Adam Bird - My Personal Blog

On the 6th December 2025 I ran the Harwich parkrun which was the 483rd event held at the venue, my 264th parkrun and 181st different course I'd attended. Gillingham are never likely to win the FA Cup, but that doesn't stop us Gillingham fans from dreaming the dream every season. This year however, as many years previously the dream lasted momentarily as we were knocked out in round one away to Newport County. Gillingham were not the only supporters who had their hopes dashed, so did fans of Colchester United. And seeing as Colchester and Gillingham both had a free Saturday the officials of both clubs agreed to bring the match, which was scheduled in the midweek forward by a few days. And not only that, but to retain the television coverage by playing the game at the earlier time of twelve o'clock (instead of the traditional time of 3pm). This arrangement had plenty of benefits, with sound rationale. But for me it meant all sorts of changes and rearrangements needed to happ...

On the 29th November 2025 I ran the Shrewsbury parkrun which was the 496th event held at the venue, my 263rd parkrun and 180th different course I'd attended. As Stephanie was recovering from a long awaited Gall bladder removal, I was forced to miss a week's worth of parkrun as I carried out family tasks as she recovered from her operation. I am only able to do what I do on a Saturday morning because of her selflessness and so missing a week was no hardship. She is well and better now, after what is quite a routine surgery. Hopefully now she can get on with a better quality of life pain free and without worrying about potential attacks after eating the wrong kinds of foods. The next stop on the Gillingham FC schedule was an away fixture to Shrewsbury Town. We have all previously visited Shrewsbury, back in 2021. A weekend dominated by my mistake on booking.com.  Arriving at the hotel on Friday night there was no record of my booking. Eventually after some investigation they wor...

On the 15th November 2025 I ran the Bug Hunter Waters parkrun which was the 71st event held at the venue, my 262nd parkrun and 179th different course I'd attended. Big Hunter Waters is a relatively new event, and it was due to that fact that found me travelling up the M11 nice and early on a Saturday morning. I was looking to run an event that filled a gap in my Wilson Index. For those not paying attention the Wilson Index is the maximum number of contiguous event numbers that I have attended. That number currently stands at 59, but I've gaps throughout the 60s and 70s which I am trying to fill with a longer term goal of getting a Wilson Index of 100. This does mean, with events being fairly few and far between at lower ends of the event number spectrum that to achieve this goal that I may need to travel a little bit further than perhaps is sensible. I am fully aware that travelling distances on a Saturday morning, just for the pleasure of running 5k for half an hour of my tim...

On the 8th November 2025 I ran the Somerdale Pavilion parkrun which was the 234th event held at the venue, my 261st parkrun and 178th different course I'd attended. There are a handful of parkrun events that have gained iconic status. Events such as Whinlatter Forest, Woolacambe Dunes, Fountains Abbey and Great Yarmouth North Beach are often spoken about by parkrun tourists as 'must visits' and are notorious for either being a challenge or just breathtakingly beautiful. Somerdale Pavillion parkrun fits into the upper echelon of 'special' category and is famed specifically for it's quite bonkers course layout and 'curly wurly'. Which is the name given to the spiral part of course that winds around in a circle to the centre and comes back out again, all on a single path. Football once again came to my support and was used as a vehicle to make parkrun tourism more palatable. Driving three hours to Keynsham just for a 5k run is difficult to justify in anyon...

On the 1st November 2025 I ran the Wormwood Scrubs parkrun which was the 671st event held at the venue, my 260th parkrun and 177th different course I'd attended. A week after ticking off Greater London event number 62, it was back up to the Big Smoke again for number 63. Although this time around I was a little unsure on the best way to get there. In recent trips to London venues it's been easy to drive, but with Wormwood Scrubs being located fairly centrally my first thought was to head in by train. From Gravesend, or Ebbsfleet getting into London on Saturday morning can be a quick, if not expensive way of travel. Adding on the cost of car parking at Ebbsfleet and the connecting tube via the Central Line the cost of commuting to Wormwood Scrubs proved quite off-putting. However, the scrubs has a fairly reasonable sized carpark and despite a route that took me through central London driving once again proved to be the more viable option. For an added bonus I even managed two t...

