Yet again, it has been a while since we’ve posted anything. In my defence, I’ve been struggling mentally and physically with a chronic ankle issue that means I haven’t run much this year.
Still, over the past couple of months, we’ve eased back into some parkrun tourism, and as we try to make that a habit once more, we will try and start writing about our experiences again too.
These days, we generally try not to visit a parkrun too early; we like to give it time to bed in, and for some of the initial rush to die down. But this week the stars just aligned for us to visit Five Arches parkrun in Radstock on event number 2.
Radstock was just over an hour’s drive for us, and we arrived there around 8:15. Although there is a relatively small car park at the start/finish area, the team ask parkrunners not to use it, to leave its use for the general public. Instead, they suggest a couple of free car parks in the town itself. Both are only a short walk away, and are free (though you need to display a ticket). There is a small public toilet block in the start/finish area, and although moderate queues developed, it didn’t get as crazy as some parkruns we’ve visited!
That said, a combination of my timing and the toilet queue did mean that I missed the first timer’s briefing…
Yup, that’s be the first timer’s briefing…
The course runs along the Norton Radstock Greenway, an old railway line (the Somerset and Dorset Railway) now converted to a cycle trail. The path is firm tarmac along the entire route, though it is slippery in places. The path width varies; at its widest, two pairs of runners could comfortably pass each other, while in the narrowest, you’d struggle to fit three abreast. The parkrun starts a short distance from the car park (that you’re not allowed to park in) and heads west along the path for around 850 metres before a turn around a cone takes you just shy of the start, marking the first “lap”. You then turn around a second cone and head back out west once more, this time going much further, roughly 1,600 metres (1 mile) out to yet another cone; the third (and final) turnaround point, before a straight run back to the finish. Each leg has a nice landmark when you pass under the eponymous Five Arches Viaduct, which is roughly 400 to 500 metres from the start/finish, and a great point to start gearing up for that sprint finish!
Our run went really well. I ran with Lani, while Lolly ran with KK. Both children had good mindsets, and on a flat, tarmac course, they both beat their current parkrun PBs. While the double out-and-back might not be ideal for the super speedy runners because of the momentum killing turns, for most this will be a good course for PB attempts. It is also suitable for both wheelchairs and buggies, but beware of the relatively narrow aspect of parts of the course.
After a reasonably quiet inaugural of 77 runners, event two had 207, which was plenty on this course. Only 17 of the runners this week had also visited the inaugural, so it will be interesting to see what the numbers end up at.
Post-parkrun, we spent a little bit of time in the conveniently located play park right by the start/finish area, and then we headed over to Cottles, a bakery-cum-deli, which did very reasonably priced breakfast rolls and the like. There are a few other café options in the town, as well as a Morrisons Local and a Coop.
Overall, this is a nice addition to the south-west; thanks to all the lovely volunteers for putting it on. I’m not sure when we’ll be touring again, as October is looking like quite a busy month for other stuff, but hopefully we’ll have more words up here soon.
We’ve never really got back into the groove of blogging since the parkrun pandemic pause. Since parkrun returned in July 2021, we have visited 20 new venues. Of those, we have only blogged about two: Stratford Park, Stroud and Somerdale Pavilion. Which is a shame, because we’ve visited some amazing new places and had some great adventures. At some point, we’ll probably try and go back through and write up what we can remember, but it is much more of a chore, so I’m going to skip ahead to our most recent travels.
On 17 September 2022, we visited Marlborough Common parkrun, based on ‘the Common’ on the edge of Marlborough, in Wiltshire. It was our 78th different parkrun location, and our 62nd of 77 active south-west locations. The Common was given to the town during the reign of King John (1196-1216), and has a whole array of sports fields: football, rugby, golf and tennis, at least. There are 10 acres of open space for walking, or in our case – running.
This hadn’t actually been our first choice parkrun for the morning. I (Ben) had been on a work trip to Germany for the week, and spent Friday night in the Heathrow Airport Premier Inn, while Lolly and the kids were at home in Taunton. We had decided to meet at Seven Fields parkrun. However, Seven Fields was cancelled by the landowner due to the impending funeral of Queen Elizabeth II, so we had to alter our plans. Thankfully, Marlborough Common was similarly roughly equidistant for us.
This relatively late change of plans did mean that we hadn’t done too much research on the course, which we found out was a two-lap course all on grass. Toilets proved to be a little bit of an issue – there are none on the Common, the nearest are in (or near) Waitrose in town, which is roughly half a mile away. This is well advertised on the course page, but for Lolly and the children, just added a bit more time onto their travel, and is worth bearing in mind. Parking in on the Common itself, which is very clearly signposted, and well marshalled.
On the morning, our five-year-old (KK), who hates running, shocked us by declaring that he wanted to run with Mummy. (A few days later, when we were talking to someone about him having done his second 5k, he piped up with “I didn’t know that was a 5k.” So, maybe he didn’t realise what he was letting himself in for…) Anyway, as a result of this, Lolly ran with him, while I ran with Lani.
Due to our faffing around, we missed the first-timers briefing, despite the fact that I had originally arrived at the park at around five past eight! Even so, the main run briefing was detailed enough, and other than a slight hiccup when we were told to walk over to the finish, rather than the start, we were soon away.
