Earlier this week, chatting to my friend Alice, she said she was hoping to do a parkrun sandwich. With my interest well and truly piqued I asked what this was and she shared it’s where you do a longish run before doing your parkrun and then a longish run afterwards. ‘Genius’ I declared.
With a marathon to train for and my home parkrun cancelled, due to the arrival of the fairground, I embraced the challenge of a parkrun sandwich.
We decided upon Catford parkrun a healthy 8k away. The sun was up but not a lot of people were out, the streets were car-free, air pollution low. I struck a comfortable pace as I made my way to Mountsfield Park, home to Catford parkrun.
As I walked over to the bandstand I was met with that parkrun buzz as volunteers finished up preparations with a combination of people catching up with friends, some off doing stretches and others doing mini sprints. The vibes in the air were good.
We set out for this 2.5 lap course and despite my best efforts to run slowly, as I would have another 8k to get home, I got carried away, I blame my Puma Nitro running shoes. This course had a little bit of everything; some grass sections, uphills, views over to Crystal Palace, downhills, cement paths, a trail section, ornamental gardens and lots of fab marshalls cheering us along.
On the second lap I got talking to Joseph, a Catford parkrun regular and member of Your Pace Or Mine, a running club in the area. The results showed a fair few members from this club in attendance. Joseph shared about his enjoyment of parkrun tourism and love of tackling City marathons.
Amongst the tourists were several runners from the Harold Wood running club based near Raphael parkrun in East London. Their striking electric green running shirts stood out and Tracy’s top had her official and unofficial parkrun milestones on it, with a fresh 400 on the front. Tracy, I learned, is an avid parkrunner with 23 runs and 23 volunteer credits already this year she is on course to emulate her 56 parkruns completed last year. She’s also a member of the World Tourist Club having run at Karpendonkse Plas parkrun in the Netherlands on their special day, Whit Monday. Who says parkrun has to just be on a Saturday!
With all 215 participants accounted for, by the 24 volunteer team, the weekly event close down began. People moved to the cafe in the park, the outside seating providing the perfect place for token sorting and swapping running tales.
Catford parkrun with its varied terrain and 32m of elevation provided great views over London and had been the perfect filling for my parkrun sandwich, a 21k running day!
With Burgess parkrun cancelled next week too, I’ll be doing another spot of tourism but this one won’t be a parkrun sandwich as I’m going to the Terry Hershey parkrun in Houston, USA!
Happy running
Mountsfield Park is a favourite of mine, such open views and great little cafe.
Great write up too!