Larking with brains on

You may know that at this stage of my running career I often have to contend with extreme breathlessness whilst running, which I can only counter by walking for a while to get my breath back. As someone who never used to have any breathing issues, I find this extremely difficult to cope with as inevitably it means my times are slower than I'd care for them to be, and so my performances are poorer.

One of my friends at parkrun suggested that I could use the time when I'm walking to look around and plan my route. My immediate reaction was that I didn't need to do that because I just followed the runner in front, and anyway, at parkrun I already knew where I was going.

But then I realised that Caroline was talking about orienteering. I've known about orienteering for years and years. I'm sure I read an article by Chris Brasher describing this Scandinavian sport when I was a teenager, probably in the Sunday Times or Observer, that made me think it sounded interesting. But at the time I was a fairly poor soccer player and certainly not a runner, and so the notion of orienteering was filed away in the dimmest reaches of my brain.

I started running in my 30s and in time became a runner who enjoyed all sorts of distances on all sorts of surfaces, but never had an opportunity to go orienteering. I was aware of the sport, as a sort of parallel running universe. But still I didn't look for an opportunity to take part.

So when Caroline suggested I try orienteering it struck a chord as being something I wanted to try, and I realised that my reluctantly acknowledged lack of speed wasn't necessarily a hindrance and might even be an advantage. A bonus was that I've always loved maps, although I've never considered myself very good at reading them and deciphering all the information they're filled with.

Having decided that I wanted to try this out I was unsure about actually going ahead and doing so. I didn't want to make a fool of myself. Fortunately, Caroline suggested a local event that would be ideal for beginners, and even offered to run with me and shadow me.

Usually on a Saturday morning I take part in a parkrun but yesterday I went to Pomphrey Hill parkrun to take photographs there, before heading to Stoke Park Estate to go orienteering! Stoke Park Estate used to be called Purdown . . it's that wide open space alongside the M32 out of Bristol that's overlooked by a big building that's the colour of the inside of a Crunchie bar!

Armed with a dibber lent to me by Caroline I registered for the event and was given a list of the checkpoints (controls) I would have to find, in the order I needed to find them. We went off to the start and waited in line in a grid marked on the floor. There were different courses available, each with varying degrees of difficulty and on shorter or longer courses: Yellow (easy), Orange (moderate), Light Green (harder) and Green (hard) and I'd been advised to try out Orange, which meant I would be looking for 10 controls over 3k of running.

At this point I still hadn't seen a map, and as there was one by my feet in the grid I picked it up and began to inspect it. Immediately (well, almost!) I realised the map was unmarked. My mentor explained that this was just for reference, it wasn't mine to use during the event and I would have to put it back! Apparently "my" map was waiting for me just beyond the start. I was quite anxious by now and learning that I didn't get to see a map until after I'd started didn't help. I'm the type who likes to plan ahead. Preferably a few weeks ahead!

Soon I was at the front of the line, watching the event clock tick around and when the buzzer buzzed, I dibbed my borrowed dibber and picked up my map. I was underway. I remembered that the first thing I needed to do was look for the triangle on the map as that showed me where I was, and having located that, I found the first control and decided which direction I needed to run in. Having had all this confirmed by Caroline, we set off along the path between the trees, and in less than 2 minutes I'd found my first control! What a thrill that was!!

The first few controls were in the woods, and the paths were just a sea of mud. This was larking, but better than that it was larking with a map and compass in my hand. As we moved from one control to the next, I got lucky each time and found the controls straight away, whilst my shadow assured me I was getting it right, offered advice when I needed it and suggested that actually she was redundant.

Caroline's theory was right. There were times when I became breathless and needed to walk, when I was able to look around, get my bearings and not only assure myself that I was headed the right way but also work out where I needed to aim for beyond the next control. Inevitably I went wrong at one stage. Despite two other orienteers heading off to the north of a pond, I set off to the south of it. There was no guarantee that we were on the same Orange course but by this stage it was likely. I was convinced I was right, but Caroline asked if she could look at the map. It turned out I'd mistaken a horse trough for a pond (what?), the other two runners were right and I was wrong. No change there!

And after just over 30 minutes it was all over. What fun! To add to the excitement, when I checked back in at registration and un-dibbed my dibber, I was given a print out showing my times at the different controls, and at that time I was 3rd out of 15 finishers. 3rd? That was astonishing and only surpassed by the fact that later on, when the results were published, I was still 3rd, out of 23. Blimey!! Mind you, I was 12 minutes behind the 12 year old boy who had won, and of the only two runners in my age group who took part, I was 2nd!

I hope I've given the impression that I enjoyed this experience. Finding those controls was a real thrill, each time. It's always good to run of course, and this was a great and mixed venue. And I loved seeing all the other orienteers dashing off in all sorts of different directions, either through the woods or across the wide open spaces, each on their own mission. Everyone was friendly, there was cake, and the sun shone. And I did it!

There's an event near Wells on Sunday. I'm sure the Mendips are lovely at this time of year!

