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Date of Visit

10/06/2023

Number of runners

278

Event Number

176

Visit Number

1

Results

https://www.parkrun.org.uk/dishleyloughborough/results/176/

parkrun Link

https://www.parkrun.org.uk/dishleyloughborough/

Facebook Page

https://www.facebook.com/dishleyparkrunloughborough

Strava Segment

https://www.strava.com/segments/29576885?filter=overall

Weather

Fantastic. As with the week before I was treated to blue skies and sunshine. It did get a touch too warm during the second half of the run.

Getting There

The parkrun page has a really extensive set of details for getting there by a variety of different methods.

If coming by bus the Skyline service has a stop about a mile away.

Loughborough train station is about two miles away so potentially reachable by bike or as an extended warmup.

If coming by car it’s worth knowing that parking isn’t at the rugby club. It’s a short walk from opposite the cricket pitches on Cotton Way.

It’s not too far from M1 Junction 23 and then the A6. The rugby club is at the back of an industrial estate (Bishop Meadow/Weldon Road Industrial Estate) which means there isn’t much in the way of landmarks. The post code LE11 5FJ did work ok for me though.

Facilities

Rugby club near the finish and also a short walk to the start had toilets and food and drink afterwards. I had a very good sandwich and a cup of tea. Staff in there were great too and everyone I spoke to was interested in how my run had gone.

Free parking with plenty of car park marshals to help out. Short walk to the rugby club for the toilet and the start line.

Briefings and Volunteers

Wasn’t immediately obvious to me that the rugby club isn’t actually where the start is as there were so many people and volunteers milling around there. The first timer briefing IS by the rugby club so if you’d come from the car park and decided you didn’t need the loo and went straight to where the start is you’d likely miss that briefing.

It did have a really excellent map of the the course so was definitely worth seeking out. Picture of it is below.

RD had a step ladder and a mega phone for doing the briefing on which he did need as everyone was pretty spread out.

Start line and finish funnel

As mentioned above start line is a short walk across the rugby pitch and not actually near the club house. The finish is though so very easy to get that post run snack!

With the start line just being one of the pitches is was pretty big and allowed a fair few people to line up. Finish funnel was perfectly placed alongside the pitch that’s immediately in front of the club house. Meant there was plenty of space for hanging around after.

They also had a bell at the end which I always love to see. Instead of a PB bell though this one was labelled a happy bell!

Course

This has got a bit of everything. It’s effectively a one lap course though.

Starts with a lap of the field and out onto a trail path around Dishley Pool before heading towards the canal for an out and back section heading towards the River Soar, This is an off-road section and which takes you back along the other side of the pool where it finishes with half a lap of the field you started in with a long straight section back towards the club house. There’s a couple of narrow sections on the towpath. Nothing to worry about but it’s not an area for overtaking.

Not much in the way of elevation and has the potential to be quick in the summer but the varying surfaces and it’s twisty nature mean it’s probably not one for a flat out PB. It was lovely though in the sunshine.

Shoes

Definitely trail in the winter and wet weather. A big chunk of this is on grass and canal towpath which has potential for slipperiness. In the summer you wouldn’t really need them. I ran this in road shoes with it being in the middle of a heat wave so everything was rock hard.

Andy Stats

parkrun number:

92

Tourist event number:

42

Official time:

19:00

Position:  

7 (72.89% age grade)

Bryony Stats

Just Andy today

How did it go?

Not too bad. I was trying to be a bit more disciplined on this particular run as I’d had a couple of parkruns and club races recently where I’d gone out far too fast and paid for it later on. Splits for my first two miles were bang on where I wanted them to be though when coming into the field in the final mile I saw what I thought was the finish line and mentally checked out a bit. Turned out we’d still got half mile to go so I’d slowed down without realising. Lesson to be learnt there! Other than that it was a nice morning out. Bit of a varied route and a nice bit of food afterwards.

Return Visit Likely?

This is right on the edge of the limit for how we’d normally travel to on Saturday morning without having to get up super early so probably won’t make the regular rotation. It would be a nice one to do again in the summer though so maybe I’ll get Bryony along at some point.

Pictures and that.

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Date of Visit

03/06/2023

Number of runners

173

Event Number

91

Visit Number

1

In the area visiting friends on Friday night so tied it in with a bit of parkrun tourism

Results

https://www.parkrun.org.uk/woodgatevalleycountrypark/results/91/

parkrun Link

https://www.parkrun.org.uk/woodgatevalleycountrypark/

Facebook Page

https://www.facebook.com/WoodgateValleyparkrun

Strava Segment

https://www.strava.com/segments/29498705?filter=overall

Weather

Glorious sunshine and blue skies. Just about ok for running in when we got there but temperature did start to jump pretty quickly.

Getting There

Number 23 bus stops right outside the park for anyone getting there via public transport.

From further afield, pretty easy to get to from the M5 as it’s only a few minutes away from junction 3. Putting Woodgate Valley park into your mapping app will get you there fine.

Can also come through Birmingham via A38 towards Selly Oak

Entrance to the park is on Clapgate Lane and there is free parking on site.

Facilities

Nothing really there at the moment. There is normally a visitors centre with toilets but that’s apparently been closed for some time.

