Margate parkrun

Margate is a town, and popular seaside resort, in the district of Thanet, in Kent. It sits in the north-eastern corner of the county and looks out over the point where the Thames Estuary meets the North Sea. It has a population of just over 60,000 people, rising considerably during the summer months when holiday-makers and day-trippers make this a very busy destination. The town was recorded as a settlement in the hundred of Thanet in the Domesday book, and subsequently also referred to as Meregate. The name is thought to be related to a gap, or pool gate, in rocks where water pooled. Possibly also related to the area's historic salt marsh, which was known as the Mere.

The town's location next to the sea has dominated its history, where it started out as a small fishing village. It was a limb of Dover in the confederation of Cinque Ports, a status which it still holds. In the 18th century, seaside resorts started to become popular, and Margate, with its relatively close proximity to London, was instantly one of the most popular. It has remained that way for the last 250 years. Those early patrons would have most likely arrived on a boat called a Hoy, before steamships took over the roll in later years. This all changed in the 19th century when the railway line to Margate was constructed, enabling easy access from London and other nearby towns. Its sandy beach, Margate Main Sands is of course one of the big reasons for visiting. There is also a lovely Old Town which features many historic buildings including the Tudor House which dates back to c.1525.

Margate's biggest and most famous attraction is its amusement park, which is situated on the site of the Mere salt marsh. The site first became used for entertainment during the 1870's. At that point in time it would have been home to a Pleasure Garden, possibly containing circus animals. The 1880's saw the introduction of some early amusement rides. In 1919 the name Dreamland was introduced and in 1920 the Scenic Railway opened. This is the oldest rollercoaster in the UK and despite partial destruction, multiple fires and a brief period of closure, is still going strong to this day. In fact in 2002 it became the first roller coaster to ever be given Grade II Listed status. Alongside Dreamland, and now bearing its name, is the stunning seafront Art Deco cinema built in 1923. This was used as the primary filming location for the 2022 film, Empire of Light.

Elsewhere in Margate there is a historic clocktower, built to celebrate Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee. The town is also home to Theatre Royal; built in 1787, it is the UK's second oldest working theatre. In 1835, what is known as, the Shell Grotto, was accidentally discovered during renovation work to a house. The grotto is entirely underground and consists of a long passage with a rectangular room at the end. The walls and roof are covered in mosaics made of approximately 4.6 million seashells. Nobody knows exactly what it is, why it was built, who built it, or when it was built. It simply remains a mystery. It is open to the public where there is a small entry fee to access it. There is also another underground feature which can be visited, Margate Caves, these caves are the remains of chalk mines.

For fans of poetry, the famous poet T.S Elliot spent some time in Margate while recovering from a nervous breakdown. During this time he wrote part of The Waste Lands, which, according to Wikipedia is 'widely regarded as one of the most important poems of the 20th Century'. There is a shelter on the seafront in which he is known to have sat, and where he would have spent time writing the poem. It is called Nayland Rock shelter and is Grade II Listed. In other arts, the painter J.M.W Turner was a regular visitor to Margate. He was drawn by the area's incredible skies and is known to have regarded them as the best in Europe. A large number of his paintings are of, or inspired, by the area. Margate now features the Turner Contemporary art gallery, built on the very spot of the guest house in which Turner stayed.

Over the years I have visited Margate many times. My last two visits have been as part of visiting the town's free, weekly, timed, 5km event called Margate parkrun. My first visit to the event was in December 2013 where I took part in event 33. My second visit to the parkrun was almost 10 years later, in June 2023, where I took part in event number 467. On both occasions I drove to the town, and on both occasions used the visit as part of a longer day out in the town. We included Chas and Dave's classic 1982 tune 'Margate' on our playlist to get us in the mood. The parkrun itself is about 2 kilometres to the east of the main touristy part of the seafront, and the bonus of this location is that the adjacent streets offer plenty of free parking. For the meeting point you need to get to the Cliftonville / Walpole Bay part of Margate. Fifth Avenue is the closest road, but B2051 Eastern Esplanade has a better selection of parking spaces.

