The parkrun community is good at creating a narrative for various events. You hear of the quiet, under appreciated races (Pymmes), the run you have to do at least once (Bushy park, parkrun Mecca), the fast (Oakhill, Gunpowder) & those with different features (St Albans, Highbury & Islington). The events that take on their own mythical qualities seem to be those that centre around a hill (Grovelands, Wimpole).
My destination today was another course famed for its hill, Finsbury Park. As I was spending the day working it was a perfect selection for the commute. My fear of public transport failing got me onto an early train & I holed up in a Costa Coffee I'd scouted on Google Streetview the evening before.
I ambled to the park and found what appeared to be the start area. 20 minutes before the start and I started wondering if there was a different Finsbury Park, no one was around!! People started appearing from the woodwork about ten minutes before the start and I retreated into my nervous, phone fiddling loner mode, still not mastered the art of parkrun chat!!!
I did manage to speak to a regular about the legendary hill, he told me it's feared but conquerable. With that in mind I made my way to the start line. This was Finsbury's 200th event and there was a decent field to take on two laps.
The Run
The start was downhill, a decent 400m drag & turn before a long steady climb. At this point I was wondering where this infamous hill was as we were at a point nearly level to the start. After a brief flat section we soon dipped down again & then the reality meets you. On my first climb I fared reasonably well, hill sprints definitely benefiting as I could drive myself up. If anything I was guilty of putting too much in and slowing at the top. A brief lap of the lake and the first lap was complete in under 13 minutes, good progress as the course is just shy of two complete laps.
I relaxed down hill and started to again make,progress on the more gentle time. I was targeting 25:00, this wasn't based on any thought other than my current form. On the second passing of the hill I again powered up as best I could, a walker ahead providing some motivation!
This was a reckless strategy, I got to the perceived top of the hill running on fumes, wondering if a tactical chunder was required!! The last couple of minutes were pure struggle, I've not felt quite so useless at the end of a run for a while.
Thankfully the finish funnel appeared and I managed to haul myself over the line at 25:15. A mere second faster than Wimpole a month ago, this felt like it's urban brother!!
The Eat
I didn't socialize afterwards, needing to get into central London for some desk based gruel! I did spot the Happening Bagel Company across the road from the park and loaded up on goodies for later in the day.
The Conclusion
If you want a tough parkrun, head to Finsbury. Having to conquer a 14m climb twice really does make this one of the most challenging parkruns I've completed. In truth the climb doesn't stop, it just appears to. The course undulates throughout, two slow climbs, two sharp and four descends. I'm happy with the time, I think that was par for the course today.
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