For our post run drink we followed the recommendation of the RD and went to Coffee at Cogs about a mile up the road. The owner is a member of Halesowen Triathlon Club so it’s cycling themed cafe! Has a very nice seating area setup for attracting groups of people on bikes. It was very nice and we had a couple of lovely pastries with our tea.

Briefings and Volunteers

Because of how the course is laid out the briefing isn’t near the carpark. The finish funnel is though so you may see some volunteers milling around but you need to make your way down the path to get to the start and the briefings. Everyone here was really friendly and I enjoyed chatting to the RD and the time keepers after I’d finished.

Start line and finish funnel

The start line is at cross roads in the path at the half way point of the course. It’s pretty easy to find as it’s downhill from the car park and it’s nicely signposted. It is right on the path though which isn’t all that wide so can make for a bit of a queue if it’s busy.

Finish funnel is the exact opposite as you approach it after doing half a lap of a huge field. Means there is tons of space!

Course

As I’ve alluded to above it’s a bit unique. It starts as an out and back course but you start at the half way point, run until you get to the end of the path, turn and head back to the start. You then turn left at the start up the hill back towards the car park before running on the edge of a field to the finish funnel in the far corner. The out and back and the hill section a really flat so it’s just the single to finish you have to content with. Means some potentially fast times though while it’s not a brutal hill it’s not over quickly!

Shoes

When it’s dry road shoes are fine. It’s a decent surface on the out and back section and the grass section is only for a couple of minutes. When it’s wet you’ll definitely need trail shoes. That field alone will get pretty muddy!

Andy Stats

parkrun number:

91

Tourist event number:

42

Official time:

18:49

Position:  

4 (73.60% age grade)

Bryony Stats

parkrun number:

76

Tourist event number:

37

Official time:

39:42

Position

151 (38.75% age grade)  58th Female

How did it go?

Andy – Not too bad. Pleased overall considering the lack of sleep and a tiny bit of a hangover. We’d had a good night on Friday! I went out pretty hard with the front runners and wasn’t doing too badly but as soon as we had to climb up the hill the heat hit me and realised I should have taken it a bit easier. My first couple of miles turned this into a good time as the last one was vastly different.

Bryony – I’ve never been a fan of out and backs and this one wasn’t any different. I was mentally prepared for the hill but not the grassy section at the top which came as a surprise. I’m also not a fan of grassy sections either! Considering I’m not on form on the moment, overall the weather made it enjoyable.

Return Visit Likely?

If we’re visiting those friends again yes. It’s a really lovely park and I really enjoyed the route, especially when the weather is good.

Pictures and that.

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Date of Visit

27/05/2023

Number of runners

225

Event Number

7

Visit Number

1

It’s a new event and this was first chance we’d had to make it over

Results

https://www.parkrun.org.uk/abbeypark/results/7/

parkrun Link

https://www.parkrun.org.uk/abbeypark/

Facebook Page

https://www.facebook.com/abbeyparkparkrun

Strava Segment

https://www.strava.com/segments/34204158

Weather

Glorious! Blue skies, slight breeze and definitely t-shirt weather

Getting There

If you’re not familiar with it Leicester can be a little fiddly to drive around (so many traffic lights!) and we could probably have found a better route to get there. That said. It’s a mile from Leicester train station and half a mile from St Margaret’s Bus Station so public transport links are good.

Being right in the city itself means it’s easily walkable and reachable by bike for locals.

If you’re driving there are a couple of parking options

There’s a small free car park at the Morningside Arena (LE1 3UD). There are signs and volunteers but only a limited number of spaces. It’s a small walk over the bridge after that to the start.

Outside of that Abbey Park Road, LE4 5AQ – £2 for 2 hours, card machine available. St Margaret’s Pastures, LE1 3AE – £2 for 2 hours, cash and card available

Facilities

There’s a lot of things to do in the park itself.

• Boating lake
• Bowling green
• Changing facilities
• Lavender maze
• Orienteering courses
• Pets corner
• Ping! tables
• Play area
• Tennis courts
• Sensory garden

(from Abbey Park (leicester.gov.uk) )

There’s a volunteer run cafe in the middle of the park which is also where the toilets are. This near is the bridge you run over. We were on a bit of a time limit so didn’t get the chance to check it out.

Briefings and Volunteers

First time briefing and the main briefing were both done by the RD for the day and she was friendly and enthusiastic. I had lovely chat with her afterwards hearing all about their new event.

Start line and finish funnel

One of the widest start funnels I’ve seen as they use the whole width of the park! Obviously narrows down onto the route itself but it’s good to see an event where everyone can generally start at the same time and there isn’t a queue just to get over the start line.

Finish funnel is in the same place as the start so there’s loads of space to hang around afterwards.

Course

Single lap

Course description makes it look complicated but it essentially loops around two different sections of the park.

Other than going over the bridge that joins the two sections of the park this is pancake flat so loads of PB potential.

Shoes

Road. Whole thing is on really good paths.

Short or Long? (based on our watches and checking out other Strava profiles)

Andy Stats

parkrun number:

90

Tourist event number:

41

Official time:

18:20

Position:

8 (75.55% age grade)

Bryony Stats

parkrun number:

75

Tourist event number:

36

Official time:

38:55

Position

206 (39.53% age grade) 83rd Female

How did it go?

