Ian Runs

As my recovery from injury is still underway, I decided that I would attend a flat course this week to avoid any potential for reaggrevation. Unfortunately this means I will need to pause my completion of the Essex events, as the remaining courses are all somewhat lumpy. Having visited all of the other Cambridge parkruns, including Storeys Field parkrun, Fulbourn Hospital parkrun, and Cambridge parkrun knowing that they are all relatively flat, I decided that this week I would complete the Cambridge set. The area Coldham's Common has a long history, serving as both a hospital during the 17th century smallpox outbreak, and a quarry during the 19th century, as well as a rifle range also during the 19th century. The course The route follows two laps of the perimeter of the common through an hour-glass shape, connecting two fields through a five-bar-gate. The course is all on grass, and is all flat. Limited parking is available nearby, while toilets are available in...

Being Christmas day, and having travelled to Liverpool to visit family, I decided to attend one of the local events, and fortunately, Ormskirk happens to have been a place where I spent a lot of time in my younger years. The area Ormskirk is a small market town in Lancashire, bordering Merseyside. The town's University, Edge Hill University plays host to the town's parkrun within its campus, which is fitting given Edge Hill's historic Health faculty, as well as its much newer Sports Centre, which was opened in 2015. The course The route follows one small lap, followed by two larger laps around the campus playing fields, starting slightly off the main circuit similar to a lollipop style route. The course is mostly flat, and run on tarmac paths, with a section on compacted gravel. Free parking is available on site, and the sports village cafe is typically available for post-run refreshments. The run Rain overnight and during the morning meant today's pa...

Being the festive season, I decided to pause my exploration of the East of England in favour of visiting events closer to family in Liverpool. While there are a number of events closer to Liverpool, I decided to visit Delamere parkrun, being somewhere I hadn't explored when living in the area previously. The area Delamere forest is all that remains of a much larger forest in the area. The forest spent some time as a Royal hunting forest, before being handed to Forestry England. The course The course follows a single lap of a lollipop route, through forests, and around the Blakemere Moss lake, starting and finishing near the visitor centre. The visitor centre includes paid parking, toilets, and a cafe, while free parking is also available in some of the other forest car parks, though they are further from the start line providing a great opportunity for a warm up! The route is all on a mixture of gravel and trail, and is mostly flat except for one short but steep incl...

The cold weather which started last week had worsened in the week since, with many cancellations across the country. After seeing my original planned event cancel, after some research, I decided to visit Manor Field parkrun, Whittlesey this week, as it and its neighbours were all due to take place on Friday night, so even if Manor Field cancelled last minute, I still had alternatives! The area Whittlesey is a small town on the outskirts of Peterborough. The town is built on a former island, but as the Cambridgeshire fens were drained in the 1600s, the island became much more readily accessible. The town has a local tradition known as the Whittlesey Straw Bear, where someone is covered in straw, and dances in the local streets. The event takes place on a Tuesday in January. The course The course follows one part-lap of the leisure centre playing field, followed by three complete laps, is all on grass, and is very flat throughout. Parking is available both in the leisure...

I was originally planning on continuing to visit events in Essex this week, however, I decided to change pace an visit a Cambridgeshire event after a change of plans for my festive parkrunning. I ultmately decided to visit Littleport parkrun this week having looked at previous results, and seeing that there are often a good number of walkers, as I intended to continue walking while recovering from an injury. The area Littleport lies in the fens, in Cambridgeshire. The fens is a vast expanse of former marsh land which was drained and reclaimed from 1626 through the construction of a series of canals to drain the land. These canals still shape much of the modern infrastructure in the area today, with many particlarly straight roads and canals to be found in the area. The village of Littleport was reportedly founded when drunk monks turned away King Canut when he sought shelter. The village is predominantly residential, but played a role in the Peasants Revolt, as well as being o...

After venturing into Suffolk last week at Clare Castle parkrun, this week I decided to return to Essex to continue making progress towards completing the region. The area Great Notley is a garden village situated in Braintree. The village was constructed with the ideas of instant community and instant maturity in mind. While the hamlet of White Court predates the modern development, the area as a whole has been designed to act as a single coherent community while supporting three new hamlets in addition to White Court. Like Kesgrave on the outskirts of Ipswich , Great Notley offered local planners a means of increasing residental capacity in the area without redeveloping existing infrastructure. The course Great Notley parkrun's course is run on a mixture of gravel and grass, over two laps of the country park. The route is mostly flat, although the second lap does start with a small hill which offers great views over the park and surrounding area! Paid parking is...

After the hustle and bustle of Chelmsford Central parkrun last week, I decided that I wanted to attend a smaller event that would also contribute to completing a region this week, and Clare Castle parkrun fit the bill perfectly. The area According to a 2015 poll, the village of Clare is one of the top 50 rural villages in the UK owing to its period buildings, though it lacks the tour busses common in other rural villages. The village has been populated since prehistory, including both Roman and Norman occupations, though the area takes its name from the Feudal period, where the area was the manor of the Clare dynasty, with Clare Castle being its home. Clare Castle dates from before 1090, and has provided incomes and support for nearby villagers over its time. Its occupants have included some notable people throughout the years, including Elizabeth de Clare; one of the wealthiest women in the UK. Unlike the castles at Colchester Castle , Norwich or Thomas Mills (Framlingham) ...