The course – two laps, almost all on pretty uneven grass.
The course starts in the southern corner of the park, and heads a short distance up a path on the western side before cutting in for the short out-and-back section, which runs alongside a children’s football pitch. After a 180 degree turn around a flag, you head back to the path, and then turn left onto the field to start the big lap of the Common. This takes you up the eastern side of the park, through some trees and around the parking area. It cuts into the park to skirt alongside the golf course, gradually climbing up hill. Towards the far end of the park there are a few turns to follow established tracks along the grass, and then you turn down the western edge and head back downhill, past the rugby pitch. After the rugby pitch you turn into the park again, running between the rugby pitch and the car park driveway until you get all the way across to the other side of the park, closing the loop. You then head back towards the start area, and do it all again. After completing your second lap, rather than doing the out-and-back, you turn into the finish funnel!
Lani had a pretty good first half of the run, but we slowed down between 1.5 and 2.5 miles, taking plenty of walking breaks, before speeding up again for the final run in, pushed on by the gradual downhill nature of most of the final kilometre. The course is nothing amazingly special, but I didn’t find it as dull as ‘two laps around a Common’ might sound. The sports pitches, golf course, and a few copses of trees give variety to each lap, as does the slope from one end to the other, meaning your effort levels vary through the lap. The marshals were enthusiastic and encouraging, which always helps – particularly when running with children. Lani particularly enjoyed the high-five marshal at the top end of the lap.
Lolly and KK in good spirits – so pretty near the start, then!
Once we’d finished, I walked around the second loop with Lolly and KK. By this point, it was pretty clear that KK was regretting his decision, but he continued on until eventually flinging himself to the ground about five metres from the finish line and refusing to move! A short, ahem, drag later, and we were done!
Afterwards we headed into the town centre to get some post-parkrun breakfast from Greggs, then had a little ramble around the shops (the toy shop was a favourite, shockingly!) We finished off with some time at the play park at the Recreation Ground, which is about a five to ten minute walk from either the town centre or the Common.
Hopefully we can tick off a fair few more of the south-west parkruns over the next few months, but where we can’t or don’t fancy travelling far enough to visit new ones, we’ll be trying to return to some of those that Lolly and I have done but Lani hasn’t.
It’s been a while. In March 2020, we toured at St Mary’s parkrun. In my write-up from that run, I mentioned that “Given that it seems more and more likely that parkrun will be suspended soon, we were eager to get out and parkrun this weekend.” Well, it has to be said that I hadn’t anticipated quite such a long suspension.
Obviously parkrun returned quite a while ago now. Firstly, this post is very tardy: we’re out of practice at blogging. Secondly, we didn’t get straight back to touring: parkrun came back at the start of the summer holidays, which brings holiday traffic to the M5, and after facing it for work, I wasn’t really up to doing it again on a Saturday for ‘fun’.
So it wasn’t until the start of September that we scheduled our first tourist trip. Initially we planned to head to Stonehouse parkrun, but some uncertainty about whether they had toilets meant that we finally opted for Stratford Park parkrun, Stroud, a little further off the M5, but in the same general area.
Stratford Park parkrun, Stroud is (this is going to blow your mind) in Stratford Park in Stroud, Gloucestershire. The park has plenty of greenspace, and a manor house, and is situated behind a leisure centre. There is lots of parking in the leisure centre car park (which is free), and the centre staff are happy to let parkrunners in to use the toilets and changing rooms.
Due to some issues on the motorway, we arrived in a huge rush at about 8:50, but still managed to get the buggy set up, all of us use the toilets, and get to the start in time for the end of the run briefing. We did miss the first timers’ briefing though, so I knew basically nothing about the course…
…the course, it turned out, was hilly.
I ran this one with Lani, while Lolly took the buggy. The course starts along a wide path, but quickly narrows as it winds its way around the manor house. Lani got off to a quick start, and was motivated by being ahead of Mummy, meaning that when we hit the first hill, pictured above, she kept running, gaining us a few positions. The course continues up the hill past the play park, and then does a little out and back above the park, before heading gently downhill for most of the rest of the lap.
The lap is nicely varied; the wide grassy expanse of the park area, followed by a more wild meadow feel, and then the course disappears down into the wood for a short stretch, before coming back out below the manor house, but even this stretch was strewn with large tree roots which make it very uneven underfoot. At the end of each of the three laps, a short sharp tarmac incline brought you back to the start/finish area.
On the final lap, rather than turning right at the top of this hill, you turn left and then loop around to the right on the other side of the hedge. (Looking at it as we approached, I was worried we were going to have to go all the way around the tennis courts, but we didn’t!) Some phenomenal running from Lani, along with a course which did not suit the buggy meant that we stayed ahead of Lolly for a great little run for Lani.
When we visited, there were 73 finishers, and it was a really nice friendly event. Numbers haven’t topped 100 since the return, and on some of the more inclement weeks have been under 50. I imagine in the wetter conditions at the moment, it’d be a really tough course, but in the late summer sun, it was gorgeous. The sports centre café wasn’t open when we visited, so we headed straight back after.
Family parkrun selfie!
