Adam Bird - My Personal Blog

On the 30th September 2023 I ran the Ally Pally parkrun which was the 516th event held at the venue, my 148th parkrun and 76th different course I'd attended. When I asked my friend Reaso if he wanted me to pick up his son George for this week's parkrun he asked where I was heading. "Ally Pally", I said. And that was the end of that. The next ten minutes was spent listening at how steep the hill was up towards the Alexandra Palace and how drunken darts fans roll down it after a day on the beer watching the arrows. He explained how steep it was and how close he'd come to having a coronary and wouldn't wish running up it on his worst enemy. I had, as always done my research. I'd also seen the Ally Pally on television enough times and so knew that grounds of the parkrun would be the hillier variety. But the graphic picture that Reaso had painted put a nervous fear into me and I drove towards north London on Saturday morning with deep regret! Hills and I don...

On the 23rd September 2023 I ran the Harrow Lodge parkrun which was the 469th event held at the venue, my 147th parkrun and 75th different course I'd attended. Harrow Lodge has been on my to-do list for some time. For over a year it had been top of my NENDY list, which if you've been paying attention means Nearest Event Not Done Yet. After I'd completed my Thurrock parkrun , Harrow Lodge took the NENDY crown and has remained ever since. This weekend was also my 75th different parkrun event milestone and so it seemed a logical place to celebrate and kill two birds with one stone. I was joined this weekend by Reaso and his son George who hadn't quite been put off by his first and last visit to a parkrun event, namely Whinlatter Forest back in April. Having had the experience of visiting multiple different parkrun events I've grown accustomed to arriving at a parkrun venue and being surprised by the contrast of the park with its nearby surroundings. Particularly in L...

On the 16th September 2023 I ran the Banstead Woods parkrun which was the 781st event held at the venue, my 146th parkrun and 74th different course I'd attended. Parkrun of course started at Bushy park in 2004 and it wasn't until 2007 when it was joined by a second event at Wimbledon Common. But both events were still known as time-trials and the idea of 'parkrun' was still some way off. Six months after Wimbledon Common started a third time trial event started at Banstead Wood before further events popped up in Leeds, Richmond and Brighton. Before much longer there were ten time-trial events dotted across the country and parkrun was born. In my quest to complete all of the parkrun events inside of the M25, I'd pretty much completed the southern section with Nonsuch , Riddlesdown and Roundshaw Downs all being ticked off in the last twelve months or so leaving Banstead Woods and Lloyd as my only gaps. With good weather over the last few weeks it was a perfect time...

On the 9th September 2023 I ran the Alton Water parkrun which was the 97th event held at the venue, my 145th parkrun and 73rd different course I'd attended. Another week, another parkrun venue and another passenger alongside me on my parkrun journey. This week was the turn of my niece Layla who has started lodging with us in our spare room. Jokingly I suggested that as condition of her lodging with us, she needed to come parkrun with me each week. But her enthusiasm caught me by surprise. In fact, it was her that instigated the conversation this week with an "Uncle Adam, I might come parkrun with you this week". Having gone on to explain that she really didn't have to if she didn't want to, and that we were going to be getting up early and that we were going to be driving quite far. I also explained that it was going to be very hot and nobody was forcing here to do anything she didn't want to. She remained steadfast and was to my great surprise that when I wa...

On the 2nd September 2023 I ran the Mole Valley parkrun which was the 220th event held at the venue, my 144th parkrun and 72nd different course I'd attended. Occasionally I manage to convince a friend to run parkrun with me and as a result my friend Mark has inadvertently become a parkrun tourist. But with his work schedule, my football schedule and our holidays we've not managed to run together since Bevendean Down back in June. Knowing this date was coming up in the diary I saved Mole Valley for this very occasion. Mark prefers a one lap course and I knew it was going to be a gorgeous venue so if you are going to run, why not run in the best locations? Upon arriving at Denbies estate where the Mole Valley course is located you are immediately struck by how scenic the surroundings are.  The house at the end of the drive to the estate is imposing and reminded me of a scene out of a mobster movie with a house at the end of a tree lined driveway. Just like Squerreys Winery , Mo...

