I appear to have lost my taste for parkrun tourism. It happened last February too, when I ran an unprecedented four consecutive weeks at Wimbledon. This year has been slightly less dramatic, featuring Banstead Woods, Wimbledon, Hilly Fields (as a volunteer) and Fulham Palace, but the effect is the same. Four weeks, and no new-to-me venues.
I had been planning some tourism for this morning. My plan called for an 11 mile run featuring an all out parkrun PB attempt. I scanned the list of new-to-me parkruns and settled on Southsea. Flat, firm and, weather permitting, very suitable for a PB attempt. And with scope for additional miles afterwards. It was perfect.
Perfect, that is, until I received a text from a friend bowing out of our tentative Friday evening running plans and innocently asking where I was parkrunning on Saturday.
“Southsea”, I said.
“Oh”, she said, “too far away for me.”
“Hmmm”, I thought, “Early start and a solo long run or lie in and company?”
“Would Fulham Palace be doable?”
“Yes”.
“Sorted”.
And just like that, in the space of five minutes and without a second thought, I ditched my planned tourism and opted for a local repeat. And I loved every minute of it.
abradypus 
Can empathise, it shouldn’t feel like a chore. x
Indeed. My tourism started as a way of enjoying parkrun more, and realising how much I’ve enjoyed my last four parkrundays has made me wonder whether it’s time to strike a new balance.
well done!
This is a temporary February thing – we are almost hitting March!
Time for a new season?
Blog posts might get a bit samey though 😉
There is hope. I’m due to slip in a little tourism this Saturday…
Since I hit my 100th I’ve only parkrun once in 5 weeks! And I’m away for next weekend too. Sometimes you just need a break to give the rest of life a chance to happen.