Travel by public transport is possible by taking the train to Margate station, which is located in the centre of town. The onward walk is about 2.5km, mostly along the seafront path. There are some buses that run through Margate, but it's probably not worth attempting to use one for the onward journey as it would still involve a fair bit of walking anyway. For the record, it looks like the 8A Breeze, the Loop (runs between Ramsgate and Margate), and the 32 all stop between 600-1km away from the meeting point, which is at the Walpole Bay shelter located on the upper promenade right at the end of Fifth Avenue. If you arrive by bicycle, there are no bespoke cycle racks, but the shelter has some points that can be used to secure a bike.

As for toilets, officially there are none at the parkrun meeting point. The closest public toilet is located in the Harold Road car park which is 750 metres from the meeting point. There is also another option back on the main part of the Margate seafront near the beach, 2km away next to the Nayland Rock Shelter. However, the owners of the Walpole Bay Hotel, right next to the meeting point, allow parkrunners to use the hotel facilities. We popped in to use the toilets and had a lovely chat with the receptionist. Interestingly the hotel is quite a famous and historic place. It was originally built in 1914 and extended a few years later. Original internal features include the Edwardian restaurant, a snooker room, and the original Ballroom with original 1920s spring maple dance floor. It has also featured in numerous TV shows including two appearances on The Hotel Inspector. Needless to say, if you are looking for an overnight stay, this place ticks all the boxes.

Once all of that is sorted, the participants and volunteers assemble on the seafront path next to the shelter. The briefings both take place here and at 9am the parkrunners and parkwalkers embark on their 5km of exercise along the seafront. The course consists of two separate out-and-back sections. The surface underfoot is mostly very wide tarmac paths, but there is a short section of grass/gravel at the far end. For the most part, it is a flat course, but the route does include a long sweeping wave-like undulation. Road shoes should be ok all year round, and buggy runners will be absolutely fine on this course. Be aware that this is a seafront route and can suffer from strong winds blowing in from the sea.  I will point out that the official course map suggests that the route takes place on both the upper and lower proms, however the entire course stays on the upper prom at all times.

The start has the participants initially head off to the west along Queens Promenade, in the general direction heading towards the centre of town. The deal is that participants are to keep left at all times. A memorial fountain is passed shortly after the start, this is a war memorial, which is unusual in the fact that it is dedicated to one person rather than to the people of the town. After 500 metres the route enters The Oval Gardens where the participants complete a clockwise loop of The Oval Bandstand. The ornate iron bandstand dates from 1897 and hosts various musical performances, as you'd expect from a bandstand. During the 1960s and 70s it was also known to host wrestling matches, and these are set to make a comeback in 2023.

Once the loop of the bandstand is complete, the course heads back along Queens Promenade towards the original starting point where the first, and at 1.1km, the shortest, of the two out-and-backs is done. This point marks the start of the second out-and-back, which carries on along the seafront heading to the east and after passing Walpole Bay Lawns, a small bridge over a slipway is crossed and the path officially changes to Princes Walk. The path continues to meander gently as it passes Palm Bay Beach and the tennis courts and passes over another small bridge, crossing another slipway. The gentle wave-like undulation is around this point of the course. After a bit more meandering, the course reaches Foreness Point. This is a low headland (a point of land with a high drop into the water). It is also home to the Margate Wastewater Pumping Station.

It is worth noting that there are fine views all along the course, and at some points the cliffs provide a lovely addition to the scene. On a clear day it is possible to see the Thanet Off-shore Wind Farm. This lies about 12km off the coast and when completed in 2010 it was the largest offshore wind farm in the world. It no longer holds this title (Wikipedia says it had dropped to 14th in 2017). There are 100 wind turbines in the farm and together they generate enough electricity to supply around 240,000 homes (equivalent to 34% of all the homes in Kent). The course works its way around the coastal path until turning inland at the 3 kilometre point where the surface underfoot changes to grass/dirt/gravel paths for around 400 metres. It then re-joins tarmac paths which lead back around to Princes Walk and the route then heads back along the promenade all the way back to Walpole Bay Lawns, where the finish is found.

Barcode scanning takes place in the shelter and once all participants and the tailwalkers have completed the course, the post-event social gathering takes place. The official venue is listed as the Palm Bay Cafe, which is next to the Palm Bay tennis courts. However I understand that Taddy's Barn Tea Room, in Broadstairs, is currently the favoured destination. Being a seaside town, there are of course many other options to choose from.

