Raphael parkrun - event 333

On the 18th March 2023 I ran the Raphael parkrun which was the 333rd event held at the venue, my 122nd parkrun and 51st different course I'd attended.

Last week was a trip to Malling, a venue I'd ran at before and enjoyed revisiting a lovely course. But I missed the thrill of arriving at a new venue and experiencing something new and fresh. Which is why I wanted to hit the tourist trail again and start chipping away at the 50 I need to reach the magic 100 different parkrun venues.

Raphael park in Romford was celebrating event 333 this week, which is another set of collectable numbers known as the Nelson challenge. These numbers are 111, 222, 333 etc and is named after Admiral Lord Nelson who allegedly had only 1 eye, 1 arm and 1 leg at the end of his life. Romford is also reasonably close to home and was one of the closest events for which I've not yet attended, despite being over the other side of the river.

I was surprisingly joined by my mate Foordy who was home again from Canada which was an unexpected late addition to the party. He nearly convinced me to change my mind on the venue, asking if there was a coastal run nearby. But time was not on my side this weekend as Hayden had a friendly match on Saturday morning which was a unique change to his usual Sunday routine. I needed to get back to Riverview park by 10:30 and so any change in parkrun location would mean being late, or missing the football completely. I did look briefly look at alternatives as I a sucker for a coastal run too, but a plans a plan and the numbers just wouldn't stack.

Following advice from the course page of the Raphael event website we parked at the Lodge Farm South car park. This necessitated a short walk through Lodge Farm park, over the main road and into Raphael park itself. 

Once we had parked up, the rain that had been present during the short drive under the Thames went up a notch. Me being ultra anxious and fearful of being late was keen to get to the start as soon as possible. But Foordy who is ultra relaxed and phased by nothing wanted to wait in the car for the latest possible moment before having to leave. We met at a straightforward compromise. I'd leave him in the car and he'd catch me up!

The further I had to walk through Lodge Farm Park, the more anxious I got that he'd not make it in time. I arrived, hung around for the first-timers meeting. Listened to the first-timers meeting and made my way to the start, all whilst looking out and Foordy and worrying more and more the closer we got the starting time. Low and behold, less than a minute to go Foordy turns up from nowhere and off we go!

Starting at the south-eastern corner of Raphael park, the start line is on a slight incline. With the pathway not being particularly wide and the grass wet and muddy it took a little while for us to actually start moving. But after a few yards the incline flattens and widens out heading further south into the park where it hairpins around to a pathway that runs around the lake.

This is as lovely a start to any parkrun I've been to before, and I'd imagine on a warmer, brighter day it would be even more impressive. As it was, it still looked great in the rain and the lake wasn't that much lower than the path that runs alongside it.  Hugging the lake in a wide curve the path turns right and up a hill to the second part of the lap.

Heading back to the northern part of Raphael park the course flattens out and heads towards the tennis courts where the path loops around them in an anti-clockwise direction.This part of the course is flat, and gives participants a chance to get over the short-sharp hill that led up from the lake. 

Once the tennis courts have been successfully circumnavigated, the route rejoins the lake path again in a dual-direction fashion. This leads to some nice interaction with other parkrunners and makes it feel even more of a community based event. The path sneaks downhill before heading left and around towards the start via a series of undulation bumps.

This is the main lap complete for the first time, which is done once more to make it two large laps. On the third pass, instead of running up the hill to the tennis courts, participants turn right and take the undulations back towards the start, completing the third shorter lap The finish line is just off to the right next to the start line.

Overall I'd say that Raphael parkrun was the toughest course of the year so far. Whilst yes, I've used the term hill to describe areas of the course it's nothing in comparison to other venues. I've run a lot of predominantly flat courses this year and so any elevation comes at a surprise. But the great thing about this course is that you can tackle the upward parts full on as they are short and sharp, followed by flat bits that allow you to recover energy in the legs. I'd also say that the rain helped too, running in the rain is the best running conditions for me as it helps to keep me cool - even the mud can be fun!

I finished in 99th place out of a field of 260 participants in a time of 26.58. This is the fifth time I've run a sub-27 parkrun this year out of 12 events to date. Before this year I'd never run a sub-27 time and so to run a challenging course in under 27 minutes is something I can certainly be proud of!