Bushy parkrun

I got up at 6am. This seemed like a great idea when we were drunk. I had 30 minutes to shower and drink coffee. Helen was picking me up at 6.30am. I packed my bag and made sure that I didn’t forget my barcode. Although tired, I was really looking forward to today. I was however worried about my ribs which were still on the mend. Today would be a slow parkrun at Bushy for me.

One drunken afternoon in a pub or was it night? Helen, Andy and myself agreed to go the home of parkrun for a couple of special occassions. It would be Andy’s 50^th parkrun and my 50^th different location. Helen had set up a facebook event and we got inviting but no-one was really that keen. A lot of people were away or had plans, plus the Giant’s head marathon and hill race was happening on the same Saturday morning.

Helen was very organised as usual. I didn’t have to do anything for a change. Nothing for me to think about. She knew the route and where to park when we got there. We even had a stop off at Fleet services for more coffee.

We drove into Bushy park and past the Princess Diana memorial fountain and then to the carpark next to the cafe. We were there by 8am. Even though we gave Helen a hard time about getting us there so early, this was a great idea as we had plenty of parking spaces to choose from. It was free parking too. We also barely had a queue for the toilets.

We had a lovely walk through the park. There were more Parakeets than pidgeons here, a few friendly rabbits and some squirrels scrambling up trees and across paths. So much green space and wildlife. This has to be the biggest park that I’ve ever been to (not including nationaln parks). We crossed a bridge and went through a gate and headed back towards the memorial statue. We crossed the road and were soon at the start. We made use of the toilets and then ran back to the car to drop off hoodies. It was getting warm now and the sun was out. It was going to be a lovely day.

  We had our ‘first timers briefing’ where we were told a bit about the history of parkrun here at Bushy and the first 13 runners who ran it. One of those runners was actually here and running today as well! We were right near the start on the parkrun and it has such a wide start line. There were just over 1400 runners here but it seemed so much less busier than Southampton parkrun because of all the space around us. We were all soon charging across the grass like warriors on a battlefield. Helen, Andy and I said that we were not racing today. It wasn’t long until Helen zoomed ahead though. I must admit I was getting a bit carried away with the crowd.

There was a gravel path to my right but I chose to stick to the grass with many other runners. It was like a little dual carriageway with the two alternative tracks. One gravel, the other grass. It was so nice just to be running again. It is a flat course and quite fast. Everything around us is green. Lots of grass and trees. We cross a couple of bridges and I go through my first mile in 7.19. I also go through my second mile in 7.19. I was pacing well but really feeling it now. I had been out for 5 weeks with the ribs. The sun was really beating down upon us now and I was sweating profusely. My eyes stinging. I managed to see some deer under the shade of some trees. They had the right idea! There was a long straight that seemed to be slightly downhill so I was enjoying this and then another bridge crossing next to a pond or lake. Depends on what size you think a lake or pond should be I guess.

I could see Helen ahead of me but there was no way I was going to catch her. Andy on the otherhand had stuck to his word and was just plodding around happily. A few people rushed past me near the finish line. I was happy to run my third mile in 7.06. A 5k time of 22.26 and a finish place of 230^th. I was very happy with this.

Helen had run 7.00, 7.14, 7,08 with a 5k time of 22.11 and came 209^th.

Lazy Andy had run 7.21, 7.49, 7.59 and a time of 23.59 and came 339^th.

We headed back to the car and cafe where I got a bacon and egg roll while they had fruit and other healthy stuff. It was lovely to be running again and sat in the sun.

What a lovely day. Thank you so much Helen and Andy. 50 locations done and my 188^th parkrun. Also thanks to Hamwic Harriers for wishing us good luck on a facebook post :)

The winning time was 14.46

Here are my 50 locations:

