parkrun #27: Ally Pally

I live a more-or-less equal distance between Hampstead Heath, Finsbury Park, Highbury Fields and Ally Pally. So Ally Pally is one of my local runs.

Last time I was at Ally Pally, I met someone who was with a touring theatre company and doing lots of different parkruns as he travelled around the country. Which I think was what gave me the idea of the 52 parkrun challenge in the first place.

I should put in a disclaimer straight away that Ally Pally is not a fast course. There are some steep sections and a lot of it is on very narrow paths, which makes it difficult to overtake.

I didn’t listen to the run briefing or read the website properly I was tricked into thinking it was a two lap course the first time I came. So my top advice is that there’s another half a lap worth of running still to go when you come across the finish funnel for the second time.

I like the way that the course is split out into different levels on the hill, and that each has a different feel. There’s a section round the bottom of the main field (where people were playing cricket when we ran past), a section that winds up through woodland, a short but steep hill scramble, and a long section along the top of the park.

I finished the course in 28.21 – see results

As ever, many thanks to the fantastic volunteer team who make the event possible 🙂

I’m raising money for Alzheimer’s Research UK over the course of the 52 parkruns. Please head over to my JustGiving page if you’d like to help out.