I should add a special note that I was delighted to see a large contingent of walkers taking part in the parkrun. On the day we visited, over 10% of the total finishers crossed the line in over 50 minutes. I recorded the course using my Garmin and the data can be viewed on Strava. I also created a Relive course fly-by video, and that can be found on YouTube. The results for event 467 were published online later that day and 172 people had taken part. The official average attendance is 91.6, but this of course includes figures going back to the inaugural in April 2013, so does not represent the current average which is more likely to be in the 150-200 window.

We had already made plans to meet my parents, who happened to be in the middle of a seaside break in Margate, so we got changed and took a walk into the centre of town where we spent the rest of the day. We missed breakfast but ended up having lunch in Brewers Fayre, next door to the town's Premier Inn. We also visited most of the places mentioned above including the Shell Grotto, which really is quite bizarre. We did of course also spend a bit of time on the beach where it was much warmer (scorching) than our last visit in December 2013. By the time we left, it was 5pm and we were truly exhausted. However we had had a brilliant day in Margate, which all started with the amazing welcome we received at the parkrun, so a huge thanks to everyone involved.

Related Links:

Margate parkrun GPS data (24 June 2023)

Margate parkrun course fly-by video (24 June 2023)

The Kent parkrun venues (blog7t page)

Original 2013 Margate parkrun write-up (blog7t)

Rutland Water parkrun

The ceremonial county, historic county and unitary authority of Rutland sits within the East Midlands region of England with a population of around 42,000 people. It covers an area of 147 square miles and is famous for being the smallest historic county in England. The origin of the name seems to be unclear, but there are several theories such as it being derived from Rota's Land as Roteland or from the Old English words meaning cattle and land. The county has a Latin motto 'Multum in Parvo' which means 'Much in Little'. People from Rutland, and this possibly only applies to males, are known as a 'Raddle Men' or a 'Raddle Man'.

The entire county is home to only two towns; Uppingham which is known for being home to one of the country's most prestigious public schools and for its internationally renowned art galleries, and Oakham which is the county town. Oakham has a unique tradition where any royalty or peers of the realm must forfeit a horseshoe to the Lord of the Manor upon their first visit to the town. The horseshoes, most of which are oversized and decorative, now number more than 230 and are displayed within The Great Hall of Oakham Castle. The hall itself is said to be the best preserved 12th century building in the country.

To the east of the county town, and right in the centre of the county, is the Gwash Valley, named after the river that flows through it. Owing to the expanding population the decision was made to create a reservoir in the valley. A 1.2km long dam was built near the village of Empingham using clay excavated from the valley floor. However within the area chosen were three villages. The first, Upper Hambleton stands on higher ground so was safe, and now sits on a peninsula. Middle Hambleton was a little lower and lost most of its buildings. However Nether Hambleton was situated further down in the valley and had to be completely abandoned, with long-established families losing their homes and livelihoods. The decision was of course highly controversial and a notable medieval 'wattle and daub' building called Beehive Cottage, said to be the oldest cottage in Rutland, was lost. 

The eastern side of the reservoir used to be part of the Normanton Estate, which was first created in the years following the Norman Conquest. It went on to be the seat of the Earls of Ancaster. The centre of the estate was Normanton Hall, and this survived up until the late 1920's when it was demolished. There was also a village, but this was cleared in the 18th century in order to create a park for the estate. Much of this parkland, including its deer park and fish pond, was located within the modern-day reservoir. The original village church, St Matthew's, which stands on foundations from the 14th century, was rebuilt as a private chapel for the Earls of Ancaster.

The reservoir was created between 1971 and 1975. It was originally given the name Empingham Reservoir during construction, but public opinion led to it being called Rutland Water by the time it was finished. Measured by volume, when it was first completed, Rutland Water, which holds 124 million cubic metres of water, was the largest reservoir in the United Kingdom. The completion of Kielder Water, in Northumberland, in 1981, pushed it into second place where it has remained ever since. However, Rutland Water remains at the number 1 spot if measured by surface area, which is recorded as 12.6 million metres squared (or 4.1 miles). It is now owned and operated by Anglican Water, providing water to over 500,000 homes across five counties.

