#15 Richmond Park

One of the first dreary days of Autumn saw me making my way to Richmond Park for my next Parkrun. The last time i had been in this area for a parkrun was to run the Old Deer Park, just down the road. That day was a bit of a disaster as i had lost my motorbike keys somewhere along the run and had spent the rest of the day looking for them and then traipsing home to get a new set.

So with my keys firmly zipped into my shorts, I set off on the overland from gospel oak to richmond, then took a bus from richmond station to the entrance of the park, where the run starts.

Richmond Park is in the London Borough of Richmond-upon-Thames. It was created by Charles I in the 17th century as a deer park for hunting, and it is the largest of London’s Royal Parks.

Useless Fact Alert: Richmond-upon-Thames is the only London Borough on both sides of the River Thames.

When i got there it was still drizzling, and i must say that Richmond Park is as dull on a dreary day as it is beautiful on a sunny day!

The run starts close to the entrance of the park, and there is a long line of single file running until you get to a space where people can start overtaking each other. This is not a problem for me as i am not even looking to improve my times at the moment, just looking to get fitter and stronger, with healthy knees! However, for some one other person it was very much a problem, namely a young lady with a large dog who sidled up to the run director before the start and said to her in a very loud voice “can i start at the front, even though i have a dog?” to which the run director explained that everyone with a dog had to start at the back, it was the rules; to which the girl replied angrily “but i am very very fast, and will most certainly finish in the top two or three!”.

The run started nice and easily, and we all went single file along the grass track for a couple of hundred yards, until the path widened. A few seconds later an angrily huffing girl came racing past, pulled by her enormous dog. I guess she didn’t get her way!

All in all it was a nice run, despite the gloomy weather. I still have no recurrence of my hamstring tendinopathy that has plagued me since Hampstead Heath. I think this is because i am now very diligent about stretching each major muscle for 60 seconds, and my hamstrings (in the style of one leg up on a doorframe while lying on my back) for at least 2-3 minutes each leg. I am also making sure that i do some glute strengthening (the ones i outlined in the Barking and Gladstone blogs).