Ian Runs

After the exciting return of parkrun last week, I was super keen to complete my outstanding alphabet challenge without as many hiccups as possible, which meant ticking off the rarer letters while I still had the possibility to divert to other events as possible. Yeovil Montecute parkrun hadn't returned since the break, leaving York as the only option for a "Y", and so while I still had some contingencies available in the forms of Wetherby and Potternewton parkruns. While not a big factor in deciding this week's destination, this was to be York's first event back, as it wasn't able to take place last week due to horse racing taking place. The area York parkrun takes place in the Knavesmire, in the south of York. The city of York was founded in 71AD, and then known as Eboracum, was the capital of Britannia Inferior - one of the Roman provinces. As with any city of this age, its history is vast, and the city has played many imp...

Today was the day we had been waiting almost 18 months for - parkrun's return! The weather wasn't the best, and with so much turmoil recently, I wanted to give myself the best chance of avoiding cancellations, which meant going to an area with multiple events nearby. Dinton Pastures near Reading seemed to be a great choice, with Woodley and Prospect both possible very easily accessible alternatives. The area Dinton Pastures Country Park is a pasture and lakeland dominant country park located on the eastern border of Reading. Reading is a historic market town located to the west of London. The town is popular with commuters into London, as well as being a local centre for the IT and Insurance sectors. The meadows which now form the eastern part of Dinton Pastures have been farmed since the Anglo Saxon period. The land was sold to a farmer in 1924, who renamed it in reference to his hometown of Dinton near Aylesbury. The site was late...

Reflection As with most people, the world being on pause has given me more opportunity than normal to reflect on what I'm doing with parkrun. The outcome of that reflection is that I'm mostly happy with touring, and more so than ever, I really appreciate the time I can spend outdoors exploring, but there are some adjustments I want to make too. I've continued running during the pause, but as happened prior to starting touring, it did get a little stale running the same landscape. One good thing is that I am now running further than I was at the point of initially starting touring, so I was seeing more scenery which in turn reduced how stale things were getting. Exploring Perhaps the biggest change I want to make is to take more advantage of the fact that I am visiting these other places. I want to explore the area around the event more and record those explorations, and thanks to the inspiration of blog7t.com, record it - hence this blog...