Crosby parkrun - event 483

On the 22th August 2026 I ran Crosby parkrun, which was the 483rd event held at the venue, my 301st parkrun and 212th different course I'd attended.

Two Saturdays ago saw the long awaited start to the 2026/2027 football season. Like season was a monumental one for me as it was the first time in 46 years where i had attended every single league game, both home and away. The lure of football combined with parkrun tourism has proven to be an addiction I've not managed to shake and one I'd been waiting a long time to resume.

The release of the seasons football fixtures takes place at the end of July and I was eagerly awaiting their publication so I could start planning my weekends for the next 9 months combing them with parkrun events I'd not done yet and have wanted to visit.

Planning is not always straightforward, for example Newport away has been scheduled for a Tuesday evening, depriving me of the opportunity to tick off another Welsh parkrun. Notts County got promoted so I'm no longer able to carry on my efforts of ticking off the ground in Nottingham for another season at least.

Hayden and I received a voucher for our birthdays to visit Anfield and take part in a stadium tour. So I knew that I needed to be in Liverpool at some point before the end of the year so was hoping for Tranmere away early on, or coinciding with a school holidays. I wasn't quite so lucky with Tranmere being set for April meaning that our voucher would have expired by then.

Despite the start of the season taking place in early August, we only had one away game scheduled which was Fleetwood away. We always hope for a summer trip to Fleetwood as Blackpool is next door and a good time can be bad during the summer at many of the attractions on offer. But I decided to forgoe the lure of the lights and decided that the better option would be to combine a Liverpool overnight stay with a stadium tour, a parkrun and a trip further north for the game.

Originally we were going to travel up as a family and spend some time in the North West using Liverpool as a base. But Steph had promised her sister Carly that she would look after their dog whilst they were going in holiday so we changed our minds. We could have found plenty of dog friendly places to stay, but we would have been a bit restricted during the day with what we can do - highlighting perfectly why we don't want to get a four-legged friend full time!

Once travelling logistics had been arranged and plans tweaked and changed we needed one final decision to be made.

Where do we parkrun?

Initially I had planned to run Birkenhead parkrun as a project manager at work lives nearby and said she'd run it with me if I was ever around. Unfortunately I was, but she was on holiday herself so I thought I'd save that for a other time.

I'd set on Princes parkrun instead which wasn't too far from our hotel in Liverpool town centre thinking it would be the easiest option from where we were on Saturday morning.

I did really want to visit Crosby though as it was one of those events I'd seen online plenty of times and was intrigued not only by the start in the beach, the Antony Gormley statues but the fact it was in a coastal location and there's nothing better than running by the sea. But I chose parkrun venues by event numbers and if I have already run it, that venue gets discounted.

I had fully intended to visit Princes, but Reaso and George joined us late on in the day on the Friday in Liverpool in an ever changing itinerary. 

Originally we had planned to meet at the hotel have some food and a few beers and enjoy the sites of Liverpool. But Hayden and I stumbled upon a bit of an Easter Egg and things snowballed from there.

After our visit to Anfield I suggested to Hayden that we walked through Stanley Park to take a closer look at Goodison Park, the former home of Everton Football Club. Mercifully the powers that be at Everton decided not to demolish the ground when they moved to their new stadium but instead made it home for their women's team.

As we walked around the ground I spoke to a steward and asked him whether there was anywhere around the stadium perimeter that you could peer through and see the pitch. He confirmed that there wasn't but suggested we popped by later to watch the match.

Apparently Everton Ladies are not the only team to play at Goodison park now, their under 21's and academy teams also play there and their under 21's were due to play Liverpool later that evening!

I had looked to see if the ladies were playing as part of my weekend planning so that we might be able to tick off a visit to an old historical ground that I never thought I'd get the chance to visit. I hadn't thought to look at the under 21's fixtures.

That night we watched the first 80 minutes of the game and enjoyed sitting inside the Grand Old Lady of English Football. The game was a rather drab 0-0 affair with not much looking like it would change so we left to jump the Uber queue back into town for some food.

Over dinner I told Reaso the plans for parkrun and explained about the Crosby option which I had discounted on the basis that I'd already run that event number. Saying it out loud made me realise that actually, I'm a bit of a dick and it didn't take much for Reason to pursuade me to change my mind.

On arrival at Crosby beach we got talking to a local who was an Everton fan and explained what and why we were in the area and that we had the opportunity to visit Goodison the night before. He was quite excited about the fact that we'd been there and wanted to know more about the fight.

What fight?!

Apparently, according to what he told us and social media investigations later, there had been a massive brawl between the two teams in the 85th minute with sending offs and other carnage.

We never saw any of it and Reasos curse struck again (whenever we leave football early at Reaos request, we miss something).

I typically arrive at parkrun early and I'm glad I kept that habit going when we arrived at Crosby. Exploring the beach before the run and examining Antony Gormleys statues at close quarter is definitely recommended, either before or after the run. We always have to scarper quite quickly after a parkrun visit in order to make it back in time for breakfast.

The weather that morning was great, perfect conditions for running with little wind and a slightly cooler temperature than what we had been experiencing over the summer.

As mentioned earlier the course starts on the beach and is essentially an out and back course. 

Starting on the sand, participants run south on the beach, (providing the tide is out of course) and heads out for around half a kilometre. It then turns around the first U-turn and heads back north just beyond the start where it cuts across the beach and heads into the coastal path which runs along the beachfront.

The first kilometer was actually quite good going. The sand compacted by the sea which had gone out and was nice and flat. The trickiest part of the whole course was the transition from beach to promenade as you had to navigate the ever fluffier sand as you got closer to shore. You then had to navigate six or seven steps making for some calf busting moments.

Once on the promenade you have a two kilometer outward stretch which follows the coastline on firm and concrete paths. I was running really well here and keeping up with both George and Reaso who are inevitably more adept at running that I am! 

The return leg isn't so easy going as it cuts across the grassland that separates beach and promenade from the residential areas of Crosby. This slightly downhill section was bumpy and dry with fairly long, dry, straw like grass slowing me down.

This return leg runs for the last 2 kilometers with the finish near the carpark behind the sand dunes.

I finished in 160th position out of a field of 284 participants in a time of 30:46.

Reaso had a completely thoroughly good morning and suggested that Crosby parkrun might just very well be the best parkrun he has ever done. High praise indeed, and his sentiments were not wrong. It was a brilliantly unique event and one that I would have deprived myself of if I followed my arbitrary rules. I think I might have to throw those in the bin...