#bedfont

Lightning is posing with the huge topiary peacocks outside St Mary's Church in Bedfont.

In London, England.

Here is a quote about them:

Two mighty yews have been pruned and trimmed to resemble a pair of perching peacocks.

Each bird is supported by an arboreal column embellished with a date: 1704 and 1990. The earlier date is when the trees were first trained into their curious shapes, while the latter marks a major restoration spearheaded by local resident David Spyer.

This is from:

Bedfont® Scientific Limited, a world leader in breath analysis with nearly 50 years of expertise in the medical breath analysis industry, has formed a strategic partnership with Aerosol Medical Systems to improve Fractional exhaled Nitric Oxide (FeNO) testing accessibility in Latin America. Aerosol Medical Systems is an established leader in the field of respiratory therapy, providing a…

Breathing new life and letting go

Heaven is under our feet as well as over our heads. —Henry David Thoreau

Bedfont Lakes

28th January, 2017

 As late as Friday I was still unsure of which parkrun to do, but I had narrowed it down to Bedfont Lakes, which I had planned to do a month or so ago but ended up doing the neighbouring Crane Park instead, or Burgess because it was relatively close to the Decathlon store in Canada Water and I fancied doing some more running gear shopping. In the end I opted for Bedfont as I felt this was unfinished business and wanted to get it crossed off the list.

Thankfully it wasn’t as cold this morning as on previous Saturdays, so getting up was just the right side of impossible. Rather than silencing the alarm and just lying there in danger of falling asleep again, I was up straight away and soon downing coffee and toast. And without too much delay (dithering) I was dressed, geared up and out of the house, running the half mile or so down the road to Northfields station where I caught a Piccadilly Line train to Hatton Cross. So far so good, but there was a frustrating wait outside the station for the H26 bus which arrived just in time at about 8.34am. And luckily it didn’t hang around so that I got off at the Bedfont Lakes Industrial Estate at about a quarter to 9. Unfortunately I didn’t know where to go from there, so it was down to Old Reliable (the phone) and Google Maps to direct me down the road to the entrance to the park. The sky was a disconcerting shade of grey as I ran, and I had to block my first thought of ‘that’s just typical,’ reminding myself that it’s hardly ever rained on parkrun day.

With less than ten minutes to spare I turned into the car park from where I could see a large gathering of people waiting for the run to start. I took off my fleece top and track pants and dropped my bag off by the hot dog stand just as the briefing for first time runners was about to begin. I managed to catch most of this before it was time for the main briefing. It turned out that the run had been cancelled the last two weeks as the park had been closed due to bad weather. It just goes to show how important it is to check the status of a parkrun before you turn up – if I’d have chosen Bedfont last week or the week before I’d have been fuming at myself.

Once the brief was over (including the introduction of several pacers, which was nice to see), the crowd of 150 or so runners huddled together on the path ready to start.

The route begins heading up a slight rise along a mildly twisting path along the south side of one of the lakes. Bearing left further on it follows the south side of a larger lake before taking a left turn then curving around to the right then heading in an easterly direction toward the Bedfont Road car park before taking a fairly sharp right turn back on itself, then taking a long curve around to the right before embarking on a long straight section that brings you back to the small lake behind the gathering point. Here you turn right, past the gathering point and start the second lap.

The first lap had been ok. I could tell very early on that I was unlikely to get a PB as the course was very wet and the ground uneven and muddy in many places. I also needed to have started closer to the front to get a good start. But never mind, as usual I was happy to just enjoy a new course. At one point on the route there was a puddle that was still pretty much iced over, so one of the marshals was stationed there to stand in the middle of the path and keep people away. He seemed happy enough, and this showed that excellent risk assessing was clearly in operation at Bedfont Lakes.

The second lap was pretty much the same as the first. I was tiring but still hanging on, and wondering where the additional section would begin that made the second lap bigger than the first. It wasn’t until almost back at the gathering area that I saw runners continuing ahead and taking a circuit of the small lake instead of turning right. I followed after them and soon enough the finish funnel was in sight so I hauled my muddy, panting self through it.

 Position: 19 out of 150

Time: 23 minutes 08 seconds.

Not great conditions for a PB, but a really lovely course that even with mud and water is still great fun to run. The organisers were clearly looking after everyone by checking the course beforehand and marking out the hazards, and there were a lot of volunteers, so many that we were able to have several pacers. I can’t recommend Bedfont Lakes enough. I just have to remember to return in the summer when the weather’s nicer.