Still doing a new-to-me parkrun event once per month!
Ashington Community Woodland was lovely this morning. It’s traily but very runnable, especially in the dry conditions we’ve had recently, and a nice small parkrun community (50 runners today). I will be back in the eventual future for p-index purposes!
It made me feel summery to be running on trails in nice weather. Excited for the months ahead.
Most likely back on the Moor next week!
For this weekend’s long run, the training plan mandated a 14-miler with a fast bit in the middle. I absolutely loathe long runs with fast bits in the middle, so I decided to make it more bearable by doing a parkrun sandwich. Denton Dene provided the requisite distance there and back.
It was a fortuitous choice as they’d gone all out for the Easter weekend! There was an Easter egg hunt (I did not partake as I was concentrating on my steady pace, but all the kids clearly enjoyed it), bunny ears all over the place, and chocolate treats at the end (which I really appreciated as it provided a bit of extra fuel for the rest of my run).
New-to-me parkrun next week 🙂
Here’s the final phone box from World Showcase at Epcot!
(Coordinates 28°37’06.9″N, 81°55’16.5″W.)
With more bonus Christmas decorations! (And lots of people in the background in winter running gear. It was unusually cold for Florida, even for a Florida winter.)
I did go to see all of these phone boxes in a more leisurely context a few days later, but I’m glad I took the photos in the dark while running the 5k. It was an important part of the race.
One more Disney-related item of interest next week!
Back to my favourite parkrun today! A lovely easy run (well, turned into a bit of a progression run as always happens in the Dene) on an absolutely beautiful spring morning.
Fitting everything in around half marathon training at the moment so it’ll be a parkrun sandwich next week.
This is the second of the three Epcot phone boxes I photographed during the Walt Disney World 5k.
(Coordinates 28°37’06.9″N, 81°55’16.5″W.)
I didn’t have time during the race to investigate the contents of these phone boxes but I’m guessing they’re props.
It’s part of a double but I snapped them separately. The other coming next week!
First parkrunday of the month is usually pacer week at Town Moor and I like to pace if possible. I used to find pacers really helpful in my early/slow days and so I’m really happy to be able to do it myself now.
I was pacing 30 today (my favourite time to pace as so many people are trying to break it!) and it felt like a nice gentle run, which is a good sign for me at the moment. Geth was taking it easy too and ran with me after catching me up at about halfway.
Under my pacer vest I wore my brand new 250 shirt that arrived a few days ago following my 250th last week! Nice to start the next 250 parkruns off in the proper fashion 🙂
Not decided on next week yet but it’ll be local again.
I’m used to spotting the odd phone box while running races in the UK (and making a mental note so that I can go back and photograph it later if it’s the kind of race where I don’t want to stop!) but it’s less expected to see them during races abroad!
However, Epcot at Walt Disney World (where the RunDisney races start and end) contains a World Showcase, with mini areas dedicated to various countries around the world. The United Kingdom area, of course, includes phone boxes (presumably original ones shipped across the Atlantic following disuse, though I haven’t done the research into this).
I stopped to take photos as soon as I saw them while running the 5k. Here’s the first, next to the ‘Rose and Crown’ pub!
(Coordinates 28°37’03.9″N, 81°55’18.4″W.)
Love the festive wreath too. Christmas decorations were still up at Disney when we were there in early January, which was nice!
More from Epcot next week.
When Geth and I originally planned our trip to London this last weekend (to celebrate some work milestones for him), he suggested that we finally make the trip to the home of parkrun, Bushy Park. It was a lot later that I realised it would actually coincide with my 250th parkrun!
(Cue some ordering of something adequately silly to wear. Top tip: if you’re wearing a celebratory sash at parkrun, use multiple safety pins to attach it to your shirt. It was difficult to keep it on while running!)
Between the COVID-19 pause and some long volunteering stints it’s been a very long time since my 100th parkrun in December 2019. Really looking forward to my new t-shirt (ordered as soon as my result arrived on Saturday).
Bushy is a lovely parkrun with great vibes (I expected it to feel a bit big and impersonal but it was so friendly) and it was a beautiful morning – I couldn’t have asked for a better 250th parkrunday!
Mum and Dad found this one during a walk in Dean Village last year.
(Coordinates 55°95’24.3″N, 3°21’70.2″W.)
The phone in this one is quite modern – it must have been replaced relatively recently, so maybe this one still sees a bit of use.
A bit further afield next week!
