Alexandra Park

Run time: 30:58

Distance covered: 3.36 miles (5.41km)

Soundtrack: Red Desert, by Paddy Magrane

Conditions: after the rain

First large park I've run in a while. Although there are a lot more people out than a few weeks ago, the weather was pretty uninspiring today, so the park was quiet. I love running in between smaller parks and checking out the different neighbourhoods, but it was a nice change to be in a park where I could run a whole 5k without repeating my steps too much.

This is probably the biggest Glasgow park I had never been in before. I've only ever driven past it when traffic has forced me off the M8 and onto Alexandra Parade. It's an interesting park. Kind of iceberg-like, in that there's a small area near the entrance that's very well-presented with flower beds and a Victorian fountain, but there's a big, rougher hinterland that a casual visitor could miss.

It's Victorian, which means it's a good one. Opened in 1870 and named after Princess Alexandra of Denmark. Wikipedia tells me the land was purchased bare and barren from the landowner, and developed by hundreds of unemployed artisans and labourers during the great trade depression.

They did a great job. The main public-attracting areas of the park are well-laid out, with a boating pond, lots of tree lined avenues and the aforementioned fountain

The fountain is 40 feet tall and cast iron from the Saracen Foundry, gifted to Glasgow after the 1901 International Exhibition. It's a big-ass fountain.

I had to work a little harder to get to the quieter parts of the park, running uphill and skirting the edge of the nine-hole golf course. I realised the gasworks I could see from the top of the park were the same ones I've driven past on the motorway hundreds of times, without being aware of all this green space nearby.

Not for the first time, I was struck by how much of the world is hidden away in the inbetween places, within touching distance of the travel corridors you might pass through every week.

It was worth the hill for the fantastic view, which photographs don't really do justice. I've got a soft spot for parks with a view, and this is one of the best.

I've been able to keep up the running during lockdown, which I think has kept me sane as well as relatively healthy. I've been alternating a couple of boring neighbourhood 5k runs during the week with ticking off some parks at the weekend.

So far I've been focusing on the south and east, but the impending easing of lockdown means I should be able to roam farther afield soon. I'm loving the fact that the running itself is so much easier in a new environment, almost regardless of the terrain. And every run, I'm learning more about the city I've lived in all my life.