Rutland Water is also now an important place for wildlife and part of the area is now a nature reserve which has also been designated as a Special Protection Area. It is home to many species of birds, with the most notable being the Osprey, which was introduced to the area in 1996. There are now 26 of them living here. In 2021, during routine draining works, the fossil of a Temnodontosaurus trigonodon, which is a genus of Ichthyosaur was found within a lagoon area of the reservoir. It is over 10 metres long with a skull that weighs over a tonne. It is the largest and most complete fossil of this kind to be found in the United Kingdom. This was the third Ichthyosaur to be found in Rutland Water, the other two were discovered during its construction in the 1970's.

It is also used as a place of recreation. The banks feature miles of pathways for walking and cycling, while the water itself is used for watersports, mostly sailing. There is a pleasure cruiser called the Rutland Belle which takes visitors on trips between April and October. Aqua Park Rutland is a water-based centre which contains a selection of challenging obstacles for those who prefer a more adrenaline filled activity. There is also a large picnic area with a beach and a 10 metre tall artwork by Alexander, called The Great Tower. At the time of its installation it was the largest single-cast bronze sculpture in the world. Since October 2015 the banks of the reservoir have also been home to a weekly, free, timed, 5km event called Rutland Water parkrun.

We visited Rutland on 17 June 2023 to take part at the parkrun's 315th event. If travelling by public transport, the entire county of Rutland only has one railway station and this is at Oakham (direct trains run from Cambridge and Birmingham). The onward journey seems to involve taking the R1 bus to Uppingham, followed by the R5 bus to Normanton. Another option would be to travel to Stamford Station in Lincolnshire and pick up the R5 bus from that end of the line. However I can't be totally sure that it would all work out early on a Saturday morning. Incorporating a taxi into the journey may make it easier. If relying on public transport was the only choice, I would personally explore the option of booking an overnight stay at one of the local camp sites or at Normanton Park Hotel which occupies Normanton Hall's surviving stable block, where you can quite literally roll out of bed and into the parkrun meeting area.

If travelling by vehicle, the reservoir has a four main car parks dotted around its banks, and visitors taking part in the parkrun need to head for the Normanton car park, which is on the eastern side near the village of Edith Weston. There is a fee to park and the full charges can be found on Anglican Water's visitor information page. However parkrunners can park for a flat fee of £1 by obtaining a discount ticket from the start/finish area. This is then inserted into the payment machine followed by the ticket issued upon entry. There doesn't appear to be a time limit associated with this deal, so you could potentially stay all day and still receive the discount. At a very rough count there appears to be approximately 300 spaces in this car park.  There are toilet facilities adjacent to the car park, just look for the octagonal shaped building.

The parkrun meeting area can be found by heading to the north of the car park, so make sure the reservoir is on your left hand side as you follow the road and path. A good indicator that you are going the right way is that once past the Cafe / Rutland Water Fishing Lodge and through the trees, you should be able to see the quite peculiar sight of a church seemingly half submerged in the water. This is the aforementioned St Matthew's Church, also known as Normanton Church. It was deconsecrated in 1970 and is now Grade II Listed. When the reservoir was being created, it became apparent that the church would be partially submerged. There was public outcry at the thought of losing another historic building, so the church had its lower level filled with rubble and topped with concrete. A causeway was built to link what would have otherwise been an island, to the mainland. The meeting area is adjacent to the church.

Rutland Water parkrun takes place on a flat, single out-and-back course. The surface underfoot is tarmac so road shoes are the way to go all year round. It's also absolutely fine for buggy runners. If attending with a dog, the park's rules state that it must be kept on a lead at all times and must not be allowed to enter the water. The official average attendance at time of writing stands at 228. Just before the lockdown, the attendances were regularly in the 400's, but as of June 2023, it is more likely to be in the high 200's, with the occasional week where it breaks into the 300's. The first-timers' and main briefings are held at the meeting point and the start-finish area just on the other side of a gate. At 9am, the event gets underway.

The start is on the tarmac path, which is a regular width, so it's a good idea to self-seed appropriately as the early congestion means overtaking is not easy until the field spreads out. The right hand side is initially bordered with a bush which marks the historic border between Normanton Hall's original formal garden and the rest of its park. It now forms the border with the grounds of the hotel. The left hand side is open grass which leads down to the water's edge. Inevitably not everyone will stay on the path itself, so there is some initial over-spill onto the adjacent grass.