On the 25th October 2025 I ran the Osterley parkrun which was the 544th event held at the venue, my 259th parkrun and 176th different course I'd attended. Over the course of the year I've steadily been ticking off the Greater London venues, so that by the time Saturday morning had come around I had ticked off 60 of the 65 venues across the region. Having visited almost all of what Greater London has to offer I could say that I've seen it all. From venues with over 1,000 participants. Venues with multiple laps, multiple hills or in the case of Thames Path Woolwich a Walnut Whip/Curly Wirly feature slap bang in the middle of the course. Across a size of 607 square miles the 9,000,000 inhabitants of London are spoilt for choice on Saturday mornings, but those living in the west are fortunate in that they will.have slightly easier access to Osterley, which until Saturday was to me just a stop on the Piccadilly line. But it is of course much, much more than that. A national tru...

On the 18th October 2025 I ran the Thonock Lane Farm parkrun which was the 104th event held at the venue, my 258th parkrun and 175th different course I'd attended. This season's league two lineup once again consists of a large northern based majority. Not quite as strong as recent seasons but as an away supporter it has meant many miles travelling to north to watch the Gills.  The fixture list is computed randomly, and in spitting out our away fixtures majority of the longer northern based trips are this side of Christmas. Which has meant achieving Hayden's goal of watching every League match this season has eaten out of his prospective Christmas budget! As per my previous posts, my go to parkrun venue of choice on our away day travels is the closest one geographically from the stadium that we intend to visit. On this occasion that would have been Cleethorpes but they were running an event number which I've already ran and so therefore doesn't meet my rather arbitr...

On the 11th October 2025 I ran the Maldon Prom parkrun which was the 555th event held at the venue, my 257th parkrun and 174th different course I'd attended. A couple of years ago the parkrun organisers asked the maker of the 5k app to remove some.of the number based challenges that had caused some events to get overwhelmed on occasions that they weren't prepared or expecting it. One of those challenges was the 'nelson' challenge and involved ticking off events 111, 222, 333 etc. My approach to touristing is to visit as many different events as possible and to try and ensure that I visit on a unique event number that I've not ran before. This approach does mean eventually I'll tick all numbers off irrespective of whether they are a prime, nelson or any other that people want to attach a label too  Having already visited 17 of the 24 events in Essex I was keen to tick off yet another one. I had seen plenty of videos filmed at Maldon Prom as a running based YouTu...

On the 4th October 2025 I ran the Houghton Hall parkrun which was the 330th event held at the venue, my 256th parkrun and 173rd different course I'd attended. The first named storm of the season, storm Amy brought with her weather disruption all across the UK with forecasted winds up to 100mph and caused a series of parkrun cancellations across Friday and into Saturday morning. Being well trained by now in the art of the last minute weather related detour, I needed to keep my wits about me and show some of the agility skills I barely get the opportunity to display out there on the course. Although it wasn't just the weather that was causing me logistic challenges. First it was the football calendar, then it was bacon rolls long before Amy came along. Gillingham were scheduled to play MK Dons at Stadium MK which meant that I'd have time to do parkrun in the morning and have time to get to the game by 3pm with one of our more local away games. But the powers that be at Sky t...

On the 27th September 2025 I ran the Rickmansworth parkrun which was the 378th event held at the venue, my 255th parkrun and 172nd different course I'd attended. After visiting as many parkrun events as I have, you'd think that I would be more than happy to skip over the first-timers briefing. But the first-timers briefing isn't solely for those new to parkrun, it's also aimed at tourists who are visiting the venue for the first time and important information about the course, it's route and general specific event details are provided. Had I not stopped to listen to the first-timers briefing at Rickmansworth on Saturday I would have found myself incredibly confused and quite possibly lost, or setting myself a PB time I'd never be able to beat. According to the course information page on the event website the course was two laps with a long start/finish straight at either side. But during the briefing we was informed that the website was out of date and that the...

