Adam Bird - My Personal Blog

On the 25th August 2024 I ran the Fleetwood Promenade parkrun which was the 244th event held at the venue, my 198th parkrun and 120th different course I'd attended. Gillingham's fixture list hasn't been kind. Hot off the heels of two long away trips to Swansea and Morecambe the last thing the team and supporters needed was a third successive marathon on the road. But that's what they got with another long slog to Lancashire with Fleetwood Town being the latest hosts in a northern dominated league two campaign. It could have been worse, it could have been another midweek trip or a Saturday in December two days before Christmas. But being August and during the school holidays over the last of the years bank holiday weekend, supporters had the enviable position to make a weekend of it. Which is exactly what we did - a weekend in Blackpool. Travelling up on Thursday we had a more comfortable time of it than the previous Friday where it took near on seven hours to get to Mo...

On the 17th August 2024 I ran the Morecambe Prom parkrun which was the 204th event held at the venue, my 197th parkrun and 119th different course I'd attended. Gillingham's failure to get promoted last season condemned them to yet another season of league two football. A division this year which is made up predominantly of northern based teams and therefore a lot of travelling for anyone wanting to follow them on the road for away games. When the fixture list came out and I realised that Morecambe and Fleetwood followed each other on consecutive week's in August I eyed an opportunity. We could spend a week up north in a caravan or cheap accommodation and take in both games as bookends to a trip. However, the league cup first round tie was drawn a day later and we were drawn away to Swansea. So in the space of ten days Gillingham were on the road to South Wales and deepest Lancashire ànd of the three grounds I'd only been to one of them. Initially then plans were made t...

On the 10th August 2024 I ran the Brockwell parkrun which was the 598th event held at the venue, my 196th parkrun and 118th different course I'd attended. These pages include many a tale about last minute changes of venue and evolving weekend plans, but here's perhaps the latest last minute change of them all. Driving to Tooting Common I decided to leave earlier than normal on account of their being a small car park and wanted to increase my chances of getting a spot. Everything was going swimmingly until I reached the south circular and was diverted by a police car. Further down the road behind him was a crashed vehicle, most of the front missing and facing sideways spanning two-lanes. How on earth they managed to do that on a 30mph stretch of road I'll never know. But either way, I had to make a detour via the side streets along with all the other early morning traffic and that's where things started to go wrong. Either not moving or moving along at a snails pace isn...

On the 3rd August 2024 I ran the Woking parkrun which was the 425th event held at the venue, my 195th parkrun and 117th different course I'd attended. When Gillingham FC announced their pre-season fixture list, there was one tie that immediately stood out to me. It wasn't the Millwall or Watford home matches, nor the Southend away game that got the juices flowing but the game away to Woking! Why? It's a ground I've not visited before and has a parkrun right next door! Parkrun tourism and number collecting, or whatever you want to call this nonsense past time of mine wouldn't exist if it wasn't for my football fandom. Following the Gills home and away has meant that I've ticked off a fair few football grounds on my travels and so the behaviour was already well established. The challenge I had now had to overcome was a logistical one. If I'm done and dusted at Woking parkrun what do I do with myself until 3pm when the football kicks off? One option was to...

On the 27th July 2024 I ran the Kingston parkrun which was the 672nd event held at the venue, my 194th parkrun and 116th different course I'd attended. This week's parkrun experience was a slightly different one to normal. I had the family with me and was joined by my niece, River who actually wanted to take part as well. The last time the family were in tow was in May during our Dutch double and River was with us once again, full of enthusiasm which I mighty refreshing when you compare her attitude to my own kids! Originally I'd planned Kingston on the basis that it was by the river, in a lovely part of town and it would be a way of celebrating my birthday (which was the day before). Rather than having a heavy takeaway on the Friday night we'd all go to parkrun. I'd run, whilst the wife and kids watched and then we'd find somewhere nice for some breakfast. In the end Oliver was unable to mr ake it as he had a driving lesson booked and we'd not be back in t...

On the 20th July 2024 I ran the Northala Fields parkrun which was the 455th event held at the venue, my 193rd parkrun and 115th different course I'd attended. One of the parkrun courses I've been looking forward to visiting has been Northala Fields. The reason might surprise you. When the old Wembley stadium was demolished in the early 2000's, rubble from the ground was taken west and buried in wasteland just off the A40 in Northolt. 4 hills were made of various sizes and it became part of a new parkland for the London Borough of Ealing and opened in 2008. 6 years later in 2014, it became home to Northala Fields parkrun. Driving to Northala Fields, I was once again taken by sat-nav via the A12 and around the north circular. I've done this trip now on several occasions and despite a couple of pinch points have never had a bad trip. That said, now I've made this declaration my next trip is going to be a shocker. I guess there are other routes that could be taken invo...

