A FRIEND of mine said we must be crazy when I told her Bill and I had travelled all the way to Nottingham road, just to do a parkrun.
Perhaps we are a little crazy, but it is the crazy moments, the spontaneous adventures that add sparkle to life. And what fun our short Nottingham Road adventure proved to be.
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Last year Bill and I had tremendous fun pursuing the twin quests of notching up parkruns at 20 different venues to become so-called ‘parkrun tourists’ and of completing all the parkruns in our province before the end of 2017.
We were pretty pleased with ourselves when we’d achieved both quests well before our cut-off date and were resting on our laurels when we heard that a new KwaZulu-Natal parkrun was due to open at Nottingham Road.
As we’d never done an inaugural run and as doing the inaugural run would probably give us a chance to meet other parkrun tourists from all over the country, we jotted it down on our calendar.
With our recently acquired Kombi now a fully-functional camper – thanks to Bill’s efforts and skills – we decided to spend the Friday night before the inaugural parkrun at the quaint little Glensheiling Caravan Park in Nottingham road, just a short distance away from the Windmills Ultrastop where the parkrun starts and ends.
A prior engagement prevented us from leaving until about 3.30pm when we set off in our Kombi to the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands. Although this region is probably not the most spectacular in terms of scenery and wildlife, it is pretty, friendly and pleasant and I always love doing a bit of Midlands meandering.
The Friday afternoon roads were busy and the N3 congested with heavy traffic so we hopped off the highway soon after passing Pietermaritzburg and took the more leisurely scenic R103 route to Nottingham Road.
It had been hot and humid on the coast but it was decidedly chilly when we reached the Midlands.
Before heading to the campsite, we decided a craft beer at the picturesque Rawdons Hotel was in order. Built in 1956, this venerable hostelry offers gracious, old-fashioned hospitality and service and is something of a Midlands Institution. When we arrived fires had been lit in the ample fireplaces, taking the chill off the crisp Midlands air. The bar and dining areas were packed with guests and there was a lovely, festive, Friday night vibe.
We are fond of Glensheiling, a slightly wacky, no frills but comfortable and convenient Midland country campsite, but it was rather chilly so, after a quick campfire supper, we retired to bed in our comfortable camper.
A big crowd had gathered for the inaugural event by the time we reached the Nottingham Road parkrun start the next morning and the atmosphere was decidedly festive. With friendly, enthusiastic runners and walkers representing parkruns around South Africa, many of the visitors sporting their florescent orange parkrun tourist caps, we were reminded that parkrun really is a global family.
After the formalities we trotted off along an undulating route of trail paths and grass across the Blue Crane Reserve. With some fairly steep slopes to negotiate and the tussocky grass making the surface tricky, it wasn’t an easy parkrun but the typically green rolling Midlands hills make it one of the prettiest courses I have run.
After completing the inaugural parkrun, Bill and I took a look at the classy new food hall, the Midlands Kitchen, at the Windmills and were impressed with the variety of different food offered by the string of up-market diners situated there.
We also crossed the road to the quaint Linga Lapa restaurant, craft shop and deli where the famous Linga Lapa chicken pies were just coming out of the oven.
Eaten in the nearby picnic area, amidst the rolling Midlands hills, the pies were the perfect post parkrun breakfast before we headed home from our mini-travels.
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