Next up in our tourist travels was Somerdale Pavilion…
Given that it seems more and more likely that parkrun will be suspended soon, we were eager to get out and parkrun this weekend. We umm-ed and ahh-ed quite a bit about where to go: ideally we wanted to tick off a new location, but I’d had a loooong week at work, and so didn’t want to travel too far. Also, all the weather lately meant that there were a few courses that would still be more or less a no-go with the buggy.
Ultimately, we went to bed still unsure. We had two options: St Mary’s parkrun, which would be a new location for all of us, or Ashton Court parkrun, which Lolly and I had ran back on New Years’ Day 2016. In the morning, we still didn’t really make a decision. Basically, we got in the car, I popped in the postcode for St Mary’s parkrun in Bridport, and that was that.
Now well used to our long parkrun drives, KK has found ways to keep himself entertained…
After an easy drive, just under an hour, we arrived at Bridport Football Club car park, which happily allowed parking via mobile app (JustPark). Less happily, Lolly needed the toilet, and it turned out that was in another car park, so having arrived in plenty of time, we drove around to another car park. The course description page lists that all three car parks are five minutes walk from the parkrun. This… isn’t quite true. The football club car park is only a couple of minutes walk from the start/finish. West Street car park, which we ended up in, is, well, more than five minutes away.
Anyway, all’s well that ends well: Lolly had an empty bladder, and we still made it in plenty of time. Well, around 8:55, anyway. I assume that we missed the first timer’s briefing, and I couldn’t really hear the run briefing thanks to a pair of runners next to me chatting about the Grizzly (which was rubbing salt into the wound somewhat, given that I had to miss it due to injury!)
The course is three laps, primarily on tarmac path, but with a short section of grass on the playing field each lap. Even with the recent wet weather, this wasn’t too muddy, though I certainly slowed significantly going through it on the third lap!
Start-line selfie!
We had a relatively small field of 100 exactly, and as the start was two sides of the playing field, on the grass, it was wide and open. This prevented me from getting trapped at the back, as I often do when running with the buggy, and so I was almost immediately at ‘race pace’. Of course, this came with its own downside: I was in near uncharted territory with the buggy: normally I’m used to building my pace up, and continually passing people. Instead, within the first half mile, I was more or less in the right place.
After the grassy two sides of the playing field, we went around the other two sides on tarmac path, and then turned the other direction, away from the playing field, along the main path. We followed this out of the playing fields section of the course and into another part. This section was a little bit unusual for a parkrun, as it included a path that ran right in front of a block of houses: they literally have parkrun on their doorstep. It was also really good fun: the paths twisted and turned back upon one another, climbing and dropping as they did so. People talk about ‘Mario Kart’ courses, and while this was only a small section of the course, it certainly had that sort of feel.
After winding through this section, with a couple of very tight corners that necessitated back-wheel turns, we returned to the main path, and wound back towards the playing fields again. Continuing along the main path, with the playing fields on the right and the river on the left, we ran out of the park area, about 150 metres and then doubled-back 180 degrees around a cone. Another back-wheel turn! Once back by the playing fields, we turned left to start the course again. And again. After going around the cone for the third time and heading back to the playing fields, we continued straight on into the finish.
SPRINT FINISH!!
Other than the start, the course is pretty narrow, and I’m glad that I was running as part of a smaller field: put 2-300 around this course, and it would struggle. With the buggy I did have to tuck behind runners that I wanted to overtake or lap a couple of times due to runners coming the other way, but never for too long. Conversely, the tight confines made it a very communal run: I must have seen Lolly and Lani four or five times during the run as we looped past each other in various places on the course.
For me personally, it was a tough run. I haven’t run barely at all for the past four weeks due to a bit of tendonitis in my lower calf, and pushing myself for a 5k with the buggy was hard work. But really good fun. I don’t know when we’ll be able to tour, or indeed parkrun at all, again, so it was good to get a positive experience in this week.
I was baffled by being supplied with two teaspoons with my mug of tea. I’m clearly not trendy enough to understand.
After the run, we ambled back to drop off the buggy in the car, and then explored Bridport in search of breakfast. We eventually found Soulshine Cafe – it was a bit more expensive than we would normally go for, but boy was it good. If, maybe, a little… hippy-like. My full English breakfast came scattered with seeds, and the baked beans were a homemade mix. I’m normally a ‘simple, meat-first’ approach, but genuinely, it was really nice.
After visiting 5 new events in January, February started with a combination of illness, bad weather, and a need to be nearby. So my first 3 weeks involved Longrun Meadow, Longrun Meadow, and Burnham & Highbridge – only really venturing as far as Burnham because Longrun was cancelled. All this meant I was absolutely determined to get some tourism in this weekend. Then Ben injured himself.
Granted, that’s worse for Ben than it is for me, but I was going stir crazy. So I had a search for events Ben and I had done but Lani hadn’t, that aren’t too far away, and were unlikely to be cancelled for ground conditions and a bit of wind. Eastville parkrun ticked all of these, with the added bonus that we never got round to writing it up last time. Oh and the extra added bonus that they needed volunteers, and so signing Ben up to barcode scan meant we actually had to go.