On the 13th July 2024 I ran the Westmill parkrun which was the 297th event held at the venue, my 192nd parkrun and 114th different course I'd attended. Not all parkruns are born equal. Inevitably after you've run more than one course you'll ask yourself which one you preferred. After you have completed ten or so, a league table begins to form in your mind about which one was better than another. Even though it feels terrible for entertaining the idea in the first place. Parkrun is a 5k run, hosted by teams of amazing volunteers. They all glow with community spirit and pride and so each one therefore is as good as the other. But, a three lap loop around a recreation ground is not the same as a lap around a forest which is not the same as as an out and back on a coastal promenade. Why am I even talking about this anyway? What's having favourites got to do with Westmill parkrun? Well, after my visit on Saturday I have a new entry in the upper echelons of my favourite park...

On the 6th July 2024 I ran the Walthamstow parkrun which was the 509th event held at the venue, my 191st parkrun and 113th different course I'd attended. The last few weeks have been events of contrasts. The week before last was Hadleigh and it's hills followed by the flat route of Brooklands which was accompanied by baking hot weather. This week couldn't have have been any more different. Standing under a tree with rain coming in, fat drops horizontally towards my face blown by a freezing cold wind I questioned the sanity of my life choices. It was July for goodness sakes and if I didn't know otherwise you could have fooled me for October. Walthamstow wasn't supposed to be like this. I'd saved it purposely for the summer months. An event all on grass which can get rather muddy during the winter. It was supposed to be green and vibrant, baked hard under a summer sun. But no, it rained biblically and reminded me why I'd saved it for a supposedly summers day....

On the 29th June 2024 I ran the Brooklands parkrun which was the 198th event held at the venue, my 190th parkrun and 112th different course I'd attended. In 2006 I started working for a company called RMG Connect in London and was responsible for updating the Shell Motorsport website with race reports from Ferrari and Ducati detailing their achievements in Formula One, MotoGP and World Superbikes. Whilst on duty awaiting the race report I'd watch the formula one races and somn became a fan of the sport. It's for this reason that the appeal of running Brooklands parkrun has always been there, since the event takess place on a former racing circuit and where the formulative years of motorsport took place. When not racing, and after the circuit fell into decline, the venue in Weybridge, Surrey became home to an aviation facility and further established itself in local history. Whilst the Motorsport and aviation histories sadly declined much still remains of both heritages -  ...

On the 22nd June 2024 I ran the Hadleigh parkrun which was the 319th event held at the venue, my 189th parkrun and 111th different course I'd attended. Hadleigh has been my nearest parkrun event that I hadn't done yet for a while. Partly because I'd been saving it for a time when I needed to be back home early but mainly because of it's reputation. The course description kind of gives it away when it says that the park was used for the Olympic Mountain Bike events in 2012.  Yup, it was going to be a hilly one! In the week leading up to parkrun day (formerly known as Saturday) I had managed to find a convenient excuse to wimp out. I'd been suffering from a rotten cold all week, so much so that I took Friday afternoon off of work just to try and get some extra rest. I'd heard plenty of previous advise about running with a sore chest and how you should avoid it. But with the number of last minute changes of plans so far this year I've been keen to keep to a sc...

On the 15th June 2024 I ran the University of Northampton parkrun which was the 42nd event held at the venue, my 188th parkrun and 110th different course I'd attended. This weekend was a rare one. A weekend without football tournaments, Gillingham games or anything else planned. It was also a weekend without Foordy choosing which parkrun we did next so the world was my oyster. With a new car added to the family after too long I decided to answer that age old question, 'how far is too far to travel just for a 5k run?' In reviewing my options for this weekend there were three events all hosting their 42nd event. 42 is one of those early parkrun numbers that I've not ran at yet, and if you've been paying attention you'll know that'll be missing from my Wilson Index.  The three events in question were Wisbech, Wolford Wood and the University of Northampton, all with fairly comparable travel times (just under two hours) Which feels like a long way to travel just...

On the 8th June 2024 I ran the Lloyd parkrun which was the 658th event held at the venue, my 187th parkrun and 109th different course I'd attended. There was no blog post last week as I repeated a fairly recent event. I headed back to Thames Path, Woolwich with both Andrews and had another great run on what is a wonderfully quirky course. I also managed to set a new event PB and was also 4 seconds shy of a new parkrun PB (again!) This week was just another one of those weeks where planning evolved, decisions got made and got changed all over again. At one point we were heading to Bushy park, home of parkrun. But Foordy was travelling during the week and couldn't stomach another part rotation of the M25 so we set ourselves up for Maldon Prom over in Essex for what looks to be an enjoyable event with some lovely estuary views. But I woke up to a text message on Saturday morning from Foordy who had made himself unavailable for the morning. With Hayden at a football tournament in ...

