Adam Bird - My Personal Blog

On the 27th May 2023 I ran the Thames Path, Woolwich parkrun which was the 4th event held at the venue, my 132nd parkrun and 61st different course I'd attended. Last week I gave an explanation of the Wilson index and how visiting event number 30 went some way towards making progress with this 'achievement'. This week, I visited an event that was hosting a it's fourth parkrun which filled that missing gap raising my Wilson Index from a 3 to a 19. Geeky, arbitrary achievements aside it was nice to have a newly arranged parkrun fairly close by to explore. Particularly as the photograph's and reviews that had been shared online since its inception have painted a picture of the event that makes it a must see visit for any parkrun tourist. As the event was only in Woolwich I was able to get the train from Gravesend which was a nice change from the car and some of the longer distance drives I've done on a Saturday morning. From Woolwich Arsenal train station the meet...

On the 20th May 2023 I ran the Leavesden Country parkrun which was the 30th event held at the venue, my 131st parkrun and 60th different course I'd attended. Of all of the different number challenges of this strange parkrun subculture I've found myself within, the Wilson index (WI) is probably the trickiest one to achieve. Simply put, the WI is the highest numbered event you've attended. If you've never ran an inaugural event then your Wilson Index would be zero. If you run an inaugural and come back the following week your WI would be 2 etc. Even though I've ran at 131 different events my Wi is still only 3, as I've not yet ran at a number 4 . Once I do, my WI will increase to 19 as I've ran at events 5 through to 19... Make sense?  Anyway, so whenever a new event pops up it's always an opportunity for me to tick off one of my lower, unvisited parkrun event numbers - in this case event 30. Leavesden Country Park is only hour from home, just around the ...

On the 13th May 2023 I ran the Bedfont Lakes parkrun which was the 641st event held at the venue, my 130th parkrun and 59th different course I'd attended. I wasn't going to parkrun this week and was going to volunteer locally instead but it appeared that many of the closest venues had a full roster including my home parkrun Cyclopark. The reason for not running was quite simple, I'd booked to take part in my first 10k run in Seaford which took place this morning as I write this. I wasn't entirely sure that running a 5k run the day before my first 10k run was the best idea. But after not finding a volunteer spot I decided to keep the tourist streak going instead. Bedfont Lakes wasn't initially my intended venue, but after a look at my schedule and planner I decided to change things around somewhat and save my originally planned event, Rendlesham Forest for another day. I've heard good things about it and so want to enjoy that one fully. I figured Bedfont Lakes w...

On the 6th May 2023 I ran the Dunstable Downs parkrun which was the 137th event held at the venue, my 129th parkrun and 58th different course I'd attended. I'd read a blog post about Dunstable Downs parkrun via the excellent blog7t , authored by fellow parkrun tourist Steven Stockwell. The photos looked amazing and so I added the venue to the long list of venues I needed to tick off and visit. Situated on the top of an escarpment Dunstable Downs, managed by the national trust has quite stunning views across the Vale of Aylesbury. Upon my visit, it was rather cloudy and grey, and so whilst the views I had were stunning they would be even more so on a clearer day. The course is made up of a single lap which starts outside the visitors centre and is ran in an anti-clockwise direction. From the start, the course heads to the right and participants enjoy a nice downhill stretch which is soon rewarded with a steep return back uphill. The course returns back the way it started and be...