"S" is for... South Norwood

October 06, 2019

"S" is for... South Norwood

28.09.19 - #9 South Norwood - A Hendrix Inspired Orange Haze!

Although I've lived in Buckinghamshire for quite a few years now, I'm originally from Surrey...Wallington, to be precise.

South Norwood was an obvious choice for one of the three letter "S" parkruns in my challenge - it's a district of South East London, in the London Borough of Croydon, and it's a part of the world that I used to work in, fairly close to where I grew up and I still have a lot of family and friends that live quite near that area.

After last week's run at East Grinstead, this week had also been a week of taking it easy and I was glad to hear that South Norwood was a nice, flattish course. (Left foot, today we get to miss all the potholes and hills. Result!)

One great thing about parkrun, especially for tourists, is that early Saturday morning tends to be one of the quietest times to travel by road. I still like to be extra early though, so I planned to set off from home at 6.30am after the obligatory cup of tea to wake me up and start the day as I always do.

I've been on a bit of a health kick recently so I decided to avoid alcohol for the month of September. Although I love parkrun and always look forward to it, the bonus of waking up hangover-free definitely makes it easier to jump out of bed when the alarm goes off and it's still dark outside!

As well as the many health benefits (both body & mind), this self-imposed ban has also saved me a bit of money (double-whammy!), which I've donated to the MS Society by sponsoring myself via my Just Giving page...everyone's a winner, baby!

Listening to my new Jimi Hendrix album, off I went on the 30-something mile journey down South armed with 3 matching, luminous orange, M.S. Society themed T-shirts. It's starting to get chilly in the mornings but that's not why I had 3 tops with me....today I was planning a special army!!!

Some of my super support crew (a.k.a family & friends) were going to run with me today, all of us wearing the super-bright, "Matty's MS Challenge" shirts. Together in our day-glo tops we would surely create quite a glow - an orange haze, even - and quite possibly shine an orangey beacon which would be visible from outer space, all the way from South Norwood!

If I could spread my message way beyond our little planet, what would be the chances of some clever aliens coming up with a cure for MS, I wonder? If there are other intelligent life forms out there somewhere, they could certainly do worse than tackling incurable health conditions of the human race as a little peace offering for us!...or at least sponsoring me a little bit, that would do for starters! 😉

Apparently my mind goes off to strange places whilst driving for long periods...at least today I can blame it on too much psychedelic Jimi Hendrix!!!

Thankfully the (usually horrendous) Heathrow section of the M25 was playing ball today so the journey was quick and painless and before too long I was in the familiar territory of the Croydon area, reminiscing about old times. Although I'm down that way a lot, I don't often venture in that particular direction.

Memories from years ago came flooding back and as I drove past the Fairfield Halls theatre I remembered going there as a kid to watch a show with my parents and siblings in our old Talbot Solara. We'd accidently locked the keys in the car (while the engine was running!) and my Dad had to somehow get in through the boot of the car. Needless to say, the Security Staff found that highly suspicious behaviour and grilled my Dad about his dodgy antics and apparent attempt to steal a car in the least efficient and most ridiculous manner ever, with four young kids and a wife in tow.

I don't even remember what the show was but I'll never forget the rest of that memorable outing!

Today's parkrun was being held at South Norwood Country Park, a park I'd never been to before. For me that's a big part of the beauty of parkrun - discovering new places I didn't even know existed and also exploring places I've heard of but never before had a reason to visit.

After driving over the tram lines and along a little lane, I found the venue and managed to find parking quite nearby but it was still only 8.10am.

Stretching my legs after a long-ish drive I could see the signage already being put out and the resident 'High-Vis Army' of volunteers. I had time to relax and wander about a little to take some pictures, so that's what I did!

Curiously a totem pole marks the spot where this course starts & finishes. It was relatively easy to find and as well as being the meeting point for runners & volunteers, I also found a beautiful and very excitable Spaniel with a ball...a lovely welcome from my favourite breed of dog! I think I was supposed to throw the ball but the dog wasn't giving it up so sadly I couldn't oblige.

Well they say owners look like their dogs but this particular owner looked nothing like a Spaniel so out goes that theory. I've always thought that if I was a dog I'd be a Spaniel because of my Spaniel-like hair! Seriously though, I would love one of my own...maybe one day.

With about 20 minutes to go until the Start, our good family friend and parkrun veteran, Neil, arrived and also my brother, Chris, and his girlfriend, Caroline. I was happy to see them and passed over the orange T-Shirts for them to wear but I didn't mention that today we were trying to communicate with aliens (some things are probably best kept quiet, eh?!!!) 😁

With the start in sight, I went to find the Run Director (RD) to introduce myself. The very friendly RD shook my hand, he had been expecting me! (It's always nice to be expected - makes for a little less explaining.)

Since awareness is a big part of my aim in all of this, it'd be a shame to go and not get a 'shout-out'. To my delight this was already on the agenda so they were well prepared and happy to help.

First things first though and it was time for the 'New Runners' Briefing. There were a few of us new runners there today so we were told a bit about the 2 lap course.

Then in the Main Briefing the RD duly delivered my shout-out (Thank you, RD!) I told the other bright orange 'Mattys' that you get used to the attention after a lot of faces turn and look your way to give you a very generous clap of recognition, week after week! I was ready to run now.

