One of my favourite things about parkrun is the fact that you can do it all over the UK (and many other countries!). Two of my friends, Kate and Jamie, have recently taken up running and came down from Bristol and did their first parkrun with me. Nothing makes me more proud and happy than when my ‘non-running’ friends get excited about running.
So it made sense for me to go to Bristol to do their local parkrun, Pomphrey Hill, with them. It would be their second and the first time I’d ever done this particular one. I’ve done Little Stoke which would have been super local for them (being a five minute drive away) but unfortunately we all know what happened to that parkrun
Anyway I drove up after work on Friday and Jamie cooked us all dinner. Jamie and me have very similar tastes and appetites, so I felt very happy to let him decide what we were having!
Amazingly he had slow-cooked three turkey legs with a BBQ glaze for us each and also a beef brisket…because, why not? They also had lots of dips and salads (bless them, they know carbs aren’t big in my world!). It was delicious needless to say. Afterwards we had a slice of red velvet cake (carbs I can easily get on board with) and watched some telly. A perfect Friday night!
In the morning we got up and got ready to pick up another of Kate’s friends and headed to Pomphrey Hill, which was about 20 minutes away.
We didn’t really know much about the course other than it didn’t have a huge mammoth hill that the other Bristolian parkrun, Ashton Court, had. But we overheard a few people discussing the route and found that it definitely wasn’t flat.
We did some warm-ups and then heard the first timer briefing. It was so friendly (isn’t it always?) and the lady who instructed us was very charismatic and funny. She then asked for any tourists to line up for a photo.
I kind of wish I’d worn my Netley parkrun top now but hey ho. I saw someone wearing a Little Stock one and it made me a little sad for that lost parkrun. The cafe near the start was cooking bacon and the smell was amazing but not really welcome considering none of us had had breakfast nor had money for post-parkrun food!
We then headed to line-up. It’s funny because since Kate and Jamie have started parkrun they highlighted something to me that I hadn’t really noticed before. Us runners just love being self-congratulatory. We clap for anything and everything: “any first timers?” *clap*, “well done to the volunteers” *clap*, “any 50ths?” *clap*, “any tourists?” *clap*. Though they agree that it’s a nice thing and adds to the friendliness and all-inclusivity.
Jamie and Kate have done so well to lose so much weight – check them out in this old post for a comparison!
The run director then gave us a quick briefing where we heard a bit more about the course. He left a pause after he said “and then you go…” and everyone shouted “up Pomphrey Hill!”. Uh oh. If there’s a motto for the hill you know it’s going to be bad.
It was three laps which included a small hill/incline going past the finish and then relatively flat swinging around the field and near a lake and then “up Pomphrey Hill!” which was horrifically steep but thankfully wasn’t that long. It did require a battle of wills though to not walk it. Then happily it was flat and then a lovely downhill round the corner back towards the finish again for another two laps.
I found it really tough, I won’t lie. The hill was knackering but the down hills were nice. It was just hard to keep a good pace going seen as how I’m so unfit (in running terms). But it was an enjoyable run with lots of smiling marshals cheering us on and lots of people (338!) running to keep you motivated.
I felt stronger as the run progressed and didn’t walk the hill which I was pleased about. Towards the last lap I kept overtaking and being overtaken by one guy. At the end I managed to burn away from him and get to the finish just before him. I turned around and jokingly said “you almost had me!” and he completely blanked me. Like he heard what I said and chose to ignore me. It was just a bit of gentle banter – I was going to say that given 10 more seconds he’d have overtaken me again but clearly he didn’t want to talk. I chatted away to someone else instead.
I finished in 24:01, 4th female and first in my age category. Damn those two seconds! But I was really pleased with that as I’ve been sitting around 24 minutes for most of my parkruns lately.
I know how tough I found that parkrun so I wasn’t sure how Kate and Jamie would find it as they don’t often run hills. Lee on Solent parkrun was dead flat so I hoped they were OK. Kate’s sister had come down with their parent’s 14 week old puppy to watch and cheer so I headed over to her to cheer Jamie and Kate in.
They both finished almost two minutes faster than Lee on Solent! Clearly their running is coming on in leaps and bounds. They found it very tough though (as did I) and we were all pretty shattered afterwards.
But we were all really pleased with ourselves. Jamie and Kate were over the moon. It made my day to see them so happy!
Lola, the puppy, enjoying the attention
Kate’s friend, Catherine, finished just after them and, it being her first parkrun and 5k, did a stellar job. What a parkrun to do as your first though!
We then headed back to shower. Now I will fully admit that I am a Pokémon Go convert. I’m a nerd at heart and used to play Pokémon (both on the Gameboy and as the collectable cards) when I was younger so this is right up my street. Thankfully Jamie is also into it so the two of us were like little kids playing on our phones while Kate looked at us in exasperation. Happily we went on a walk with their adorable pug, Doug, to a Starbucks to grab a coffee and Jamie and me got our Pokémon fix. We could see a lot of other people walking around doing exactly the same, both old and young which was quite amusing. I think it’s a great idea to get people out and about (though the less said about idiots taking ridiculous risks the better…).
For lunch we’d planned on going to Spitfire again but the centre of Bristol was quite busy with a harbour festival going on so we went somewhere else instead. Jamie had found a pub, called Upton Inn, that had an “add on” smokehouse (Voodoo Q). We were intrigued.
