Victoria Dock parkrun - event 156

On the 7th January 2023 I ran the Victoria Dock parkrun which was the 156th event held at the venue, my 112th parkrun and 42nd different course I'd attended.

One of my running goals this year is to complete the parkrun Alphabet and run at the remaining letters, I, V, Y and Z. The challenge being that both Y and Z require significant planning, effort and in the case of Z overseas travel.

With that in mind what better way to start the new year of parkrun tourism than by ticking off one of the attainable letters?

Irrespective of whether I needed the letter or not, the Victoria Dock parkrun would have been one of those on my 'want to do' list anyway. Running around the Victoria Dock in East London out alongside the dockside hotels and the ExCel centre with views of the O2 arena, docklands and the Emirates airline cable car the event is one of the more unique venues in the parkrun portfolio.

According to various parkrun groups any visitor who attends the event and shows a parkrun barcode is entitled to a free return crossing of the cable-car and was one of the key USPs that helped me pursuade not one but two of my friends to join me at parkrun for the first time in a while.

Both Andrews, including Foordy who was home from Canada for the the festive season both declared an interest and so it was with much disappointment, after an early start and arrival at North Greenwich that the three of noticed the cable cars were not operational. We didn't really need many clues as to why, the weather was abysmal with strong winds and intermittent rain all the way up the A2 from North Kent.

The other Andrew, Reaso suggested we return back down the A2 and take in another event, but as with all things parkrun tourism you need a plan B, C, D and E long before you change tack. In this case plan B involved a tube journey on the Jubilee Line one stop north to Canning Town before alighting and changing to the DLR and taking a stop East to Royal Victoria. From there it was a straightforward forward two minute stroll to the start.

With being dockside, the wind picked up a little more. Participants waiting for the event to start were all lined up along the walls of the City Hall and taking advantage of the glass buildings unusual architecture and protective slant  shielding them from the rain.

The starting point and pre-race briefing all take place here, directly in front of the City Hall building. From here, the course consists of a double out and back, along the dock wall, turning right as the wall does, first just past the Good Hotel London and then again past the Sunborn Hotel which is a former super yacht now permanently moored in the dock. The route continues all along the side of the ExCel centre before a turnaround at its furthest point. It's then a straightforward case of returning back to City Hall and doing the same thing all over again.

The course itself is dead flat and is consistently in the UKs fastest parkrun tables. Ordinarily that would likely have been the case again had it not been for the weather. At various points along the course you either had wind blowing into your face or into your side making harder work of the run than it needed to have been. You would have thought that being an out and back course any head wind would have an effect in reverse, but for some reason that didn't really seem to be the case.

Either way, I finished in 70th place out of a field of 118 participants in a time of 27.48. I can still be incredibly pleased with that time, which is my 6th  fastest recorded parkrun time. I would suggest that without the wind it may well have been slightly quicker. But as well as riding the cable cars again that's another reason to pay a revisit - a wind free event.