Southampton

Eastleigh

Netley Abbey

Plymvalley

Brockenhurst

Southwick Country

Winchester

Moors Valley

Trelissick

Mount Edgcumbe

Eden Project

Heartlands

Fareham

Teignmouth Promenade

Lee-On-The-Solent

Penrose

Basingstoke

Tamar Trails

Llyn Llech Owain

Torbay Velopark

Exmouth

Portsmouth Lakeside

Andover

Reading

Woodhouse Moor

Exeter Riverside

Lanhydrock

Queen Elizabeth

Upton House

Dinton Pastures

Whiteley

Melksham

Salisbury

Tamar Lakes

Bushy

Colby

Longrun Meadows

Porthcawl

Poole

Mountbatten School

Llanelli Coast

Southsea

Guildford

Gnoll

Burnham and Highbridge

Cardiff

Chichester

Parke

Weymouth

Medina I.O.W

The middle of the St.Swithun's way

Four weeks in and my ribs are still very much broken. It is a very frustrating time for me. I am so used to vigorous activities such as running, skateboarding, weights, core work etc.. I can’t do much lately apart from cycle and walk. I managed to cycle 100K the other weekend, so the following weekend I would decide to go for a long walk. After a bit of thought I chose the St.Swithun’s way. I have come across it before cycling out to places like Itchen Abbas and Tichborne which are just the other side of Winchester from Southampton. 

  I didn’t feel prepared enough to cover the whole 34 miles from Farnham in Surrey to Winchester in Hampshire, so would pick a section from the middle. My plan was to walk from Alton to Winchester, removing about Ten miles from the whole route. I had also decided to start in Alton and the cheapest way for me was to get a train to Winchester (£7.40 return fare) and then take a bus from Broadway (next to the King Alfred statue) to Alton (£5.65 single fare).

I had written down a list of place names that I would pass through to try and keep me on track if I were to stray from the route. This is something I do a lot when exploring and it’s always helped. Sadly though, I had written this list and left it at home on my notepad. I was trying to remember some of the place names when I got off the Bus at Alton train station. 

  It wasn’t long until I could see my first sign for the St.Swithun’s way just outside the Railway Inn pub. I knew which way to go due to the direction of the bus that brought me here. I walked left and then soon into the high street of Alton. I didn’t realise how big the high street is in Alton. Lots of shops that I wasn’t expecting. A local market with local produce was also on display as I passed by. Quite a nice looking place really.

I passed a green called ‘the Butts’, turned right and then a left onto a lane which soon led me to a subway. A sign displayed the ‘Jane Austen trail’. I was soon in the village of Chawton and familiar with my surroundings. Lots of lovely thatched cottages scattered around and then I’m at Jane Austen’s house. I cycled here once before but didn’t pay to go in. This time I decide to pay the £9 which gives me a years entry to her house.

   As I step inside, it starts to rain. I chat to the staff and watch a film about her life which is truly fascinating. I am the only one here as it’s only just gone 10am which is when they open. After the film, I walk around the garden and listen to the wildlife and look at all the plants and flowers. They have a book on spotted wildlife, so I add a Greenfinch and a Harlequin ladybird to their vast collection.

I get inside the main house and there are more people here now. I walk around and read the notes while a lady plays the piano of classical music, sadly no Beethoven though. It is now getting busy. Can you imagine four people stood in a small room? I bet this place is flooded with people in the summer. I spent about an hour here and probably would have spent longer if they had a café or a coffee shop. Definitely worth an annual fee of £9! I bought a book marker and left as the rain had stopped. 

I continued my journey and turned right into what looks like a cul-de-sac (which actually translates to “bottom of a sack”). Here, there was a wooden sign pointing left in between the houses for the St.Swithun’s way. Through a metal gate and then a narrow cut way with stinging nettles either side. I managed to get through without contact though. I had already crossed the A31 to Chawton and now I would cross the A32 and head for another metal gate. The grass was long and wet so my feet were getting soaked but I always packed a spare pair of socks in my rucksack. I followed a narrow trail. This is where the notes I’d written down would have come in handy! I passed a farm and carried on and then there were a few options but no signs. The poppies looked lovely here and a skylark was in full courtship display. He was hovering high and singing away loudly. 

The sun was even shining now.

I carried on under a bridge which was part of the Meon Valley. I discovered this afterwards and should have taken a right turn quite some time ago. I continued and found myself at a road crossing and opposite was ‘Manor Farm’. This was definitely on my list of places but then Manor Farm has got to be the most common farm name in England, surely.

I walked into Manor Farm and up a big hill, I could see for miles. I came to a courtyard but there were no signage here. I turned right and ended up at a church. Northanger benefice. Maybe a link to Jane Austin’s first novel? I found out that the Northanger benefice consists on Eight parishes scattered around Hampshire.

