parkrun Alphabet

parkrun
Author

Paul Stallard

Published

November 25, 2023

We completed our parkrun alphabet on Saturday 25 November 2023 at Zuiderpark in Den Haag.

It was well in to our parkrun journey when we decided to take on the alphabet challenge (run a parkrun starting with each letter of the alphabet). We’d run a few other events already, on holiday or when our local event was cancelled. At the time we decided to do it, there was only one “I” (Ipswich), one “Y” (York) and one “J” (Jersey) in the UK. All the “Z” parkruns are abroad.

Our timing could have been better - we had 9 left to go when the Covid shutdown took hold. The week before the national lockdown we completed Alice Holt parkrun; everyone knew it would be the last event for a while.

We arranged a holiday to Jersey to get our “J”. Unfortunately there was a storm the week before we went which took down a floodlight in the sports field and Jersey parkrun had a rare cancellation that weekend! As luck would have it, Jersey Farm parkrun (near St Albans) started up soon after so we were able to get our “J” without another trip to Jersey.

York (the only “Y” at the time) would have been a long trip for a parkrun. One of our boys was at Leeds University that year, so it was relatively easy to combine York parkrun with a visit to see him.

We opted for Zuiderpark (Den Haag) for our “Z” as it was easy to get to and we could combine it with a weekend break to Den Haag and Amsterdam. A lot of people were there for a “Z” that day!

There are no parkruns that begin with “X” so the challenge is for the 25 other letters. We ran EXeter while on holiday - as close as we could get…

Our alphabet parkruns (alphabetical order)

  • Alice Holt (14 Mar 2020)
  • Bognor Regis (25 Dec 2015)
  • Chichester (2 Aug 2014)
  • Durlston Country Park (23 Jul 2022)
  • Eastleigh (21 May 2022)
  • Fell Foot (25 Aug 2018)
  • Gunnersbury (22 Jun 2019)
  • Havant (30 Dec 2017)
  • Ipswich (31 Mar 2018)
  • Jersey Farm (5 Aug 2023)
  • Keswick (1 Aug 2015)
  • Lee-on-the-Solent (30 Mar 2019)
  • Moors Valley (30 Apr 2022)
  • Netley Abbey (7 Mar 2020)
  • Oxford (28 Jan 2023)
  • Portsmouth Lakeside (16 Jul 2016)
  • Queen Elizabeth (28 Apr 2018)
  • Roundshaw Downs (27 Dec 2014)
  • Southsea (13 Jan 2018)
  • Telford (8 Aug 2015)
  • Uckfield (9 Jul 2022)
  • Victoria Dock (12 Nov 2022)
  • Worthing (20 Apr 2019)
  • York (18 Feb 2023)
  • Zuiderpark (25 Nov 2023)

Our alphabet parkruns (completion order)

  • Chichester (2 Aug 2014)
  • Roundshaw Downs (27 Dec 2014)
  • Keswick (1 Aug 2015)
  • Telford (8 Aug 2015)
  • Bognor Regis (25 Dec 2015)
  • Portsmouth Lakeside (16 Jul 2016)
  • Havant (30 Dec 2017)
  • Southsea (13 Jan 2018)
  • Ipswich (31 Mar 2018)
  • Queen Elizabeth (28 Apr 2018)
  • Fell Foot (25 Aug 2018)
  • Lee-on-the-Solent (30 Mar 2019)
  • Worthing (20 Apr 2019)
  • Gunnersbury (22 Jun 2019)
  • Netley Abbey (7 Mar 2020)
  • Alice Holt (14 Mar 2020)

COVID interruption!

  • Moors Valley (30 Apr 2022)
  • Eastleigh (21 May 2022)
  • Uckfield (9 Jul 2022)
  • Durlston Country Park (23 Jul 2022)
  • Victoria Dock (12 Nov 2022)
  • Oxford (28 Jan 2023)
  • York (18 Feb 2023)
  • Jersey Farm (5 Aug 2023)
  • Zuiderpark (25 Nov 2023)