I woke up with our cruise ship docked off the coasts of both the African continent and Portugal. Glistening in front of us was the island of Madeira and it's capital Funchal.
Disappointingly, for us, parkrun isn’t in Madeira yet. Unlike when I was in Florida earlier this year where I was 160k away from the nearest event, meaning I didn’t run, this Saturday was going to be different. I planned to do a parkrun recognised (not)parkrun.
Back in March 2020 when the world was in crisis, lockdowns were happening and parkrun was cancelled there was a huge demand for a way for people to maintain their parkrun community. In response to this parkrun launched (not)parkrun, similar to Freedom Run. It enables you to ‘self-declare’ a date and time to do your 5k. One activity can be recorded per day with your fastest time each week included in a weekly results table with your existing parkrun profile allowing you to log and view your (not)parkrun results. These (not)parkruns do not count towards parkrun milestones and there are no volunteering opportunities/credits 🙂
However with the data held on the parkrun website who knows how it might be used/integrated in the future.
I elected to use the ship’s gym which was ghost-like at 0630 but still had ‘happy house’ music being pipped around. I drank some lemon-infused water, chose my running machine, hooked on my headphones. With one of my favourite playlists selected I set off!
I’m not a running machine regular and even with headphones on I was shocked and distracted by how heavy-footed I sounded. And then there was the swaying, nothing to do with cocktails the night before 🙂 rather the gentle rocking of the ship. I finished up a little giddy from the whole thing but happy to have bagged my (not)parkrun 5k.
The capital of Madeira is Funchal, named after the fennel plants. The city rises from the sea into the hills. The houses are uniformly white-walled buildings with orange tile roofs, with bell towers and opulent baroque churches punctuating the skyline. All set in rich vegetation and blossom. Registered as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1996 it is one of the prettiest cities I’ve visited.
We took two cable cars to visit the ornamental garden for lunch, strolling and enjoying the incredible views looking down over the city to the harbour. This is a spectacular sight. Madeira offers an abundance of restaurants, bars, and street cafes. The Gothic-style Funchal Cathedral is one of many sights to see.
Madeira is known for its epic trail walks that criss-crossed the island. With a strong running community organising 5k, 10k, half-marathons and marathons, it’s a strong contender for one or perhaps several parkruns in the future. Whilst potentially very hilly, I’m sure any parkruns here would be stunning.
In my time at sea, I’ve become UnLonDone due to the long-awaited commencement of Battersea parkrun. The urge to regain my LonDone status (completing all the parkruns inside the M25) is very strong. Let’s see.
Stay safe, stay well and happy running
Maderia sounds pretty perfect. Lovely to see the photos. A Nelson Mandela Memorial. How wonderful.