Location: Osterley Park, Isleworth, TW7 4RD Terrain: tarmac and hard path Elevation: 9m, flat Parking: on site, free for parkrunners Facilities: toilets, cafe Shoes: Road Laps: 2 Attendance: medium, around 300 Last visited on: 27 Apr 2024 Number of visits: 2 PB: 27:01 Long week, so I reverted to semi-local tourism and visited Osterley parkrun for the second time this weekend. The original plan was to capture another ‘far away’ missing LonDone location, but the early morning parkrunday alarm clock did not agree with me for once. I still have 16 LonDone venues that I visited before start ..read more

Location: Wendover Woods, Aylesbury, HP22 5NF Terrain: hard path Elevation: 106m, very hilly Parking: on site, payable Facilities: toilets, cafe Shoes: Trail Laps: 1 Attendance: medium, 200-250 Last visited on: 20 Apr 2024 Number of visits: 1 PB: 37:49 A return to slightly longer trips this week brought me to Wendover Woods parkrun for the first time. I had this venue on my sights for a while, since it is often described as a special one. One lap, very scenic woodland trail at the top of the Chiltern Hills, relatively close to London. These ‘Forestry England’ venues are truly special a ..read more

Location: Tooting Common, Tooting, SW16 1RT Terrain: tarmac Elevation: 11m, flat Parking: on site, free Facilities: toilets, cafe Shoes: Road Laps: 3 Attendance: large, up to 700 Last visited on: 13 Apr 2024 Number of visits: 9 PB: 26:21 This week I have opted for a short commute and visited Tooting Common parkrun again. It is the closest venue to where I live, after my local at Wimbledon Common, so I had been there many times. After a tiresome week, I really could not be bothered waking up at sunrise to visit a new venue and I had not been at Tooting Common parkrun for a while and nev ..read more

After trying in the past, this year I was lucky in the ballot and got a place in the 2024 London Landmarks Half Marathon. I don’t know how many times I’ve tried, not that many. I remember last year I wanted to try, but I had to pass because I had a place in a slightly longer run in London just a few days later. London Landmarks is the second major London Half Marathon I have the fortune to run, after The Big Half in autumn 2023. That was a great race and, in a way, its route gave me stronger feelings of similarity to the 2023 TCS London Marathon, which I had run 6 months earlier. The London Ma ..read more

The Easter weekend I had a busy running schedule and on Sunday I drove to Henley-on-Thames to run the Henley River 10K for the first time. On Saturday, also known as Parkrunday, I had obviously visited a new parkrun venue at Lordship Recreation Ground and on Monday I the Nice Work Easter 10K in Regents Park. I haven’t recorded video highlights, nor plan to write a report about the latter, but it is very similar to other races I’ve run in Regent’s Park. Runthrough also organises a half marathon as part of the same event and I think I want to try that distance here next time. That said, it was a ..read more

Location: Lordship Recreation Ground, Haringey, N17 6BQ Terrain: tarmac Elevation: 13m, flat Parking: none dedicated Facilities: toilets, cafe Shoes: Road Laps: 3 Attendance: medium, 150/200 Last visited on: 30 March 2024 Number of visits: 1 PB: 33:20 This week a spur of the moment decision sprung in my mind on parkrunday Eve and I followed through, visiting Lordship Recs parkrun for the first time. Or Lordship Recreation Ground parkrun. Or Lordship parkrun… you know, many names and the SEO gods are confused. Anyway, one more week wandering around the far away lands of North London for ..read more

After missing a few weekends, I managed to join the Wimbledon Common 10K to continue on my annual testing of Runthrough races. Ok, not something to be excessively proud of, since I live in Wimbledon, but everything little helps, right? This race took place in February 2024, at the high point of this winter’s English monsoon. Yes, it’s a thing. Joining this race might not have required a crazy early morning or a long trip across the capital, but I kind of knew what to expect and willingly going to run in the Common in winter tells you something about one’s priorities. It’s a mud feast, it is a ..read more

Location: Avery Hill Park, Greenwich, SE9 2PQ Terrain: grass and tarmac Elevation: 37m, undulating Parking: at the park, free Facilities: toilets, cafe Shoes: Road Laps: 3 Attendance: large, >200-250 Last visited on: 16 March 2024 Number of visits: 1 PB: 35:18 As my long term ‘second NENDY’, I had been holding on visiting it for a while, but this week I have finally toured to Greenwich parkrun. Greenwich parkrun which is not in Greenwich park, courtesy of the old naming convention. It is in Avery Hill park, in Eltham, basically in Bromley. But nobody really cares about this, the par ..read more

Location: Beckton District Park South, Newham, E6 5LT Terrain: grass and tarmac Elevation: 6m, flat Parking: Will Thorne Pavilion, free Facilities: toilets, no cafe Shoes: Road (if dry) Laps: 2.5 Attendance: small, 35-70 Last visited on: 09 March 2024 Number of visits: 1 PB: 34:03 After another long work week in Germany, all I wanted was to sleep in; clearly that’s why I ended up crossing London and visiting Beckton parkrun for the first time. At this point I only have about a dozen events left to finish my LonDone run, unless new events pop up in the meanwhile. And besides a couple, t ..read more

Location: Crane Park, Twickenham, London TW2 6AA Terrain: hard path and tarmac Elevation: 16m, flat Parking: limited, on street Facilities: kiosk Shoes: Road (usually) Laps: 1 & 2/3 Attendance: medium, 150/200 Last visited on: 02 March 2024 Number of visits: 2 PB: 28:54 After a couple of weeks on different explorations, this weekend I visited Crane Park parkrun for the second time. Last week I finally took the chance offered by my frequent business trips and visited my first German parkrun at Nidda, Frankfurt. It was a great experience and I will visit more German events this year ..read more