Eastville parkrun takes place in Eastville Park in Bristol, right next to junction 2 of the M32. Parking is available at the nearby Tesco, and then there’s a short walk under the motorway (KK was very excited by the tunnels) to get to the park. The path enters near the bottom of the park, so you need to walk up the hill to the gathering area. Ben went on ahead to check in, and I eventually got the kids up the hill.
As it was a new event for Lani, we went to the First Timers’ Briefing. This was really well done, with someone pointing the route out on a map while the course was described. The route is essentially short lap, lake/big lap, short lap. Oh and the entire park is on a slope. We headed over to the start area for the main briefing, with runners standing either side of the path to keep it clear until the actual start. Ben joined us for a photo, and then headed off to watch.
All looking a bit tired, except the one who was about to have a nice rest in the buggy…
Having clearly heard all of both briefings, I somehow failed to hear the actual start, and suddenly noticed people were moving. The start was unsurprisingly slow, what with being at the back of over 500 people. Lani decided the best way to handle this was to skip along – showing somewhat that she was out of practice at the whole endurance thing.
After a short flat stretch across the path, the route turns right down a long hill. The kids had been looking forward to this, but with so many people in front we struggled to get any speed up. The path flattens out at the corner at the end of the path, but another corner had us heading back up the hill towards the start. Looking over to the left we could see the lake down below, which was a nice distraction.
To complete the small lap, you turn back onto the path you started on to cut across the path again. We got lots of cheering because a) Ben was there, b) we were wearing cow cowls, and c) Lani looks super cute while running. Heading back down the hill a second time we were able to stretch our legs and enjoy the hill more. The downside to this was Lani then needed to stop to take her jumper off, which took us quite a while.
There are so many captions here, I just can’t pick one!
Once going again, we took the path at the bottom of the park down towards the lake area. This section had more marshals due to potential for going wrong and ending up by the road. It also had some bollards dressed up in hi-viz jackets, which is a really effective way of helping people to avoid them. The path follows the river for a short while, before reaching the ornamental lake.
The loop round the lake was a big hit with the kids, as there were swans and ducks to spot. Just as well really, as Lani was starting to get tired and realise we weren’t catching anyone up. That said, on the sharp climb up from the lake to the main park I struggled to keep up with her, as my buggy control round the bends wasn’t great.
The path rejoins the loop ready to climb up the hill. By this point the bulk of runners were heading round this section on their final lap, so we kept tucked in to the side as everyone passed. For the longer lap, instead of turning right towards the start/finish in the middle of the park, you continue on to the top of the park.
This is the only place where the otherwise excellent signage and marshalling had a gap. Shortly after the path goes off to the right, another path disappears off slightly to the left. By the time we got there, most runners in the area had finished and were heading off – and mostly down the path to the left. Happily another runner on our lap overtook us and confirmed that we did indeed need to stick to the more straight-on path.
Because I appreciate that my directions will mean nothing to most people
The marshals throughout were really supportive, but the section round the top of the park was where I noticed it most, as there were very few runners around us. Before too long, though, we had turned the corner to head back down the other side of the park. As we went past the start/finish area we could see big queues for scanning, which struck me as a big benefit for going a bit slower.
What wasn’t a benefit though was the large number of people walking through the park having finished their run. As we rejoined the small loop to head down to the bottom of the park things were a bit of a squeeze. For most people it would have been fine to weave through, it’s just a little trickier when you have a both an under 11 to keep in arms reach and a buggy.
The final climb up the hill was arguably the easiest of the 3, despite not being the fastest, as we knew we were nearly finished. And shortly after we turned onto the path across the park, Lani asked if she could speed up for the end. Which of course she did, thus ensuring yet another massive cheer. We then wound our way through a well organised funnel, before Lani got her biggest wish of having Ben be the one to scan her head (seriously, barcode hairbands are amazing).
The support we received from other runners was amazing throughout. Many people commented on Lani’s 10 top, which led her to happily explain she’s done more than 20 now (and put me on the spot for not knowing the exact number). I finished 570th out of 573 runners, so it could have been a very different experience without the positive comments from those lapping us or who’d already finished. The big advantage of finishing so far down the pack, though, was that we didn’t have to wait long at all for Ben’s barcode scanning duties to come to an end.
With everything finished up, we walked back down the park to head back to the car. We packed the buggy away and headed into Tesco, where we had one of the best cooked breakfasts we’d had in a long time. Then it was time to pop next door to Ikea, before heading home from a very successful family parkrun.
KK sensibly ignores the camera and sticks to eating
Running at 4 new-to-us events in the month just wasn’t enough, so we rounded off January with another early start. The 6:20 alarm was not greeted enthusiastically, and if it wasn’t for the 2 very good reasons we’d chosen to go to Chippenham parkrun then I suspect we’d have stayed in bed. But a) we’d arranged to meet friends nearby after the run and b) Lani wanted to run a C dressed as a pirate.
In the course of planning (yes, actual plans occasionally happen), one of our parkrun friends said that Chippenham would be pretty tough with a buggy at this time of year due to a muddy field. But plans were already in motion so we decided to go for it anyway. This fact may or may not kick me later in the post.
