Dancing At Lunacy

parkrun #319 event #88

Reason for visit – Jemima starring at Sadlers Wells! Oh, and I got to see Hamilton while I was there also….

Access:

Normally when I’m visiting Jem we sit on Friday nights trying to match nearby parkruns with route maps, and they can be quite lengthy and complicated. This time I was staying in the Travelodge Royal Scot, where I could see St Pancras out my hotel window.

Highbury and Islington is one stop on the Victoria line, and the course is only 200m from the station! Definitely one of the easiest London ones to get to by public transport.

Course:

No gonna lie, it’s 5 laps. Mostly on tarmac footpaths, with any obstacles such as “mud corner” marshalled or coloured coned. Starts and finishes on grass, and there’s a designated baggage area. It does go up a slight hill (I was tempted to do a Crocodile Dundee-esque “Call that a hill?”), before a slight meandering path at the top of the park, (no short cuts across the grass!) and then a delightful gentle downhill section. For those at the back of the pack like me, you will be lapped a few times, but the last couple of laps will be quieter and less crowded.

Facilities:

Start and finish is at the same spot, so there’s always someone around near the bag drop. There is a 20p public loo, I asked politely and was allowed to use the ones in the little leisure centre. Plenty of cafes around for parkfaffing – I had to get back and changed as I had a whole day of theatre-going ahead of me. And a snigger-worthy pub.

Gear:

It was just after the death of Her Majesty Elizabeth II, so I wore my black 100 volunteer shirt. (I did see someone in a rarely spotted 250 vol one). Skirty leggings, cow cowl, and zippy belt. Sadly, when I got back to the tube station, my debit card was missing, must have fallen out of the zippy belt while I was taking photos. I was quite glad of the short lap, as I retraced my steps, but to no avail. I wore my Saucony shoes – the What Shoes spreadsheet does suggest road shoes, though the wet grass bits can be slippy.

Crowd:

Having beaten the slugs at (S)Limefield and Knockbraken, this time the slugs beat me!

A few tourists chatted to me having spotted the cowl, and there plenty of cheery volunteers.

Time:

My reported time was 38 minutes, which frankly I don’t believe. But the official result is the official one, so I’ll take it! I wasn’t wearing a sports watch so I can’t corroborate, but it would be the first sub 40 in quite some time if it’s correct.

Strangely Appropriate Song on Shuffle:

I wasn’t listening to any music or podcasts- running on busy public footpaths I like to be fully aware of my surroundings. Over the weekend, though, we had several renditions of God Save The King, which we are all trying to get used to.

And the Rest:

Jemima was – of course – amazing! And I got to meet up with my best friend and her husband, and my cousin and his wife, so we had quite a fan club for her.

Hamilton was just mind blowing, so much happens on stage that it’s hard to take it all in.

All my parkruns:

NI (and other) parkruns: summary list

Filed under: London, Parkrun, running | Tagged: Highbury Fields |