I often forget just how fortunate I am to live where I do and to be only a few minutes walk away from possibly the most delightful venue for a Parkrun that I have experienced.
Today the wind got a bit uppity and so my local parkrun (Cambridge Parkrun in Milton Country Park) was cancelled. The park itself was closed for fear that we would get large chunks of trees descending upon us and leading to mangled limbs and broken bones. Never mind, thinks I, there is the Coldhams Common Parkrun only 3 miles away. I checked the website for that and it was also cancelled. Hmm, oh well, nothing for it. I shall have to get the car out and drive to Wimpole Estate. I checked the website and, yes you guessed it – cancelled.
Now you might think I would have given up here and just pulled on my running socks to do some general running about in the village. However, there is another factor in play. I am getting very close to my 250th Parkrun and I really fancy one of their milestone tee-shirts. The one for 250 parkruns is particularly pleasing. I searched for the next nearest Parkrun and found that Littleport had an event and I had just about enough time to get there. Moments later I was in my little Renault and bowling along through the Fens.
Littleport Parkrun
I arrived there to be greeted by a howling wind and a few beleaguered looking volunteers sheltering in the bike sheds. The event takes place at Littleport Leisure Centre and the bike sheds are very capacious indeed. I joined the volunteers in there and was exceedingly grateful for the shelter it gave. I balked a little when I realised that to attend the first timers briefing I would need to leave this shelter but I hauled myself out there as I needed to hear what the course had in store for me.
This is a course similar to many Parkruns in that they’ve found a couple of largeish fields and just send us around and around until we’ve done 5k. These are disappointing from a scenery and variation point of view but quite necessary in many places as it is really difficult to find a 5k chunk of land that can be used for a Parkrun. The Littleport run goes around one field and then along a muddy track to another. They then run around that field and up the cycle path at the side of the leisure centre and are back where they started. Then, it’s time to do that again. The runners start to do that again but cut across one field, head toward the next but miss out that field and come back along the cycle path, to finish outside Littleport Leisure centre. A bit uninspiring but it does have the advantage that there are no trees so much less chance of the high winds causing carnage among the runners.
I started the run and found another advantage. There are nowhere near as many runners as I am accustomed to at Parkruns and so we all got through the start almost instantaneously. At my home Parkrun it can take almost a minute just to reach the start.
We ran around the first field and then hit a massively slippery section leading to the next field. I am running as if I am trying to hold on to invisible handrails on either side of me.
In the next field the wind seems to have found a new gear and as we turn back to run toward the cycle path we are all brought almost to a standstill and look like we are trying to do a running mime while staying on the spot. Most peculiar. We battled our way out of that one and run down the cycle path toward the leisure centre. Second time around the loop I am beginning to wonder at what point the leaders will catch me. At Milton Parkrun they usually pass me somewhere around 2.5K as they storm their way to the finish line. Here I know I’ve passed 2.5k and I still can’t see anyone in sight who looks like they might be one of the faster runners. At the finish I find out just why that was, as my finish time is 26.38. This is a lot faster than I’ve run 5k for almost 2 years. I was in 43rd place and came 4th in my age category. At my home Parkrun I would expect to be around 250th.
I am very happy indeed.
I really enjoyed my trip to Littleport. The course is a long way from being beautiful but the volunteers were great and it all felt quite cosy and friendly. It is also flat and I should imagine that on a dry day with lower winds, it would be an ideal PB course.
My Home Parkrun
So, back to the title of the piece. Cambridge Parkrun in Milton Country Park is less than a kilometre from my door. It is all trail but reasonably flat and wanders around through the trees giving tantalising glimpses of the lakes in the middle of the park. Cambridge Parkrun has variety and beauty in abundance and I must remember not to take that for granted. I shall appreciate it all the more next time I run.
The next time I do a Parkrun will be my 250th. This is the last of the Parkrun milestones and I am really thrilled to have (almost) reached it. I have promised myself that once I have done this one I will try and pay back by doing a goodly sized chunk of volunteering.