Chippenham’s Facebook page said that the normal parking, right next to the park, is closed for redevelopment, and suggested using the old college car park instead. We located this fairly easily, and having layered/pirated up headed to the park, with a quick stop at the Olympiad sports centre to use the toilets. The first timers’ briefing confirmed the course layout we expected – 2 laps of the park, down the river, 2 laps of the field, back. We also learned that there’s a separate start for buggies and dogs!
I seem to be confused about the camera location
And so we headed to the start – Ben and Lani on the path and me on the grass. This left me in an interesting position, as I tend to start off quite slowly and use the congestion to pace myself. But actually, being able to run alongside the path and slot into the group in the right place was pretty handy.
The lap round the park is on tarmac, and is pretty much a rectangle so lots of opportunity to practise sharp corners. The four sides are flat, up, up and down. This gave a nice opportunity to stretch out, and downhill tarmac sections are always popular with KK. I hadn’t really thought about the fact that I’d get lapped on this section, and so did take a moment to process the “keep left” calls.
After 2 loops, the course follows the first side of the rectangle again, but then continues down the river path. The setting morphed completely from town park to riverside trail. After a short section of proper path we reached the muddy field. As expected, the mud was sticky and energy-sapping. But then it started to get harder and harder.
See, pushing a buggy over that surface was fine. What wasn’t fine was that the mud stuck to the tyres. And then mud stuck to that mud. And the front wheel of the buggy is covered over at the top. So essentially I’d got myself one big sticky brake. I somehow kept running (albeit slowly) for that first lap. It was only when the surface changed to trail path that I realised the extent of the problem, as I still couldn’t get it to move properly.
How the buggy looked at the end – both whole and once the front wheel was removed (there are brakes in there somewhere!)
A short section of tarmac gave me a quick enough run to clear things a little, but as soon as I reached the mud again I ground to a halt. So I did the only thing I could think to do – tipped the buggy so it was just on the back wheels, and walked the entire mud section. Two passing runners commented that they didn’t know how I was managing it, to which my reply was “stubborn-ness”.
Reaching the trail path again, I realised being stubborn was the way forward. So I pushed as hard as I could, and slowly the wheel managed to turn more freely. One of the runners who’d lapped me on the mud section ran back down the path to join me on the home stretch. He did also offer to help with the buggy, but see earlier reference to stubborn-ness. As we reached the tarmac, my wheel had cleared itself enough space to run freely.
The route finishes by heading back alongside the river and along the side of the park. I definitely appreciated having someone to run with, and he was a great influence in getting me to get over the mud and actually finish with pace.
I let KK out the buggy and he said he’d liked the run, but his shoes were muddy. Which was a fair comment. Barcode scanning was on the hard courts, which were right next to the play area. And that’s where we were when Lani and Ben finished a short while later.
One thing about Chippenham parkrun that I cannot express enough is how friendly everyone was. Several times I found myself in conversation with other runners, and Ben reported back friendly comments as well. The marshals were amazing – bringing an incredibly supportive and positive vibe all along the course.
A sure-fire way to get more cheers on the way round
We didn’t stay for the café, much to the kids’ annoyance, as we were heading straight off to see our friends. As for our other reason for attending, Lani is now the proud owner of a virtual pirate badge for having run 7 different events starting with a C and one starting with an R (say 7 Cs and an R – it’ll make sense).
All in all, I would thoroughly recommend Chippenham parkrun. A great varied course and a fantastic community feel. Just maybe wait til the summer if you’re going with a buggy…
When we ran at Tamar Trails at the start of November, it meant we’d run every UK parkrun south-west of Taunton. But by the time we ran it we already knew that the following week another event was due to start in a location that’s about as south-west as you can get in mainland UK – Land’s End.
Like many of our Cornish parkrun trips, the first step of planning involved arranging to visit Ben’s parents for the weekend. Handily this put us just under 45 minutes away in the morning, which is very respectable considering the scale of Cornwall. We’d initially planned to leave KK with his grandparents, but realised a few days before that running as a family is part of who we are. And it seemed wrong to go to such an iconic location without him.
On the very small chance you weren’t aware, Land’s End parkrun is situated around Land’s End, which is the most westerly point in mainland England. It’s pretty easy to find by road, as you just get on the A30 westbound and keep going until the road stops and becomes a car park, which is generously free for parkrunners.
Having parked up plenty early, I was the first to venture out into the cold wind. Even from the car park the views were amazing, particularly with the winter sun still low in the sky. Once I managed to stop looking at the sea, I quickly located the toilets which had been opened early especially for parkrun. That just left the small task of persuading the others to get out of the warm car – one extra other than usual as Ben’s brother Callum was joining us.
The meeting point is right next to all the attractions, but I got a good look round the surrounding area as KK decided to explore (which is fair enough given he was about to go in a buggy). He then joined Lani and Callum for a warm up, before we moved in for the run briefing. As is fairly typical for newer events, the first timers’ information was included in the main briefing. Surprisingly for our preparation track record, the course was described exactly as we expected – a mile out along a path, a mile back, and then 3 laps of path around the grass.