On the 20th September 2025 I ran the Severn Bridge parkrun which was the 279th event held at the venue, my 254th parkrun and 171st different course I'd attended. There are over 2,000 parkrun events worldwide, with just over 800 in the UK. Each event is unique, but there are some that stand out in the crowd and dare I use the term, grown to become 'iconic'. Events such as Bushey for the spectacle of 1,500 stampeding across the start line like a scene from Braveheart. The painful sand dune ascent as Woolacambe Dunes or the scenic beauty of Fountains Abbey. These are events that tourist groups on Social Media have popularised and so visiting them not only becomes visiting a parkrun event it becomes a badge of honour. When the football fixture list came out and Gillingham were scheduled away at Newport County on a Saturday morning, I knew straight away what my weekend was going to look like. There's an abundance of events is easy reach of Newport, but the one I really want...

On the 13th September 2025 I ran the Barclay parkrun which was the 466th event held at the venue, my 253rd parkrun and 170th different course I'd attended. As well as trying to complete all 65 parkruns in Greater London, all 24 in Essex to match the 24 I've done in Kent I thought I'd pay a visit to my 6th event in Hertfordshire to go someway closer to ticking off all 14 parkrun events in the county. If it all sounds rather obsessive then you are correct and I've made no attempts to shy away from it either. There are plenty worse obsessions and what could be any better for me than running for my health? Barclay park lies on the outskirts of Hoddesdon, another place that I would never have visited if it hadn't have been for that niche obsession of mine. A short drive north of the M25 in what looked to be a rather affluent commuter town. Upon arrival I knew straight away that I was going to be in for a tricky morning. The park revealed in its full 3D glory away from Y...

On the 6th September 2025 I ran the Harrow parkrun which was the 467th event held at the venue, my 252nd parkrun and 169th different course I'd attended. My recent parkrun adventures have taken me far and wide with recent trips to Oldham, Ruthin and Accrington separated by nearer trips to Fulham and my milestone run at Leybourne Lakes. So it was quite nice to tick off another London venue and continue to slowly chip away at my goal of visiting all parkruns in the region. As Harrow (or it's vicinity) is home to a work colleague, it was another opportunity to meet her and enjoy another parkrun event together. We last ran Canons Park parkrun together over two years ago. In-between those two dates, I've been virtually ever present, whilst she hadn't ran at all so I was secretly hoping come the end of the event she'd been bitten by the bug like I have! Harrow parkrun takes place on Harrow recreation ground and is surrounded by housing on all sides. The venue is home to ...

On the 30th August 2025 I ran the Oldham parkrun which was the 697th event held at the venue, my 251st parkrun and 168th different course I'd attended. Last week I celebrated my 250th parkrun event and celebrated the official milestone in relatively low-key fashion. If you weren't already aware parkrun celebrates official milestones at 25, 50, 100, 250, 500 and 1,000 events, with a range of coloured merchandise 'unlocked' and available to purchase at each stage. 3 years on from celebrating my 100th parkrun at Bushy, and five years at least until I reach my 500th I returned to Leybourne Lakes and took part in the event volunteering as a tail-walker. I figured that by walking the event I'd be able to encourage more people to participate alongside me and so I was joined by Stephanie and Hayden who walked around with me. Phoebe joined us in making the trip, but got as far as the start line whilst Oliver couldn't quite get himself out of bed. That was my fourth effo...

On the 16th August 2025 I ran the Ruthin Memorial Playing Fields parkrun which was the 164th event held at the venue, my 249th parkrun and 167th different course I'd attended. In the early 90's, I spent.time.on holiday with my Grandparents in North Wales and have lots of childhood memories of the times we spent there. Since I've had my own children, I've always wanted to take them back with me so I could share a nostalgic look back at my childhood whilst given them their own memories to treasure. For whatever reason, we've not had an opportunity to do so, until now. With Gillingham playing Tranmere Rovers in August, I was able to peice together a short itinerary that allowed us to spend an extended weekend in the North West. Using an Airbnb style accommodation outside of Wrexham we planned to travel up on the Friday, watch Gillingham on Saturday and then spend Sunday and Monday exploring the best of what North Wales has to offer. It wasn't quite long lazy days ...