Andy – Very enjoyable! It’s a really lovely place to have a parkrun event and I do love a single lap course. Ended up running a really good time though with a club race planned the following day I eased off a touch in the last mile (only a little though!) Volunteers were all lovely. I had a chat with a couple of them afterwards as well as a visiting RD from Newport who was in the area visiting family.

Bryony – have only just starting to pick up a little bit of speed following 3 months of resting the knee. Meant there was some walking and was able to really take in the park. Would be a good one for parkwalkers. Keen to come back when I’m back on form to take it on properly.

Return Visit Likely?

Yes. We can get to this in 35-40 minutes from our house so it’s going to be one those in the local rotation. I’d like to have another crack at running a fast time here and also check out the café. With it being right in the middle of Leicester too we’ll likely tie into a shopping trip there too.

Pictures and that.

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Date of Visit

13/05/2023

Number of runners

470

Event Number

562

Visit Number

1

This has been my NENDY for ages but I’d never gotten around to making the trip. Had a reason to go into Leamington this weekend so finally made the visit.

Results

https://www.parkrun.org.uk/leamington/results/562/

parkrun Link

https://www.parkrun.org.uk/leamington

Facebook Page

https://www.facebook.com/leamparkrun

Strava Segment

https://www.strava.com/segments/1227278

Weather

Don’t say it too loudly but the weather is finally edging towards something looking like summer.

Was a bit overcast but I was perfectly fine in just my t-shirt.

Getting There

Newbold Comyn is a country park that’s in middle of Leamington Spa so is well connected.

From a sat nav point of view if you put Newbold Comyn Leisure centre in that’ll get you nearby but don’t use their car park.

The park itself has two car parks which are both free to use.

Newbold Comyn Carpark which is accessible by driving past the leisure centre on Newbold Terrace (52.28904062044538, -1.5134110886211802 or a google maps link is here ) Short walk towards the football pitches and the start is opposite side of the changing rooms.

Radford Road is a smaller car park with a short walk over a bridge to the start

I couldn’t find it in Google maps but it’s here

52.28437114729857, -1.5140209029364342 or google maps link is here

For public transport, Leamington train station is just over a mile away so if you can get there early enough close enough to walk or jog to as a warm up.

If you’re a cyclist then cycle path 41 goes directly past where the event starts

Facilities

There’s a small building in front of the start/finish area that has toilets and a volunteer run café for post run refreshments. There was tea, coffee, squash as well as cake and biscuits. Take what you want and they ask for a donation to a local charity which is a great idea. Seeing as parking is free you may as well throw in what you would have used to park at least!

Briefings and Volunteers

They had a map for the first time briefing which I’m always appreciative of! Young person doing the first time briefing was only on her second go and did a superb job.

Main briefing was in front of the main block with a megaphone! Very welcoming to all the visitors. With nearby Warwick Racecourse being off they got a bumper crowd and was keen to give people hitting milestones a cheer.

Start line and finish funnel

Both the start line and finish funnel are on a huge field so plenty of room. Start line was nice and wide and there was plenty of space to run into so no fear of bottle necking.

Course

1 lap.

Starts with a section on the football field before joining a path that goes all around the park. There is a very big hill in the middle! You’re essentially running to the hill, up to the top then back down it to the finish line.

Shoes

Trail in the winter or if it’s been wet in any way. The start on the field alone could get squelchy in the winter but a fair few of the paths were muddy on this visit and it’s the middle of May!

That said, through the summer road shoes are entirely fine. I ran this one in road shoes and other than a bit of puddle jumping I just about got away with it.

Short or Long? (based on our watches and checking out other Strava profiles)

I had exactly 3.11 on my watch though someone I bumped into from my running club had it about 400m short. There’s a lot of tree cover though so I’d expect some GPS weirdness.

Andy Stats

parkrun number:

88

Tourist event number:

40

Official time:

19:10

Position:  

8th (72.26% age grade)

Bryony Stats

No Bryony this week. She’s still struggling with her knee so decided not to come this time. She’s doing lots of volunteering at Riversley Park Junior parkrun at the moment so she still gets her parkrun fix

How did it go?

I really enjoyed this despite having a massive hill which I’m always keen to avoid. Route itself was very nice around the trail paths and once you get to the top of the hill you do have a great chance at picking up speed up on the way down.

Having drinks and cake virtually on the finish line is great for encouraging people to hang around afterwards which was great.

Return Visit Likely?

Probably, though the hill will make me think twice. It’s still on Bryony’s list so she’ll want to tick it off at some point.

Pictures and that.

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Date of Visit

08/04/2023

Number of runners

156

Event Number

87

Visit Number

1

We were visiting the area for a short easter break and having done Fell Foot on a previous visit we decided to give this one a go.

Results

https://www.parkrun.org.uk/rothaypark/results/87/

parkrun Link

https://www.parkrun.org.uk/rothaypark/

Facebook Page

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064659409805

Strava Segment

https://www.strava.com/segments/33872952

Weather

We woke up to a frozen car which we were not expecting. Sun was out by the time we arrived and while it was chilly before the start it warmed up really quickly. One of those days where you ended up with too many layers on.