Ben and Callum did a fantastic impression of being twins (they’re really not)
The start was just around the corner, and I only just remembered to take my hoody off before the perfectly audible start. I took the start very gently, knowing that there would soon be gaps I could easily weave through. After a short run by the (closed) road, the main section is on compacted trail path, which made me very happy with my choice of hybrid shoes. Very quickly I became as focused on looking off to the left as looking forward. Perhaps slightly dangerous when pushing a buggy, but kind of irresistible in the face of coastal views.
The path undulated throughout, but about half a mile in there was a sudden short drop down with a fairly loose surface covering. Which made me think that a) I should make sure not to lose control of the buggy and b) I’d have to get back up it later. After this the path wound slightly further inland, and there were significantly more ups than downs. The front runners started coming the other way (keep left!), and Ben and I exchanged half-hearted waves. Struggling with the climbs, I finally gave in and walked one of the up sections, only to turn a corner and see the turnaround point.
For an out-and-back, the return felt pretty different, helped of course by the varying undulations. The downhill sections helped me feel good again, and I even managed to high-five Lani as we passed. Reaching the end of the trail path, instead of turning onto the (now open) road, we turned further onto a narrow path. By narrow I mean in places there were plants rubbing against both sides of the buggy (side-by-side doubles will not fit on this course).
One clothes-covered marshal later and I was on the lapped section of the course, which is mostly tarmac path. The lap is pretty much a triangle, and the first side involves going downhill. Downhill + tarmac + buggy = amazing respite for tired arms and legs. Oh and you’re running straight towards the sea, so pretty awesome views as well. The turn at the bottom is on looser gravel, and then the climb back up begins.
All but one person here looks good!
Most of the climb is fairly gradual, although I was certainly struggling a bit with it as KK helpfully shouted “Run, Mummy!” on one of the laps. I did not vocalise my initial response, but did explain that I was actually about to walk. This is because that side of the triangle finishes with a very sharp climb to the top. Rounding the corner was a relatively flat final side of the triangle, ready to turn the corner back down. It’s worth noting that the gradient doesn’t match up on Strava, so don’t base your decision to go on incorrect elevation figures!
The differing gradient made the multiple laps quite interesting for me, as going downhill I was the same pace as those a lap ahead of me, and uphill the same as those a lap behind. As I finished lap 2 I saw Lani and Callum heading over to start their first lap, accompanied by Ben who’d finished long before. On lap 3 you peel off most of the way along the final side of the triangle, and slightly round the corner to the finish. Kudos to the mini marshal who was literally wearing the “To the finish” arrow.
The finish funnel required some careful steering, but I was soon through and scanned. Then onto the next important matter. In the middle of the space we were lapping was a playpark, and so KK was determined to get there as soon as possible. I did pause just outside the playpark to give Lani another high-five as she passed. KK does deserve some credit, as later when he saw Lani was about to finish he stopped (at the top of a climbing frame) and clapped her over the line.
Last push to the finish
After stopping to thank the RD for such an amazing event, we headed off for a mini explore. We’d planned to go to a café, but being out of season only the hotel restaurant was open (which is a little out of our price range). So we took a few more photos outside and then headed back to the car to raid our cereal bar stash.
As we left, I described the experience as “just what my January needed”. There’s no denying we were lucky with the weather – after storms during the week we were greeted with clear skies. But this parkrun experience had the whole package: varied course, beautiful location, community atmosphere. And a fantastic core team who worked so hard to bring parkrun to this iconic location.
We might have been encouraged to go by a desire to re-complete Cornwall, but this was so much more than a box ticking exercise. To say I’d recommend it is an understatement – it wouldn’t surprise me if we’re back again this year.
Swindon parkrun was the first in the south west, starting on 6 March 2010. Since then it has taken place almost 500 times. At the start of November last year, it was held under the new name of “Lydiard parkrun” for the first time. It takes places in Lydiard Park, a 260-acre country park on the western edge of Swindon.
It wasn’t our first choice venue for running today. In fact, it wasn’t even our second choice:
Thanks to Joanne, for putting more effort into planning our parkrunning than we did…
So, yes… Stonehouse was waterlogged and cancelled. Wotton was also waterlogged, but went ahead anyway – but a look through the photos of the course made it pretty obvious that it wasn’t going to be appropriate to take a buggy. I might have coped okay, but it would have been unfair on the event team who had put a lot of effort into improving the course, for me to go rip it up with a buggy.
Joanne’s message to let me know how Wotton was looking was sent at 21:51, just as we were heading up to bed. Chances are that if she hadn’t messaged, we would either have never noticed, or only found out in the morning, when it would have been too late to come up with another plan. So at around 10 pm, we were frantically re-planning. Joanne’s mention of Lydiard was tempting, as it was one we had never been to, despite its age. The only downside was that it would involve getting up even earlier than we had been planning for Wotton… and getting the kids up.
Amazingly, the kids were already awake when we got up at 6:20. Even more amazingly, I jumped out of bed with the alarm! Some frantic car-packing and children-dressing later, we were on our way, just after 7 am. An hour-and-a-half later, and we were there!
They need to update their “What’s on” poster!
Pre-run
Lydiard Park is well signed from the M4, and has decent parking, though it does fill up in the winter, as they can’t use the overflow car park which gets muddy. We got there nice and early, so we could pay for the parking (using the mobile app – who carries coins these days?) and then use the toilets (right next to the car park, nice and clean.)
