Chevin Forest Parkrun

It was a boys night away. Me and Gordon jumped into the campervan and headed east towards Otley. It was the first time that I had been away in the van without my lovely wife, Helen. We stayed in a perfectly adequate campsite with electric hookup. The campsite was small and mostly filled with D of E tents. I took Gordon for a couple of walks, cooked tea and settled down with my Kindle, before climbing into the top to sleep. naturally, without Helen, I couldn’t sleep. Helen was back home having a Baby Reindeer festival!

I made myself a brew at about 5 am and then took Gordon for another walk. A little later we packed up and headed to Chevin Forest, the main reason for staying near Otley. The parkrun website suggests parking a 20 minute walk away from the start. There were a couple of other people also walking/running towards the parkrun, although it did appear that most people had parked in the car park closest to the start.

The run briefing and start was delayed as the lively woman conducting the newcomers talk wanted to know exactly where everyone had come from, which did take a while as there were a lot of tourists. What I took from the briefing was that the route was two laps with a steep hill and the potential for it to be muddy.

There were also a few other dogs lining up at the start, one of whom was incredibly vocal. Gordon doesn’t bark or fuss too much while we were waiting. Unfortunately, when we did get underway, Gordon was a pest. He doesn’t like the lead which prevents him from pulling and he tried to remove it almost constantly. On top of that, the hill at the start was a beast.

Slowly we overtook a few people and gradually Gordon realised that simply running beside me was much more pleasant. The second lap was much better than the first.

We finished in a respectable 43rd position out of 98, and considering that this was only Gordon’s second parkrun away from Morecambe, he did very well. Everything is exciting for a one-year-old pointer.

I have to say, that like the previous week’s parkrun in Muncaster (read about it here), Chevin Forest was one of the best and friendliest parkruns that I have ever done. Maybe its all about the smaller parkruns.

Muncaster Castle Parkrun

During our brilliant three night stay in Eskdale we went to Muncaster Castle parkrun, which happened to be my NENDY and was only a short drive from our campsite. It was also going to be Gordon’s first parkrun away from Morecambe.

The start was only a couple of minutes walk from the large car park used by the castle for regular visitors, with large gardens, owls, and lots of other things to do and see.

The run briefing was friendly and as expected for a fairly remote parkrun, there were quite a few tourists. The route was three laps involving a short out and back section and a loop around the actual castle. Gordon decided that he needed a poo seconds before the start. Anyone who says that running with a dog is an unfair advantage has never run with a pointer.

Setting off at the back of the field with a boisterous dog was fun, but we slowly overtook people, until half way through the second lap when Gordon decided that he needed another poo. A very kind volunteer who had a dog with her took the filled poo bag from me to throw in a bin.

After our long walk the previous day, read about it here, Helen wisely decided not to run. She chatted with some of the volunteers at the start/finish area and found them all to be very friendly as well. She also found time to take a few photos.

Gordon had managed to slip his snout out of the nose lead and was pulling for all his worth. For a small dog he is incredibly strong, hence why we have to resort to a nose lead.

Despite all of the shenanigans, me and Gordon finished a very credible 11th place overall out of 91 finishers. If there had been too many more people there it might have been a little cramped with the fairly narrow paths.

Overall I have to say that Muncaster Castle parkrun was one of the friendliest and most picturesque parkruns that I have ever done. Definitely one to do if you’re in the area.

Worden Parkrun

A rare weekend when we’re not off in our campervan. I made good use of it by running my NENDY parkrun at Worden Park in Leyland just south of Preston.

A little history, there used to be a parkrun called Cuerden Valley only a couple of miles from Worden. Unfortunately, when lockdown ended the landowner decided that they didn’t want parkrun, which is their prerogative. At the time there was a junior parkrun in Worden Park, and the idea was that the volunteers from the defunct Cuerden Valley parkrun would set up a regular parkrun at Worden. It took a few years, but towards the end of 2023 Worden parkrun began.