Getting There

Rothay park is the name of the venue on the outskirts of Ambleside

If coming by car it’s not difficult as there are only a few roads that come into Ambleside. Basically aim for the A591! Parking is at Miller Bridge Town Centre Car Park (LA22 OEE) which has loads of spaces as it’s the essentially the main car park for the village so has more than enough capacity to deal with parkrun. It’s a few minutes walk to the park once you’ve found a space.

Up to 1 hour: £1.50
1 to 2 hours: £3.00
2 to 3 hours: £4.00
3 to 4 hours: £5.50

Card, cash and “PaybyPhone” parking app are all good though be aware signal in that part of the world can sometimes be bit variable.

There are a couple of bus routes that stop near the library and are a five minute walk away and if you’re staying in Ambleside itself it’s likely to be walkable.

You could feasible cycle from another village too with it being one big main road that comes through Ambleside. We saw loads of people on bikes while we were in the area.

Facilities

There’s a toilet block near the entrance to the park that is also near where the start line is. There’s a large children’s play area too but no food or drink facilities in the park itself. It’s not a huge problem though as with Ambleside being so close it’s a short walk to various different cafes and restaurants. We went to the Apple Pie cafe and bakery and had some very nice breakfast!

Briefings and Volunteers

Because of where this parkrun is located there are usually more tourists than locals so they don’t do a separate first timers briefing as it’s easier to just to do it all at the same time. I’d seen a couple of comments about this parkrun being one of the friendliest and I can certainly agree with that. Being the easter weekend too there was a box of chocolate eggs for everyone to help themselves too as well.

Our eldest decided that if we were going to drag them out of bed to parkrun they’d also volunteer and did a sterling job of marshalling and cheering people around!

Start line and finish funnel

Start line is on the football pitch near the park entrance to keep people off the path. It’s a busy park even at that time of the morning so that makes sense. Does mean on particularly soggy days you’ll get muddy before you’ve even started. Finish funnel was at the top end of the park and is in a slightly higher section which gives you a really nice view on the park as a whole.

Course

Three laps.

When it’s described it initially sounds a bit intricate but there are basically two loops, one in the park itself and another in a field (Millers Field) next to the car park. You do a lap of the park, then down to the field where you do a lap of that and then repeat two more times!

The section that links the two loops is a little narrow, especially as it goes through two small gates as you come out of the park to go into the field so you do have to be mindful of runners coming in the other direction.

It’s mostly flat, has some sections that can be ran quickly but the twists and turns in addition to the narrow sections can slow you done a bit. For anyone not chasing times though the main section of the park has some stunning views.

Shoes

In the winter or when it’s particularly wet you will absolutely need trail shoes for the field section. You’ll be fine with road shoes outside of that. We just about got away with road shoes on this visit.

Short or Long? (based on our watches and checking out other Strava profiles)

Bryony and I both had this slightly long but any course that has so many turns you’d need get the correct line on all of them I think to get this spot on.

Andy Stats

parkrun number:

85

Tourist event number:

39

Official time:

19:47

Position:  

10 (70.01% age grade)

Bryony Stats

parkrun number:

72

Tourist event number:

34

Official time:

52:13

Position

154 (29.46% age grade) 59th Female

How did it go?

Andy – From a touristing point of view I had a great time. The event was full of really nice people, the park was beautiful, especially when the weather decided to warm up. We had a lovely breakfast in Ambleside and spent the morning wandering about. It’s not often we get the whole family to parkrun but this was one of those. On the running side, I’ve had better days at the office. You can’t run a PB every week though so I’m just pleased we had a nice day out.

Bryony – As mentioned in previous weeks, Bryony is parkwalking at the moment but having company in our youngest was great on this occasion. Due to the narrow paths it did mean for a lot of single file walking for the most part though, often having to allow for faster runners coming from behind us at the same time there were runners coming towards us. However it was a nice walk to do, the marshalls were super friendly, especially the one by the gate and time passed quickly with the sun, varied scenery and chatting. We were surprised to see so few walkers at this one though – definitely one to try and encourage more to attend given how straightforward it is.

Return Visit Likely?

If we were ever in the area again I’d be happy if we came for another go.

Pictures and that.

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Date of Visit

25/03/2023

Number of runners

151

Event Number

256

Visit Number

1

We were visiting friends and this parkrun was kind of in the middle and had good breakfast options!

Results

https://www.parkrun.org.uk/brierleyforest/results/256/

parkrun Link

https://www.parkrun.org.uk/brierleyforest/

Facebook Page

https://www.facebook.com/brierleyforestparkrun

Strava Segment

https://www.strava.com/segments/15368285

Weather

Chilly but only bad because of the wind which was a bit biting. One of those where you needed a jacket beforehand but could probably take off for the run itself. Rain was threatening but just about held off until we’d finished.

Getting There

I put Brierley Forest Park Car Park into my mapping app. NG17 2PL will get you in the area too if you look for Skegby Road.

I was this specific as the parkrun page said if you use the park name sometimes mapping apps can take you to the other end of the park which is much further away.

We had no trouble finding it from M1 junction 28. A38 is nearby too so it’s well connected.

Visitor centre is directly next to the car park so easy to get to.

There’s a bus stop at the top of Skeby Road with services that get there for 8.20 and 8.30 so certainly doable.