On the 25th May 2024 I ran the Lee-on-the-Solent parkrun which was the 405th event held at the venue, my 185th parkrun and 108th different course I'd attended. After completing my alphabet of parkrun challenge I am now relatively unburdened by where I visit now on a Saturday morning. There are opportunities if I wanted to chasing multiple alphabet's but this is probably a step too far. I mean it would be amazing to visit Japan, Australia and New Zealand in a hunt for parkruns beginning with Y, but not sure my bank balance or long suffering wife would agree. So my alternative goals now remain as completion of particular geographic areas, Greater London and South East are the first two and cover off majority of the events that I have visited. So when Foordy tells me he wants to run at another parkrun event by the sea I had to weigh up my options. I wanted to avoid Essex and anywhere via the M25 as I'm using Mum and Dad's car still and have probably racked up a fair bill ...

On the 20th May 2024 I ran the Karpendonkse Plas parkrun which was the 145th event held at the venue, my 184th parkrun and 107th different course I'd attended. The sole purpose of our visit to the Netherlands was to tick off the Z and to complete the parkrun alphabet. The fact that there was an opportunity to run another parkrun on the same weekend was a complete bonus. So therefore I wasn't actually that fussed which event we headed to on the Monday. All I knew was that we were staying near Efteling and we needed to head south at some point after the event to make our way home. Our choice was made somewhat easier with the declarations made by the events themselves. Just because events are able to host special days, doesn't mean that all of them do. It depends on the permissions provided by the land owner, or volunteer appetite. As it was, there were closer events to our accommodation, but neither of them were running on the Monday. The nearest and most practical event was...

On the 18th May 2024 I ran the Zuiderpark parkrun which was the 130th event held at the venue, my 183rd parkrun and 106th different course I'd attended. Last March I ran the York parkrun which marked the completion of the UK parkrun alphabet. There are no parkruns beginning with X anywhere in the world and none starting with a Z here in the UK. So to complete the (non)official parkrun alphabet I'd need to travel overseas to collect the full set. Every country that hosts a parkrun event is allowed to host a special day event which takes place outside of the standard Saturday morning routine. Here in the UK our special day is New Years Day, whilst Poland for example hosts theirs on Boxing Day. Holland, which has three events beginning with Z holds theirs in May on the Whitsun Bank Holiday. Which is why I found myself onboard a Calais bound ferry enroute to The Hague to tick off, at long last the final letter missing from my parkrun alphabet and enjoy the unique privilege of runn...

On the 11th May 2024 I ran the Wickford Memorial parkrun which was the 150th event held at the venue, my 182nd parkrun and 105th different course I'd attended. Another weekend and another adaptation to the parkrun schedule. I had planned to attend South Oxley near Watford to eat away at the wider list of events inside the M25. But Foordy had to be back for 10:30 and so I had to pick an event a little closer to home. Without doing a revisit that challenge is a little easier said than done, but Wickford Memorial was second closest on the list of Nearest Events Not Done Yet and with the course offering a flatter option Vs Hadleigh in first place, a decision was made. In the lead up to any parkrun event I subscribe to the event Facebook page to keep an eye out on any up and coming potential cancellations or news. On Thursday evening the event posted that this week would be packets week and that all positions had been filled. The pages of this blog are littered with tales of me Vs a pa...

On the 4th May 2024 I ran the Crystal Palace parkrun which was the 619th event held at the venue, my 181st parkrun and 104th different course I'd attended. My 2024 parkrun goal was to complete all of the parkruns inside the M25, but having Foordy home and enjoying touristing with me I've had to change plans slightly to accommodate venues he wishes to visit alongside those of my own. Previous week's visits to Seaford Beach and The Leas were Foordys picks in an attempt to break his PB record which he managed to do both times. But45 this week was listed as Crystal Palace in the diary and so that's where we headed for event number 46 out of the listed 76 that I've got written down as located inside the M25. There is a slightly shorter list of 62 events, which are allocated in Greater London and will officially give you a LonDone status, but all of the events inside the M25 feels more complete and aesthetically pleasing when viewed on a map. It's also worth a remind...

On the 27th April 2024 I ran the Seaford Beach parkrun which was the 186th event held at the venue, my 180th parkrun and 103rd different course I'd attended. Although parkrun isn't about setting the fastest time and trying to be competitive. It's only natural that you keep a keen eye on your finish times even if it's used as a barometer of your progress. This year I've ran a sub 27 five times out of 17 parkrun events - which is one short of half of the 12 total that I've recorded under 27 minutes. I've come a long way since those days where I ran week after week, desperately trying to break the 30 minutes milestone at Cyclopark. But everyone I've set a sub-27 this year I've been disappointed that I've not managed to lower that all time PB which was set last autumn in Dulwich. This week at Seaford Beach parkrun I had another opportunity to set a quick time knowing that the course was a flat out-and-back along the Seaford promenade, and with favou...