The course simply follows this path as it meanders northwards and once the initial congestion has eased, the arrangement is that you keep to the left. According to old maps, the course passes through an area which was once a cricket ground. The grassland here is used for the grazing of sheep, so you may find some out and about as you progress along the course. The sheep are responsible for this course's only real hazard, which is their poo. Things change from week-to-week, but it's best to keep an eye out to make sure you don't slip on a fresh one.

The land now under the water just off the coast was once the site of a pheasantry. Towards the end of this section is an octagonal-shaped building linked to a structure within the water. I understand this is the Rutland Water Draw off Tower which is used to extract drinking water from the reservoir. Adjacent to the tower is its small access road and the course crosses this. It is not accessible by general vehicles but the crossing point has a marshal, to keep everything in order. A wide gate is opened for parkrunners to pass through and this involves a brief moment on some grass. Once onto the other side, the route bears to the left and the participants head along the dam itself. It has been designed to blend into the natural environment and the section at the waters edge is topped by a rock wall. There's a great view across the fields towards Empingham from the top of the dam.

The course continues along the dam until reaching the 2.5km turnaround point, which is marshalled and features some cones and a turnaround sign. We visited in the summer and the weather was glorious, but I understand in less favourable conditions this course is quite exposed to the elements (notably the wind). The rest of the course is a simple case of heading back along the exact route in the opposite direction (keeping to the left, of course), and the finish is found in the exact spot where it all started just a short while earlier. Notably, this venue has an arch to run through at the finish, which I thought was a nice touch. Barcode scanning is taken care of just on the other side of the gate, on the grass in front of the church.

I recorded the course using my Garmin and the data can be found on Strava, should anyone wish to see the course in detail. There is also the Relive course fly-by video which can be found on YouTube. The results were processed and published online a short while later and 262 people had taken part in event number 315. The official post-event refreshments venue is The Waterside Cafe, which is near the Normanton car park, just next to the fishing lodge. It has the option of sitting outside or remaining inside. The inside seating area features a large window with panoramic views over the reservoir. We ended up hanging around the church trying to find the perfect angle for a photograph, and missed the breakfast window. We ended up eating from the lunch menu instead, which was very nice.

Once we had finished at Rutland Water we headed around to the county town of Oakham where we visited the Great Hall and saw the horseshoes. The grounds were originally the site of a motte and bailey castle and there was a Time Team archaeological dig here, which aired in 2013. In order to watch it you'd need to find Series 20, episode 7 'Horseshoe Hall'. We then popped into All Saints Church, and saw the Grade I Listed Buttercross, which contains an unusual set of stocks with five holes. From Oakham we made our way into the countryside to find the Grade II Listed Welland Viaduct which links Northamptonshire to Rutland over the valley of the River Welland. This is notable due to it being the longest masonry viaduct to cross a river valley in the United Kingdom. It has 82 arches, all built by hand between 1876-1878. Well worth a visit.

And with that our short visit to the county of Rutland was over. We'd had a brilliant time, and the cherry on top was the amazing welcome we received from the volunteer team and other locals at Rutland Water parkrun. So many people chatted to us, which really made us feel at home. Thank you to everyone involved for such a lovely event.

Related links:

The course GPS data (June 2023)

The Relive course fly-by video (June 2023)

The Rutland parkrun venues (blog7t page)

The Rutland parkrun venues

The ceremonial county and historic county of Rutland is a unitary authority with a population of just over 40,000 people. It is also England's smallest historic county.

The pins on the map show the locations of the county's 5k parkruns, of which there is only one. Green pins indicate a venue I have visited while red pins show I have not visited, There is also a single junior parkrun which is held in the same location (not covered on this map/page). parkruns that are not open to the public (prisons) are not shown on these maps.

Rutland Water - Rutland Water Reservoir, Normanton Road, Edith Weston, Oakham, Rutland.

Course: A single 2.5km out and back

Underfoot: Tarmac

Profile: Flat

Notes: Normanton Church is this venues top feature

Further reading: My Rutland Water parkrun write-up from June 2023

Please note: Information contained within the blog posts, such as the course configuration, parking arrangements, availability of toilets etc, may change. Please always check with the relevant events' web page and social media channels for the latest and most accurate information.

