Skip to main content

Ally Pally parkrun

Now that I have completed the UK Alphabet, my focus has turned towards the East of England region. As there are so many events to choose from, I'm going to start by working through events in alphabetical order again, with an emphasis on working east to west, which for me, effectively orders events furthest to nearest.

During my initial exploration of the challenge, I did make a mistake however, which I only realised after running this event - I didn't realise that Aldenham parkrun was in the region, and so I started this phase of parkrunning by running Ally Pally parkrun instead!

The area

Ally Pally, or Alexandra Palace, is a purpose built community centre in Haringey, North London.

The front of Ally Pally from the road

Unlike other palaces in the UK, Ally Pally has no royal connection, and instead has been entirely community oriented since its conception. The palace houses a theatre, concert hall, a convention centre, an ice rink, and has facilitated BBC broadcasts and studios for many years.

The broadcast aerial situated on the eastern corner of the palace

The palace overlooks Alexandra Park, which is a tree-lined open space with views overlooking most of London.

View of London from Ally Pally

In addition to the views of London, the park offers impressive views of Ally Pally itself.

Alexandra Palace as seen from the park

The course

Runners begin along a central path, and complete two laps of the main paths around the park, before returning to the start area along the same central path. The course is a mixture of tarmac and trail, so can become muddy in wetter weather, and the course takes runners up and down the hillside upon which the palace sits on each lap.

Limited paid parking is available in the palace car park, however, this is also currently the location of a testing facility, and so access may be limited. No public toilets are available in the vicinity of the park, however, lots of cafes are available in the surrounding area which offer use of their facilities to customers.

The run

After the lumpy Wendover Woods last week, knowing that the course this week was another lumpy one, I decided that I would pace the run much more evenly this week. The surface was an interesting mixture of tarmac, trail, gravel and dirt, and when combined with the changeable weather this morning, it seemed like there was going to be nothing constant about the day.

Fortunately for me, I did manage to find a group of people who were running at a fairly consistent pace (I assume faster runners who were having an easy day), and so I did manage to run the course in one of my more even splits so far!

Thanks to the volunteers for hosting such a seamless event!

Links: Results | Strava

References: Alexandra Palace

Labels:
Location: Alexandra Park & Palace, Alexandra Palace Way, London N22 7AY, UK

Popular posts from this blog

Coldham's Common parkrun

As my recovery from injury is still underway, I decided that I would attend a flat course this week to avoid any potential for reaggrevation. Unfortunately this means I will need to pause my completion of the Essex events, as the remaining courses are all somewhat lumpy. Having visited all of the other Cambridge parkruns, including Storeys Field parkrun, Fulbourn Hospital parkrun, and Cambridge parkrun knowing that they are all relatively flat, I decided that this week I would complete the Cambridge set. The area Coldham's Common has a long history, serving as both a hospital during the 17th century smallpox outbreak, and a quarry during the 19th century, as well as a rifle range also during the 19th century. The course The route follows two laps of the perimeter of the common through an hour-glass shape, connecting two fields through a five-bar-gate. The course is all on grass, and is all flat. Limited parking is available nearby, while toilets are available in
Read more

Markshall Estate parkrun

Having spent a number of weeks focussed on events in the north of the East of England, I decided that this week I would pay some attention to the south of the region and visit Markshall Estate parkrun while still in the best time of the year to visit an arboretum. The area The Markshall Estate (interchangably the "Marks Hall" Estate) is the remains of a former country estate located in Coggeshall, between Colchester and Braintree. The hall itself was demolished in 1950, leaving its grounds to be converted into an arboretum, featuring trees from around the world. Coggeshall has been a settled area since at least the Saxon area, and was later served by Stane Street; a Roman road stretching from modern day Colchester to near St Albans. The course The route follows just under two laps of the arboretum, starting at the top of a hill, and finishing at the bottom, meaning this is a net down-hill course. The course is run on a mixture of tarmac, concrete, gravel, trail an
Read more

Aldenham parkrun

Icey conditions in days leading up to parkrun day meant many events were cancelled this week. While I would have ideally been able to visit another event in Essex, I decided that I valued having options more in the event of cancellation this week, and so I instead headed to the cluster of events surrounding the Watford area. The area Aldenham Country Park is located near Watford, and centres on Aldenham reservoir, with grassland and woodland surrounding the reservoir itself. The reservoir was excavated by French prisoners of war during 1795 as part of the wider management of the Grand Union Canal's water levels, and now serves as a reserve water supply. In addition to the reservoir, the country park also supports the breeding of a number of rare species of farm animals, including cattle, goats, pigs, and sheep. The course The course follows two laps of the reservoir, with the second lap skipping the inner peninsular. The course is flat, and is run mainly on trail pat
Read more