Adam Bird - My Personal Blog

On the 26th October 2024 I ran the South Woodham Ferrers parkrun which was the 276th event held at the venue, my 208th parkrun and 129th different course I'd attended. A little while ago I redrew my parkrun planner with a whole new strategy. Rather than a focus on London events I decided to prioritise those events closest to me geographically. It means that for every week that passes I have to travel that little bit extra further to the next event. There are anomalies to this plan, the fact that the actual nearest to me that I've not done yet is Beckenham Place which I'm putting off until the course returns back to its original point-to-point configuration and others where I am aiming to combine football with parkrun, or next week when I meet my cousin Nick. The first week of this revised schedule threw up South Woodham Ferrers, which is just over the water in Essex in a place that I've never heard of until this thing called parkrun came into my life. It worked out bea...

On the 19th October 2024 I ran the California Country parkrun which was the 221st event held at the venue, my 207th parkrun and 128th different course I'd attended. There are parkruns I want to visit as they are iconic, like Great Yarmouth North Beach which is ran on sand, or Fountains Abbey for it's scenic beauty. There are other parkruns I want to visit purely because I like the name. Father Collins, Peter Pan and Pocket all fall under this category.  So when I was putting my plan together for this weekend and had no idea where to go, I chose a parkrun purely on that fact that it sounded cool and I'd always wanted to go to California. Even though the country park in Wokingham was nowhere near the west coast of America, and as far as I can tell, nowhere nearly related. As we start to get deeper into the autumn and November appears ominously closer, us tourists need to start keeping our wits about us. Weather can and quite often does cause havoc and can sometimes lead to s...

On the 12th October 2024 I ran the Thornham Walks parkrun which was the 58th event held at the venue, my 206th parkrun and 127th different course I'd attended. There are a grand total of 277 parkrun events across the South East, Greater London and Eastern regions of which majority are within a two hour commute of home. When people ask me how long I plan to tourist for or when do I think I'll stop I use this collection of events as my answer. Which means inevitably that I'm going to have some early starts and/or overnight stays in order to get to some of the more distant events, particularly those in East Anglia and the northern coastline of Norfolk. This weekend I was heading for Thornham Walks parkrun in order to tick off event 58, one of my remaining few event numbers that I hadn't ran yet to try and get my Wilson Index up into the 60's. Thornham Magna the town in which the event is held is the other side of Ipswich and so from home an hour and 44 minute drive aw...

On the 5th October 2024 I ran the Volksgarten parkrun which was the 201st event held at the venue, my 205th parkrun and 126th different course I'd attended. After our day touristing in Cologne we head south of the city for a day at Phantasialand, one of the very many German theme parks in the country and arguably one of the very best of it's kind anywhere in the world. We had a great day and enjoyed as many of the rides and attractions as we could. Truth be told, a two day visit would have been better, but when you have only a single day there you have to make the most of it which we did. Highlights included Taron and FLY, the latter being a launched flying coaster where you are laying down and literally in the flying position. Both coasters were ridiculously long and seemed to go on forever which was a refreshing change from similar attractions at Alton Towers and Thorpe Park where you come off things feeling rather short changed. Stephanie continued to feel the effects of ol...

On the 3rd October 2024 I ran the Rheinpark parkrun which was the 158th event held at the venue, my 204th parkrun and 125th different course I'd attended. Every parkrun country is allowed to host a one off parkrun on a non-saturday as a 'special event day'. The UK uses theirs on Christmas Day, the US on thanksgiving and Germany on Unity Day which is their national holiday which takes place every year on October 3rd. Earlier this year we planned a short family break. The plan was to spend the weekend in Holland and to run two parkruns, including their special event either side of some touristing and visits to some European theme parks. However, those plans were ruined when we realised two days before we were due to leave that Oliver and Phoebe's passports lacked sufficient validity for them to travel. We did as any responsible parents would do and went without them. As part of the compensation package agreed with Oliver and Phoebe I suggested that we would book another ...

On the 21st September 2024 I ran the Colwick parkrun which was the 611th event held at the venue, my 202nd parkrun and 124th different course I'd attended. Following the Gills around the country has enabled me to combine football fandom with parkrun touristing and expand the range of possible places to visit on a Saturday morning massively. But travelling with Hayden in tow means that I have to make a few compromises when it comes to picking an appropriate venue. As Gillingham were playing Notts County again we had an opportunity to tick off another one of the many Nottingham events. We had already done Wollaton Hall which is a jewel in the Nottingham crown and so I didn't necessarily have a preference which of the others to visit. Having a look at the event numbers of all the courses available I had already run most of them and so the only one that met all of the criteria was Forest Rec. We also had the option of Colwick which is the closest event to Notts County and would ha...

On the 14th September 2024 I ran the Richmond Park parkrun which was the 827th event held at the venue, my 201st parkrun and 123rd different course I'd attended. For some reason I wasn't expecting much of Richmond parkrun, and I'm not quite sure why. I was expecting to just take my usual drive in the morning, run around the park and come back home again ticking off my 43rd Greater London parkrun, and leaving with working out when and where I'd be doing my final 20 to complete the LonDone set. But it ended up being so much more than that. Having ran at nearby Kingston and Bushy I was in familiar territory on my drive around the M25 and following the route to Chessington World of Adventures. Carrying on past the white knuckle and family adventures deeper into South West London via the A3 until Google took me off route and into areas unknown. After following obligingly for a few miles through housing estates, main roads, left turns and navigating roundabouts I was told to...

On the 7th September 2024 I ran the Epworth Equestrian parkrun which was the 54th event held at the venue, my 200th parkrun and 122nd different course I'd attended. Sometimes the stars just align and impossible things become possible. In my schedule I'd planned to visit Woolford Wood parkrun for event number 54, which is another gap at the the lower end of my missing event number spectrum. But a post on Facebook changed all of that. The organisers of Epworth Equestrian parkrun announced on Facebook that the owners of the Equestrian centre in which the parkrun is hosted had revoked ongoing access to the course, and so it was sadly to close part way through October. As part of the list of arbitrary parkrun challenges on the 5k parkrunner app is a challenge called 'we where there' and is achieved by running at an event that is no longer running or is closed access to the public (parkrun does run in some prisons and participants from outside can apply to attend). I wondere...

On the 31st August 2024 I ran the Wakehurst parkrun which was the 20th event held at the venue, my 199th parkrun and 121st different course I'd attended. I'd never heard of Wakehurst Place until earlier this year when a new parkrun popped up on social media. Since then, every week it pops up as the latest new venue that parkrun tourists have visited and have shared their experience of the event on Facebook. But I had to wait patiently to record my own visit and then when I finally came to enjoy it for myself I barely paid it any notice. Whenever a new event pops up it gives me an opportunity to fill one of my gaps in my Wilson Index. Which explained before on these pages is the visit of a parkrun event in continued numeric order. I'd previously visited parkruns that were numbered 1 to 19. I've also visited a number 21 and numbers 23 through to 32. So gaps where 20, 22 and 33 should be. Eventually I'd like have a Wilson Index of 100, but I'm still some way off t...

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....