Ian Runs

There was a strange feeling to this week's event. News of a new virus has led to lots of whispers that this could be the last event for a while. Storm Jorge also didn't want to pass by unnoticed, resulting in lots of events cancelling due to flooded courses and high winds. I had booked my hotel for Queen Elizabeth parkrun previously, and so all I could do was turn up and see what happened. This was to be the first time I had booked a hotel with the main purpose being parkrun tourism, and so I arrived in the town of Horndean the night before, which meant my shortest trip to a parkrun on the morning so far. The area Queen Elizabeth Country Park is located on the outskirts of Horndean, near Portsmouth. The park forms part of the South Downs National Park, which is a form of chalk hills stretching from Hampshire to Eastbourne. The area comprising Queen Elizabeth Country Park is a mixture of downland and woodland, with most of the resident beech trees being planted in the...

This week, I wanted to tick off another event with an uncommon letter. I have booked my hotel for Queen Elizabeth next week, which only leaves "Y" and "J" of the uncommon letters to focus on. The weather this week has been very wet, and so I didn't fancy a 3+ hour drive to York or Yeovil, which left "J", and Jersey Farm, so through a process of elimination, Jersey Farm it is! The area Jersey Farm Woodland Park is located within the city of St Albans, slightly north of London. The city of St Albans (formerly known as Verulamium during Roman occupation) is a popular home for many commuters into London. The city's residents were revealed to be the 10th most active in England in a 2007 study by Sport England, with over 30% of residents performing more than 90 minutes of activity at least 3 times a week. Jersey Farm Woodland Park itself is part of the remains of Evans Farm, which was a dairy farm situated on part of the much bigger Marshalswick...