As expected, I arrived at Worden far too early, so I went for a run in the park. First impressions were that the park was amazing as well as being huge. I ran around the perimeter along a trail adjacent to a stream with a number of small wooden bridges. However, I knew that the parkrun route didn’t use this particular path, which was a shame. As I ran into the main part of the park I ran past a large children’s adventure play area, a miniature golf course and a miniature railway. Is it me, or is any park far more exciting if there is a miniature railway. See also Agnew parkrun in Stranraer (read about it here) and Haigh Woodland parkrun (read about it here).

I lined up at the start and waited for the run briefing, which was a little late and couldn’t be heard due to a very noisy dog. There was also a large contingent of runners from Lostock Athletics Club. At the start the run director warned us about muddy sections of the course. She wasn’t wrong!

The route was two laps with about half of it on paved paths and the other half on grass which was very muddy due to it being winter and having had lots of rain. I was wearing road shoes, which I just about managed in as some of the muddy sections had dried and were only claggy.

Amazingly, I finished in 16th position and was 2nd in my age group, although there were only 132 finishers. I guess that the low numbers is partly because there are another ten parkruns within 15 miles, and probably because of the mud.

Overall it was an interesting parkrun even though it is highly unlikely that I will return. My new parkrun is now Muncaster Castle, which even though is only 50km as the crow flies, it will take at least 90 minutes to drive there. If only there was a National Trust campsite where people could stay if they had a campervan in the nearby Eskdale Valley.

Castlerigg

Another weekend and another adventure in our campervan. It was our longest weekend away as we stayed at Castlerigg Hall campsite Thursday, Friday and Saturday night. We also tried out our new posh inflatable tent awning, which amazingly stayed up through the winds of storm Kathleen.

Castlerigg Hall campsite was very friendly with immaculate toilets and showers. Definitely a popular spot, with views across Derwentwater and onto Catbells. The Catbells light festival was the main reason for our trip. Unfortunately, it was cancelled due to the storm, which was the right decision. It has been rescheduled for the summer and we’ve booked a spot at Castlerigg Farm campsite, as Castlerigg Hall campsite was already fully booked.

Anyway, Friday morning the weather was mostly rain free, so we walked into Keswick. Gordon wanted to make friends with some cows.

Keswick wasn’t too busy, but with a break in the weather we opted to walk up to the top of the nearest Wainwright, namely Latrigg, one of the smaller fells. Being an idiot, I mapped the shortest route to the top, which appeared to be almost vertical. The view from the top wasn’t too bad, as we were just below the clouds.

We took the easier route back down, sensibly, returning to the campsite to dry off. The campsite had a mobile pizza van on a Friday night, which was a good alternative to cooking. That evening was wild in the van, with the wind and rain howling. We survived, albeit with very little sleep. The people in the campervan nearest to us had decided to take down their awning, we probably should have done the same as we had to dry it out when we were home.

Saturday morning was dry and sunny. The forecast wasn’t great. However, it was pleasant enough for me to run into Keswick to join in with Keswick parkrun, which was celebrating their tenth anniversary. The run director also mentioned that the previous weekend, Easter Saturday, there had been over 500 runners and walkers. Hats off the volunteers. My advice would be to avoid the Lake District at Easter, if you can.

After a shower the three of us returned to Keswick, which was far busier. We bought some snacks for Gordon and had a coffee and cake in a very pleasant little dog friendly cafe. Gordon was too friendly and far too excited, so we sat outside, just as it started raining.

That evening, the weather was even wilder, if possible. The funny thing was that down in Keswick you wouldn’t have known that there was a storm at all it was so calm. After another restless night worrying if the whole van was going to blow away, we packed up and headed home.

This was our first three nighter and once again we learned a lot. We learned that we needed better tent pegs to hammer the awning into the hard standing pitch. We also learnt that the awning wasn’t too difficult to put up or take down, even in the wind, although we will probably won’t use it every time.

Here’s to our next weekend away, wherever it is.

Hackney Marshes Parkrun

While me and my lovely wife were in London to watch ABBA Voyage (read about it here), I took the opportunity to run a tourist parkrun. The closest one to where we were staying was Hackney Marshes, the home of Sunday league football. I was astounded by how many football pitches there were there. I Googled it and apparently there are 82 pitches, mostly football but also a few cricket and rugby pitches thrown in for good measure. That’s a lot of sport!