On the 26th August 2023 I ran the Southall parkrun which was the 81st event held at the venue, my 143rd parkrun and 71st different course I'd attended. After two weeks off enjoying a family holiday to Corfu where parkrun is yet to reach, I had a choice to make. Enjoy a other weekend parkrun free or get back on the running horse and keep up the habit. Fortunately for me I got back in the saddle. Routines are easily broken and as I'm not a natural runner there's always that fear that I'll simply stop one day and just not run again. I run because I need to, my body needs exercise and parkrun helps me maintain some semblance of an active lifestyle - the touring part is all just trying to make it more enjoyable. I had chosen Southall back one day when I was writing my schedule based on the fact that it was a flat course and that after two weeks of gyros, Mythos and Ouzo I'd need something gentle to break me back into it. Southall was actually my second post holiday run....

On the 5th August 2023 I ran the Woodbank parkrun which was the 649th event held at the venue, my 142nd parkrun and 70th different course I'd attended. The start of the football season is one of the most eagerly anticipated matches of the year and so when the fixture list came out and Gillingham were pencilled in to play Stockport County at Edgeley Park there was no way I was going to miss it! As Reaso and George were on holiday it was only Hayden and I who were going to be in attendance which gave me an opportunity to convert the days football into another parkrun tourism adventure. Ensuring that I was able to attend parkrun on time we travelled up by train after work on Friday and arrived at a local Premier Inn just after ten. This is a great way of traveling as it breaks the day up, albeit at a slightly increased cross. After what was a gloriously dry and sunny Friday we woke up Saturday morning with heavy rain. I looked out of the window from our room and looked at our clothin...

On the 29th July 2023 I ran the Eastbourne parkrun which was the 542nd event held at the venue, my 141st parkrun and 69th different course I'd attended. A couple of weeks ago parkrun asked the developers of the 5k achievements app to change their functionality and remove all challenges relating to event numbers including the Fibonacci, Prime and Nelson number challenges.  As documented on my previous parkrun blogs these challenges were completely arbitrary and didn't mean anything to anyone if you completed the set. For me, it was always a bit of fun and added some form of structure to my parkrun planner whereas otherwise it all felt a little bit random. I was due to attend Wormwood Scrubs this weekend for their 555th event and another Nelson number but despite the fact that I'm not entirely behind parkruns decision to remove these challenges I am certainly going to respect it. The thought behind the removal is that these occasions have the possibility of overwhelming smal...

On the 22nd July 2023 I ran the Stockley Country parkrun which was the 28th event held at the venue, my 140th parkrun and 68th different course I'd attended. After a week off touring it was back in the road for another new parkrun venue and a low event number to help contribute to my growing collection of lower parkrun event numbers. Today was also the fourth birthday of my local parkrun, Cyclopark and so I was in a bit of a dilemma. I had arranged to meet my work colleague at Stockley Park and so didn't want to let her down by cancelling so I changed last week's tourist venue (Walthamstow) to a revisit and rerun at Cyclopark for an early birthday celebration instead. As it was, it went incredibly well as I set a new PB time of 27:11! It was also great running with Auntie Melinda and Richard my brother-in-law. Unfortunately, after all the change of plans and not wanting to let my colleague down I received a message from her this morning saying that she wasn't able to m...

On the 8th July 2023 I ran the Edenbrook Country parkrun which was the 56th event held at the venue, my 138th parkrun and 67th different course I'd attended. One of my work colleagues is a keen runner and has recently completed the Manchester and London marathons. Whilst he's not a regular parkrunner (due to family commitments) we made a date in the diary for me to join him at his local event - Edenbrook Country. Just over a year old, the event is held at Edenbrook Country park which is near Fleet in Hampshire. Edenbrook itself is a small village recently built as a housing development with local facilities included as part of the build including the country park and leisure centre. The start takes place at the leisure centre itself where there was ample parking in the overflow carpark. I arrived a little early and took myself for a walk around the first part of the course before heading back and meeting my colleague where we observed the pre-run briefing and listened to the c...

On the 1st July 2023 I ran the Aldenham parkrun which was the 347th event held at the venue, my 137th parkrun and 66th different course I'd attended. There are not many parkruns that start with the letter A, and having already visited Ashford, I had the choice of Ally Pally or Aldenham in which to complete the 'Namely' challenge - yet another arbitrary parkrun community challenge. This one a simple exercise of running a parkrun for every letter of your name. Luckily for me, my name is short and contains enough of the common letters to make the challenge a straight-forward one. Others have much more work to do, poor Christine Kowazki should she exist! Aldenham it was then, chosen to tie in with another Prime Number and the relative ease of access. Around the M25 and south down the A1 towards Elstree and Borehamwood. Elstree of course famous for its television studios and home of the EastEnders television set. In fact, driving to the event from coming of the main motorway ro...

