There are parkruns that are a bit special for to me, I absolutely love where water is the main feature to run around, so today Rickmansworth Aquadrome was my idea of heaven!

Based around 41 hectares the Aquadrome has two main lakes Batchworth that is used for water skiing and Bury lake is the home for Bury Lake Young Mariners which is used for canoeing and sailing! The third lake Stocker’s is a wildlife sanctuary for a wide variety of birds!

 

The history behind the main lakes centres around gravel extraction that stopped in the 1920’s and the lakes filled in by natural springs! One of the best parts of this story is how 2 parkruns events that I have now visited Rickmansworth & Northala Fields, London have been effected by our very own national stadium at Wembley! In Rickmansworth case in relation to gravel extraction to be used in the building of the old Stadium and Northala Fields the building of their parks observation mounds that were make up from the old rubble of the same stadium, brilliant!!!!

Now every parkrun I visit I try but do not always succeed in finding a story to tell about a member of the local parkrun community. Today I was lucky to run alongside Steve Gray, on only his third parkrun he managed to beat his PB by an impressive 2:46, top work sir!

I would also like to wish him good luck as in a few weeks as he is going to marry his fiancée Helen, the lovely lady wearing the headband in the picture, they were accompanied on the run by their friends Jess (sitting next to Steve) and Nadine! Great to meet you all and have chat after the run!

Course

We ran Rickmansworth alternative course due to current path resurfacing work on the normal route, it was 3 and a bit very flat anticlockwise laps of Bury Lake that is made up of entirely well maintained tarmac foot paths!

Please note my watch GPS did not kick in before the start of the parkrun, so the start position is wrong on my map by 0.31 of a mile, with an actual finish time of 36:32

For the record below is the actual normal course map route that is a two lapper:

Facilities

There is free parking at this event Sat Nav WD3 1NF and toilets are available before the start of the parkrun that is always welcome!

For the post run coffee we retired to The Cafe in the Park, very lovely it was too with a great buzz too the place!

Rickmansworth Aquadrome Facilities include

• Boating, canoeing
• Children’s play area
• Fishing day tickets Batchworth Lake and the adjacent River Colne
• Lakeside walks
• Birdwatching

Final Verdict

I would like to thank Andy Nice and his team of volunteers for making us feel extremely welcome at Rickmansworth, top work guys!!!!

So if like me you want to run a fast flat beautiful course with water being the delightful backdrop Rickmansworth is a must, you have been told!!!!

Best

Mark

Event 64 Roding Valley 04-11-2017