A bit of a frosty morning here in Blackpool. Finished scraping the ice off the windscreen using a credit card! ( OK, I was not in the Boys Scouts for very long) 0715hrs and I think I will venture out to the next big town, Preston. Having looked up the other day, where I could possibly participate in a “parkrun” Well, I found one just on the outskirts of Preston. So as I had downloaded my latest app to my Android contraption I dutifully plumbed in the post code where the event was taking place.
Heh presto! The device is now talking to me and directing me South, which I suppose is a start. I did cheat a bit, as I had viewed the venue on the internet prior to my northern excursion.
The time now is about 0825 and the old currant bun had blistered out of the clouds shining across the river Ribble. Unbeknown to me, I had walked upon a stunning riverside reserve, married alongside a beautiful park (Avenham Park) There were two pedestrian bridges and a much larger viaduct. Now thinking, why the hell did I leave my android gismo in the car, as I could have taken some spectacular shots of the location, never mind? I am sure that one can look at other bloggers snaps.
I arrived nice and early to meet up with a whole bunch of friendly folk. I had read up a little bit about the course and knew that it was a three lapper. What I did not know and anticipate, a really nasty 50yd (yes, I still work in pounds, shillings & pence) bloody hill. After a fifteen minute warm up I stripped down to my race clobber and headed to the start.
Some bod shouted “GO” and we were off alongside the river bank, then the bump I had mentioned earlier. After the second lap, I was starting to feel a tiny weary attacking this hill. Third lap and the field had by now, spread out a lot, with a few lads crossing the finish line. I still had a lap to go. I had a lady who was running my pace, but trounced me three times on the dreaded hill. A half mile left and I am tailing the same lady, yes, caught her at the last 800m (back to metric lingo now) and satisfied that I had gained a few seconds on my time for this year.
Race over and into a really posh café overlooking the flower and plant festooned park. I sat down and devoured a nice cup of cappuccino with some really friendly ladies who had entered the local half marathon, the following day.
I walked back to my car with a local lad, who filled me in with work that has been on-going for the last two years. The council had built cycle path, and had linked up existing routes, making a continuous thirty mile route. I might explore this for a future event. Marks out of ten, well, I would have given it a ten but for that bump. 9 out of 10
“Running, you know it makes sense”
Cheers
Tony Sheridan (Windle Valley Runners) Web Site: windlevalley.com
Sunday, 4 November 2012
Saturday, 3 November 2012
parkrun Tourists....come to Coventry parkrun!
Having run all but 2 of my parkruns at Coventry, I believe that now is the right time to tell you all about Coventry parkrun. I will try to give all potential parkrun tourists as much information about Coventry parkrun as I possibly can.
parkrun Tourists: Come and give Coventry parkrun a try - you know you want to!
Where is it?
War Memorial Park in Coventry.
Postcode: CV3 6PT
Follow the steady stream of runners from the main car park to the start line beside the tennis courts and cafe. About 5 minutes walk.
Click here for more information on War Memorial Park on the City Council website.
Travel
By train: The nearest rail station is Coventry Station, (London to Birmingham Line). 15 minutes walk along Warwick Road
For train times and tickets check here: National Rail Enquiries
Or here (often cheaper): TheTrainLine
By bus: Bus services 14, 15, X17 leave from Covenry city centre at regular intervals. Its less than a mile, so its not a long journey.
By car/bike: Coventry War Memorial Park is situated off the Coventry Ring Road, exit at Junction 6. Follow Warwick road (A429). The nearest car park for parkrun is on Kenilworth Road - signposted (Park and Ride).
Car parking
The main (park and ride) car park can be found along Kenilworth Road and has plenty of space for all parkrunners and other park visitors alike. Obviously though, if you can share lifts or make your way to the park on foot, so much the better.
There is another smaller car park off Leamington Road. And another off Coat of Arms Bridge Road. But neither of these are as close to the parkrun start line or have anything like the capacity of the main car park.
Links
parkrunfans Course description
Coventry parkrun Course page
Coventry parkrun News page
Coventry parkrun Latest results
Coventry parkrun on Facebook
Coventry parkrun on Twitter
Park Facilities
Cafes: There are two cafes in War Memorial park. The Pavillion café is immediately adjacent to the parkrun start/finish area and it is open 9am-5pm at the weekend (Monday- Friday 9am-4pm). The other is the Beechtree café which is located in the Visitor Centre about two thirds of the way around the parkrun course and is open 9am-4pm at the weekend (Monday - Friday 10am-4pm). Both are within 5 minutes walk from the main car park. Hot and cold drink, main meals and snacks are available at each.
Toilets: There are public toilets (male, female and disabled) at the buildings that house each of the two cafes. The toilets beside the parkrun start/finish area are always open well before the parkrun start.
There is also: a childrens' playground, a childrens' splash and play water feature (summer only), tennis (8 courts), putting, bowls, a scateboard park and many football pitches.
Tourist Information
Visit Coventry and Warwickshire
Where to Stay
If you are coming from a fair distance away, you may want to consider staying in Coventry on the Friday or Saturday night.
Hotels nearby:
Brittania Coventry, City Centre
Ibis Coventry, City Centre
Village Hotel Coventry
The Hylands Hotel Coventry - Probably the closest hotel
Ramada Hotel Coventry
Bed & Breakfast nearby:
Abbyrmar Guest House
Abigail Guest House
Spire View Guest House
There are plenty of others besides these.
