- parkrunday 9th October 2021
- parkrun #125 – Marple
- Number of visits: 2
- Time: 35:22
On Friday after work I should have been driving up to Penny Bridge near Ulverston in Cumbria to stay in Jo’s cottage then run her Cumbrian home parkrun – Fell Foot – with her today. Unfortunately, Jo broke down on the M62 on Friday and had to be towed back to Liverpool, so Plan A got cancelled. As Robert Burns said “The best laid schemes o’ mice an’ men / Gang aft a-gley.”
For Plan B I decided to go to Bramhall parkrun near Stockport. I’d done this course relatively recently (February 2020) but chose it because it’s one of the Manchester events that Jo hadn’t done. I also picked it because I knew Danny Norman – host of the podcast With Me Now – would be there. He’s trying to visit all ten of the original Time Trial locations (the events that existed before the name was changed to parkrun). After today he only has Albert parkrun in Middlesborough left.
This is a lovely course through the grounds of Bramall (no ‘h’) Hall, through woods, and along the river. The course includes the infamous ‘Duck Poo Corner’ which was somewhat lacking in duck poo this time round. Jo and I joined Danny and some other tourists (and podcast listeners) in the courtyard outside the cafe afterward where we enjoyed vegan sausage buns and hot drinks, while having a good natter (or ‘parkfaff’ as it’s known).
The only disappointing thing about the morning was when we noticed them packing up the finish funnel before the last parkrunner had finished. This should not happen at any parkrun, and there’s no excuse for it.
Next Friday I’m driving down to Birmingham for the With Me Now Pow Wow and will be running Oaklands parkrun on Saturday. The last one at Disley, Loughborough, was lots of fun!
p.s. I’m now half way to claiming my 250 t-shirt! Just two and a half years left to go!