No mention of train services on the website but Google Maps suggests you can get to the Skegby bus stop by 8.20 by taking a couple of buses from Alfreton train station.

Should be no problem cycling too as it’s behind some housing estates so easy to get at.

Facilities

Free and plentiful parking in front of the visitor centre. Same visitor centre also had a couple of small toilets and very good cafe for afterwards. I had full English for the second week in a row as well as some very fancy white chocolate and raspberry fudge afterwards.

Briefings and Volunteers

Possibly the youngest person doing a first timing brief I’ve seen so far! He did a good job though and even did a sweep of the car park to round up any stragglers.
RD apologised as loud hailer but as she was a teacher she’d have to put her teacher voice to good use. Very friendly group after the event and the RD was keen to grab as many pictures of tourists as she could for the facebook page.

Start line and finish funnel

Path for the start line was a bit narrow which meant a bit of a queue down towards the car park which meant people towards the back would have struggled to have seen the RD (Bryony did)

Finish funnel was really well marked out. They some very snazzy portable fence “things” (I have no idea why they are called!)

Lots of space for hanging around after and a short walk to the visitor centre.

Course

I told this was the winter course so not entirely sure what was different but it’s straight forward enough route. Starting on the path next to the visitor centre it’s then two laps around the park with the finish funnel being on the path in front of the centre. It’s described as undulating and for once this description didn’t just mean lots of hills! Not flat but no excessive climbs. Very nice park to run around with lots to look at. Little bit twisty in parts but not much that would slow you down too much if PB chasing.

Shoes

Road most of the time. Path is solid gravel type surface you always get at this kind of park but leaves and mud can cover it. In the middle of winter may need to be careful with it being slippy.

Short or Long? (based on our watches and checking out other Strava profiles)

A few people I spoke to after said they thought it was a touch long. I got 3.18 miles on my watch.

Andy Stats

parkrun number:

84

Tourist event number:

38

Official time:

19:44

Position:  

2 (70.25% age grade)

Bryony Stats

parkrun number:

70

Tourist event number:

33

Official time:

55:28

Position

144 (27.73% age grade)  61st Female

How did it go?

Andy – Worth the drive as we had a great time. Was good to catch up with the friends we’d met there. Pleased enough with my run though the person who finished ahead of me was gone pretty quickly and the person behind me finished a minute after me so I’d gone off pretty quick but ended up totally on my own. I always struggle to keep a harder pace going when I don’t have someone to hang on to. No complaints at all though.

Bryony is parkwalking at the moment and Brierley Forest was a much nicer route for this compared to York! Much of the walk was without any sight of other runners and walkers due to the bends and twists, so it was a less pressured walk, not seeing others get further and further away ahead of you. As the second lappers started to overtake it was a little tight for space in parts, but overall a very pleasant walk!

Return Visit Likely?

Potentially. As we’d planned this one specifically to meet friends it’s one that would work for that again, especially as the post run food and drink facilities were good

Pictures and that.

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Date of Visit

18/03/2023

Number of runners

517

Event Number

452

Visit Number

1

We were in the area on a family visit and managed to squeeze this in.

Results

https://www.parkrun.org.uk/york/results/452

parkrun Link

https://www.parkrun.org.uk/york/

Facebook Page

https://www.facebook.com/yorkparkrun

Strava Segment

https://www.strava.com/segments/1668628

Weather

We got a bit lucky as it hammered it down with rain a couple of hours after! Sun was out and while it was a bit breezy it ended up being quite mild. I was overdressed so had to ditch my jacket for the run!

Getting There

Event is held at York racecourse so it’s not drastically difficult to find but you do have a decision to make when making your way there.

The start and finish are on opposite sides of the course. The finish line is near the entrance whereas the start line is near a gap in the fence off Cherry Lane. Means that if you come in through the main entrance you’ll have to walk to the other side of the course. It’s not a huge distance but if you were tight for time you do need to factor that in. Same is true for when you’ve finished. If you’ve parked at Cherry lane you’ll have to walk from the finish back round.

On the parking front. Loads of street parking around the main entrance on Knavesmire Road and racecourse road. There’s a small car park on Cherry lane with some street parking too. We had no problems on Knavesmire road.

Train station is mile and a half away so potentially walkable or a warm up jog. Parkrun website page also says there is a bus service that takes about 12 minutes from the station and stops near Cherry Lane.

Facilities

Website said the toilets at the race course are only open from April to October and suggests the railway station or a Tesco extra that isn’t too far from Cherry Lane.

With the start and finish lines being on the opposite side of course if you need to leave coats, bags or jackets then the finish line is the best place to do that before you walk over to the start.

Post run drinks can be grabbed from a coffee van that’s on-site and breakfast is at the Knavesmire pub which is a short walk away (7 or 8 minutes)

We took the opportunity to sample the breakfast and it was excellent. I went for a full English whereas Bryony had a bacon and egg sandwich which was massive! Staff were great too.

Briefings and Volunteers

First time briefing was entertaining as she made a couple of jokes about the fact they get so many tourists. Main briefing wasn’t easy to follow. Being so well attended they suffer the same problem that Coventry have in that even with a mic and speaker you can end up too far away to actually hear what’s being said. That’s not being critical of the volunteer team. Just something that’s really hard to deal with at an outdoor event with so many people. Volunteers we spoke to were all lovely.