Local Attractions
Coventry Transport Museum: Free Admission - Coventry is the birthplace of the British cycle and motor industry. The museum claims the largest collection of British Road Transport in the world. You can easily spend a few hours here.
The Herbert Art Gallery
Coventry Cathedral: The beautiful old Cathedral (badly damaged during World War II) and the new Cathedral beside it.
St Mary's Guildhall: A beautiful old building (built circa 1340). Located right beside the old Cathedral: Mary Queen of Scots stayed here when she spent two months detained in the city of Coventry during the winter of 1569.
History of the park
City Council website
Wikipedia
parkrun Tourists: Come and give Coventry parkrun a try - you know you want to!
Where is it?
War Memorial Park in Coventry.
Postcode: CV3 6PT
Follow the steady stream of runners from the main car park to the start line beside the tennis courts and cafe. About 5 minutes walk.
Click here for more information on War Memorial Park on the City Council website.
Travel
By train: The nearest rail station is Coventry Station, (London to Birmingham Line). 15 minutes walk along Warwick Road
For train times and tickets check here: National Rail Enquiries
Or here (often cheaper): TheTrainLine
By bus: Bus services 14, 15, X17 leave from Covenry city centre at regular intervals. Its less than a mile, so its not a long journey.
By car/bike: Coventry War Memorial Park is situated off the Coventry Ring Road, exit at Junction 6. Follow Warwick road (A429). The nearest car park for parkrun is on Kenilworth Road - signposted (Park and Ride).
Car parking
The main (park and ride) car park can be found along Kenilworth Road and has plenty of space for all parkrunners and other park visitors alike. Obviously though, if you can share lifts or make your way to the park on foot, so much the better.
There is another smaller car park off Leamington Road. And another off Coat of Arms Bridge Road. But neither of these are as close to the parkrun start line or have anything like the capacity of the main car park.
Links
parkrunfans Course description
Coventry parkrun Course page
Coventry parkrun News page
Coventry parkrun Latest results
Coventry parkrun on Facebook
Coventry parkrun on Twitter
Park Facilities
Cafes: There are two cafes in War Memorial park. The Pavillion café is immediately adjacent to the parkrun start/finish area and it is open 9am-5pm at the weekend (Monday- Friday 9am-4pm). The other is the Beechtree café which is located in the Visitor Centre about two thirds of the way around the parkrun course and is open 9am-4pm at the weekend (Monday - Friday 10am-4pm). Both are within 5 minutes walk from the main car park. Hot and cold drink, main meals and snacks are available at each.
Toilets: There are public toilets (male, female and disabled) at the buildings that house each of the two cafes. The toilets beside the parkrun start/finish area are always open well before the parkrun start.
There is also: a childrens' playground, a childrens' splash and play water feature (summer only), tennis (8 courts), putting, bowls, a scateboard park and many football pitches.
Tourist Information
Visit Coventry and Warwickshire
Where to Stay
If you are coming from a fair distance away, you may want to consider staying in Coventry on the Friday or Saturday night.
Hotels nearby:
Brittania Coventry, City Centre
Ibis Coventry, City Centre
Village Hotel Coventry
The Hylands Hotel Coventry - Probably the closest hotel
Ramada Hotel Coventry
Bed & Breakfast nearby:
Abbyrmar Guest House
Abigail Guest House
Spire View Guest House
There are plenty of others besides these.
Local Attractions
Coventry Transport Museum: Free Admission - Coventry is the birthplace of the British cycle and motor industry. The museum claims the largest collection of British Road Transport in the world. You can easily spend a few hours here.
The Herbert Art Gallery
Coventry Cathedral: The beautiful old Cathedral (badly damaged during World War II) and the new Cathedral beside it.
St Mary's Guildhall: A beautiful old building (built circa 1340). Located right beside the old Cathedral: Mary Queen of Scots stayed here when she spent two months detained in the city of Coventry during the winter of 1569.
History of the park
City Council website
Wikipedia
Friday, 2 November 2012
Coventry parkrun smashes the 5000 registrants barrier
I have just had a quick look at some parkrun stats and noticed that Coventry parkrun has broken through the 5000 registrants barrier this week.
See the Registrations This Week page.
Somehow another 40 people have registered this week. It always amazes me how parkrun continues to grow.
Random stat: On this statistic alone, this makes Coventry roughly the 17th largest parkrun.
The 5000 figure does go to show how many people are interested in parkrun in Coventry. But I wonder how many of those have never run a parkrun? I would guess around half.
Just imagine what would happen if they all turned up one week! Probably not this weekend though given the cold spell.
On that thought, this means that less than 8% of registrants turn up to run each week. I wonder why it's such a low percentage. Quite strange.
I suppose the fact that there is no need for commitment or regular attendance is yet another of the great attractions of parkrun to the masses of runners and occasional runners alike.
See the Registrations This Week page.
Somehow another 40 people have registered this week. It always amazes me how parkrun continues to grow.
Random stat: On this statistic alone, this makes Coventry roughly the 17th largest parkrun.
The 5000 figure does go to show how many people are interested in parkrun in Coventry. But I wonder how many of those have never run a parkrun? I would guess around half.
Just imagine what would happen if they all turned up one week! Probably not this weekend though given the cold spell.
On that thought, this means that less than 8% of registrants turn up to run each week. I wonder why it's such a low percentage. Quite strange.
I suppose the fact that there is no need for commitment or regular attendance is yet another of the great attractions of parkrun to the masses of runners and occasional runners alike.
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