Ian Runs

Now that I have completed the UK Alphabet, my focus has turned towards the East of England region. As there are so many events to choose from, I'm going to start by working through events in alphabetical order again, with an emphasis on working east to west, which for me, effectively orders events furthest to nearest. During my initial exploration of the challenge, I did make a mistake however, which I only realised after running this event - I didn't realise that Aldenham parkrun was in the region, and so I started this phase of parkrunning by running Ally Pally parkrun instead! The area Ally Pally, or Alexandra Palace, is a purpose built community centre in Haringey, North London. Unlike other palaces in the UK, Ally Pally has no royal connection, and instead has been entirely community oriented since its conception. The palace houses a theatre, concert hall, a convention centre, an ice rink, and has facilitated BBC broadcasts an...

Today marks the day I complete the UK alphabet challenge! Woohoo! As I had deliberately chosen the events I run based on rareness recently, I have been left in need of a "W". Fortunately, there are many of those around! The particular "W" I chose this week is Wendover Woods - based purely on the elevation profile. It's definitely amongst the more bumpy of courses! The area Wendover Woods is a woodland located at the northern tip of the Chiltern Hills. Historically, woodland has formed the majority of the landscape in the Chilterns at least since the 9th century. The wood has always been used as a consumable resource by local populations, from the construction of houses, horse-drawn carts and fences in the 14th century, for firewood to be burnt in London in the 19th century, through to being used for rifle butts and tent pegs in during the wars of the early 20th century. The woodland itself is a mixture of coniferous and decid...

My trip to Pymmes this week comes after an unsuccessful attempt last week! Unfortunately, the team were unable to access their AED before the event started, and so made the correct decision to cancel the event. Unfortunately, I didn't realise until it was too late to get to another event, but second time lucky! With only a "P" and a "W" left in the UK alphabet to complete, and wanting to keep some of the closer "P" events as backups for cancellations in the future, this week it was Pymmes' turn to provide my parkrunning fix. The area Pymmes park is located in Edmonton, in north London. The town of Edmonton was once a rural village, before the railway and tramways provided the impetus for rapid expansion in the 19th century. The area now boasts one of the most ethnically diverse populations in the UK. Pymmes park has existed in various forms of its current state since 1327, when it formed part of the Pymmes Hou...