Nonsuch Parkrun 25.2.23

 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. There turned out to be around 700 runners which is half of Bushy but still almost double anything we had experienced. 

The Parkrun

The course was a fairly simple one with half of each lap through a wooded area where you needed to navigate hard, sprawling tree roots, and the other half across a bit of a boggy, slightly increased grassy gradient. My legs were heavy as they were last week and my Garmin told me as much. My heart rate was high but my effort was steady as usual. Along with the many references, I finished with an identical time to Bushy of 24.44. Hard fought but it was under the magic 25, so I was happy. Arif finished with a 27.04 which was a fantastic personal best for him. 

Post

Once upon the coffee shop, Arif found a table and I waited in the line. Once at the counter after a considerable wait, my phone was declined and I could not pay. I told Arif and he jogged back to the car for what I hoped would be not just for his card, but our coats as well. While I sat holding the table, two local hags of around an age closer to death than life, sat down and made themselves at home without acknowledging me. To compile my misfortune, Arif turnt the corner, in his own grey coat with card in hand and no green ski jacket to be seen. 

After coffee we began to walk around the grounds, stunning ancient woodland and a plush country manor. We encountered what seemed to be a half blind squirrel on the way. I was sad not to be able to offer him anything but he looked healthy and in good spirits. They were also very tame which would suggest they are regularly fed by passers by. Another fruitless escapade for a long disintegrated palace later, and we were enjoying a walk through beautiful, heavily wooded paths. Truly gorgeous, quiet paths with carpets of fallen leaves and what must have been thousands of trees guarding the edges of the paths like wooden sentinels. 

Once our stroll finished, we arrived back at the car without entry. The key had decided to play silly bollocks and conserve the single microvolt it had remaining from its first and currently last battery from before the early millennium. Luckily, two delightful nordic walkers assisted Arif in unsheathing the manual key from a scabbard he knew not of, and after a fairly long chat we were on the move to visit Epsom college and the nearby view point. 

The college was indeed a sight to behold. The campus covered an impressively expansive area with each building looking very much like the Natural History Museum. Perfectly cultivated trees and the sons and daughters of millionaires were dotted everywhere. The view point was also a worthwhile visit. The field of vision was very interesting and not something I could really recall seeing prior. Canary Wharf, Wembley Stadium, and beyond were all visible in one expansive curve. East London beckoned and we departed the land of million pound educations for our own turf of community schools and free stabbings.