Neil, a very talented and fast runner, naturally started from the front. Me, Chris and also Caroline started together somewhere in the middle of the pack. I never like being too close to the front...you never know what kind of form you will be in, especially with a recurring injury.

137 of us lined up at the Start and it didn't take long for the course to open up. Neil was already way out ahead and Chris and Caroline soon started to get away too. I was quite content with just being able to run, full-stop - a luxury that I'm ever mindful of and never take for granted now.

The course takes you around a lot of trees and I noticed lots of blackberries in hedgerows (now quite overripe and dropping - a treat for all the birds and other creatures who inhabit this park and its nature reserve). Autumn really is here now and a few of the trees were shedding seeds and leaves too.

Weather-wise it was pretty grey and overcast - the clouds looked moody and full, like they wanted to pour down. We got a little bit of drizzle but nothing more than that. I actually don't mind a bit of light rain when I'm running - it's quite refreshing. I'd say that you could call this a typical early Autumn morning.

It was a dog-friendly course with a mixture of trail paths and a grassy section, across a field, which I imagine could get pretty muddy at times. There are a couple of twists and turns and slightly undulating bits but otherwise it's flat terrain - nice, solid, stony pathways surrounded by walls of trees.

Running parallel to the tramlines, whilst in a nice, green, wildlife-friendly space I was always aware that we were running within busy, suburban surroundings amidst the hustle and bustle of Greater London.

In the distance you could see some high-rise buildings and tall structures on the skyline, with the Crystal Palace radio & TV transmitter mast standing proud, as well as floodlights for the nearby sports arena etc.

These days I'm used to the quieter, more rural, countryside settings so this had a different feel although different is good and it's just as rewarding to run. 5k is still 5k at the end of the day!

Parkrun tourism definitely wouldn't be so appealing if all courses were the same and the joy of travelling around to explore and experience different parkruns comes from the fact that they have a different look and feel, so hooray for all the quirks and unique features that keep things so interesting!

I love it that, with the meteoric rise of the parkrun movement, new events are cropping up all over the place, all the time. Especially in more densely populated areas around major cities, it's great to be able to squeeze in more parkruns where there's a growing demand and some kind of space to accommodate it....

...and as Kevin Costner knows, "If you build it, they will come!"

After lap one we passed the start again, where there was a generous cheer by the volunteers for me (thank you!) I didn't actually notice the sneaky photo that was taken as I ran past, despite what looks like a 'smile for the camera' type pose!

The second lap seemed a bit longer than the first but only because I was starting to tire....then...that muddy field again. I knew it wasnt too much longer to go but at this point it really felt quite difficult to get a good grip (I really should invest in some decent trail shoes now that the weather is turning.)

I was still able to give a good amount of effort for the last kilometre but I had to dig deep. Neil had already finished and was kindly clapping and cheering to help me along the home stretch to the finish line.

I must say, the finish always seems a lot further when you can't actually see it but soon after the muddy field you get to a muddy path (mind the rabbit holes!) and just around the corner from there is the finish funnel....yay!

I was cheered over the line by several marshals, my brother and Caroline but also, to my surprise, a particularly loud cheer came from my younger sister who had since turned up with Peggy, her crazy dog! Apparently it's a lot easier to cheer really loudly when you haven't just been running!

If only I could have diverted some of her energy into my legs as they now felt sooooo heavy but I managed to make it over the line, which couldn't come soon enough!

After scanning my barcode I chatted with the First Timers Briefer - a very lovely and upbeat lady. She talked to me about my Challenge and took snaps while we all had fun posing with the parkrun picture frame, trying to squeeze all of us in for group photos.

I also chatted at quite some length with the RD about various different parkrun courses - he seemed like a well-travelled and enthusiastic parkrun tourist and it was nice to share notes. The volunteers here were very warm, welcoming, positive and supportive, particularly the RD and First Timers Briefer.

There's definitely a bit of a buzz and an engaging atmosphere at South Norwood parkrun so it's not really surprising that they're active on Social Media, posting photos and updates on Instagram and Twitter as well as Facebook.

A fun way that they keep everyone involved in between runs is that each week they compile themed playlists from songs recommended by their parkrunners - a nice idea and something I've not seen before on my parkrun travels.

Another fellow runner generously handed me a fiver while we were messing about taking pictures, which was very gratefully received and later added to my Just Giving fund to take my sponsorship tally up to the £500 mark which is absolutely fantastic.

Thank you so much to each and every one of you who has kindly donated so far. It's amazing to hit this milestone but I still have a long way to go to reach my £1000 target so if you can spare a couple of quid, please do....thanks!

I'm humbled to have already raised so much but as the Multiple Sclerosis Society is such a deserving cause (and one I am passionate about, with family and friends being directly affected by this cruel and debilitating illness) I must press on and try to raise as much as I possibly can!

So with this parkrun completed for my first letter "S", it's been a great perfomance by my 'Orange Army' of supporters and I really appreciated having them there. Neil finished up in 3rd place and Caroline was the first female so fantastic results for them, in the rankings, and it was definitely a great result for us all in terms of enjoying the event and feeling the love from the hospitable parkrun community.

Thank you South Norwood for your warm welcome and super positivity which was infectious, helping us to kick off the second word of my 'Spell-it-out" challenge in great style and spirit!