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Wendover Woods parkrun

Wendover is a town that sits within the Chiltern Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, in Buckinghamshire. The town was first recorded as Wændofron, and by 1086 this had evolved into Wendovre. The name itself is said to mean whitewater, and this is assumed to be a reference to the chalky stream that runs through the town.

It is known as an extremely desirable place to live and features 113 listed buildings. A row of thatched cottages near the centre of town were once owned by Henry VIII, who gave them to Anne Boleyn as a wedding present. Just outside the town centre is RAF Halton, which is one of the UK's largest RAF stations in the country. It has been in use by the military since 1913, but is due to close in 2027.

To the south-west and the east of the town, the Chiltern Hills rise, creating the stunning landscape for which they are famous. The focus of attention for this blog are the hills to the east; Boddington Hill and Haddington Hill. These both sit in the 800 acre area that is known as Wendover Woods. The woods, of course, take their name from the town and are managed by Forestry England. Interestingly, the area is recorded as Halton Wood on old maps, and the name Wendover Woods doesn't seem to appear until after the second world war.

The modern-day visitor attraction contains many marked trails, picnic areas, cafe, a playground, Gruffalo trail, and the Go Ape Treetop Adventure. I hear the woods have a stunning display of Bluebells during the spring. In September 2018 the woods became home to their very own free, weekly, timed, 5km event called Wendover Woods parkrun. The parkrun, like all others, is open to all abilities including those who would like to participate by walking.

We visited on 10 June 2023 to take part in the parkrun's 176th event. Travel to the venue is easiest by car and the site features a large on-site car park for which a fee is payable. The system in place during my visit is one where a camera records the vehicle's number plate upon entry and the fee can be paid by card or by other contactless method, such as a smartphone, at one of the machines at the Pay Station. Simply enter the registration number just before leaving and it will calculate the correct amount due based on the time spent on-site. The current parking charges are available on the Forestry England website. I did have a little trouble when leaving as the camera hadn't picked up my number plate upon entry. However the machines had an option to manually enter details as a back-up. Their website mentions they are putting plans in place for RingGo to be a payment option, but as of my visit this option was not live. 

If travelling by public transport you'd need to head to Wendover Station, and from there you could attempt to walk to the woods via Upper Icknield Way or possibly Beechwood Lane, but the route doesn't look straightforward and would involve some very steep inclines. It is noted on the official course page that the number 50 bus stops on Upper Icknield Way, but all the timetables I've seen online suggest that it only runs on Sundays. If using a bicycle there are a large number of racks available adjacent to the cafe building. Once on-site you'll need to head to the main central hub which is adjacent to the car park. The toilets can be found in the Wendover Woods Cafe building.

The first-timers' briefing is held near this area and the participants then head along the main path to the start area, near the GoApe centre, where the main briefing is held. Wendover Woods parkrun takes place over a single-lap (point-to-point) clockwise course which takes in quite a large amount of the overall woods.

The forest trail surface underfoot varies between stony and dirt based paths, and it can at times be uneven. During the winter months can also get quite muddy. The best shoe choice in the winter would be trail shoes, while in the summer months it'll come down to personal preference. Those with an aversion to wearing trail shoes should find road shoes are fine, but my personal preference would be to stick with trail shoes as they give a little more protection and stability on the stony and uneven surfaces. Buggy running is possible here, but it will be tough - the official course page advises awareness of the fast downhills and tough uphills.

The start line is just off the main wide path where the briefing is held and the opening section sees the parkrunners passing underneath the treetop obstacles which make up the GoApe course. This area is pretty much at the highest point of the woods. It then passes around the cafe where the route picks up one of the main walking routes through the woods.

The course starts to head downhill (past the Gruffalo) from this point and I would note that this section of path contains a fair amount of loose stones (larger than gravel). The path is nice and wide, so there's plenty of space for everyone. Just before reaching the 1 kilometre point, there is a downhill switchback to negotiate, so that was a cool memorable feature of the course.

The course continues to head generally downhill through the beautiful woodland throughout the next kilometre, and the descent gets fairly steep for a while. My GPS data registered this section mostly in the -6% to -8% region, but it did get as steep as -10% at one point. I found myself checking out the view while also trying to keep an eye on the terrain as it remains off-road with both embedded and loose stones. Just after the 2 kilometre point, the course generally starts to head back uphill. This starts in a gentle manner, but a few hundred metres later there is a right hand turn and the steepest uphill section is found. My Garmin recorded this mostly in the 9% to 12% window, but with a very brief point where it recorded 22%. This was followed by another downhill where the maximum descent was recorded at -15.6%.

