Ashton Court 10k

The sun smiled down on the 1,400 or so runners who did the Ashton Court 10k last Sunday. It was perfect running weather - cool, clear blue skies and no wind. Ashton Court was looking it's best. Great views and a wonderful  assortment of autumnal colours. 

Despite my left knee playing up half way through, I came in at 59 mins 30 secs. Under the hour. YES! This is pretty good for me, especially with all the hills. I ploughed on with my running plod through all the hills yet I struggled on the flat. My left knee starting hurting just after the last bit of up hill around 6k. All the people that I had passed on the up hill were now tearing past me! It was so disheartening as I felt myself getting slower and slower. My mind started playing games as I got increasingly angry with myself. My knee never usually hurts at this distance! Yet I knew I was feeling stiff before the run. I hadn't stretched properly all week which for me is no good. I need to do yoga to keep myself supple.

Thankfully my cheerful running buddy caught up with me and encouraged me on. It was such a relief to have her running next to me. I instantly relaxed and continued to run through the pain. Once I was off the flat track my knee recovered and I was able to stride out on the final section down hill. In fact we pretty much sprinted the last 3k to the finish line.

My knee has been fine since but I have learned a lesson. Be sure to stretch out more with some yoga and practice running up hills!

How a run turned into a green space campaign

2010 has been a good year for my running. In fact it has been a fantastic year. I ran my first 10k (Bristol 10k), my eight year old daughter ran her first 5k Race for Life and I'm about to run the Ashton Court 10k this Sunday. I ran half way up Snowdon, ran on some great coast paths and beaches and discovered some wonderful places to run off-road in the city.


But I had no idea my running experiences would lead to me starting a campaign to help save some green spaces.

Now believe me I am not one to stand up in front of a crowd and start waving my arms around in outrage, but I was simply appalled when I heard about a planning consultation by Bristol City Council, proposing to build a large number of houses on some fields and allotments that I run through.

I live in a built up area with serious traffic problems. Not only would this number of houses cause major problems to the local infrastructure, but the traffic on the A4 Bath Rd would simply grind to a halt. Why is the council looking to develop green field sites when there are lots of brown sites left empty?

Anyway to cut a long, long story short, as nobody seemed to be aware of the consultation and as a concerned local resident, I decided to organise a walk to raise awareness regarding the proposals. The walk was a huge success and despite being held in the school holidays and on a week day, there was a great turn out. Even the press turned up. Click here for the article.

It was pretty over whelming. The number of people that joined the walk was amazing. With the help of Friends of Victory Park the campaign is ongoing. Check out the latest news. The consultation ends at the end of the month.

If this story has a happy ending is hard to tell. But it has made me aware that there are some great places to run off-road in cities and people should get out there and start exploring what is on their back door and make the most of it before it is built on. After all there is nothing better than discovering, hidden green spaces that truly inspire you to run.

This whole experience has been life changing. It has made me want to run more, get involved in the local community and help save open green spaces. It also makes you realise that standing up for what you believe really does make a difference.

Inspirational running book

If you are fed up with injuries and paying loads of money for trainers then check out the book Born to Run by Christopher McDougall. Simply inspiring. You'll never look at running the same way again. If you start seeing more and more people running barefoot you can guess they have read this book.

Off-Road Exploration

When running around the streets of Bristol gets a bit boring, it's time to get muddy and do some off-road exploration. And believe me South Bristol is full of great places to run off-road and it's pretty varied too. Plenty of mud, hills, narrow paths, mud, cemeteries, and of course the odd bit of excavation all thrown in. Oh and did I mention mud. Lets face it running around the streets is boring. Once you start exploring running off road you won't want to run on the streets again. So where are all these hidden gems? Check out BS4.

First there's the parks for circuits. These include Arnos Court Park, Victory Park, Victoria Park and St Annes Park. Then there are the nature reserves including Nightingale Valley, Eastwood Farm and Callington Road. Then there's the Avon River Path. Join it at Netham Lock and either run into town or run out past Crews Hole to Hanham. Beeses Tea Gardens in the summer months and the Old Lock & Weir pub are great watering holes. Another great place to run is Arnos Cemetery during opening hours. There's a gate from Arnos Court Park. Link the park and the cemetery together and you have another great (if somewhat hilly) circuit. Then there are loads of public footpaths linking all these green spaces together. Get hold of an OS map or better still sign up to Mapometer. It's a mapping website perfect for finding new routes in your area. Everytime I discover a new footpath I consult Mapometer to see where the path goes. A lot of these footpaths go through fields or follow the edge of golf courses. From Brislington you can be running in open countryside within five minutes. It's just finding the routes.

So get out there. Get the map and get exploring.