Ian Runs

There is, surprisingly, only one single "D" event in the East of England, and so today's decision to attend Dunstable Downs parkrun was a relatively straightforward one. The area Dunstable Downs is located outside Dunstable, at the northern tip of the Chiltern Hills. Dunstable is situated at the intersection of Watling Street and the Icknield Way - some of the oldest roads in Great Britain. The Downs forms part of the same escarpment I ran at both Wendover Woods and Tring parkruns. The area is mainly farmland, with a number of smaller woods spread amongst the open meadows. The course Given the possibilities for a very lumpy course in the area, the event team at Dunstable Downs parkrun have been extraordinarily generous, and kept the lumps to a relatively mere uneven surface! The course is run entirely on grass and trail. The route initially traces the outline of the field next to the visitor centre before following the ridgeline to two fields which can s...

Today marks the day I complete the UK alphabet challenge! Woohoo! As I had deliberately chosen the events I run based on rareness recently, I have been left in need of a "W". Fortunately, there are many of those around! The particular "W" I chose this week is Wendover Woods - based purely on the elevation profile. It's definitely amongst the more bumpy of courses! The area Wendover Woods is a woodland located at the northern tip of the Chiltern Hills. Historically, woodland has formed the majority of the landscape in the Chilterns at least since the 9th century. The wood has always been used as a consumable resource by local populations, from the construction of houses, horse-drawn carts and fences in the 14th century, for firewood to be burnt in London in the 19th century, through to being used for rifle butts and tent pegs in during the wars of the early 20th century. The woodland itself is a mixture of coniferous and decid...

With a limited number of events left to complete before I considered which event I wanted to complete for each letter. While I have limited options for some of them, there are some very lumpy ones I want to do amongst them - Wendover Woods, Queen Elizabeth, and Tring being the big three! These three presented a real challenge though, and so I wanted to spread them out so I had chance to recover properly between each. I could also use the less common letters to spread the lumpy runs out too - two uncommon letters, one lumpy course, rinse and repeat until we're done! This week I wanted to test the plan out, and so Tring it was! The area Positioned amongst the Chiltern Hills, Tring is a market town whose lineage can be traced back to prehistoric times. Many of the towns streets are very narrow by modern standards, which reinforces the historic nature of the area. Tring Park is located to the south of the town itself. The park was previously part of the Tring Park Mansion es...