The start and first-timers briefing locations were well signed, and as you might expect for a well-established parkrun, went pretty smoothly. The only slight complaint I would make is that by the time the first-timers briefing had finished, all the regulars were lined up to go, which meant that I was stuck to the side of the runners with the buggy, worrying about having to potential ‘barge’ my way in to get started…
Start-line selfie 🙂
The run brief was very good – a quality sound system is always a huge help. As we were mostly lined up to start, the brief blended straight into a “3-2-1-Start!” which even Lolly and Lani at the back could hear very clearly.
The run
The start was very congested: thankfully a lovely gentleman let me straight into the pack, but I was already well behind the 27-minute pacer, and going… slowly. It had taken me a good ten to twenty seconds to even get over the start line: Lolly and Lani took pretty much exactly a minute. The paths were relatively wide, and good quality, but a bit more puddly than I had anticipated. Which made my choice of road shoes for this run… ill-advised.
Although the paths were wide, the number of runners on them meant that they were still too congested for me to make decent progress for the first kilometre or so. I got caught up at the back of the 27-minute-pacer pack, and it was only when Joanne shouted for runners to be aware of the buggy and to mind their ankles that I was able to work my way through – thanks again Joanne! (I never really like to shout “excuse me” at people, it feels like I’m suggesting I’m more important than they are or something…)
Once I was past the 27-minute pacer, I moved into much clearer space, and was able to pay more attention to the actual course. It starts with a short section out to join a two-lap loop, which is roughly triangular in shape, albeit with one corner cut off. The course is broadly flat, though it gently descends for most of the lap before a short, shallow climb back to the start/finish point. Essentially it is flat enough to be a slog, with the shallow hill just making it more of a slog. But maybe that was just because I was pushing a buggy around it.
After an early attempt to avoid the puddles to save my road shoes, I gave it up as impossible, and just went straight through everything, caking my lovely road shoes, my legs and my shorts in a layer of mud. The marshals were excellent all the way round, and it was very cute to hear a couple of quiet “Thank you marshal”s from KK in the buggy! The finish funnel was a bit narrow for a buggy, but this is because they were implementing a double-funnel for the busy parts of the run (which still wasn’t enough: at one point finishers were queuing at least twenty metres before the finish line. New Year, New You, obviously…)
Post-run
I got scanned, recovered my zoodie from the tarpaulin, and then headed back to the course to wait for Lolly and Lani. It’s possible that there was some chat with other runners and one of the marshals about how some people looked like they had run a completely different course – dry feet, no mud… Damn puddle dodgers! Once we had all finished, we headed to the cafe for an obligatory bacon bap (toasted teacake for Lolly) and cup of tea (just milk for the children), and then a short play in the play park. Short mostly because it was cold, and both children were shivering!
Love a bit of cafe culture.
Overall, this was a really nice surprise of a parkrun. Mostly because we hadn’t been expecting to do it, and really knew very little about it. I liked the park itself, it was a pleasant and pretty environment to run in. If the weather had been a bit warmer, we would likely have hung around for a bit longer after. The event was well organised and very slick (apart from the overcrowding in the finish funnel, but that’s excusable with such huge numbers.) The cafe after was nice with a varied menu, and not too busy by the time we went in.
It was really nice to see Joanne before the run, and I think given all she did, I should probably dedicate this parkrunday to her!!
New Year’s Day is the only day of the year you can register results at two different parkrun events on the same day, so different events set their start time to make ‘doubles’ possible. We’ve previously done an Ashton Court and Pomphrey Hill double (in 2016) and a Penrose and Heartlands double (in 2019). This year we really wanted to run two new-to-us events, oh and also had to sort out the logistics of Lani wanting to run one but not being strong enough to run two yet. A babysitting offer from my parents sorted the second part, and a look at a map and the new year double finder led us to the town of Cheltenham for our double.
King George V Playing Field parkrun (commonly known as KGVPF for fairly obvious reasons) only started in November, and so is a relatively new addition to the South West. Cheltenham parkrun, on the other hand, started way back in February 2013, but this was the first time they’d run on New Year’s Day. At an hour and a half from home, this is right at the edge of what we’d normally do in the day, so with two runs together we travelled up on New Year’s Eve and stayed in a hotel overnight.
The main page for KGVPF actually includes the parking postcode in their location, which is awesome. The satnav found it easily, although it was still a relief to see a mass of parkrunners and know it was the right place. Ben had run straight to the playing field from the hotel, so, after changing to my trail shoes, Lani, KK and I followed the group round the corner to the meeting point.
Start line selfie #1
Having left children and layers with my parents, Ben and I headed over to the first timers’ briefing. Unfortunately the large crowd of excited runners meant we couldn’t hear it, but a quick check of the course page on a phone confirmed our recollection that it’s a 3 lap course round the playing field. The run briefing was slightly more audible, and the run director explained that they average less than 80 runners a week – so the lack of audio equipment was perfectly reasonable.
