parkrun Tourism: Preston #27: 21/1/2023

 

It’s definitely been a case of in the best laid plans of mice and men and parkrun, that my tourism hasn’t gone particularly well recently. Last weekend I was due to go to Ormskirk for a Fibonacci number, but my car needed emergency repairs instead. Oh well it will happen sometime! On Friday night, I looked at my map on the 5K app and thought I really need to get rid of that annoying gap which is Preston. I have twice previously tried to get to Preston: the first time a trip was cancelled due to a friend’s illness. The last attempt it was iced up. 

This morning then I finally set off to take part at Preston. Previously, I had been advised on a great place to park which was free from fellow tourists. From there it was a relatively short walk to the start and finish area and on the way I met a couple of locals who gave me some advice about the parkrun which was lovely. One of the great things about Preston parkrun is that the toilets were freshly cleaned just before I arrived and they were free. Then it was time to chat to other parkrunners including in the lovely, run director and fellow tourists up from Crosby parkrun. 

We had a 1st timers’ briefing, which explained about the three laps of the park and gave us the safety warning about the flag post on the top. It was then time to try and work out where the back of the pack was for the start as they were over 400 people taking part. A quick countdown and we were off. It was a slow start due to the large number of runners, which meant that on the first hill, I had a very good excuse for walking as I couldn’t really run. 

Once we reach the top of the hill and people can start going down, the field spread out quite rapidly, which left plenty of room for me to do my run walk strategy. There were plenty friendly and encouraging marshals as we went round and I was with a few runners for the whole of the route as we were a very similar pace which was nice. We were lapped by the faster runners before we had crossed the start line after a first lap, but they were pretty speedy. 

I enjoyed my three laps and a little sprint finish. After I’d finished, I checked out the café, which is currently only serving hot drinks and cakes (which were very tasty!). And chatted to the lovely tourists from Crosby parkrun who have invited me to come down and check out their beachfront event, which includes the Antony Gormley statues one of my future venues as I work my way down through Lancashire.

parkrun Tourism: Witton #26: 21/1/2023

When my alarm went off at 6:30 this morning, I did question my sanity in having a hobby that involves getting up so early on a Saturday morning. Tourism is not for the faint-hearted when you have to travel for an hour or more just to run 5 km in some random place. However, there are plenty of us that to do this so maybe we can’t all be mad?

Yesterday I had hoped to visit one of my NENDYs (that’s my nearest not done yet parkrun) but as I went online I discovered the 1st at Preston was cancelled due to ice and then Skipton was also cancelled. What to do? Luckily for me Witton parkrun turned out to be only an hour or just under away and they told me on Facebook that they would be on this morning.

Wainwright Challenge: 17/214 Grisedale Pike

 

After finishing at Workington parkrun, I decided to nip up Grisedale Pike on my way home. Of course I was fully kitted out as its 790m of elevation to the summit. I had been part way up whilst videoing the Grisedale Grind in 2019 but hadn't made to the top (this seems to be a common theme!) so I knew the basic route up. It was a shock to get to the car park and discover it was closed! A lovely lady at the main Whinlatter visitor centre assured me that the footpath was still accessible and explained the route:

The trail is easy to follow as the Forestry Commission put in plenty of signs and maintain the access:

parkrun Tourism: Workington #19: 25/6/2022

Video at the bottom.

When I first attempted to complete all the Cumbrian parkruns, it was the two West coast ones that I didn't get to due to travel time. Due to all the lakes and fells you have to take a long way round and it took me well over an hour to get to Workington leisure centre to park my car. Signs then took me over the river Derwent to the start on the far side:

Being a long established parkrun (June 2013) there were was plenty of signage to show that you were in the right place:

Wainwright Challenge: 16/214 Baystones

 

On the 11th of June I was in Ambleside as I had taken part in the Lake District Challenge 10k around Loughrigg:

I decided to make the most of the included car parking to add another Wainwright to my list. This meant finishing what I had started a few years earlier when I had climbed Wansfell Pike and getting to Baystones which is just behind. My eldest joined me for a walk through Ambleside and up through the Stock Ghyll woods:

With Wansfell being one of the most popular fells the initial path way is well trodden and has been stepped. Its quite a slog up and my son's knee wasn't up to finishing it but luckily I fell in with a fellow solo hiker: