Adam Bird - My Personal Blog

On the 14th March 2026 I ran the Cranleigh parkrun which was the 452nd event held at the venue, my 280th parkrun and 193rd different course I'd attended. The more weeks I visit new parkruns the harder it is to find a new parkrun and the further distance I have to travel. Having only got 1 more event to visit in London, 1 more in Kent and a small handful left of Essex parkrun choices are coming harder to rationalise. My goal is to ultimately visit all events that comprise the Greater London, East of England and South East England regions. This would be around 300 different venues in total and an amount that would take 6 years to complete if attempted in full. But with Gillingham away games providing opportunities to visit other regions and life getting in the way then that should be plenty to keep me going. Next on the list for me this week was Cranleigh in Surrey, 8 miles south of Guildford and often referred to as the largest village in the UK. It's parkrun venue is situated ...

On the 7th March 2026 I ran the Ingrebourne Hill parkrun which was the 59th event held at the venue, my 279th parkrun and 192nd different course I'd attended. The world of parkrun is forever shifting and changing, new events cropping up whilst others close. In the past few months new events have popped up in Essex, Kent and Greater London which has impacted my ability to 'complete the set'. I had carefully planned the last Greater London venue and tied it in with the first available gap in my Wilson Index, number 59. Meaning a wait of over a year before I could visit and mark the event as done. Of course they are my own rules and nobody else's so I don't have to stick to this methodology, but it works for me and I quite like it. Waiting is all part of the fun! However, as I worked my way around our great capital with the goal of making Ingrebourne Hill the 64th stop of 64 parkrun venues in Greater London a new one popped up! Greenwich Peninsula parkrun started on t...

On the 28th February 2026 I ran the Fell Foot parkrun which was the 493rd event held at the venue, my 278th parkrun and 191st different course I'd attended. Last week I revisited Bushy Park parkrun to celebrate with Mark and his 50th milestone. It was great to be running again at the home of parkrun, my second visit after celebrating my 100th milestone back in 2022. It was just as good as my first, the rampaging, Braveheartesque start, throngs of people and chaotically organised finish complex all in the wonderful grounds of a royal park. But this week was back on the road and back to the Lake District for my second visit. Barrow Vs Gillingham is not for the faint of heart. A near 650 mile round trip, with almost 11 hours in the car. With great mileage and travel to contend with Barrow away is almost certainly best done with an overnight stay. I fully commend those who do it in one day, or take the long slow trudge up by coach. Two years ago we did the trip with Reaso and George a...

On the 14th February 2026 I ran the Trentham Gardens parkrun which was the 190th event held at the venue, my 276th parkrun and 190th different course I'd attended. Children under the age of 11 years old have to be accompanied by an adult when taking part in parkrun. With Hayden turning 11 years old on the 24th February, our trip to Trentham Gardens will be the last event we take part in together. My view is if he is old enough to take part unaccompanied then he's also old enough to wait at the finish line for me. He is also obviously very welcome to take part himself, but unlike me he hasn't really caught the parkrun bug! We stayed on site almost at the Trentham Gardens Premier Inn, a stones throw from the start line. Hayden 'injured' both knees crossing the car park and got a stitch less than 50m into the start of the event. It was a fight I wasn't willing to have and so I walked the course with him without muttering 'come on Hayden' as I usually do. B...

On the 7th February 2026 I ran the Panshanger parkrun which was the 536th event held at the venue, my 275th parkrun and 189th different course I'd attended. Running during the winter months can be a precarious pastime. Ice, snow, rain and mud are all potential obstacles that can get in the way of a good morning out. Luckily for me I like and enjoy those conditions and find it all rather fun.  There is the cautionary parkrun tourist who plans their winter based itinerary around venues and course that are tarmac based and save the grass based courses for the summer. I take it on a week by week basis and a luck of the draw. If a course is a trail based event and had a possibility of mud, then so be it. If it's hilly and on tarmac, so be that one too. If an event is cancelled due to weather conditions then that is also fine, I'll just rearrange my calendar and visit the next one on the list. Which is why, when I arrived at Panshanger Country park on Saturday morning I arrived ...

On the 31st January 2026 I ran the Foots Cray parkrun which was the 311th event held at the venue, my 274th parkrun and 2nd time I'd attended the venue. February is promising to be a busy month. Gillingham are almost Tuesday night, Saturday night back to back for the full month. The week they aren't, I'm taking Hayden to White Hart Lane as a treat. I've also got Uncle Paul's funeral in the West Midlands and so lots of miles on the road. When Foordy asked me what parkrun I was visiting and would I fancy something close by it didn't take me much convincing. Originally I had Dereham in the diary as it was running event 80, which I needed for my Wilson Index, but the thought of a two hour drive there and another two hours back felt unpalatable. So instead I had the enjoyment of looking up closer events that I'd already visited and one that enabled me to get Foordy home in time for a shift at Bluewater later in the day. I last ran Foots Cray Meadows on a warm Ma...