The start and finish of the parkrun was about two miles away, mostly through the Olympic park and along the River Lea. I arrived a little early and did a bit of the run route before lining up for the pre-run briefing. There were quite a few people there, but not too many, if you know what I mean. The start was spread across a wide area which meant that it wasn’t too chaotic.

The route was an out and back with a loop from the mid-point. About half of it was on paved paths and the other half on grass. However, the day I was there the grass was dry and good to run on. What I did come across was quite a few runners who weren’t doing the event and were running the course in the opposite direction. The only other time that I’ve come across this was at another London parkrun, Fulham Palace (read about it here). I know that park runners don’t have sole use of a park, but I know that I wouldn’t want to try and salmon my way against hundreds of runners.

Anyway, it was an enjoyable parkrun, nice and flat, which makes a change from Lancaster. I finished in a time of 22:44, 64th overall and 2nd in my age group. In Lancaster or Morecambe, that finishing position would have placed me 5th or 6th in my age group. I have an idea that people over 50 have long since moved further out of London, or they just don’t partake in parkrun. It was also the 644th event at Hackney Marshes and my third highest event number behind Bushy Park (event #786) and Woodhouse Moor (event #783).

Hackney Marshes was my 64th different parkrun location and was my first “new” event of 2024, even though I have run at Lancaster, Morecambe and Rothay Park. Hopefully it won’t be my last “new” event of the year.

Would I run there again? Probably not, and that isn’t because I didn’t enjoy it, I did. It’s more that if I was in the area again, there are another ten parkruns less than five miles away.

Parkrun 2023

It is the end of 2023 and many bloggers will be writing a recap of the year. For me and my wife it has been a funny year where we haven’t done as much as we would have liked, for a variety of reasons. However, one thing I have done almost every week is parkrun.

I ran a total of 47 parkruns in 2023. Just shy of the magical 50 mark. I missed two in January due to Covid, one in February due to ice cancelling the local runs, one in July when we picked up our new puppy, another in July due to injury, one in August as I was racing, and another in December due to ice.

I ran 14 different parkruns, with 11 new ones. As expected, my most popular run was Lancaster with 28, followed by Morecambe on 7. The 11 new events were Stretford, Crosby, Fulham, Philips, Myrtle, Heaton, Agnew, Letchworth, Croxteth, Monsal and Woodhouse Moor.

Over he course of the year, my overall position in number of parkruns completed has gone from 61791th up to 46553rd. As expected, the number of positions I move up with each run slows.

I have downloaded the 5km App, which gives me another set of stats to look at along with the Chrome extension – Running Challenges.

The Record Breakers challenge changed from 32 out of a possible 88 parkruns, to 39 out of 91. I increased my Wilson Index from 2 to 6, and my floating Wilson Index from 6 to 13.

In the UK the number of parkruns increased from 751 up to 789, while in the World it went from 1879 up to 2017. There were almost 100 parkruns in Russia, which were removed/halted back in April 2022.

With the number of participants increasing every year, parkrun obviously hasn’t reached its peak yet, which is great news.

Woodhouse Moor Parkrun

Two weeks ago me and my lovely wife, Helen, were in Glasgow to see Geddy Lee. (Read about it here). While Helen returned to Lancaster, I changed trains at Carlisle and took the scenic route to Leeds, up and over Ribblehead Viaduct. I was attending a work Christmas party, where we went to Tattu, a very fancy Chinese restaurant. The food was amazing and it was great to meet so many of the other people who work with me. The company is small and doesn’t have an office so I work from home every day.

Anyway, when the boss took everyone to a pub after the meal, I had one drink before heading back to my hotel. Third Premier Inn in ten days.

The following morning, with a slightly sore head, I slowly jogged to Woodhouse Moor Park. There are a number of parkruns around Leeds, but this was the one closest to my hotel. It was also the first parkrun outside of London, and it was their 783rd event. Quite impressive.

