Japan has been on our list of places we’d love to go for a while, and once we booked flights I had said to Andy that I wanted to do one parkrun while we were away. We were away for 3 Saturdays, but the middle Saturday was already taken with Ghibli Park, so I had … The post Futakotamagawa parkrun, Tokyo, Japan first appeared on Maria Runs ..read more

Dad fancied some tourism, so I sent him a list of my ten NENDY’s and asked him to choose (apart from Walthamstow as Branka wants to go there and we should manage a joint trip at some point). He said Wormwood Scrubs had caught his eye, so that was decided! My brother also wanted to … The post Wormwood Scrubs parkrun first appeared on Maria Runs ..read more

Guess which song I had in my head all the way around this parkrun? Clue? Two women went to mow, went to Dunmow parkrun, two women, one woman and her koala top, went to Dunmow parkrun…. Did you get it? Anyway, back to parkrunday. I picked up Branka and we drove to parkrun. It took … The post Great Dunmow parkrun first appeared on Maria Runs ..read more

The single ton at Panshanger is inching ever closer for me! At the start of July, after a bit of touring I decided to head to Panshanger and work on the single-ton achievement instead of touring elsewhere. It also means I can run there as it’s about 2 miles, so a good parkrun sandwich distance. … The post Local parkruns- Panshanger for the 97th time, Letchworth for the 5th and Jersey Farm for the 40th first appeared on Maria Runs ..read more

I’ve completed this race twice before- the first time I ran it, it was in Welwyn village and was a very hilly route on lots of country roads. Last year it moved to Panshanger Park, and despite it being a baking hot day (remember those?) I really enjoyed it. Yes, there are hills, but they are in the first half, and it’s so scenic in the park and it’s fantastic to be on a traffic free route. A few other OH ladies were also taking part. We met at the start- it’s very relaxed with the parking right by the start, you pick up your number on the morning and then it starts. Unlike last year, it was ra ..read more

I’m not aiming for Lon-done because there are so many, but lots of my NENDY’s are now in London and so I am gradually making a dent in that section of the map. I was not sure where to go and Branka was free and fancied ticking off another London event, and suggested Southall. This wasn’t particularly on my radar, but I rewatched the With Me Now video and this made me really look forward to it. Branka had booked a Just Park spot right by the park at 8:30, and picked me up just after 7:30 to give us loads of time to get there. All was going well and we were having a lovely catch up in the car, b ..read more

That says it all really! I wanted to keep to a local parkrun because we were off to London later on, and as I am working on my single-ton (100 at one event), I opted for a parkrun sandwich to Panshanger. It’s an OK distance to run (a little over 2 miles each day) and it’s nice to do a little further on a Saturday. If I go to Jersey Farm we’d have the walk there and back, but I’ve not been there for ages, so have usually been driving to parkruns instead. It was slightly overcast but I decided on sunglasses as it was meant to be sunny later. I should have worn a visor too though. OH ladies self ..read more

In the wilderness between milestones (still well over 3 years to my next one) chasing random challenges (hello Wilson Index) is a fun way to occupy the time and also to help me decide where to go. I know I go on about it, but as Ellenbrook Fields didn’t come back after the pause, I do not feel I have a home parkrun. I think Panshanger is my official one, and I do love it there, but it’s not the same. Anyway, the Herts branch of Vegan Runners UK have a fab stats person (Gary) who each week produces some stats linked to parkrun attendance in Herts- number of Herts locations visited, number of VR ..read more

Not to be confused with Harlow parkrun or Harrow Lodge, Harrow parkrun is another of the north London ones that really isn’t that far from me. Dad was away and I only had work plans for the weekend so fancied some tourism. Thankfully some people in my club also wanted to go there and so a little band of 5 of us set off in Saturday morning. We drove and one thing I would say is that the post code on the website does not take you to the car park. The car park is tiny and we ended up using street parking, but some of those streets had restrictions (including Saturdays) so it is best to research b ..read more

Back in 2018 we had a December trip to Berlin, and as we were flying there on a Friday night, I’d planned to go to a parkrun on the Saturday morning. However, once we had checked in and dropped off our bag, our flight was cancelled (and you would not believe how many hours it takes to get back a bag that only 5 minutes ago was in your hand…)- anyway, the next flight was not until the Sunday, so although this meant I got to go to Ellenbrook Fields parkrun on the Saturday, it meant I had not managed a new parkrun country. Fast forward to 2024 and the German flag was going to be mine! We were hea ..read more