A local running club were also helping out with pacing so there were lots of bibs with numbers on the back.

Start line and finish funnel

Start and finish line had their own permanent paint markings on the floor! Path isn’t the widest. It’s ok once everyone is going but for the start with so many people there it means there a pretty large queue just to get over the start line. A local mentioned that people do occasionally start on the grass if they want to be nearer to the front.

Finish funnel was a bit different to what I’ve usually seen in that they didn’t use cones on the path itself. They had volunteers to corral people onto one side of the path and keep them in order. Seemed to work fine even when it got busy.

Course

A lap and half (ish) of the service road that goes around the race course. Means it’s pancake flat and very little in the way of corners. There’s one section near the finish line where you do two almost right angle turns but you can mostly navigate it without losing too much speed as the path is wide enough to take a decent line. It’s no surprise this attracts a lot of fast runners chasing times. Had a quick look down the results and there have only been two occasions where the first finisher didn’t run under 19 minutes.

Shoes

Road. It’s on a service road so meant for vehicles so the surface is good.

Short or Long? (based on our watches and checking out other Strava profiles)

I think this is bang on. If you’ve got permanent start and finish lines it’s likely to have been very well measured too. I had 3.12 on my watch but that’s probably because I mostly ran on the right hand side which on the big sweeping bends would a touch of extra distance.

Andy Stats

parkrun number:

83

Tourist event number:

37

Official time:

18:07

Position:  

13 (76.45% age grade)

Bryony Stats

parkrun number:

69

Tourist event number:

32

Official time:

50:31

Position

503 (% age grade)  Female

How did it go?

Andy – From a running point of view, really well. When we’d organised to come to York I’d earmarked this as somewhere I could have an attempt at beating my PB but I’ve been struggling with an achilles niggle recently so I wasn’t quite where I was hoping to be. I did still end up with my second fastest parkrun time so can’t complain! Event itself was one of the busiest I’ve been to. Until recently this was the only parkrun in the country that starts with a Y so for parkrun tourists that are also completing the name based challenges this is a mandatory visit. Had a couple of nice chats with some locals and tourists and breakfast was great. Coupled with the visit to York itself it was a great weekend.

Bryony did parkwalk rather than parkrun this week. That still meant the usual problems with a high attendance parkrun were there such as the amount of time it takes just to get over the start line. Also found that the route itself wasn’t all that interesting. It’s great if you’re chasing a time with it being so quick but if you’re out there for a long time the whole thing looks the same the all the way around.

Return Visit Likely?

No. It’s a two and a half hour drive from us so it’s not somewhere we’d just pop back to. If we were in the area there are a couple of other parkruns we’d visit before making this a repeat visit. We had a perfectly good time though

Pictures and that.

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Date of Visit

04/03/2023

Number of runners

140

Event Number

348

Visit Number

1

First new event in a while too

Results

https://www.parkrun.org.uk/perryhall/results/348/

Facebook Page

https://www.facebook.com/perryhallparkrun

Strava Segment

https://www.strava.com/segments/13113765

Weather

Cold! Was only about 3 degrees but thankfully it was dry and there wasn’t much in the way of wind.

Getting There

If coming by car it’s really easy to find as it’s just off the A34 opposite the Alexander Stadium. You’ll end up on the A34 whichever direction you’re coming from then turn into Perry Hall Avenue at the traffic lights at the entrance to the stadium. Putting Perry Hall Park or Alexander stadium into your preferred nav app will get you there.

Via train – Perry Barr and Hamstead train stations are both about a mile away so close enough to jog/walk to as a warm up.

Via bus – A34 is one of the main roads in and out Birmingham so is well served, especially being so close the stadium. You’d get the bus to there or the One Stop Shopping centre which is where Perry Barr train station is too.

Being a town park it’s meant to walked or cycled to by locals so no worries on that front.

Facilities

There’s free parking at the park itself as well as side roads nearby. There is a small number of spaces as soon as you come into the park and a bigger one that I didn’t immediately spot. Just carry on driving after you’ve turned right into the park and you’ll find it.

On the toilet front, there’s a portacabin with two toilets. That’s not loads so has the potential for queuing on busy days.

The all important post run refuel is at a cafe called Goodfilla’s. It’s on other side of the road at the traffic lights junction at the A34 so a short walk from the park. I had a very nice cheese and bean toastie along with a cup of tea and a nice chat with a couple of other people who had been at the event.

Briefings and Volunteers

One of the friendliest volunteer teams I’ve come across. They were really welcoming. Lorna who was doing the first time briefing spotted I was on my own and very clearly new so came over to say hello as did the tailwalker and talked about the recent club cross country exploits. The RD, Chan gave a really engaging and welcoming brief including a selfie of the assembled crowd for the Facebook page.

Start line and finish funnel

Not too far from each other. Start line was on the path which wasn’t massively wide but would only really be a problem if you started getting a really large number of people.

Finish funnel was well marked out and really long with loads of room for mingling afterwards.

Course

Bit of an unusual one this. It’s three laps of the park but each one was different.

All three loops followed the main loop around the park but laps two and three had extra bits to make the distance work properly.

