BTM Parkruns

  Pre Nonsuch was selected purely for the preposterous name but happened to be in a beautiful area. The journey was simple enough although there were traffic lights galore. We arrived in a manner fairly reminiscent of Bushy, the car park was spacious but congested, but this did not deter Arif and his war beast. He finessed the motor up the wrong side of road and into a tiny space, with the snout of the monster completely obscuring the walk way, much to the dismay of the plentiful nordic walkers. But this was post Bushy Arif. No car space? No problem. Don't like where he's parked? He doesn't give a shit.  The walk to the start was the longest thus far, so we jogged it to both get there quicker and warm up. The start of Nonsuch Parkrun had very much a festival feel to it. The ground was soft and wet, the crowd was scattered across the field, and there was an abundance of club flags , a few gazebos and places to lock bikes, and I think bunting but I could be imagining that. Th...

  Pre The pilgrimage was decreed and so it would be done. On the way there we did have some apprehensions as to whether we would arrive on time to park, thus I had a brief scout around for some alternatives and made a list. A list that included Nonsuch and Bethlehem Royal Hospital based purely on the names alone. Our fears proved to be just thoughts, as most fears tend to be.  Upon arrival the car park was swarming with tardy attendees. But Arif was not to be deterred and bullishly parked the war beast in a space of his own making. We departed the car and made the very short walk to the start area. The mass of people was quite amazing with close to over 4 times more runners than any event we had attended, particularly a far cry from our home run of Beckton.  The Parkrun I believe the start is what they call a grid, instead of the general conveyor belt in potential speed order, this was just a vast line of runners stretching horizontally across the field. A heaving mass of...

Pre An ancestral home of sorts, as at one point, the London Borough of Newham Swimming Club (LBNSC) were very much an extended family. I was excited for this one. As soon as we got to the free car park, we made our way to the Crystal Palace Sporting Centre so that I may see what had become of such a childhood sanctum. It was a walk through the park and up a few stairs to be on the same level as the entrance. It had an air of Chernobyl about it as my brother had said. An abandoned Soviet military training camp as Arif had remarked. The hockey pitches were to our left, the strange pyramid things to the right, as well as the main entrance. I remembered fondly the many times the team had left the coach and we would amble down towards the centre to compete in the London Youth Games with our purple and white tracksuits and team bags, chatting and joking as young people do. While everywhere you looked would be a similar group, getting ready to participate in their own sport. I believe the las...

  Pre Part ii. Boys are back in town. Arif vs Alexandra. Don't call it a comeback. We were back. We arrived in ample time and made our way inside. This was our first pre run coffee and based on our performances and current literature  (Rourke et al, 2018)  , something worth implementing in the future. We kicked back for awhile and spent some time watching ice skaters before departing for the start line and warm up.  The walk down the hill was scenic and refreshing. We wondered on the rationale and logistics of the Parkrun placement. As on top of the hill, closer to the palace seemed to have sufficient space and distance. During the warm up we speculated on potential times. 30 something was the general consensus between us, as the inclines seemed quite ominous. Although as I write this, it highlights the importance of a warm up.  The Parkrun This Parkrun consists of a sloping and gradual uphill, a 100m steep gradient, then a fairly Mad Max trail of a downhill. I ...