The course is three laps, with a small hill. The paths are quite narrow, so if you want a quick time, make sure you start close to the front. The whole event was friendly and fun, much like every parkrun. It was also busy, with 470 finishers. I crossed the line in 98th place in a time of 23:18. I was happy with that. I then slowly jogged back to the hotel, had a shower and jumped on a train to return to Lancaster.

New NENDYs Everywhere

A couple of weeks ago I blogged about a new parkrun that had started up in Muncaster Castle, which instantly became my new Nearest Event Not Done Yet. (Read about it here.)

Since then, another two parkruns have started up fairly close to Lancaster. First up was Clarence Park parkrun in Bury. This isn’t closer than Muncaster, but it is a lot easier to get to. It also uses the park where as a teenager I used to race cycle speedway. I was living in Hull at the time, and in the league we raced in, there was a team in Bury who had a race track in Clarence Park. The team still exists, but they have moved to Goshen playing fields. As an aside, one of Bury’s best riders at the time was a young Jim Varnish, father of Olympic track cyclist Jess Varnish.

Yesterday, another new NENDY parkrun popped up on the Running Challenges Chrome extension. This one is in Worden Park in Leyland, just south of Preston. Before the first lockdown, me and my lovely wife travelled to Cuerden Valley parkrun, which is sadly now defunct. The owners of the land decided for various reasons not to allow parkrun to continue once lockdown had ended. There was a junior parkrun in Worden Park, and they organisers of Cuerden Valley parkrun had hoped to be able to start up a Saturday parkrun as well. It now appears that this has been achieved. Worden Park is now my new NENDY, although I will probably wait a few weeks before making the journey there. New teams don’t want to be inundated with runners in their first few weeks.

Groundhog Day – Parkrun Style

I have mentioned Running Challenges many times. It is a web based extension with loads of extra stats and silly challenges for parkrun (read about it here).

Anyway, one of the silly challenges is Groundhog Day, where to obtain the digital badge you need to run two consecutive parkruns at the same location with the exact same finishing time. I’ve not managed it, although I haven’t actively tried to, as I simply run how I feel and if I complete a challenge then all well and good.

However, I have completed my own version of Groundhog day. Without intention, I have run the last two parkruns in 23 minutes 46 seconds. I also finished both in 33rd position. Unfortunately, the two parkruns were at different locations, this week at Lancaster and last week at Monsal Trail. I feel that it is more impressive as not only have I finished in the same time, but in the same position. I have to add, that if I’d tried to do this deliberately, I would have failed miserably.

Anyway, today was my 192nd parkrun and my 106th time running at Lancaster.

Monsal Trail Parkrun

It was my birthday at the weekend and my lovely wife surprised me with a weekend away near Bakewell. Not just for the three of us, she invited her two sons and their partners as well, so we had a full and lively rented cottage for two nights and one final night for just me, Helen and little Gordon.

As always, one of the first things to do was to find a local parkrun. We stayed in the next village along two years earlier and had completed Graves parkrun (read about it here). However, the closest parkrun to where we were staying was the Monsal Trail. Two years ago it was taking a break post-Covid, but it was now up and running again.

I set off nice and early from our rented cottage, as expected. The webpage had said that the parking meters at the start/finish area were incredibly slow and that there are always queues of people. They weren’t wrong, the meter was very slow, but I got my ticket with enough time for a couple of photos.

At the correct time, I lined up at the start area for the run briefing. It was probably the briefest run briefing ever. Thanks to the volunteers, under 11’s stay with your adult, one dog maximum on a short lead, and we’re off.

The route was a simple out and back one along the famous Monsal Trail disused railway line. Impossible to go wrong. I started a way back from the front as I had a few niggles. My back had been sore, as had my Achilles and knee. Getting old sucks.

There was a good crowd at the run. There were a few dogs, a man with a large drip of snot waiting to fall, a woman wearing a T-shirt with the logo, run, faff, repeat, a couple of people wearing 250 parkrun shirts, old people, young people and a couple of baby buggies. The only person I didn’t spot was anyone wearing a Vegan Runners shirt.

Anyway, I took it fairly easy, speeding up a little after the turn around point, finishing in 33rd place out of 202 runners. It was also my 62nd different parkrun.