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Black Park parkrun - event 746

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On the 4th January 2025 I ran the Black Park parkrun which was the 746th event held at the venue, my 219th parkrun and 137th different course I'd attended. With the weather changing quite dramatically and temperatures dropping, we've entered into cancellation season and so some last minute adjustments to the schedule are advisory, and plans B, C and D are a sensible necessity. The original plan was to travel down to the south coast and run Littlehampton Prom, but as the previous event was cancelled it put the event number out of sync and would have meant repeating an event number had we visited it. As I know Foordy has a preference for flat coastal events plan B was Southsea in Portsmouth but a combination of the weather and a dodgy Hamstring changed the plans again. Foordy had been feeling a bit of tightness in his hamstring and wasn't sure that going full beams on an out and back was a good idea. He suggested a trail course that with the cold temperatures would be firm u...
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Chelmsford Central parkrun - event 562

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On the 1st January 2025 I ran the Chelmsford Central parkrun which was the 562nd event held at the venue, my 218th parkrun and 136th different course I'd attended. 2024 was quite a year for me in parkrun terms. I had run a parkrun every Saturday throughout the calendar year and would have had the full set had it not been for one thing - Oliver's 18th birthday. I tried my best, but it wasn't to be. Could we celebrate Oliver's 18th birthday as well as keeping my parkrun streak in tact? In fact, I hadn't missed a parkrun event on a Saturday morning since August 2023 and had my original suggestion been followed we would have successfully combined both.  We had decided to celebrate Oliver's birthday by enjoying a weekend away with three of Oliver's best buddies. Originally I'd suggested Krakow in Poland. Stephanie and I could enjoy the Christmas markets and festivities whilst the boys could get acquainted with vodka and enjoy the nightlife. Krakow has a coup...
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Hampstead Heath parkrun - event 622

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On the 14th December 2024 I ran the Hampstead Heath parkrun which was the 622nd event held at the venue, my 215th parkrun and 135th different course I'd attended. After two weeks of weather related conversation, it was nice to have something else to talk about for a change. Instead of wind and rain the question was; what is the toughest parkrun in London? There are candidates: Sunny Hill, Hilly Fields and Lloyd which all crop up frequently I'm these debates and I can make a case for all of those one way or another as I've unfortunately ran them all. However, there is definitely now a new contender, one that I believe takes the crown and possibly by some distance. Hello Hampstead Heath! Our morning started off potentially ruining our parkrun day before it had even started. I awple early in the morning before my alarm was due to go off and a tossed and turned waiting for it to finally ring. Eventually I noted the crack in the bedroom curtains was brighter than it should have...
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Highbury Fields parkrun - event 616

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On the 7th December 2024 I ran the Highbury Fields parkrun which was the 616th event held at the venue, my 214th parkrun and 134th different course I'd attended. If last week was a cautionary winter tale warning about mud, this week is chapter two - entitled 'wind and rain'.  Thanks to Storm Darragh parkrun events across the UK were being cancelled on the basis of safety. The parkrun map on the 5K app was a sea of red pins denoting that the event was no longer going ahead. Initially across the east, but spreading westward and I was frantically refreshing the screen of news from Highbury Fields, my chosen event this weekend. The event Facebook page, although still available hadn't been updated for years and so I had no real context of whether the event was likely to cancel or not so waking up on the Saturday morning it was a case of getting to the event to find out one way or another. Highbury Fields was one of those events I had pencilled in the get to by trains such i...
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Malling Rec parkrun - event 22

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On the 30th November 2024 I ran the Malling Rec parkrun which was the 22nd event held at the venue, my 213th parkrun and 133rd different course I'd attended. This time of year is the time to choose a parkrun course carefully. Selecting a venue that is ran on tarmac paths rather than grass saves the heartache of having to clean trainers and risk life and limb slipping over on mud infested trails and grassland. Unfortunately when you are a bit OCD as I am and are selecting venues based on their event numbers rather than practicality, you run the risk of heading towards a sticky and muddy ending. Malling Rec popped up earlier in the year as a new parkrun venue and despite the name is nowhere nearly Malling as we know it. The town near Maidstone doesn't have a parkrun, albeit it did have an event nearby called Malling which as a result of all this confusion renamed itself as Leybourne Lakes which now far more geographically accurate. The new Malling Rec event is based in Lewes in ...
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Bexley parkrun - event 596

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On the 25th June 2016 I ran the Bexley parkrun which was the 229th event held at the venue, my 10th parkrun and 2nd different course I'd attended. On the 23rd November 2024 I returned back for my second visit at the 596th event held at the venue. I'm very fortunate to be able to parkrun every weekend and even more so to visit a different parkrun each week. It's only through Stephanie and her commitment to running the children around on Saturday mornings at their various clubs that allows me the freedom to continue doing what I do. Inevitably though, the two sides collide and neither of us are able to be in two places at the same time and so compromises need to be made. Phoebe had a singing assessment day in Maidstone early on Saturday morning and Hayden had his football training which finishes anywhere between 10:15 and 10:30. Stephanie was able to drop him off but I needed to pick him up so I needed to choose a parkrun that allowed me sufficient time to get back for the e...
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Wanstead Flats parkrun - event 648

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On the 16th November 2024 I ran the Wantstead Flats parkrun which was the 648th event held at the venue, my 211th parkrun and 132nd different course I'd attended. Last week after Roding Valley parkrun I had a discussion with a member of the parkrun tourism group on Facebook who told me of the eight additional events that made up the full Total PIED challenge, which is all of the Essex venues plus those that are now part of Greater London, or the historical part of Essex. Of those eight, I had one left to visit - Wanstead Flats, and it just so happened that I'd pencilled this in the diary for this week coming! I was joined once again by Mark who was available, but had to be home promptly afterwards for a pre-Christmas day out with the family. I assured him that everything would be fine and I'd have him home all in good time. Following instructions from the event website we parked up at the carpark, which is around 1km away from the start. Wanstead Flats and surrounding grou...
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