Adam in Runderland

Another day, another (not)parkrun. Rather than tackle a long run this weekend I decided to try and rack up another sub 20 minute parkrun. I chose Orpington, which is about seven miles away, and decided to drive there. It was easy to find and a simple course of three clockwise laps. I was relieved to see it wasn't too hilly, but there was a long gradual climb at one end of the field. This time I did a lap beforehand to check where I needed to go. The route leads from the Pavilion across the grass towards the car park before taking a right dog leg around a garage. A sharp right leads onto a path which slowly descends for about 200m. This is a footpath but there is a small roundabout at the bottom. A right turn here turns onto a narrower path which twists and winds to the bottom corner of the field. At this point the route goes back onto grass and up the hill under the trees on a muddy trail. There are lots of roots to avoid. At the next corner another right heads back to the p...

  Crystal Palace. The name resonates for those who used to watch track and field back in the day. Evening meets were often on the TV featuring some of Britain's most popular athletics stars. It was the home of the London Athletics Grand Prix up until 2012. However I wasn't running on this famous track, but in the park where it is located. This is a park run after all. I had scoped out the park a few times although the route seemed a bit too complicated without Marshalls or cones to guide me. I finally decided that it was close enough, and interesting enough to attempt. On the afternoon of my planned run I took time to memorise all the twists and turns of the route, going over them in my head. By the time evening came and my daughter was tucked up in bed I was pretty sure I could remember all the turns. Whether I could still recall them after two six minute miles was another thing. It was clear that the first mile would involve mostly uphill tracks, this would be followed...

Last weekend I completed my 25th full marathon. I've run 34 in total but some of these were not official events. I celebrated by joining with the Bald Monkeys Running Club to run the Saxon Viking Normans Viking Challenge at Betteshanger Country Park near Deal. There were eight of us taking part. Roy (second left) was attempting to complete his first ever marathon and we were there to support him. He had a place at London but it was cancelled because of the pandemic. Julia was also supposed to be doing her first marathon but broke her arm the week before. Still she turned up and walked a half marathon four days after the operation! It was a humid but dry day when we arrived. Traviss and Rachel from SVN welcomed us and gave us goody bags and medals in advance. This was a socially distanced run and everything was done to reduce contact between people. 30 people were running and were set off in groups of six at ten minute intervals. I accompanied Roy, his wife Sharon and s...

parkrun number 12 took place at Burgess Park. Its a six mile run from my home. It was already hot and sweaty when I arrived, and the park was full of other runners enjoying the sunshine. I had studied the route and thought I was pretty sure where I needed to go. It is a single lap with a straight out and back and a circuit of the lake in between. I made my way to the starting point beside the tennis courts and a large display of red, yellow, pink and blue flowers. I set off reasonable fast along the straight path that bisects the park in two. It was a long 0.75 mile stretch which went under a tunnel and a bridge. As I overtook one guy he stuck with me so that I could pace him. This threw me slightly but helped me to keep pushing. I felt bad when I suddenly turned off left without comment, but I couldn't waste the oxygen. There was then another sharp left so I was heading back the way I had come but on another path slightly further in. At the end of this was another sharp tur...

Cometh the weekend, cometh the parkrun - even when they have been cancelled. My 11th sub-20 parkrun of the year was Victoria Docks. This is located next to the ExCel Centre and the Cable Car ride that links the north of the river with the south over at the Millennium Dome. I ran from home up to Blackheath and through Greenwich park. I then took the Greenwich foot tunnel across to the Isle of Dogs and made my way along the east side. You can run along the river for much of it, but occasionally there is a dead end and you have to cut inland. I was struggling with the route and every time I ran ahead of another woman on the same path I ended up doubling back and being behind her again. In the end I gave up and followed her for a while before asking where to go. She pointed me in the right direction and I was soon heading to Victoria Docks. However, it wouldn't be me if I didn't get lost somewhere along the way. I somehow ended up at Trinity Buoy Wharf (another dead end) whe...

  The half way point of the year has passed. I have completed 9/20 parkruns. My 10th run would bring me to half way point of my challenge. I chose to run at Norman Park in Bromley. I have run through the park before when I was tracing the Ravensbourne River from its source to the Thames. This time I was going to be running around it. It is pancake flat. An asphalt path encircles the playing fields. There is a promontory of trees in the middle of the park dividing it in two. Four buildings and two car parks are situated around the perimeter. There are two routes here; a winter one and a summer one. Despite it being summer I chose to do the winter course as I wasn't 100% sure about the winter lap, which involves running around the trees on the field. It was also raining quite hard and had been all day so I didn't want to risk slipping on the grass (or getting my trainers dirty!) The park was full of people. Groups were taking part in football training, others were ci...

My London A-Z is complete. The challenge involved me running from my home in Lewisham to other places in London beginning with the letters of the alphabet in order, and then back again. As such the majority were in the south-east of London, but it involved some longer runs for rarer letters. I didn't run every day but included the challenge in my runs over the course of just over two months. Here is the complete list of places visited and links to read more. A - Abbey Wood     26th April     22.2 miles B - Blackheath        29th April     13.1 miles C - Camberwell       2nd May       19 miles D - Deptford            4th May        11 miles E - Eltham               6th May        15 miles F - Forest Hill          7th May         5 miles G - G...

Running to 26 places in London, starting with A and finishing with Z. All runs from my home and back again. X-Z stumped me. There are no areas beginning with X or Z. Instead I decided to look for streets. X - XX Place This can be found in Tower Hamlets just off Mile End Road. There used to be an XX Street but it has since been knocked down. There is a health Centre at Mile End Hospital that has been named in memory of it. Find out more here . Y -  Yew Tree Close This is located just up the road from me and overlooks the Ravensbourne River as it flows through Lewisham. Not much else to say about it really. I added it to a longer run. Z - Zangwill Road The final letter and probably the hardest to find. I happened upon it when running W. I noticed Zangwill Road as I ran along Shooters Hill Road and logged it. The choice was between this and London Zoo. I would have gone to the zoo if it wasn't for a nasty groin pain that began on th...

The year began with four goals: 1 - The parkrun 20202020 Challenge. 2 - Run the Deck Challenge. 3 - PB at 5k and Half Marathon. 4 - A 75 mile ultra. 5 - 2020 miles in the year. It all started so well... I began by ticking off the first two sub 20 minute parkruns at Folkestone and Ashford. I also jumped straight into my Run the Deck Challenge. This involved letting the distance of my runs be guided by a shuffled deck of cards (Ace =1, Jack 11, Queen 12 and King 13.1). On February 1st I did my first official marathon of the year with the Ranscombe Winter Marathon . At the beginning of March I ran around all 72 of the Creative Folkestone Artworks . Just over a month later I finished the deck of cards with a Queen on March 9th. This was also the day I ran my long awaited race against the tide. I started when the sea was fully out leaving a vast swathe of sandy beach at Mermaid's Bay. I then ran laps as the water began to creep further up the shore until the beach h...