The luck of the Irish! - Hazelwood parkrun #145 (London parkruns) - 09/07/22

Sunbury-on-Thames is a town on the north bank of the River Thames in the Borough of Spelthorne, Surrey. However it is inside the M25 hence it being included in the LonDone challenge (completing all the parkruns inside the M25). We didn’t venture to the town instead getting off the train at Feltham and then catching a bus taking us to the Hazelwood Centre, the home to London Irish Professional Rugby Club and also Hazelwood parkrun. 

The London Irish centre is a home away from home for Irish people.

The Hazelwood Centre is a 63-acre complex providing rugby pitches and a venue adorned with trophies won, pictures of greats from the past and perhaps a feeling of home away from home for Irish people. In one of the main rooms, with sofas and comfy chairs a rugby match between New Zealand and Ireland was being screened with several punters watching on whilst sipping their pints.   

My father was born on the Caribbean Island called Montserrat which he left in 1954 on the Italian Liner SS Ascania, heading for Plymouth England to make a better life for himself. Montserrat is known as The Other Emerald Island it is where they stamp your passport with a 4-leaf clover. My dad’s surname is Wade derived from MacWade which is Irish. St Patrick’s Day is celebrated vibrantly in Montserrat and by Montserratians so you could say I was in a home away from home too. 

Montserrat is a British Overseas Territory and is the only island in the Caribbean boasting an active volcano.

We met our friend and fellow parkrunning enthusiast Kristy as we all attempt to complete this LonDone challenge. 

Kristy is a keen parkrunner

The parkrun takes place at the back of the centre being two and a half anti-clockwise laps around the rugby pitches and perimeter field. It’s largely on grass with a few trail sections.  

Due to the course being on rugby pitches dogs aren’t allowed, no rugby player wants to slide for the line and come up with anything other than mud and dirt on them 😀 It’s not a buggie-friendly course and we were fortunate to come in the dry season, I don’t like running through bogs/puddles and this is a course which would be very boggy when wet. 

The marshalls counted us down and all 188 participants sped and/or lurched off. To my surprise I found myself in the top 10 and it remained like this up until the end, the luck of the Irish indeed. The finish funnel takes you past the centre’s patio BBQ section with umbrella-covered seating and lends itself to some great sprints to the line. There was a surprising amount of people milling around, surprising to me as this isn’t a park, it’s the back of a rugby club 😀 why were there so many people here at 0830? We discovered it was the mid-year Rugby Union Internationals and the game was live from Forsyth Barr Stadium, Dunedin in New Zealand.

It was a friendly vibe and the centre's kitchen does hot food to accompany anything you want from the bar. The rugby was still being screened and the punters were still watching and drinking. 

Another London parkrun ticked off for the LonDone challenge and Ireland won the Rugby game, today the luck of the Irish prevailed. 

Next week we’ll be heading to the only parkrun I’m aware of which is in a hospital; Bethlem Royal Hospital parkrun, another in the LonDone challenge.  

Happy running

www.Nuhorizons.uk/