Ian Runs

This week, I am in need of an "I" event. Fortunately enough, even though there are only 5 "I" events in England, one is in the East of England - Ipswich! As this was also the halloween event, the event team asked runners to wear orange and black, or fancy dress! The area Ipswich is the oldest English town, and able to trace its history to the 5th century. Owing to its age, the town has a very rich history, which is evidenced in the buildings in the town centre. Chantry Park is the grounds of the Chantry House mansion, and is the largest public greenspace in Ipswich. The site opened to the public in 1928, after it was acquired by the council following ultimately unsuccessful plans to develop the site. The mansion is now the home of a neurological care charity. The course The route is run mostly on grass, with some sections on trail and tarmac. Runners begin with a lap around the cricket pitch before setting off on a very well marshalled route around t...

After the excitement of last week's parkrun, this week my plan was to get back to my long term goal of ticking off every event in the East of England. There were a couple of possibilities for an "H" event this week, but with temperatures starting to fall, I wanted to make the most of it before it was too late, and so Harwich parkrun felt like a great option. The area Harwich is a seaside town, located on a peninsula opposite Felixstowe, where the River Stour and the River Orwell meet the North Sea. The town has played an important strategic role throughout Britain's history, and due to this, the buildings of the town reflect its rich and diverse architectural influences. The meeting point for parkruns is in Cliff Park, which comprises the grounds of the former Cliff House, along with the adjacent Barrack Field. The mansion was demolished specifically to make space for a public park in the area after the former owners went bankrupt. The course The run cons...

Today, I am breaking my alphabet streak in favour of attending the With Me Now Pow Wow at Oaklands parkrun! I found the With Me Now podcast during the first lockdown, and have thoroughly enjoyed listening to the back catalogue, in addition to the parkrun show 's back catalogue, and I've learnt a lot about parkrun and its history from these two podcasts. While it doesn't contribute towards my East of England goal, being sociable triumphed this week, and it only made sense to meet some other listeners! The area Oaklands parkrun takes place in Oaklands Recreation Ground in Birmingham. Birmingham is the UK's second most largest city by population, and as one would expect, has a long and varied history, but on this occasion, I didn't get the chance to explore it in any detail on this occasion. As one of the conditions of Tesco building a new supermarket as part of the development of the Swan shopping centre adjacent to the field, the local council insisted that...

This week I wanted to attend a "G" event, and although there are a number in the East of England, I wanted to try one of the less scenically gifted events so that I can get a sense of that type of event. I've heard that such events tend to be much more community oriented than others, but other than that, I wanted to approach the event with a completely open mind. The area Great Cornard is a village within Sudbury, in the East of England. Evidence of human activity has been traced to the Stone Age in the area. The local secondary school, Thomas Gainsborough School, provides sporting facilities to the village, including the Great Cornard parkrun. The course Starting on the rugby pitch, the event follows two-and-a-bit laps around the playing fields, with the first lap following the perimeter of the field in reverse compared to the second and third times runners encounter the area. The finish is a short walk from the start, alongside the sports hall. Free parki...

Despite the queues at the fuel pumps, I did manage to refuel this week, and so I was back to normal tourism as usual. This week I was looking for an "F" event. I did see that a new event at Flegg High was due to start this week, but decided that I would take the opportunity to run Felixstowe while the weather was still not too extreme for a seafront event. The area Perhaps best known for its current role as a container port, Felixstowe is a seaside town in the East of England. The town is also a popular seaside resort however, and the town has all of the amenities one would expect from such a resort, from a pier, amusement arcades, convenience food stalls, and beaches. The course The course was run in reverse this week to celebrate parkrun's 17th birthday, so while we headed northbound to begin, the event usually heads southbound to begin. Runners start the run by heading for the first of two out and backs by heading northbound along the promenade from the ...