I was somehow in Farringdon. The rain was now pouring down and I was trying to look at google maps on my phone to try and get back on track but then my ankle twisted quite badly on uneven ground and I was in pain. I hobbled to shelter so that I could get a clear view of my phone which was getting soaked. I had indeed gone to far west and should have been more East. I walked through the village and crossed a road and walked for miles The plan was to try and reconnect with the route at Kitwood. I had only covered 4.5 miles when I had twisted my ankle and was miles from civilisation as I knew it. I couldn’t stop now. The ankle would get tight, swell up and I wouldn’t be able to walk. I had to keep going which meant no pub or food stops. 

I was really pissed off about my ankle but then calmed myself and said “Dean Jones, you wanted adventure, this is it!”. I put myself in a more positive frame of mind and carried on. I got to a busy road and climbed over part of a steamroller to get access to a field. It didn’t look like this field was walked in much. I found a gap in the fence and then was at a new looking housing estate where I crossed a roundabout and continued, past a golf course and then I saw a sign for Ropley. Three miles to Ropley. I could walk that and if the pain was too much, I could get the bus from there. Another climb and a very straight road. A few cyclists about who waved and commented about the weather but no cars. The rain came in heavy intervals and then the sun would briefly appear.

I came to a junction and then I saw a sign for St.Swithun’s way. Somehow I had walked a part of it without even realising I was on it. That made it easy to know which direction to go at least. I opened another gate, crossed a field and was then walking across a wheat field. The wheat only a foot and a half high at this time of year and still green in colour. There were a couple of fields like this and then I was in Ropley. I walked straight across from one bridleway to another and there was another wheat field but I paused and gave it some thought. There were two paths and no signs here. My brain decided that it had remembered something from my scribblings at home after all. I was to turn around and pass a school in Ropley before I headed down Hammond’s lane. There were no signs here either, This route is not well signed at all. I was soon reassured though when I came to a lovely field which I had to pass through, followed by a road and three more fields. Luckily no cattle in the fields, just sheep and really big oak trees. The sun was lovely now. I could actually feel the heat from it now and my cold hands were starting to warm up. This was a really stunning part of the route.

I could here the Watercress steam train tooting away many times but could never see it. I came to a country lane and walked down there for quite a while. It was a weird route. Sometimes you’d have barren fields in the middle of nowhere and then you’ll be walking down a country lane for miles. Plenty of variety but I never saw another person on foot since leaving Chawton. There were a few cars in Ropley though. I had decided to take a painkiller now, but only the one. Beer was important for me on my walks. I was looking forward to the beer more than anything. I was earning it after all. My ankle was really tightening up now. Even though I was continually moving on it, there was no other movement in there. It was so fat and swollen that I could barely move it from side to side. I stopped to do this and loosen it up in there. I was feeling a bit sick too. I ate some nuts that I had bought with me and drank the rest of my water.

Anyway, I was Twelve miles in now and had decided that I would finish at Alresford today and not Winchester. I had already walked 7.5 miles since twisting it. It’s probably not too wise. I saw it as role play and just pretended I was the lone survivor of a plane crash in Mexico and kept on going until I reached the safety of the border of something like that. I could hear music coming from the Alresford music and beer festival. Can’t be too far then. I had to cross the A31 again as they built it through the St.Swithun’s way. I crossed a busy roundabout and headed into Bishop Sutton. It was here that I heard the whistle of the watercress train again, but this time I could see the steam from the top of the engine and before long the whole train came into sight and passed in the opposite direction to which I was walking. 

 I followed the trail behind the B road. Wasn’t sure if this was a good idea with the ankle on the uneven field. I saw two other walkers. My first of the day! We exchanged hellos and smiles as we passed. I then saw four boys climbing a barbed wire fence, they had obviously gone a bit wrong too. I stopped at a fjord wondering whether or not to enter another field. No signs again. I decided against it despite it looking really nice. I got to the main road again and saw signs for St.Swithun’s way. Turns out I had guessed the right way. I walked down the A31 and a woman across the road shouted “This is the worst bit of the route”. I agreed. She then shouted that she was waiting for four boys. I told her they were on their way and would be with her soon and that they were climbing a fence. I probably got them into trouble. No more signs were seen but I didn’t care. I walked the road into ‘New Alresford’ as the sign proclaimed. I knew where I was and only had a two minute wait for the bus back to Winchester. Despite it being Ten miles shorter back they still stung me for another £5.65.

