Aldenham parkrun started on the 20th June 2015 and we decided to save a ‘nearby’ London event (it’s inside the M25) for a rainy day. Along came our rainy day where our time was restricted but we still wanted to visit a new parkrun. We’d done our homework on this one and knew that site parking is a mouth-watering £4.50 so we drove round the outside and found road side parking with a 10 minute walk to the park. There’s a fine balance between supporting the local services and making parkrun affordable. Public transport is a tricky one for this location as well unfortunately.
The number of runners is low and that’s understandable based on the remote location and the parking charges. However, that doesn’t make the event any less worthwhile than any other parkrun. There are plenty of small parkruns out there, Wormwood Scrubs and Pymmes spring to mind, but they still embrace the parkrun ethos, they still have a wonderful community, and they’re still fantastic places to visit.
There was even a guy in the start area that came over to say hello because he recognised me from the videos I put together for the Gade Valley 20 and Brighton Marathon. He had run at both and found my YouTube channel from the Gade Valley video that I posted on their Facebook page. It was nice for someone to take the time to say hello based on something I posted online.
The route takes in two laps of the reservoir, taking in a short tarmac section and then woodland trail. On the first lap I realised that I had run here before; a training run on a day when I took The Son to a midweek exam some years back. I enjoyed my run with plenty of good mornings to the other site users as I passed.
We stayed for a drink and a snack at the small café, which is located next to the start / finish area. A lovely parkrun that would benefit from an agreement for reduced parking charges for parkrun users.