A small shuffle got us into starting position, and to my surprise I actually heard the starting countdown. The route starts by heading down to the main lap. Almost the entire course is on grass – the heavy, energy sapping kind as opposed to the kind that easily becomes a bog. Ben was thick with cold so opted to run with me, although he did temporarily abandon me just after the start to say hi to someone he knew.
The lap layout is really similar to Street, as you go straight down one side of the field and then do some turning on the other side to make it longer. The far end of the field had a slightly slippy muddy patch, but on the whole it was definitely sticky instead. In the middle of the lap is a short tarmac section, which I found to be a welcome break, even if it did cause a lot of mud to flick up at my legs from my shoes.
The latter section of the lap also included two short-sharp climbs to get between layers of playing field. Unsurprisingly, Ben found these significantly easier than I did, what with having a) fitness and b) height. The last bit of the lap went right past the play area, and so that’s where we saw our supporters.
One of us found this a little easier going than the other
My initial hope had been to get a sub-30 at both parkruns, but after the first lap I just knew it wasn’t going to happen. The second lap went slightly faster, but my legs started to feel heavier and heavier with each step. By the end of the third lap we were right on the edge for time. Just the matter of the peel off to the finish, which I could see was slightly too long for what I needed. Ben encouraged me to go for it anyway, and overtaking a few people just before the line I finished in… 30:02. Ah well.
The finish funnel process went pretty smoothly for me. I was scanned by someone who’d finished their run and then hopped on the app to help out. The turnout was more than triple their previous highest, so the event team coped fantastically.
All too quickly we were heading back to the car to move on to the next event. Ben had initially intended to run between the two, but his cold had made running too hard for that to be a good idea. The satnav and course instructions made it straight forward to find where we were going. We parked in the leisure centre car park, given the leisure centre itself was closed for the day, and a short walk further along the road took us to the meeting point.
Knowing that the winter course at Cheltenham is 4 laps on tarmac (see, we do occasionally do research), we’d swapped to our road shoes. During the first timer’s briefing it was explained that, due to numbers, the 2 lap summer course would be used instead. At which point Ben left the briefing to get our trail shoes out the car, arriving back just in time for us to change shoes and head down to the start. (It turns out this was announced on Facebook the night before, we just weren’t organised enough to see)
Start line selfie #2
The main run brief was through a sound system, as you’d expect from a larger long-running event. We all assembled in position ready to charge up the grassy hill. My highlight from the start was running past two volunteers shouting “I’m a rock, don’t run into me”, as they stood on top of rocks that would certainly have tripped a lot of people up otherwise.
Less of a highlight was realising, as I rounded the corner at the top of the hill, that I had nothing left. My legs were shot and I had very little energy to spare. And I was once again running on sapping ground. The combination of low fitness levels, lack of sleep, not eating or drinking enough, and pushing on the first event had taken its toll. The prospect of trudging round the course by myself felt distinctly unappealing, and so I slowed right down, and then headed back through the field slightly to find Ben and Lani. Because if I was going to have a slower run I may as well have company and enjoy it.
So for the first time ever, the 3 of us ran together. As we headed down the grass, Ben paused to grab my hoodie from my dad (so that I didn’t freeze). After continuing along the grass a little, we joined the path next to the lake. The character of the course changed completely here, from a field to pretty park. At the end of the lake was a bridge with bollards to dodge. A sign or marshal instruction would have been useful here, as the path split three ways and only runners ahead showed us the correct option.
Look! Ben actually remembered to photograph the scenery!
The view from the other side of the lake was just as lovely, particularly seeing the stream of runners all around the park. The course then cuts onto a field for a loop round (more energy-sapping terrain!), which was pretty much what you’d expect it to be. By this point we were being lapped thick and fast, a fact we became more conscious of as we returned to the path and lost the extra width.
After a short bridge (with no sides) over the water, we rejoined the main path and then merged onto the grass. We assumed we would carry on up the hill to go past the finish, but a marshal directed us on a trail across the field instead. This is a fantastic way of avoiding crossing over near the finish, but could have done with better direction as we overtook at least one person who’d gone the whole way round.
The second lap was much the same, just slightly slower. Lani could have done with more food and sleep as well. It was noticeable how many regular park users were out and about on the paths, but unsurprising given it was later in the morning on a bank holiday. The support from other runners who’d already finished was absolutely fantastic – Lani loved pointing out that it was all aimed at her and not at us.
Limited edition sighting at parkrun
Once back on the grass where we’d peeled off at the end of lap 1, it was just a short stretch further up the hill to the end. Actually shorter than I’d realised, as the finish was right on the corner. A zig-zag funnel was taped off, although a section had been taken down by the time we finished so that we could cut straight through to get our tokens. Finishing 516th and 518th gave Lani and Ben their biggest ever token numbers (I was 534th when we went to Poole).
I really enjoyed the route at Cheltenham, and would love to go back and actually run it properly some time. Clearly I’ve mentioned that more directions would have been nice, but I do also need to say that the volunteers were friendly as you’d expect.
The normal post-run cafe is the leisure centre, which was closed, so we headed towards town to find a Wetherspoons to refuel at instead. That just left the drive home, and plenty of time to discuss our parkrun tourism plans for the rest of the year.
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.
Starting low and getting lower
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.
