Adam Bird - My Personal Blog

On the 13th June 2026 I ran the Dereham parkrun which was the 99th event held at the venue, my 292nd parkrun and 204th different course I'd attended. Dereham parkrun isn't exactly around the corner and with a 2 hour and 15 minutes drive ahead of me I questioned my life choices more than once whilst turning off my alarm clock at 5:45.  I've debated the pros and cons of traveling distances to get to parkrun on these pages before and have attempted to ease my guilty conscience by combining it with trips to football. That could almost be true with my trip to Dereham, afterall the event parking is located at Dereham Town Football club who play in the Eastern Counties Premier League Division (Step 5). I even entered the stadium both before and after parkrun to use the toilet although I can't claim a stadium visit on the basis that no football took place. Sadly I couldn't really see much of the ground as it was surrounded by fencing, and was surrounded on each side by sma...

On the 6th June 2026 I ran the Meon Valley Trail, Wickham parkrun which was the 62nd event held at the venue, my 291st parkrun and 203rd different course I'd attended. Socially speaking my life plans are formed around parkrun on Saturday mornings, football and how I can combine the two. Sometimes real life gets in the way and I have to juggle a dilemma or live with the consequences. This week my aim of driving almost two hours to a parkrun event on the basis that it was hosting it's 62nd event collided with Hayden's end of season football presentation evening. Do I change parkrun plans to allow for a heavy nights celebratory drinking, or do I remain sober and go to bed early like a good parkrunner and deny myself a good night out? The end of the season football presentation is a celebration for the parents as much as it is for the boys. The achievements that they've shared together after a long season. The parents have put in the hard yards, getting boys to training on...

On the 2nd May 2026 I ran the Whitecliffe Lake parkrun which was the 26th event held at the venue, my 287th parkrun and 199th different course I'd attended. My routine right now is a fairly simple one when it comes to choosing a venue on Saturday mornings. Is it the closest one to me that I've not done yet and does it coincide with an event number that I've net yet completed. When things come along that upset my routine I get more precious about it than I should and have to remind myself just what the hell it is that I'm getting anxious over - absolutely nothing at all! 6 months ago a new parkrun popped up on my radar, a brand new parkrun in Kent, bringing the number of venues in my home county up to 26. It also meant that I had a new NENDY, and even more was that I didn't have far to travel to get there. A mere 4.7km as the crow flies in fact. I had therefore planned to visit the new Whitecliffe Lake parkrun in Ebbsfleet at the soonest opportunity, providing that ...

On the 25th April 2026 I ran the Upton Court parkrun which was the 625th event held at the venue, my 286th parkrun and 198th different course I'd attended. What makes a good parkrun and why do we enjoy some events much more than others? I'm not sure anyone knows the answer to that, but I found it fascinating that both Mark and I really enjoyed this parkrun when all of the clues suggested perhaps we might not. Upton Court parkrun takes place in Upton Court, a public recreational space in the town of Slough. The surroundings were nice with some rather fetching houses lining the roads leading up to the entrance of the car park. But the course primarily is a two lap affair which takes in majority of the perimeter of the space and is mostly ran on grass. I think part of the lower expectations were due to the grassy nature of the course. But the weather played a crucial part. Not only have we had a long dry spell, but the temperature was warmer than recent days and the sun was out. ...

On the 11th April 2026 I ran the Stretford parkrun which was the 448th event held at the venue, my 284th parkrun and 197th different course I'd attended. Salford City vs Gillingham might not be the most glamorous of football fixtures, but Hayden and I have attended every historic fixture between the two teams - all 8 of them. The away games in Manchester have given me.the opportunity to tick off a few of the cities parkrun venues at the same time. In recent years we've visited Heaton Park, Alexandra and now this time around we chose to visit Stratford. Joining us again this weekend was Henry, Hayden's friend who had enjoyed weekends with us at Morecambe and Port Vale and is infinitely more enthusiastic about partaking in parkrun than Hayden is. It was with Henry and Hayden in mind that I chose Stretford over one of the other Manchester venues as it has an additional novelty factor - part of the course takes part on an athletics track. Majority of the course takes part arou...

On the 4th April 2026 I ran the Tamworth Castle Grounds parkrun which was the 114th event held at the venue, my 283rd parkrun and 196th different course I'd attended. Being able to combine football with parkrun has been a real blessing and has made supporting the Gills more enjoyable as well as broaden the pool of available parkrun events for me to visit. This week with Easter and games being on Good Friday and Bank Holiday Monday I hadn't anticipated a parkrun/football double. Originally the plan was to visit Walsall away in a day, drive up watch the game and come home again as is the typical way. But talking with Steph I suggested we could make a weekend of it. Driving up and down the M1 this season and seeing signs for the National Space Museum had whetted the appetite and I really wanted to visit. So I formed a plan that meant we'd travel up to Walsall the usual way, watch the game and stay overnight somewhere either close to the National Space centre or somewhere in b...