Back today in East London where I am treated warmly by some of the loveliest people one could ever come across and Barking did not let me down on this count!

One thing that this challenge has taught me is always good to look on the bright side of Life! Today I had to smile as I turned up today with my orange Luton Town FC Santa hat and it matched the colours of the local running club Barking Road Runners woolly hats! We all looked very colour coordinated  at the start of the run, i would be lying if I said I planned this though 🙂

Course

The course is 2 almost flat anticlockwise laps of Barking park, that starts with a straight run of 400 meters to the allotments where you turn back on yourself and you run by the side of the lake!

Then when you get towards the end of the lake you turn sharp left back on yourself down a tree-lined path, then at the end of the path turn left and left again and run round the parameter of the park. The final left turn is a gentle down slope to the start of lap two, once your finish the second lap it is a straight run this time down to the finish tunnel.

This is a potential very fast PB style course that is run entirely of tarmac footpaths with some sections that are very wide for easy overtaking on the run, you have been told!

Personal Stats

Time today 29:51 happy to break 30 mins again especially with the lack of running this week, need to knuckle down and do some serious training!

Important Info

There are two car parks servicing this park one is free and the other is chargeable via mobile phone! The free car parking entrance is by South Park Drive and not the Sat Nav post code on their website that takes you to the paid car park on Longbridge Road entrance!

The park itself was built-in 1898 and covers 30 hectares and boosts the following facilities

• a 910 metre long lake
• ornamental areas
• tree-lined avenues
• playing fields
• boating lake
• bowls
• football

The cafe and boat hire seemed to be closed for the winter, but I had a lovely ham & cheese on toast at the local cafe Daily Munch where I joined the local park runners for a nice chat!

Final Verdict

Barking you are a hidden gem of a parkrun that serious PB hunters should flock to improve their times, wide paths and almost flat well maintained tarmac course, what is there not to like!

Finally I would like to thank Alison and her team of volunteers for marking me feel right at home today, you are a credit to the parkrun community!

Top work guys, a real pleasure to run your course and meet you all 🙂

Best

Mark aka Silent Runner

Run on 03-12-2016