I was happy and relieved that the journey was over but glad I did it. I was looking forward to meeting my mate Paddy in Winchester for beer now. The painkiller had really helped me on those last Three miles. 15 miles in total. I look forward to doing the whole 34 miles next time and I have studied the route much more and my strava map, so I know exactly where I went wrong. I also decided to join the LDWA (Long Distance Walker’s Association) so now I have access to the route on my phone as a map in Garmin and I can download many more and find some new routes too.  Looking forward to trying again. Hampshire really is so green and beautiful.

The ankle is still healing but should be okay in another week :) 

The Ciderthon

                              …And now for something completely different: The Ciderthon 2019

It’s pre-race day and I’ve volunteered at parkrun and rushed into town to buy a costume for an event called the Ciderthon. It’s a half marathon where you get to sample a different cider at every mile and finish with a nice pint of cider. Fancy dress seems to be a high priority for this event. I wasn’t going to bother. Mike Mat has his Viking costume already though and like proper men, Carl and myself have left our shopping to the last minute. Let’s face it, you’re not a real man unless you do all your xmas shopping after midday on Xmas eve.

I really wanted a Ninja turtle skin suit. It made sense, I like ninja turtles and it would be quite lightweight. I discovered that the turtle mask zipped up from the back and wasn’t going to be accessible for the cider. Also, I couldn’t bloody see through the thing. A 118 costume was suggested as was a baywatch one from the shop assistant. After a bit more time I decided on either an inflatible cow or a bottle of beer. I chose the latter. I tried it on and it seemed okay.

I got home, tried it on again and wondered what the hell I had been thinking?

13.1 miles with 14 ciders dressed as a very warm bottle of beer! In my Eight years of running, I have never DNF’ed a race. Tomorrow may be a first for me. It’s exciting though and something different. A new challenge if you like. Will I get round, will I pass out due to heat exhaustion or will I just fall over drunk halfway round?

Anyway, Carl has a lovely looking Pirate costume going back to his Cornish roots. It should be an interesting day with something to tell hopefully. I get picked up at 6.30am and the race starts in Taunton, Somerset at 11am. Watch this space…. 

The following day, something strange happens. Mike Mat is early to pick me up! We leave and head for the A36 and off to Taunton we go. We get there with plenty of time to spare. We walk to Longrun meadows which I know well from the parkrun and collect our race numbers. Off we go to the wetherspoons. Mike orders breakfast while I’m thinking it’s too close to the start of the race for me so I just have a pint of Thatcher’s gold to warm me up. I’ve only eaten a Pain au Raisin at a Costa on the way here. This worries me a bit. Mike is in costume eating his breakfast in full Viking outfit. Nothing out of the ordinary for a Wetherspoons I suppose. 
Carl phones and we decide to meet back at registration where he is already enjoying a pint. Time to put on my beer bottle and get ready to run. The weather seems ideal. A bit overcast with a gentle breeze.

Mike Mat rushes to the portaloo about 5 mins before the start of the race. Carl and I admire all the other costumes. A few inflatible dinosaurs. Lots of baywatch/lifeguards. Mario and Luigi. A pair of devils. Someone inside a shark. Some scarecrows and so on.. Carl tells me that although it’s a half marathon, it isn’t a timed event. No rush then as we stand near the back and wait for Mike’s return.

 The race starts and there’s no sign of Mike. We plod forward and then come to a walk with the congestion. Lots of funny remarks are made from various people and we enquire randonly about our lost viking. We keep looking back and still no sign of him. We decide to just get on with it. 

A lovely start at Longrun meadows and we run along a narrow trail for some time. It isn’t long until we reach our first cider station. Carl has already knocked three back and is ready to go. I take two and we continue. After this we get to a main road. It now feels very surreal as we pick up the pace on a nice downhill road section in fancy dress, running next to a main road dressed as a beer bottle.

We pass Mario, Luigi and some Minions and chat to some others. I’m feeling a bit tipsy already. The next cider station isn’t a mile away though. I guess I was expecting cider at each mile but like Carl says, it’s probably difficult to set up a station on the main road. We chat to a man running it with his lovely dog. He nearly takes a cyclist out with the lead though as it streches all the way across the road. The longest lead I’ve ever seen. It makes us chuckle despite the risk of an accident. 

