Tag Archives: buggy parkrun

parkrun tourism: St Mary’s parkrun

by Ben

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!

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.

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.

parkrun tourism: Eastville parkrun

by Lolly

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

parkrun tourism: Chippenham parkrun

by Lolly

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…

parkrun tourism: Land’s End parkrun

by Lolly

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.

Family of runners — 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.

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.

3 runners in front of a sea view — 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.

Sea and cliffs with Land's End signpost — Not the worst post-run view

parkrun tourism: Clevedon Salthouse Fields parkrun

by Lolly

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

So… where next?

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

parkrun tourism: Tamar Trails parkrun

by Lolly

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

parkrun volunteers at the finish — Truly heroic hi-viz

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

parkrun tourism: Rogiet parkrun

by Ben

Rogiet is a village in Wales which is more or less at the end of the Prince of Wales Bridge (the second Severn Crossing), and is pronounced with a hard g: “rog-it“. Until recently, Rogiet parkrun was not really on our radar to complete, as it is in the Wales region, rather than the south-west region. A couple of things have changed our priorities. As we’ve discussed before, one of our children gets car sick, which limits us somewhat for many of the south-west region that we have not completed yet, as they are quite long drives. Secondly, regions sort of don’t exist anymore.

So, how has our touring being going lately? Well… it hasn’t. As Lolly mentioned in her Summery Summary, we stopped for the summer holidays. Basically because I get travel anxiety and had no desire to be stuck in queues. Also, I like sleep. This makes me a bad parkrun tourist. Our last tourist parkrun was Torbay Velopark, on 6 July. In the interim, while Lolly has run parkrun almost every week, I have done it only once, a 21:07 at Longrun Meadow in early August.

After all this time, we were itching to get back out touring. Well… Lolly was. I had sort of got used to a Saturday lie-in. We quickly homed in on Rogiet, basically because it was the closest parkrun up the M5 for us. Although Bridport is a little bit quicker to get to, the road quality is somewhat lower, and so more… risky for car sickness. I’m sure we’ll bite the bullet soon, but not first week back.

I think Lolly was trying to get a nice atmospheric pre-run photo. Lani and I had other ideas…

The drive was a doddle: M5/M49/M4 and then come off and double back on ourselves through Magor and Undy to Rogiet. There was plenty of parking, and the event course page very usefully suggested an alternative car park which was next to both the toilets and a children’s play area. Both of these are pretty on-brand for us, so it was great to have that information. After arriving in what seemed like plenty of time, by the time we had used the toilets, got changed (me), got buggy out, and generally had to manage the children, we were getting a little bit pushed for time.

From the car park we were in (Rogiet Playing Fields car park, essentially the railway station overflow car park, which is free at the weekend), it was a relatively short walk over the railway bridge and down into the park. Despite our worries, we arrived in enough time for the run briefing, though we missed any first-timers briefing which might have happened.

As we gathered together for the start, I suddenly realised quite how few people there were. In fact, the attendance of 68 makes it my second smallest parkrun event, after the 49 people at Mount Edgcumbe back in 2016. Even in such a small field, there were two other buggies, which is great to see. When I started buggy running with Lani in 2014, I was something of a novelty, but now it is rare to go to a parkrun and not see at least one. (In fact, I’m coming up on a buggy milestone: Rogiet was my 46th buggy parkrun.) I lined up on the right-hand side of the pack, a couple of people back from one of the other buggies. (The third buggy was tailwalking.)

Before the run, I didn’t know much about the course. I knew that it was mostly on grass, and Lolly told me on the way that it was three laps, and multi-terrain. That was the full extent of my knowledge. I had guessed that it might be another of the flat, bland sports field courses. It was not. We headed out on a grassy track; it was lumpy and scattered with wild growth. I frequently drove the buggy straight through little shrub things right in the middle of the path.

Wedged between the motorway and the railway line, but you wouldn’t know it!

After weaving its way all the way to what I assume is the end of the park, the course turned a sharp 180 degrees, with cheery mini-marshals offering high-fives just before and after. The only ‘hill’ of the course comes immediately after the turn, a short shallow climb immediately followed by the corresponding descent. Even with the buggy this wasn’t much of a climb. The course was pretty narrow along this stretch back for a time, giving no overtaking chances, especially for a buggy.

The route kisses for a short two-way section before forking back off to the right, for the rally segment. This part, in the field we had started in, was very up-and-down side-to-side, which really tested both the buggy’s suspension, and my ability to keep the buggy upright at speed. It was a lot of fun though!

Rinse and repeat, and repeat. After taking it relatively easily on the first lap, I eased quicker as I went along, and managed to run the whole thing with progressive splits. Despite the small field size, I was shocked to finish in 7th, in what was my third-quickest buggy time (23:23), trailing Longrun Meadow (22:56) and Torbay Velopark (22:58), both of which are naturally quicker courses.

Blimey, they do look like they’re enjoying it, don’t they?

After the run, I was pretty thirsty, but had stupidly left my water bottle (along with my phone) back in the car. I accordingly stole both items from Lolly as they came around to complete their second lap. (Her water bottle and phone, obviously. She didn’t miraculously have mine.) While I waited for them to finish their third lap, I had a nice chat to the run director, while KK had fun playing with the cones in the finish funnel. Once Lolly and Lani had finished, we hung around for a little bit being sociable, before heading over to the play park.

Rogiet is a lovely little parkrun. Severn Bridge, just up the road, attracts all the headline tourism in the area because of the novelty. Honestly though? This was a much nicer location for a parkrun, and was such a great, friendly event.

Next up? I don’t know… can I have a lie-in again?!

Lolly’s Summer Summary

by Lolly

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

But seriously, can we tour again now?

parkrun tourism: Torbay Velopark parkrun

by Lolly

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

parkrun tourism: Tamar Lakes parkrun

by Lolly

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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