- parkrunday 16th October 2021
- parkrun #126 – Oaklands
- Different event #71
- Time: 29:14
Back in July 2019 I went to Dishley parkrun, Loughborough for the first With Me Now Pow Wow, a gathering of supporters of the With Me Now podcast, an independent show all about parkrun. This should have become an annual event but for obvious reasons it didn’t happen in summer 2020 or this year. When restrictions were eventually lifted a Pow Wow was hastily arranged for this weekend.
On Friday after work I drove down the M6 to the ‘Holiday Inn Birmingham M6 Jct 7’ (that’s the actual name of the hotel!). In the evening I had a meal in the local Harvester, sharing a table with Calum and Lynsey Burrell, Andy Davidson, Pippa White, and Simon Teale. Cheryl Currant and Neil Currant (aka Bob Raisin!) (who I met the week before at Bramhall) were by themselves on the next table so we invited them to join us.
The next day we all made our way to Oaklands Park in Yardley, Birmingham for the 29th running of Oaklands parkrun. With Me Now listeners swelled the ranks of both runners and volunteers, many of whom were sporting WMH merchandise (buffs, t-shirts, vests, hats and hoodies). It was great once again to meet up with presenters Danny Norman and Nicola Forwood, along with Poppy, Al, Bev, Mark, Amy, and lots of familiar names from the show.
Afterwards we all descended on The Swan Shopping Centre where we officially ‘broke’ Costa! I managed to avoid the queue by choosing Subway next door, while others went the other side to Greggs.
It was great to be in an environment where you could literally walk up to anyone and have a conversation with them about parkrun and WMN, knowing that they also share your passion.
Hopefully we’ll be able to hold the next Pow Wow in the summer again.