On the 9th August 2025 I ran the Fulham Palace parkrun which was the 510th event held at the venue, my 248th parkrun and 166th different course I'd attended. Last weekend, once I'd got home from my trip up north Stephanie called me over and asked me just what the hell I thought I was doing. Dazed and confused I asked her what she was talking about. She explained that she'd opened the parcel that I had ordered by mistake and/or curiosity. It was a long cardboard tube and I was completely in the dark. I hadn't ordered anything and so was completely mystified. I opened the lid and slid out the poster, unrolling it full of excitement as I realised what it was. It was a huge poster with a list of all the parkrun venues broken down into geographic regions. There were checkboxes next to each venue and a roll of 'tick' stickers so I could add stickers next to all the venues that I'd visited  I spent a good hour working through my tick list, oblivious to the origin ...

On the 2nd August 2025 I ran the Hyndburn parkrun which was the 323rd event held at the venue, my 247th parkrun and 165th different course I'd attended. 92 days after Gillingham took on Port Vale to bring the curtain down on the 2024/2025 football season, they took the field again to take on Accrington Stanley in the curtain raiser for the new campaign It meant that 92 days had also passed since my last football/parkrun double when I visited Isabel Trail parkrun along with Hayden and his mate Henry. Combining football away days with parkrun tourism has opened up areas of the country that I wouldn't ordinarily be able to visit direct from home. It also extends the football day significantly as we are no longer travelling up and back on the same day and so getting a chance to see the local area more widely than just simply the town and it's football stadium. I'd saved up some extra hours to give me and Hayden the ability to travel up earlier on the Friday afternoon. Rath...

On the 26th July 2025 I ran the Markshall Estate parkrun which was the 178th event held at the venue, my 246th parkrun and 164th different course I'd attended. As parkrun day fell on my birthday it was a chance to have a rare Saturday morning with my family in tow - although that didn't quite include Oliver who can't be convinced to get up early in the morning for anyone. So knowing that I'd have them joining me, and knowing that they'd not be willing to participate i had to encourage them by other means - breakfast. My normal planning schedule now had another criteria it needed to meet. Event number, unvisited and a stones throw away from aeam bacon sandwich. Top of the list that met all of those parameters was Markshall Estate, my 17th Essex venue and home to Mrs Salisbury's of Coggeshall Tearooms. Once again, another example of where the road to parkrun has taken me to places I would never have otherwise heard of, let alone visited. An hour from home, a rela...

On the 19th July 2025 I ran the Watermeadows parkrun which was the 252nd event held at the venue, my 245th parkrun and 163rd different course I'd attended. Visiting different parkruns has always been about keeping my running motivation going. I figure that if I keep going back to my home event week after week, I'd lose interest and miss a week which would lead to two weeks and before I know it parkrun becomes something I used to do. Tourism has always been about ticking things off, all the events in Kent, letters of the alphabet, closest parkruns to football grounds and arbitrary numbers. But on Saturday for the first time I visited a parkrun where it actually felt like it meant something, a personal homage to someone I loved deeply. My Nan and Grandad lived in Towcester when she was diagnosed with cancer, eventually succumbing to the disease in 2005. I remember vividly the last time I visited her, knowing she wasn't long to live and her expressing her sadness that she...

On the 12th July 2025 I ran the Old Deer Park parkrun which was the 696th event held at the venue, my 244th parkrun and 162nd different course I'd attended. I had previously arranged to visit Old Deer Park a couple of weeks back, but instead ended up at Reigate Priory. On the Old Deer Park Facebook group it stated that the course would be using its alternative route and so knowing what I knew about the original course I wasn't sure whether the alternative route would be an upgrade or not. Three laps, all on grass around the perimeter of some rugby pitches doesn't scream out and enjoyable run. But I should know by now not to judge a book by it's cover and that facebook comments/reviews are entirely subjective. Another factor, often overlooked when visiting particular parkrun venues is the weather conditions. On Saturday we were at the prakmof a third summer heatwave. The grass was yellow like straw and the dirt on the ground was dusty like a fine powder.  Worse still wa...