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Pymmes parkrun

My trip to Pymmes this week comes after an unsuccessful attempt last week! Unfortunately, the team were unable to access their AED before the event started, and so made the correct decision to cancel the event. Unfortunately, I didn't realise until it was too late to get to another event, but second time lucky!

With only a "P" and a "W" left in the UK alphabet to complete, and wanting to keep some of the closer "P" events as backups for cancellations in the future, this week it was Pymmes' turn to provide my parkrunning fix.

The area

Pymmes park is located in Edmonton, in north London. The town of Edmonton was once a rural village, before the railway and tramways provided the impetus for rapid expansion in the 19th century. The area now boasts one of the most ethnically diverse populations in the UK.

Pymmes park has existed in various forms of its current state since 1327, when it formed part of the Pymmes House estate, before being opened to the public in 1906. Of particular note, the park contains an ornamental Victorian walled garden, in addition to a nature reserve around the main lake.

The course

Due to covid, the course is a roughly 5.3 km lapped course of Pymmes park, taking in 3 laps around the perimeter, taking in views of football pitches, lakes, and other landscaped areas. The course starts and finishes on the access road in the centre of the southern half of the park.

Free parking is available along Victoria Road except on match days, however, there are no on-site toilets. A number of cafes are available for your post-run fix.

A sign for Pymmes parkrun

The run

We were told during the run brief about the slightly long course (an extra 0.3 km to help keep people spread out), and so I made the decision that I wouldn't run all out today. I didn't quite expect to be lapped half way around lap 2 though! A very quick runner was making even the speedy guys and gals look slow on his way to what would be a 14 minute course record, if only he didn't forget his barcode! It was really impressive to see him pass me, and be so close to that sort of athleticism.

Those slower runners amongst us were encouraged all the way around the course by some very cheery marshals, some of whom I recognised from last week. The rest of the event was a fairly normal affair, notable given the lack of normality we've experienced for the past months. I left the park with the impression that people are becoming used to being around other people again now, which is definitely a great thing!

Thank you to all of the volunteers this and last week, especially after having to make the call to cancel last week! It's not an enviable thing to have to do, but it was absolutely the right thing to do!

Links: Run report | Results | Strava

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Location: Pymmes Park, Victoria Rd, London N18 2UG, UK

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