It was just a regular pub but out at the back there was a little sheltered outhouse thing being manned by a single guy. There was a separate menu for the BBQ food. We questioned him a bit about the different foods and he definitely knew his stuff (says the BBQ connoisseur, ha!). On the menu it said a rack of ribs was to share between two people. Jamie and me were sceptical – don’t they know of our rib eating prowess? Was it really a sharing thing? But after informing us that 1.2kg of ribs was probably a bit much for one person we were inclined to agree!
In the end we ordered one and half racks of ribs, beef brisket and 10 chicken wings. J also ordered some bean and chilli sides for him and Kate. The guy was amazing. He’d hosted a chilli party the night before and had a few “leftovers” that he said he’d chuck in as well for our eating pleasure. Amazing!
Everything was indeed amazing. The ribs were insanely huge and had a really smoky taste which was nice. The chicken wings were really good – best I’ve had in a good while. I didn’t manage any of the brisket (choose your battles). He’d given us four different home-made sauces as well to try. As we munched along, the guy then brought out some pork loin and sausages for us to try! It was never ending I tell you. But it was so good. The guy (I wish I’d gotten his name) wants to go into competing and just really loves people enjoying his food and that really shone with his service. If you’re in Bristol it’s definitely worth a visit!
On the way back to Kate and J’s (all feeling very full but content) we stopped by Kate’s parent’s house to pick up Lola, the puppy. Such a adorable dog.
Really cute.
Then it was time for me to head back to Southampton. Needless to say a brilliant weekend. I know my BBQ food obsession has got a bit out of control lately but I just love it!
What’s your latest food obsession?
Do you enjoy BBQ food?
What attracts you to different parkruns? The course? The locality? The people who’ll be there?
Ummm sorry but I kind of got distracted by that puppy. Cuteness overload!!
And I love a good BBQ! I could probably eat it every weekend 😉
kat recently posted…WIAW 7.20.16
I know!! She was light as a feather and just adorable.
AnnaTheApple recently posted…Sunny parkrun and I’m long running again!
When you said you weren’t big in to carbs I was thinking “wait a minute, what about cake” haha. They are some epic looking turkey legs – I can’t get enough of BBQ sauce at the moment.
Dannii @ Hungry Healthy Happy recently posted…Comment on Cherry and Almond Parfait by Jessica
I know!! She was light as a feather and just adorable.Cake is at the bottom of my food pyramid 😉
AnnaTheApple recently posted…Sunny parkrun and I’m long running again!
Nice work on another parkrun and on converting more people too! I love how friendly all of the events are. I’ve looked with my dad at a few fairly nearby events, and we have tried to find ones which are not loads of laps as we are not so keen on that. I am looking at doing a couple in the autumn but they will need to be close by to where we are staying (we might go to Nottingham on the train so I’ll need to be able to walk to the start as we won’t have a car). I might do Hove Prom again as I really liked that and the start was easy to find. Or if I am going on my own I like to have a vague idea of where to park and how to get there as I do panic if I don’t know where I am going.
My food obsession at the moment is homemade iced tea (does that count?)- it’s so refreshing. We even cheated and bought a bag of ice (it was only £1) so no hassle with trying to balance trays in the freezer drawers any more.
Maria @ runningcupcake recently posted…Ware 10 miles 2016- still all about the cake
I agree – parkrun panic isn’t great. When I was in Bath I just kept my eyes open for runner-looking people and then tagged on to people. I find it easier to run to a parkrun then to drive as generally driving to unknown places for me is very stressful and then parking… nightmare.
I prefer three laps to a huge loop or out and backs. Then I know what I’m in for for most of the run.
I think buying ice is one of those luxuries that really is worth it. The time and faff is saves. So many times I’ve tipped water over things in my freezer from a balance mishap.
AnnaTheApple recently posted…Sunny parkrun and I’m long running again!
Puppy!!!!!! So cute! We’ve been playing pokemon too, it’s so funny seeing people our age playing it everywhere you go.
Lauren (@poweredbypb) recently posted…Super Sporty Smoothie
I think it’s good, innocent fun. I’m getting annoyed with people having a go about it. What’s the issue?!
AnnaTheApple recently posted…Sunny parkrun and I’m long running again!
Oh my god that food looks so good!
It really was…I re-live it in my dreams 😉
AnnaTheApple recently posted…Sunny parkrun and I’m long running again!
How rude of that guy to blank you at the finish! I often chat to people I beat or who beat me on the finish line. You instantly have a conversation starter with that person. Clearly he was rather miffed to be beaten by a girl! 😉
Gorgeous puppy!
Although I like a good BBQ I find that after a burger and a kebab skewer I’m pretty much done. I don’t like actual BBQ flavouring as I find it too sweet. My latest food obsession is galia melon. So mouth-wateringly satisfying at this time of year when it’s super hot!
I’m trying to up my parkrun tourism at the minute, and locality plays a big part in where I head next. My favourite courses though are the ones which are smaller in number and have a great core crew of marshals – the atmosphere is much friendlier at these and I always feel like I am part of a little community then.
Mary recently posted…The inaugural Linford Wood parkrun
He was wearing a tri-suit so maybe he wasn’t aware of the runner code 😉
Oh we are so different! I could eat BBQ food for daaaaaays. And covered in the BBQ sauce ;-p
I always get a tug to go back to Lee on Solent parkrun as the crew their are just so friendly and lovely. But I always feel guilty leaving Netley!
AnnaTheApple recently posted…Sunny parkrun and I’m long running again!