“panic jog” – a mad dash to the start line when your train runs late, the traffic was bad, or you arrive to find that the start line is 1km from the car park.
“panic drive” – a mad drive to parkrun when traffic is bad, you get lost, you overslept, or your satnav is mental.
Our family holiday in Cornwall was coming to an end – lazy days surfing and building sand castles at Mawgan Porth beach, cycling the Camel Trail, and munching pizza while watching the sunset. Mrs Dan signed my permission slip allowing me off site for a few hours to indulge my irrational need to parkrun on a Saturday morning.
On parkruneve I fired up the laptop to plan my excursion out to Lanhydrock parkrun. Google and the AA route planner stated a 30 minute drive so I had time for breakfast at the hotel in the morning and then a relaxing journey through the countryside.
I said my goodbyes after breakfast, went to the car, entered the details into the satnav and…. wtf?!?!?! 1 hour & 10 minutes? Checked details on phone. Entered into satnav again. Same result. Entered last time. Same result. Sat in stunned silence for 30 seconds before deciding that my satnav must be on holiday as well or had been smoking crack. Off I went.
Google and the AA were wrong. Thankfully my satnav was wrong as well. Forty minutes later I parked my car at Lanhydrock and followed fellow parkrunners down to the start line. I may have edged the wrong side of the speed limit a teeny-tiny amount but I made it in time.
Runners congregated at the start line with the run briefing revealing that most of the runners were Lanhydrock first timers like myself. The first section of the course was downhill and I took the opportunity to chat with another visitor from London. She had cycled from Wimbledon to Cornwall in time to catch some parkrun tourism before continuing her break by the coast. I don’t think that my family could be persuaded to take on that kind of cycling adventure.
The downhill led to some serious uphill sections where I walked to admire the views and catch my breath. More catch my breath to be honest. I’ve marked Lanhydrock down as the hilliest parkrun, above the challenge that Tring offers. It wasn’t just the hills that made me walk though, a flat section through the woods by a beautiful stream slowed me down as I took in the stunning surroundings.
My holiday pass from Mrs Dan did not extend to staying for a drink & snack afterwards so I missed out on some parkrun socialising. A delightful parkrun with stunning scenery and some seriously testing hills. I would love to visit again some day and stay to sample everything Lanhydrock has to offer.