We went from the start, over a small bridge and onto the loop.

First one was just a single complete loop.

Second lap did that same loop but half way along it there was a long out and back section where you then returned back to the loop and carried on.

Third lap did the same kind of thing but the out and back section was earlier in the loop and much shorter.

Then complete the loop and back over to the bridge to the finish. It’s an one way of getting the distance correct!

Only problem I had was coming back over the bridge to the finish was that I wasn’t entirely sure if we were following the path back where we’d started or taking a right turn between the trees which seemed to go to where I could see the finish. I started down that way, realised my error then veered back onto main path. Meant I potentially cut a bit of the last corner.

Shoes

Road. Aside from the finish funnel and a tiny grass section near the bridge the whole thing is on path around the park.

Short or Long? (based on our watches and checking out other Strava profiles)

I’m the wrong person to ask this week (see the section about the course )

Andy Stats

parkrun number:

81

Tourist event number:

36

Official time:

18:57

My parkrun record shows I’ve got a PB and my first ever sub-18 time. It’s got a bit of an asterix next to it in my head though because I cut the last corner short. It was only a little bit and I did get back onto the path as soon as I realised my error but I don’t know for sure if I’ve gained anything from it. It would have been a PB either way because I definitely didn’t gain 10 seconds but two or three seconds is possible, but where I slowed and swerved to get back on the path may have levelled it out. Who knows.
I’ll need to have another crack at that time again really soon.

Position:

2nd (77.16% age grade)

Bryony Stats

No Bryony this week.

How did it go?

I had a really great time visiting Perry Hall. It was such a good experience as a whole, not just the run. It was really nice to meet so many friendly people before and after the event. As well as the volunteers there were also some tourists from Rugby and a couple of other people came up to me afterwards to wish me well or ask how my run went after watching me chase their regular speedster around (he was 55 seconds quicker than me though. I was in front of him for a little but I was never catching him once he went past me!)
Was also good to get to a new venue for a first time in while. We’ve been volunteering at the brand new Market Bosworth parkrun where we can recently as well as revisits to Conkers and Beacon.

Return Visit Likely?

I’m keen to go back when Bryony is around as I think she’ll enjoy it too. Can imagine it being a lovely park in the summer. Was also much quicker to get to from our place than I was expecting so that’ll certainly factor into it.
Also need to make sure that time is correct…

Pictures and that.

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Date of Visit

01/01/2023

New years day parkrun!

Number of runners

380

Event Number

556

Visit Number

2

I’d paid a visit here on my own in the summer

Results

https://www.parkrun.org.uk/conkers/results/556/

parkrun Link

https://www.parkrun.org.uk/conkers/

Facebook Page

https://www.facebook.com/conkersparkrun

Strava Segment

https://www.strava.com/segments/26030883

Weather

Clear skies though it was still a chilly. It was warm enough that I took my jacket off to run though as I’d overheated a bit the day before.

Getting There

Straight forward by road. Stick “Conkers” in your mapping app and you won’t go wrong as it’s a big local tourist spot or use DE12 6BA as the post code. There are brown road signs for Conkers everywhere that are easy to follow.

The main bit to point out though is finding the briefing and the start if you’ve not been before. The start and the briefings are in two different places. There are two car parks, the briefing happens in one of them so you may need to walk across to the correct one.

Or just follow the runners!

Other than by car. No bus services nearby unfortunately and the nearest station is Burton on Trent which is over seven miles away.

There are bike racks though so you could potentially get a train to Burton and cycle there if that’s your thing.

Facilities

Canalside cafe is in the same car park that the briefing happens and opens at 9am. It was closed for new years day though so wasn’t able to pay a visit. Toilets are available there too.

Both of the car parks are free to use and Conkers itself is a lovely family day out if you wanted to do that afterwards!

Briefings and Volunteers

Volunteers were amazingly friendly and I had nice chat with one of the scanners while I was waiting on Bryony to finish. He was on his 347th parkrun (!) and obviously I didn’t bother him when there was actual scanning to do

Somone was celebrating their 350th parkrun so loads have people turned up in fancy dress to celebrate so our first time briefing was done by Elvis!

Start line and finish funnel

Start line is a short walk away from where the briefings happen and is on the start of the trial. It’s not the widest of paths though which makes for a rather large queue when it’s busy just to get over the start line. They are some really clear pacing signs in place to help keep the queue in some sort of order.

Finish funnel is just past the start line and you can tell they are used to getting a large number of people as the tunnel was really long and had more than one funnel manager!

Scanning happens in the car park where the briefings take place. There is a bit of space at the end of the funnel but when they have large numbers it could easily get a bit chaotic.

Course

Out and back

Similarly to Monsal Trail on Christmas eve this parkrun takes in an old railway line that is now a trail. The difference with this one though is it’s not a 100% straight line out and back. There is a small twisty hill to actually get onto the trail, then a long straight bit before you’re sent up a hill, loop around the top and returned back to the trail to go back to where you came from. It’s a lovely place to run and I’d argue it’s more interesting to run than a regular out and back which is often just a straight line.

Shoes

Road. There was some mud on the paths because of how the weather had been but it’s only really surface stuff as the paths are decent.

