- parkrunday 7th August 2021
- parkrun #117 – Crewe (#1)
- Different event #65
- Time: 28:07
I think this may well be my first every visit to Crewe. I didn’t see much of it apart from the picturesque Queens Park. I chose Crewe because I’d arranged to meet up with a family friend who I’d not seen for, I reckon, over 20 years. Growing up I knew Jan Wenlock as Janet Woodbridge, sister to Peter, and daughter of ‘Uncle’ Gordon and ‘Auntie’ Hazel. Jan has only been on Facebook for less than a year and it’s been great to reconnect with her after so long. It was even nicer to meet up with her and her husband Chris after parkrun today for a cuppa and a chat!
Jan and Chris aren’t parkrunners so I ran this morning with my parkrun friend Robin. This was his first parkrun back after the restart, and it’s now one of his closest events since he moved from North Wales to Cheshire last summer. I ran Robin’s first ever parkrun at Wepre, and we ran each other’s 50th birthday parkruns in 2019.
We were really fortunate with the weather this morning as it was dry for the whole run. The heavy rain only started after we’d settled in the cafe afterwards.
This morning was the first time running in my new 50 t-shirt. After I’d run 100 parkruns and claimed my 100 top I didn’t know what to do with my 50. So I did what I’ve seen some other tourists do and got it modified with my first 50 different parkruns on the back. I’m kicking myself that I didn’t notice my parkrun number on the front is missing a digit. I sent them the correct number but didn’t notice the mistake when they sent the proofs through. Oh well. I’m still delighted with the top though, and it’s a great talking point!
Crewe parkrun is a three lapper with an extra bit on the end. It’s run entirely on paths, with the only hazard under foot being the occasional goose poo. The course is undulating and there are some sections that are quite narrow so people are asked to keep to the left to let faster runners past. To provide extra space for people to gather (as part of the Covid-19 Framework) the start line has been temporarily moved, making the course around 100m longer than normal. parkrun has a rule that if an event changes to an alternative route for whatever reason it has to be slightly longer than the normal route.
There’s plenty of free parking in the adjacent Tipkinder Park car park. Queens Park has a cafe in the centre near the start and finish. It’s open before the start and has toilets. There’s lots of space in the cafe afterwards for people to sit down for tea, coffee, cake and a good range of other food.
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