Finally, thanks to Bristol Orienteering Klub and the University of Bristol Orienteering Club for staging the event, and to Caroline and other friends for encouraging me to explore this new path.

Oh my . . now that's what I call a parkrun!

Fountains Abbey in North Yorkshire . . one of those places you just have to visit. At least, I'm sure that's what my parents told me when they dragged me round the grounds of this enormous ruin, sometime in the 60s (here's a photo of us at nearby Rievaulx Abbey in 1963).

It's probably also what I told my 11 year old daughter in the summer of 2000, when I dragged her round with me. Ness had found the caves at Stump Cross much more interesting, but I had some fun. By the time I visited Fountains Abbey in 2000, I'd been running for several years, but I didn't have the vision to see the potential for a run with my friends that was right there before me.

Fast forward to 2013 and the National Trust, which was already hosting several parkruns in England and Wales, got together with the local parkrun community in North Yorkshire to plan a parkrun in the Abbey grounds. And on Saturday 1st March 2014, after a lot of hard work by everyone involved I'm sure, 375 runners turned up from all points of the compass, to take part in the first ever Fountains Abbey parkrun.

thanks to Megan for this and the two photos below

In the final few days preceding the big day there had been worries that there might be fog, or ice, which might prolong our journeys or even postpone the event. But of course the parkrun weather window was in position in plenty of time, and there was neither fog nor ice. Nor was there rain or wind, and for much of the morning the sun shone down on the valley of the River Skell.

Because there were so many of us all arriving at approximately the same time it took a while for the final few to park, and with the start being a 10 minute walk away, it was decided to delay the parkrun by 15 minutes. So if you're planning to visit Fountains Abbey parkrun, please bear in mind that it's no good rocking up at 5 to 9!

The 15 minute delay was great though, because it allowed us to spend more time gazing around in awe at our surroundings, to warm up for a little longer, to find familiar faces amongst the many parkrunners, and take more photographs, as many of us were.

thanks to Megan for this and the two photos above

Fountains Abbey parkrun consists of two laps, one shorter one around the Abbey complex, and a longer one that takes us around the Georgian Water Garden, at the furthest end of which we cross a narrow bridge, upon which we had been urged before the run, not to stop, and we didn't! The footpath is a good smooth surface, and although there are no hills, there are one or two lumps to overcome. The volunteers were great, really encouraging and friendly (although my friends at Ashton Court will be disappointed that I didn't stop to hug any of them).

thanks to Sarah for this photo - one of the many great photos she took of this parkrun

All parkruns are special. I've taken part in several, at a few different locations, and I know that they all have their own unique characteristics. But once Fountains Abbey parkrun was underway, it was immediately obvious that it is more than special, and always will be.

It's easy for me, running closer to the back of the pack than the front, to say so, but this is a run to savour, to hold your head up and look around and take it all in. I've no doubt that the first person to run 100 parkruns at Fountains Abbey will have noticed something new every time. There is simply so much to see. Not just the Abbey itself, which must have been a huge building 500 years ago, when it was still in use. How did our ancestors build these huge buildings? How did they get the stone down into the valley, and who had the imagination, the vision and the courage to design and build such a building? Takes your breath away just thinking about it.

thanks to Sarah for this photo - another of the many great photos she took of this parkrun

And beyond the Abbey itself, the swans sailing unhurriedly across the lake. The line of runners snaking along the footpath up ahead, their many coloured clothing reflected below them in the Lake. The beautiful trees, the spring flowers. And the people from the National Trust joining in with the other supporters and cheering us on. And after this magnificent parkrun, what a great coffee shop to round it all off.

I can't wait to get back there at Easter!

Thanks to all the volunteers and everyone else who make Fountains Abbey parkrun happen. In case you hadn't heard, Fountains Abbey was founded in 1132 and was in use by the Cistercians until 1539 when Henry VIII suppressed the monasteries. It's a Grade 1 listed building, which is owned by the National Trust and together with Studley Royal Park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It's the only one of those with a parkrun. I've put some links over there on the right, if you'd like to learn more . .

A larkless start to the year . .

There's been very little larking going on since my last report, it must be time to start planning some more . .

In the meantime, I've managed to take part in 6 different parkruns, twice at my home run Ashton Court, and once at each of Hull, Little Stoke, Sewerby, Chipping Sodbury and Fountains Abbey. The latter two occasions were inaugural events, and I'll write about the last one later.

There was some mud at each of them, but nothing really  worth larking in. Sewerby tried hardest, as the weather was quite atrocious with needles in the rain and a slippery surface, but it still wasn't a lark, more's the pity.

 

I did go along to Long Ashton on 23 February, a Sunday, to watch and support friends taking part in Nailsea Running Club's Ironwood Challenge. This is about 10k, starts and finishes in the village, and slips and slides over hills and trails in between.

Inevitably I took my camera along and despite the rain and cold managed to get some reasonable photos. I haven't got them on my website yet but you'll find them on my flickr pages. I'm certain there's a link somewhere . .