Ian Runs

This week saw me visiting Rendlesham Forest parkrun in Suffolk for a relatively easy run before running the London 10k on Monday. The area Rendlesham Forest is located on the east coast, east of Ipswich. The forest as it is today is what remains after a large swathe of the forest was cleared to allow for the construction of an airfield (RAF Woodbridge) in 1943. The forest is where the "Rendlesham Forest Incident" took place (the UK's version of the Roswell UFO incident), where Unidentified Flying Objects were reported to have been spotted in 1980. The course The event takes place within the forest itself, and starts close to the main visitor car park. The route follows two overlapping laps around the forest's trails - the first lap taking runners south of the start area, before a longer loop taking runners on a longer loop to the north of the start. The route is all on trail, dirt, or sometimes sand paths, and there are plenty of roots along the course, a...

Despite deliberately prioritising recovery since Brighton, I found myself still not yet 100% recovered this week, and so I searched for an event that isn't too physically demanding. Fortunately Burnham-on-Crouch seemed to be an ideal candidate! The area Burnham-on-Crouch parkrun takes place in Riverside Park. Burnham-on-Crouch is a relatively small but well-developed town with a strong connection to the yachting and sailing industries. The town hosts a number of cultural events throughout the year, including an Illumination Carnival on the last Saturday of September, and the Burnham Week - which includes competitive yacht and dinghy racing in the last week of August each year, while the town also has a very active yacht and sailing scene throughout the remainder of the year. The course The course follows two laps of a multi-terrain course, approximately two-thirds on grass, with one-third on gravel and tarmac. The route is mostly within Riverside Park, with a short s...

After running Brighton Marathon last week, I was in desperate need of an easy recovery run this week, in all senses! Flegg High parkrun ticks all of the boxes I was looking for, in that it is a flat, small event, with some off-road surfaces to help with the recovery. The area Flegg High parkrun is hosted by Flegg High Ormiston Academy - an academy in the village of Martham, near Great Yarmouth, in Norfolk. The village of Martham is a primarily residential area, while also being home to Martham Broad - a nature reserve slightly north of the town. The course The route at Flegg High follows three laps of the perimeter of the school grounds, taking in the playing grounds as well as the school's playground. The course is run on many surfaces, including tarmac, gravel, and grass, but can best be thought of as 2-thirds off-road (mainly grass) and 1-third on-road (gravel and tarmac). Toilets are available in the school, and free parking is available on site. The run Tod...

Today was the culmination of several months of preparation - my first marathon! Training My training for the 2022 Brighton Marathon started on 12 September 2021 - the day of the 2021 Brighton Marathon. Since that date, I have run 2,800+ kilometers, over nearly 300 hours. I've been really fortunate to not suffer from any major injuries during my training block, although I did encounter a couple of minor niggles along the way - likely owing to the fact this is the first time I have ever tried to run for a long distance. I very deliberately decided to incorporate parkrun into my training schedule to keep an interesting focal point to my training, and the fact that I have been touring different places has also helped, as I've used those events as reasons to explore new and different places, while encountering new and different terrain along the way! Looking back on the training block as a whole, I think I managed most aspects quite well. If I'm being particular, the ...

My plan for parkrun was simple this week - attend an event which involves minimal travel, and take it slow. I'm running the Brighton Marathon tomorrow, which will involve me travelling to Brighton on Saturday afternoon to check in, coupled with an overnight stay, so I decided to attend Millennium Country parkrun between Bedford and Milton Keynes. The area Millennium Country Park is located between Stewartby and Marston Moretaine, in Bedfordshire. The area is perhaps best known for its brick works under the ownership of the London Brick Company, which was a major contributor to the redevelopment efforts after world war 2, although emissions regulations have more recently drawn the brickworks operations in the area to move on. A number of chimneys remain on the skyline from the former brickworks, although the chimneys are being demolished as time passes, especially in favour of new housing developments. Built on the site of a former quarry, Millennium Country Park is owned...

I wanted to continue to make progress towards the Fibonacci Sequence this week, and Storeys Field parkrun in Cambridge seemed like the ideal opportunity, providing the opportunity to tick off 34. The area Storeys Field parkrun takes place amongst a new residential development in eastern Cambridge. Cambridge is perhaps best known for is university, which was particularly evident today, as it happened to be graduation day today. Storeys Field itself consists of a combination of a cricket pitch, and an adjacent sports field, each with their own facilities. One local landmark to look out for is the "Quidditch hoops" - an art exhibition located near the site (not the official name of the piece). The course The course is three flat, tarmac laps of the greenspaces around the new housing development. Free parking is available in the nearby park-and-ride car park for up to 18 hours, which also provides access to toilets, while toilets are also available in the cricke...