On the 24th June 2023 I ran the Riddlesdown parkrun which was the 577th event held at the venue, my 136th parkrun and 65th different course I'd attended. I hadn't really done my planning very well this week, if I had I'd not have picked a trail run. Running hungover is far from pleasant at any time, trail courses in the summer even more so! I knew that Hayden's football presentation night was on Friday and I should perhaps have either run locally at my home event, or repeated one that I'd done before but I was adamant that my tourist streak was going to continue, and so it did. After a late night and a few drinks, it was up at the crack of dawn with the early light coming through the loft window and waking me up, a good couple of hours earlier than I'd intended. But that's been the way of the last few weeks since the temperature has dropped and our skylights at the front of the house have been opened overnight. A short trip around the M25 and I found myself...

On the 17th June 2023 I ran the Canons Park parkrun which was the 283rd event held at the venue, my 135th parkrun and 64th different course I'd attended. At the time of writing there are 76 parkruns inside the London Orbital motorway, the M25. Before Saturday I had attended 26 of them. It is my hope and ambition to tick them all off and in order to do so I needed to complete my 27th venue, Canons park - chosen because it was also one of the few events this weekend in the area that was also hosting an event that was a prime number. I enjoy visiting events in London, because so far all the events I've completed have been at venues I'd never dream of visiting and are little green spots of calming open space in what is otherwise a concrete jungle. The other benefit of visiting different parkrun events in London is getting off and visiting other tube stations that I'd otherwise invariably miss out in normal touristing situations. Saturdays event allowed me to visit Canons P...

On the 10th June 2023 I ran the Bevendean Down parkrun which was the 313th event held at the venue, my 134th parkrun and 63rd different course I'd attended. Every now and then I get a response to my weekly message on the boys WhatsApp group when I post where I'm running on the Saturday ahead. A couple of weeks back I'd mentioned to my friend Mark that I had a tough course coming up, Bevendean Down. But when he found out where it was he told me that Brighton was too far to go for a 5k. But when I wrote my WhatsApp update I made it sound as appealing as I could and I was therefore surprised when Mark replied back for further details. What time will we be back? What time will you pick me up? Are you thinking about it then Mark? Maybe... And so I found myself with company travelling down the M23 bright and early on Saturday morning as we head down to the south coast on the hottest day of the year for one of parkruns toughest challenges. Bevendean Down parkrun is one of five pa...

On the 3rd June 2023 I ran the Bethlem Royal Hospital parkrun which was the 131st event held at the venue, my 133rd parkrun and 62nd different course I'd attended. If choosing parkruns by event numbers, or for one of the arbitrary challenges wasn't difficult enough, then adding course characteristics to the mix and you've gotten yourself another variable to add to the mix. Courses change over the seasons and a course that runs well in the summer months is a completely different beast during the winter. Bethlem Royal Hospital falls into that category - mud, glorious mud in the winter/beautiful meadows adorned with buttercups in the late spring/early summer. I'm not afraid of the mud, in fact I quite like a wet and muddy event. But when your feet are buried and you run leaving your shoe behind is the type of mud I've not quite managed to brave just yet. As my options grow increasingly smaller the more I tourist, the more chance there is that on one wet wintery day I...

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...

On the 29th April 2023 I ran the Roundshaw Downs parkrun which was the 666th event held at the venue, my 128th parkrun and 57th different course I'd attended. I had a conundrum this week. My parkrun planner has been arranged for a number of weeks and I knew that I had another Nelson number event lined up at Roundshaw Downs. However a post on Facebook made me question my choices and whether or not I needed to reschedule. As mentioned last week, these number challenges are completely arbitrary and have no formal recognition by anyone from parkrun. It stems from an app made by an enthusiast that has gathered a cult following and those cult followers can cause some unintended chaos. Earlier this year at Wimbledon Common parkrun, the event held their 777th running - a Nelson number and the first opportunity for participants to knowingly 'collect' a number towards the challenge. That week, over 1,000 people turned up and inundated an event that normally gets an average of 400 od...