Gullible's Travels: Parkrun Tourism Part 08

All over the place. January-December 2023.

So much tourism this year I have broken this post into three chapters:

April to September tourism:

Oriam [Average White Band]
Upton House [Lynn's 60th]
Terme [Grand Tour '25]
Donaupark [Grand Tour '25]
Hockgraben [Grand Tour '25]
Dietenbach [Grand Tour '25]
Great Notley [Grand Tour '25]

At the beginning of April we went back our home in Italy so we mostly did Salento parkrun on repeat as the next nearest parkrun is 400 km away. However we did sneak in some tourism.

We had a trip back to the UK to see the Average White Band. It was to be my fourth time seeing the Average White Band and the final time as they had announced this is their farewell tour billed as the "Let’s Go Round Again / Funk Finale Tour".

Mary booked these tickets almost a year ago so we always had planned a flying visit back from Italy especially for this gig. By a series of lucky coincidences this turned into a 10 day road trip back to the UK taking in AWB at the Usher Hall, John Bishop at O2 City Hall, a 70th birthday party and a visit to my second cousin. And, of course a couple of parkruns!

Oriam 11/05/2024 29:53 [76 / 149].

From our Home Exchange apartment we took a bus ride across town to Oriam to give us an “O” towards our second parkrun alphabet. Mary's sister Sandra drove over from Glasgow to join us.

It was a glorious day. Far too hot for the long leggings and sweatshirts we had brought with us, we never thought we would be that warm in Edinburgh!

Starting from the sports facility / leisure centre, it is a beautiful course through bluebell woods, forest and trail paths with some ups and downs.

A nice simple out-and-back around a square layout.

After Edinburgh it was one night in Newcastle for John Bishop then home to Penrith for a couple of days. Next we took the cross country train all the way down to Southampton Airport Parkway where we picked up a hire car to drive to Ringwood for the next couple of days.

Upton House 18/05/2024 29:42 [165 / 324].

We had already done Moors Valley and Bournemouth but rather than repeat for Mary's benefit we went over the border to Dorset for Upton House parkrun and a "U" for our second alphabet.

Lovely path round a country park.

Twice round a large loop with a small loop with a cheeky hill in the middle and views of Poole Harbour.

At the finish they were handing out free strawberries from one of the sponsors They started out with small bowls but had so many that by the end they were giving away punnets and punnets!

From there we returned to Italy, our road trip complete, for six more weeks.

Terme 29/06/2024 30:08 [12 / 27].

Next up was a grand tour. Last year to celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary we went Interrailing - a three week rail journey from southern Italy to Amsterdam. It was so successful that we decided to do something similar this year. This time it was five weeks to escape the southern Italian heat and travel across Europe ending up in Carcassone for a music festival. Full itinerary of our trip which naturally included a parkrun every Saturday.

Grand Tour 2024 - First leg: Fiesole, just outside Florence.

Mensola in Florence had to cancel as the Tour de France was predicted to mess up all the traffic. Fortunately, there is an another parkrun not too far away in Montecatini. However it was a 25 minute bus ride into Firenze then 50 minutes on the train. Too early a start and too reliant on public transport so we decided on a trip within a trip and did an overnight stay in Montecatini. We chose a hotel very close to the parkrun course to allow for a leisurely breakfast.

A winding course on which several people have reported taking wrong turns. We had the foresight to take a stroll round the park on Friday evening working out where to go so we did not get lost.

Mary fell on a gravel path but the team were lovely and so helpful over her grazes.

Three laps of a lovely park with a quirky loop in the middle, lots of welcome shade and a mix of tarmac and gravel paths.

Donaupark 06/07/2024 28:43 [87 / 130].

Grand Tour 2024 - Second leg: Vienna.

Another Saturday, another parkrun! Happily no cancellations, trips or spills today. Great bunch of volunteers, conversing fluently with crowd in German and English.

Three flat laps of a lovely colourful park.

Mary volunteered as a parkwalker and got to wear the blue tabard which gave her a chance to talk to some of the locals. Also great to meet and talk to fellow tourists.

Hockgraben 13/07/2024 30:06 [27 / 35].

Grand Tour 2024 - Third leg: Konstanz.

This week it was the lovely, if slightly damp, Hockgraben parkrun, Konstanz. A small crowd, only 35 of us and we were the only tourists.

Mary had a nice chat with Wolfgang, the tailwalker, who had lived in Naples at one time so the conversation was partly in Italian and partly in English!

Two flat laps around tarmac and gravel paths. Lots of loops but a great team of very enthusiastic volunteers to keep us right.

Dietenbach 20/07/2024 29:53 [56 / 84].

Grand Tour 2024 - Fourth leg: Freiburg.

The Dietenbach parkrun is north-west of the city and our AirBnB location meant a 50 minute journey by bus and tram to get to the park. It was a lovely course and I managed first in my age category - but then I was the only one in my age category!

This little rabbit was so tame / naive it did not even move when Mary walked past only about 3 foot from it.

Two laps round a flat course with lovely wild flower beds.

Afterwards we went to great café nearby for a post-parkrun coffee and chat with the regulars. The cafe doing a good line in waffles for the parkrun crowd.

Great Notley 27/07/2024 30:35 [84 / 179].

Grand Tour 2024 - Fifth leg: Carcassonne.

We were supposed to be in Carcassonne for ten days but we sneaked out to get our parkrun fix! Parkrun is currently suspended in France. It never came back after Covid because of a requirement to have a medical certificate to participate in any competitive events. While that might make sense for races or events like marathons it is nonsensical for parkrun and contrary to their ethos to be all inclusive. Parkrun HQ are in negotiations with the French authorities to get this requirement lifted.

Originally it looked like we might have to miss a parkrun but Mary spotted that Ryanair fly from Carcassonne to Stansted and that we could fit in a cheeky mid-Carcassonne trip back to the UK on the Friday, visit our friend Andrea in Witham, fit in a parkrun on the Saturday and fly back on the Sunday. All at reasonable times and at a reasonable price. So that is what we did. We are not mad!

Lovely sunny day and park, bagging a "G" for our second alphabet.

Mary twinning with one of the volunteers.

They were short of a parkwalker so Mary was happy to volunteer at the last moment. If she had known she would have worn her blue parkwalk t-shirt.

Quirky two lapper with a lake, a hill, a sandpit and a part ominously known as the boggy transition (thankfully dry today). According to the briefing, we would recognise the path on the second lap but actually no chance. Without the marshals we would definitely have got lost.