Osterley Parkrun 31.1.22

Pre

Arif and I began our Parkrun tour on the 31st of December 2022. Although we had met up on Christmas day morning for our home Parkrun of Beckton the week before. Arif is a beloved friend of two decades who I attended both Scott Wilkie Primary School and Royal Docks Community School with. 

We decided upon Osterley as Arif had found it on a top ten list of sorts. He picked me up at 7:15ish in his antique blue Mercedes which appeared to be in fantastic condition and we set off to begin our journey. Once on the road, the apparent condition of the car revealed itself as only bodywork deep. Arif had alluded to somewhat of an instability at speeds over 50mph, but I had not taken him seriously. However, as we picked up speed on the A road, the car did the motorised equivalent of the Hokey Cokey. After my heart had made its way back down my esophagus, we made it to Osterley Park, to which we remarked upon the size of the houses, as people from our neck of the woods often do. 

We arrived at the car park after over an hour of driving and approximately 30 minutes before start time. It has ample space for runners who have chosen to drive and is but a 5 minute walk from the start line which is in front of the parks large mansion house. Toilets were also easily accessible and a minute walk from the start line. There was a much bigger turn out than we were used to and this was exciting. 

The Parkrun 

My dear Vivoactive HR that I had gifted Arif was upon his wrist and off we went. The course began down a fairly narrow lane which forces you to be at the mercy of the herd unless you have the foresight to begin very much at the front. Speaking of herds, cows do graze in the fields on either side of this path. The course is two laps and was hotter than I had anticipated due to tree coverage. A Mr Motivator sort was running around with a gopro on a selfie stick and a speaker accosting hapless runners. I hated him. 

Post

Once finished, I stood on the steps leading up to the mansion and despite not wearing a fluorescent pink vest, was mistaken for a token scanner many times. Once Arif had finished, we had completed Osterley with times of 26 something and around 30. However, we knew not the specific time for Arif as he had not pressed start on the watch.

We warmed down with a gentle mile (that Arif did press start for) finishing at the small lake and made our way to the Osterley Parkrun sign which was being put away to capture the moment in front of the still standing Christmas trees before enjoying the ritual of a post run coffee. Once adequately caffeinated and chilled by the weather, we walked to the car park. We passed many finished runners and wished them a good weekend. Including Mr Motivator. 




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