Over The Contours

Some things are found by chance; the inaugural Dartford Heath parkrun was one of them. Friday, I was eating my lunch and killing time between meetings by exploring the parkrun map. By pure chance I inadvertently zoomed into the west Kent area and noticed two parkrun icons in the Dartford region. Strange. I knew about the existing Dartford parkrun, but I wasn't aware of anything else nearby. I quickly discovered this was the Dartford Heath parkrun and that this was due to have its inaugural event the very next day. I know there's something of an unwritten rule that tourists (and pseudo-tourists like me) should avoid inaugural events in order to not overload the volunteer team and cause unnecessary work, however, the serendipity of finding this event and the fact that it would start the very next day, well....surely it was a sign! I decided I'd break the unwritten rule and make the 55 minute journey to Dartford... I was in the same county at least. The course is on the h...

This is a parkrun that's nearby, but not so nearby you could just nip up the road to do it. Nonetheless, I'm keen to finish all of the parkruns in Kent and I'd heard really good things about the Royal Tunbridge Wells one, so decided to make the 100 mile round trip on this lovely bank holiday weekend. I set out nice and early in the morning sunshine which was probably for the best as I was soon passed by a precession of Police cars along the M2. I only realised they were heading in the same direction as I was when I reached the A249 and was confronted with a huge queue of traffic. In the distance I could see smoke billowing around three or four miles up the road. I was extremely lucky; had I have been perhaps two or three metres up the tarmac, I would have missed the one and only opportunity to do a u-turn...a tiny access ramp between the carriageways. Anyway, a u-turn is just what I did and I quickly re-routed via Blue Bell Hill. So, at around 8.30am I pulled into Dunor...

Sunday 8th April 2018… my second crack at the Greater Manchester Marathon. Abigail and I had spent the week in the Lake District, so my preparation and discipline went well out of the window in the week before the event. However, I’d trained harder than I’d ever done before and covered far more miles than I had done with the London and Bournemouth Marathons, and indeed last year’s Greater Manchester Marathon. A nice easy drive into Trafford from Northwich set the day up nicely. Me being me, I’d arrived stupidly early, so once I’d located the car parks at Old Trafford, I had about 90 minutes to wait for the athlete’s village to open. By the time I reached the athlete’s village it was already very busy and I was shivering (more with nerves than actual cold). A crowded bag-drop didn’t help, but I was soon out on Bridgewater Way and picking my way over to Start Point B. There was an acceptance this time around; I’d put in the hard miles and knew that I was capable of 24 miles, on a...

Finally my hometown has a Parkrun ! Despite now living over 200 miles away, I'd spotted some mutterings on Facebook and in other places about a Northwich Parkrun. It's had a junior Parkrun for some time now, so I thought it was only a matter of time before it would get its own proper one. I managed to work it so that Abigail and I could be staying at my mum and dad's place en route to the Lake District; in doing so, I was able to get to the inaugural event. The course is based in Carey Park, just to the north of the town centre. There is ample free car parking nearby, although I took advantage of its proximity to my parents' place by running there. After a friendly welcome from Amy the Run Director and some warm applause for everyone that made the event happen and we were off. The first mile is a loop around the gravel track circling the large cow field; midway through the loop there's an energy-sapping hill/switchback to watch out for. After mile 1, you then ...

The 3rd March 2018; the day the earth stood still. Well, not quite, but most of the UK did as a blanket of ice and snow - "the Beast from the East" - covered the country. Parkrun took a huge hit this weekend; somewhere close to 410 cancellations. I'd been keeping a close eye on forecasts for much of the week as Abigail and I were travelling to Brighton for a gig on the Saturday evening. Over the duration of the week, forecasts shifted constantly and it became increasingly apparent that travel would be tricky. By the Thursday a number of parkruns had already been cancelled as a precaution; in fact, my local runs at Pegwell Bay, Canterbury, Whitstable and Margate had already cancelled by this point. Fortunately, the parkruns in the vicinity of Brighton and Eastbourne all looked to be going ahead. By Friday the list of cancellations had continued to increase and the weather forecast was increasingly dire. A snow-day email from work gave me the opportunity to reassess thi...

This is one I’ve wanted to do for a long time. Lancaster was my second-home in 2005/2006 when Abigail was doing her Masters up there and I quickly warmed to the city. What I didn’t realise was that the Lancaster Parkrun takes place in Williamson Park around the impressive Ashton Memorial. I only discovered this a few days before whilst working out how to get from our hotel to the Parkrun. Anyway, on a chilly and rainy October morning, I finally made it to the Lancaster Parkrun. During my warm-up run I knew I was in for a tough one as the start (next to the butterfly house) is a good 100m-150m higher than the lower parts of Williamson Park. After a very friendly run briefing and a ‘cosy’ start line gathering I was off; within seconds I was descending down the the wide tarmac paths that spiral around the Ashton Memorial. The paths are wide enough to find some space and to get into a comfortable position.  The sharp descent at the start is a little unnerving though, especially o...

Looking down into Ennerdale whilst descending from Starling Dodd. A bit of unfinished business this one. I'd intended to run Great Borne and Starling Dodd earlier this week as part of my loop around Mellbreak and Hen Comb. As I mentioned, the tail end of Storm Brian was still lingering and it made for quite a challenging run, hence why it was cut short. So, with much improved weather conditions, I re-plotted the route and headed out early to bag another two Wainwrights. Parking at the National Trust car park beneath Bowness Knott at Ennerdale Water, I ran briefly up the road before taking a sharp right and heading up the steep path to the Knott and Rake Beck. The path is relatively comfortable to run, minus a few steep sections where I had to slow down to avoid large patches of mud and/or bog. At 230m I reached Brown How, where the path takes a sharp left and becomes unrelentingly steep and considerably more challenging. I followed the path over the narrow contours, keeping...

I've long been fascinated by the outlying and less frequented Wainwrights. I fancied doing a run that didn't require a long drive early in the morning and one that was a little more forgiving given that my legs were still suffering after the previous day's activities. Fellbarrow and Low Fell stand alone next to Loweswater. To me they've always looked a bit geographically isolated and not as attractive as their larger cousins across Lorton Vale. Nonetheless, they're there to be climbed/run. I parked the car at Waterend at the head of Loweswater. There's a decent little car park by the roadside there. Immediately opposite the car park I began my run heading up Grange Lane, a little tarmac road leading to a public bridleway. I headed north on the bridleway. The bridleway is flat and relatively mud-free for the time of year. After approximately a mile, I took a sharp right to the east, following a steep, but clear path up Smithy Fell. The path gets a little lost...

Mellbreak - photo by Michael Graham This was a tricky and frustrating bugger of a run. I'd originally planned to run over Mellbreak, up to Starling Dodd, along to Great Borne and then down and over Hen Comb. Annoyingly, the arse end of Storm Brian was still loitering and the visibility was quite poor. The journey started badly as I hit a rock the size of a football and dragged it beneath the car. In the dark and pissing rain, I used the torch on my phone to check for damage underneath the car. All looked OK, but it still put me in a bad mood. I parked in Loweswater next to a farm gate at Church Bridge. Following a cobbled track south, I was soon heading up Raven Crag and White Crag. The wind was a shock to the system, taking my breath a few times. In fact, as the path up Raven Crag became narrower and steeper, and the gusts got stronger, I did wonder about aborting. I carried on and the ascent soon became easier as the path flattened and the northern summit of Mellbreak app...