The parkrun 20202020 challenge - COMPLETE

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At the beginning of the year I felt I needed to set a challenge for 2020. After some thought I decided on running 20 different parkruns. This didn't seem challenging enough and so I chose to run them all in under 20 minutes. My PB is 18:27, but that was on a flat course five years ago.

I lived in Folkestone at the time and worked out that I would need to travel throughout Kent and into London to reach my target. The first two were easy and local. Ashford is a flat course and was just up the road. Folkestone was my local run. Then came lockdown and a house move.

In March parkrun was abruptly stopped by the Coronavirus pandemic. At the end of the month I moved to London. I had to decide what to do about the challenge I had set myself. Never one to give up, I decided to finish it with or without official parkruns. I would run the courses on my own. This had the advantage of meaning I didn't have to wait for Saturday to come around. On the other hand I wouldn't have others to push me and marshals to show me the way.

This led me to study the Course pages on the parkrun website. Each event has its own page and there is a map of the course with a brief description. Some are more complicated to follow than others. There is also an Events page showing all the UK events on a map so you can find you nearest one.

I began my (not)parkrun events with my local Catford run. Next up was a nice flat course in Beckenham Place. Greenwich seemed a simple course to follow as did Peckham Rye and so these were next.

There are some good blogs out there with descriptions of London Parkruns. I consulted blog7t barkrun and Richard Gower to give me an idea of whether I could follow the course without referring to a map and in a fast time. From these I selected Southwark and Dulwich as super quick ones.

Two of the next three were north of the river at Mile End and Victoria Dock once the Greenwich foot tunnel had reopened. Sandwiched in between was a nice flat and fast loop run of Bromley Park in the rain.

Burgess Park was next and this was the first time I misread the course. Thankfully I realised and was able to rectify it to ensure I ran the proper route albeit in the wrong order. This happened again at Bexley when I was given the wrong directions by some local runners. In between these were the hilly events of Crystal Palace and Orpington. These were tough runs with considerable elevation so I was pleased with the times.

Tooting was the first one I didn't run to and from. I chose to drive there due to the need to fit it in with a busy week of work and family. I was back in my old haunt of Northampton for number 17 before tackling two more hard runs with big hills; Brockwell Park and Hilly Fields. At this point I knew I would complete the challenge by the end of the year (injuries permitting) and wanted to do some riskier courses. I was equally delighted and surprised with my times in both.

Finally, on the 22nd September I completed parkrun number 20 back in Northampton again at Upton Sixfields. This one had the added complication of gates to open and shut, but I came in well under time.

These are the highlights and lowlights of the 20202020 Challenge:

Highs
  •  Visiting so many different courses.
  •  Being motivated to do speed work.
  •  The feeling of achieving a goal I had set myself.
  •  Getting to know London better.
  •  Discovering some excellent blogs.
  •  Realising hills don't have to be a barrier to a good time.
Lows
  •  Being unable to run with the parkrun communities.
  •  Having to do the challenge solo after leaving Folkestone.
  •  Not having the events recorded towards my parkrun total or in my parkrun A-Z.
  •  Having to memorise and recall the route while running.
Here is the complete list of the 20 parkruns in under 20 minutes in 2020:

1.   Ashford             4th January 2020    18:33

2.   Folkestone        18th January 2020   18:55

3.   Catford             22nd April 2020       19:07

4.   Beckenham      13th May 2020        19:10 

5.   Greenwich        24th May 2020        19:17

6.   Peckham Rye    3rd June 2020         19:25

7.   Southwark        10th June 2020         19:28

8.   Dulwich            12th June 2020        18:29

9.   Mile End           28th June 2020        19:00

10. Bromley             8th July 2020          18:39

11.  Victoria Dock   11th July 2020         19:00

12.  Burgess Park    13th July 2020         19:01

13. Crystal Palace   23rd July 2020         19:17

14. Orpington          26th July 2020         18:58

15. Bexley                2nd August 2020     19:23

16. Tooting               2nd September 2020 19:02

17. Northampton      3rd September 2020 18:44

18. Brockwell          16th September 2020 19:15

19. Hilly Fields        17th September 2020 19:17

20. Upton Sixfields  22nd September 2020 18:47

Average time: 18:52

So, what next? Lon-done. By the end of 2021 I want to have run all 56 parkrun events in the Greater London area. Fancy joining me anytime? Let me know adampope76@gmail.com

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