my time focussing on running…

It can be quite intimidating when big lorries go past!

Severn Bridge parkrun was my (arbitrary) 150th parkrun, and Lani’s 10th, earning her membership of the 10 club, one that neither Lolly nor I were ever able to be in. The t-shirts are out of stock at the moment, but hopefully we’ll be able to order her one soon.

All done, we headed back to the café for post-parkrun breakfast. I’m pretty sure that Lani considers this the most important part of parkrun, and KK is quickly heading that way too. The clubhouse only offer bacon baps, so Lani and I opted for one of those each, while KK had a glass of orange juice. Lolly picked up a wrap from the Tesco up the road as we left, as she’s not too keen on meat at the moment.

Severn Bridge parkrun is well worth the trip, and has opened our eyes to the possibilities of hitting more Welsh parkruns, as many of these will be closer than a lot of the South West parkruns. But next up, we’ll be heading back down to Cornwall to tick off the last Cornish parkrun (for now) we haven’t done, but one we’ve wanted to do for a long time, because it looks stunning; Tamar Lakes parkrun.