2.5 miles or so and we are rewarded with more cider. Three more ciders for me and Carl as we chat to others at the station. Back on to some lovely country lanes. It isn’t too hot in my bottle costume. Although my head is getting a bit sweaty. Carl shares a few pirate “Aaaaaarrrggggghhhh’s” with fellow runners as we pass more runners on the downhills. There are a few uphills too but we are running pretty slow so not really a challenge for us. Some people were struggling on them though.

We caught up with the devils at another cider station. The stations seemed to be more frequent now and we were drinking three at most stations.

There were plenty of portaloos on route, which was good as I was dying for a wee at 5 miles. It’s gets a bit blurry from here on. I remember reaching 10k and thinking how drunk I was. I told Carl that I was going to run fast(ish) for a bit to try and sober myself up. Luckily on one of the stations there was some food. Think it was brioche or something. Some kind of pastry. I couldn’t run fast for long but it was a nice change of pace. I swear there were about three cider stations within about a mile of each other. At one point I actually diluted my cider with water.

Eight miles and I was definitely drunk, talking to everyone who came along. Everyone was so friendly and chatty, smiling and appearing to have a lovely time. Luckily Carl spotted an arrow turning left into a road as I was about to follow some farmers straight on. We shouted to the drunken farmers to turn around and they thanked us. Back on course but very drunk.

Onwards we went, running, chatting and drinking cider. What a day! And now the sun was out. No sign of Mike Mat still. Maybe he didn’t start? We got chatting to some Welsh Mexicans. Welsh people in Mexican costumes that is. They were pretty drunk too. Carl and myself would blast past runners but they would catch us back up at the cider stations as we spent so long there drinking and chatting. Then we would leave and catch them up again.

It was funny to see the dinosaurs again. They were now deflated in more ways than one. Costumes were around the waists and they looked defeated. Not easy costumes to get around a half marathon in. Respect to those guys. About 10 miles in with a parkrun or so to go, I fell in love with this Welsh girl that I wanted to marry from Cross Hands. She took a picture of us and she told us to drink and move at the same time. We chatted some more about Welsh parkruns and Carmarthenshire. It was awesome but I think we had to leave her to run faster. I can’t remember why I didn’t propose? Probably Carl’s fault? Anyway, off we staggered. 13 miles with 13 stations. Carl was having 3 ciders at everyone while I was having 2 or 3. That’s 39 ciders for Carl excluding the pre race pint and we got a can of cider at the finish. I must point out that these were probably slightly more than quarts of cider I guess and not full pints! So it was probably more like 11 pints.

Waiting for us at the finish was a fresh faced Mikey. Already out of viking costume. He said he had got to the start just in time and got near the front. No wonder why we never saw him. I think he raced it..lol. The cider didn’t stop there. At the finish we got a medal and a t-shirt with our can of cider. Off to the cider tent we went. The sun was out, music was blasting from the speakers and we were drunkenly dancing on the grass. The ciderthon was now a cider festival! This went on for a few hours I think as the slower runners were still coming in. We knew it was time to find our B&B when I tripped over a little kid and made him cry. It was such a good day but the hangover was easily a two dayer. A wonderful experience but I don’t think I need to do it again but after writing this I’m thinking… well, maybe once more. 

Dinton Pastures parkrun

It’s been great moving back to Southampton and I am really enjoying my running again. I had really missed all these local routes. Sciatic pain has been awful though but I’m pushing through it and losing some weight in the process as well as upping my weekly mileage. Also, a great chance to do some more parkrun tourism. I am getting close to 50 different locations now and I plan to do my 50^th location at the birth of parkrun, Bushy park. 

After a bit of umming and aahhing, I decided to make the pilgrimage to Dinton Pastures parkrun. It looked like a nice course around some lakes and not too far from Reading which I previously did a couple of years ago. Friday night I planned my journey. I got a bus into town at 6.15am and then the 6.53 train to Reading. I had a bit of a wait for my connecting train to a place called “Winnersh”. The wait soon passed as I amused myself by following a load of train spotters to a train that had just pulled into the station. They were taking photos and filming on video cameras. I blended in and took a few pics myself.  