Short or Long? (based on our watches and checking out other Strava profiles)

On average probably about right. I had 3.09 on the watch though Bryony had 3.12. Everyone i checked that appeared on my Strava entry had it short, everyone on Bryony’s had it long! Another one where the trees will probably have an impact on GPS in parts.

Andy Stats

parkrun number:

76

Tourist event number:

35

Official time:

19:15

Position:  

9 (71.95% age grade)

Bryony Stats

parkrun number:

62

Tourist event number:

29

Official time:

38:54

Position

289 (39.55% % age grade) 101 Female

How did it go?

Andy – Pretty happy overall. It always helps when you’ve run a course before as you know where the tough bits are and when you can push a bit harder. Ended up 30 seconds quicker than last time and I hadn’t quite given it the full effort (though it wasn’t far off)

Bryony – Huge! When there are so many people it has an impact on us back of the packers. It took me a full minute to get to the start line after they said go. That means it’s probably only a pb course for those who place further forward. The up and round the hill bit at the bottom of the trail meant for a less harsh out and back feel. It also had the biggest sense of community I’ve seen at parkrun in a long time which was lovely. Really liked the last 100m or so with the downhill stretch and under bridge bits where there were lots of people cheering you on to the end.

Return Visit Likely?

Yes. It’s another one of those that’s close enough to home that it’d certainly be an option if we wanted a change of scenery.

Pictures and that.

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Date of Visit

24/12/2022

Number of runners

169

Event Number

164

Visit Number

1

Results

https://www.parkrun.org.uk/monsaltrail/results/164/

parkrun Link

https://www.parkrun.org.uk/monsaltrail/

Facebook Page

https://www.facebook.com/monsaltrailparkrun

Strava Segment

https://www.strava.com/segments/30565133

Weather

Pretty good considering the frozen weather we’ve had recently. This particular event had cancelled the week before because of ice. While it was still cold we were lucky enough to get clear skies and no rain!

Getting There

It was really easy to find by car. We put Hassop Station into the maps app and it’s just off a roundabout on the A6020.

Monsal trail itself is pretty long so there are lots of points you could pick it up and cycle or walk to Hassop Station.

There are some bus services that get you roughly in the area but you’d still need to walk the last bit on the trail.

Facilities

Really good sized car park, I paid £2.50 for two hours. The machine isn’t the quickest though so a bit of a queue formed which may be a problem if you turn up late! It takes cards and coins though so no panic on that front. You could also feasibly park in Bakewell and have an extended warmup to get there. That said it’s all uphill from Bakewell to the start so that’s not an option that will work for everyone.

The event itself starts and finishes on the trail behind Hassop Station which has a café inside which apparently does a parkrun special breakfast. We couldn’t check it out though as it was closed for Christmas!

Bakewell itself is only a mile and a half away which is lovely place to visit. We had a great breakfast after at the Bakewell pudding shop.

Briefings and Volunteers

First time briefing for an out back is pretty straight forward! For the main briefing the RD had a step to stand on so she could be seen and a little portable speaker for a microphone she had. It worked really well!

Start line and finish funnel

Rather conveniently there is a little section of path just off the trail that leads to the car park so is the perfect place for the start line and finish funnel without impacting on other users of the trail.

Course

Out and back. No laps!

You can’t get lost on this one. Run in a straight line until you spot some marshals in the middle of the trail, go round the little cone and then run back in the other direction. The out section is actually downhill which means it’s uphill on the way back though it’s as bit of a weird one in that if it’s not enough of an incline that it’d give you much trouble if you were walking or on an easier effort run but if you were going flat out you’d certainly notice it!

There are some amazing views to look at as you are following the trail.

Shoes

Road shoes. As the whole out and back is on trail paths I can’t think of any situation where you’d need trail shoes.

Short or Long? (based on our watches and checking out other Strava profiles)

Pretty much spot on. Out and back courses must be the easiest sort to measure and setup every week!

Andy Stats

parkrun number:

73

Tourist event number:

35

Official time:

19:05

Position:

6  ( 72.58% age grade)

Bryony Stats

parkrun number:

60

Tourist event number:

28

Official time:

36:48

Position

145 (41.8% age grade) 46 Female

How did it go?

Andy – I had a really lovely time. We’d decided on this one as it coincided with an anniversary of ours so we came to Bakewell on Friday. Had a meal and a few drinks and stayed over to make it easy in the morning. From a running point of view, I fancied a go at my PB with what I thought was a flat course and I was on for it at one point but I faded a fair in bit in the final mile. It still ended up as my fifth fastest time so I’m still pretty pleased.

Bryony – Having experienced a couple of ‘out and back’ parkruns previously, Bryony had prepared herself to some extent that this would not be a favourite as these formats can feel like they go on for forever. The front of the packers start to flood past in the opposite direction when the half way turn round point is still a way off, for those at the back pressing home you have a long way to go yet! However, having also mountain biked the full route a couple of years ago, she was looking forward to trying out the trail on foot too. Slightly disappointed not to see the tunnels or aqueduct, but it was nice to just take in the location and not worry too much about whatever time was going to materialise this close to Christmas.

Return Visit Likely?

Only if we’re in the area as it’s a bit of a drive from where we live. I wouldn’t mind another go at it though if the opportunity arises.

Pictures and that.

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