A few of us from Burgess Hill Runners went off to Crystal Palace parkrun as part of a day out that started with a run and finished with Crystal Palace Football Club hammering opponents Newcastle at Selhurst Park. As a Palace fan it always seemed appropriate to me that I’d one day tick this off.
Pictured: The BHR crew at Crystal Palace parkrun
I’m glad that I did as I really enjoyed it. Well, I say I enjoyed it, it goes on the list of parkruns that should’ve been easier than it actually was. It had inclines that weren’t steep but were lengthy and after a fairly quick first lap I didn’t quite have it in the tank to whizz around the second time. Knowing that there is a slight incline before the finish does make you hold back a little bit I think, but I finished it in a respectable time.
For the first time during our parkrun tourism, I messaged the Facebook group for the parkrun before going. It was really nice that they were sort of expecting us and were instantly friendly when we arrived, volunteering us advice about the course and telling us where it started and finished. We lined up at the start with a few friendly people too and one lady had quite a good chat with us prior to the start. Small world, it turned out she was originally from Burgess Hill! My good impression of this parkrun was extended further afterwards when they mentioned us in their run report and also asked me on Facebook whether we’d enjoyed the football.
All in all a really good parkrun and possibly the only one on our ‘tour’ (i.e.: outside of Sussex) that I’ll do again. It was suggested we make the parkrun and football trip an annual event and despite my desire to try out some that I haven’t tried before, I look forward to going back to Crystal Palace parkrun again one day. Maybe I can get under 20 minutes there, but I’ll give the first lap a little more respect next time!