I only had two stops on the second train and left the station and used the directions via the parkrun page. I had stripped off on the train and planned to run the 2k to the start as I was a bit worried about getting there late or not being able to locate the start at all. This was of course, all part of the fun of commuting to a parkrun that you’ve never done before. I really do get a buzz from this. One day I know that even with my meticulous planning, I will be late and miss the parkrun one day. So far, so good though.

6.53 from Southampton got me to Reading at 7.42.

8.12 was the train from reading which got me into Winnersh at 8.21. This left me with 39 minutes to get to the start.

I ran left out of the station and kept on going. Lots of runners seemed to be going the other way though. Finally I stopped one of them asked if I was going the right way. I was! Over a bridge and there was a brown sign for Dinton pastures Country park. Now I just had to locate the start. I passed a play park and there was the start and finish parkrun signs with a few marshals gathering. I was really early after all my worry. It was only 8.35. I dropped my heavy rucksack off and did more warming up around the lakes on the lovely trails. 

I jogged back to where I thought the start was and some guy asked me where the start was. I wasn’t too sure but then made a decision on my calculations from where I had come from. We walked and talked and I found out that Henley was his local parkrun. A nice but narrow woodland trail course as he described it. 

I even went to the “First timers briefing”. A lovely guy explained the course in detail but it seemed to complex for my little brain to absorb. But then he said that even he gets confused where he is on the course. He then stated that you will never know where you are on the course. Hard to get your bearings. Not a problem for me as I’m not quite that fast to be leading. I’ll just follow everyone else I thought. 

We all walked 200 metres to the start on a compacted gravel track. At the start of the “White Swan lake” sign. We were going to loop round this and somehow end up running around “Black swan lake”. We were also told it was “two loops but it’s not really two loops, you just repeat a bit of White swan lake but it won’t feel like a loop as you won’t know where you are or even recognise it”.

I was right near the front line, it seemed that many people were to scared to start at the front. I was hoping for sub 7’s each mile. I knew I wasn’t in great shape and the legs felt heavy on the warm up. I didn’t realise how heavy though! 

We were off after the 3-2-1 count down. A stunning course with two lakes that I mentioned and some woodland trails. I did my first mile in 6.55 but knew that I was in trouble and really struggling. Just after this I was passed by a man pushing a buggy. My foot slipped in a few places even though it was compacted gravel there were a couple of small puddles and a thin layer of mud on some uneven parts. No excuses though, it’s a flat, fast course. I wish I could enjoy the scenery more but I was in a bit of pain, breathing heavily and looking at my watch and grateful for each kilometer marker that I reached. 

Second mile in 7.09 and it was getting tougher. No-one was passing me though. I couldn’t see anyone to catch in front but could hear someone being congratulated by the marshals from behind. Ok, you’re not going to do a great time so just keep pushing and try and keep a good position. I was easily in the top 20 at this point. Althought, there were only about 250 runners anyway. I saw the photographer and a few more cheery marshals. They really were brilliant and the course was very well signed. You would not get lost. I hit mile three in 7.10 and at one point I was running at a 7.30 pace. I couldn’t believe how much I had slowed each mile. I was now back at “Tufty’s corner” and heading for the finish tape and onto the grass. 

16^th place with a time of 21.23. I kind of wanted around 21.30 but didn’t realise how hard it would be today. I have decided that I have upped my mileage/training too much and with a very physical job I am covering over 100 miles a week on my feet at the mo.

A lovely parkrun though and I would definitely place it in my top 10 of the 47 locations that I have now done. I spoke to a few people and got my photo taken. Woodley parkrun was reccomended to me as a fast course. Someone mentioned Watford being good and Henley got mentioned again as well as the very tough Woolacombe bay one. 

I walked back onto the course and cheered others in while I took a few pics of the course. I spoke to the photographer and thanked him. I did a loop of one of the lakes and watched the Great crested grebes performing thier courtship moves. I also spotted tufted duck and a red breasted merganser.

On my way back I tagged along with volunteer Lynn and we had a good chat about parkruns and this lovely place. She told me to bring you all back next time and then she was accused of “picking up strangers” by a fellow marshal. Such a lovely bunch of people and a wonderful location. Sadly the cafe was rammed with a big queue when I got there so I went to Sainsburys in Winnersh and got some food for the train home. It was a great adventure. Loved it. Until the next time.x