There were of course some wonderful marshals dotted around the course, and they were generally placed on corners or where the path splits, ensuring no parkrunners or parkwalkers would take a wrong turn. Every now and then, in between marshals, there was the reassuring sight of a parkrun direction arrow. It is possible that you may cross paths with horse riders on certain paths, so of course keep an eye out for them (I spotted 1). You may also find the odd cyclist (again, I spotted 1), but out on the far reaches of the course, I didn't bump into any dog walkers or other members of the public. They seemed to stay concentrated within the main central hub.

During the second half of the route I found the surface underfoot became less stony and more dirt path, but still relatively wide. From the looks of some of the vehicle rut marks in the ground, it looks like it could get pretty muddy in this section.

At this point the course was working its way around the southern side of Boddington Hill, which was once home to an Iron Age hill fort (Boddington Hill Fort). It would have had a defensive bank and ditch on its east, south and west sides. The evidence suggests the fort would have covered an area of 10 hectares upon the hill. From the 3.2 kilometre point onwards, the course is all uphill. Thankfully the incline gets less severe the closer it gets to the finish, and the last kilometre generally feels almost flat. The location of the original briefing is soon reached and the finish is found back near the main central hub area.

Barcode scanning takes place right after the finish funnel and it's only a few metres to walk to reach the Wendover Woods Cafe, which is where the post event social is held - they had a good selection of food for all preferences, including a number of vegetarian and vegan options. The results were published shortly after and there were 160 finishers at event number 176. The official average number of attendees at time of writing is 141.1, but the actual number of attendees seems to bounce around in the 130-210 window. As I have mentioned above, I recorded the course with my Garmin and that data is online should you wish to check out the course map and elevation profile. I also used the data to create a fly-by video using the Relive app and that can be found on YouTube.

Once we had had a drink and some food in the lovely cafe (10% discount for parkrunners - show your barcode), we headed off to explore the woods a little more. A particular feature I was keen to find was the summit of Haddington Hill, which doubles up as the highest point in the whole of the Chilterns. After a few attempts of searching we found the right path. The summit itself is hidden within the woods to the north of the cafe area, and there is a cairn made from a set of four stones marking the spot. We wandered around a bit more and found part of the remains of the Boddington Hill Fort defensive bank and ditch. There are also a few viewpoints which give fantastic views of the surrounding countryside, and there is a fitness trail with various wooden pieces of equipment installed. In the end we visited the cafe three times to refresh and refuel before finally hitting the road home at around 4.30pm.

Wendover Woods is a beautiful place to visit, and it is such a brilliant location for a parkrun. The hills had made me nervous as I'm not quite as fit as I used to be, but I'm so glad I finally visited. Yes, the hills are hard work (I mostly walked the uphill parts) and this venue falls within the toughest 10% of parkruns in the United Kingdom, but it is also extremely brilliant. At the time of writing this is one of four parkruns that sit within the Chilterns Area of Natural Beauty. The others are Dunstable Downs parkrun, Church Mead parkrun and Henley on Thames parkrun. I have now visited three of them and they have all been stunning. 

The volunteers were fantastic, so I'd like to add a huge thank you to them for making the event happen.

Related Links:

My GPS data of the course (10 June 2023)

The Relive Course Fly-by Video (10 June 2023)

The Buckinghamshire parkruns (blog7t page)

Dunstable Downs parkrun (blog7t write-up)

Church Mead parkrun (blog7t write-up)

Fulbourn Hospital parkrun

Fulbourn is a village on the outskirts of the city of Cambridge in Cambridgeshire. The name comes from the Anglo-Saxon word Fugleburn or Fugolburna which is said to mean 'stream frequented by waterfowl'. Historically there were five manors in the area (Zouches, Manners, Colvilles, Shardelowes and Fulbourne) and these were collectively known as 'The Five Manors of Fulbourn'. The only manor that survives to this day is the Grade II Listed Fulbourn Manor and this has been a private residence of the Townley family since 1788. The village itself is home to around 4,500 people. If you follow the road from Fulbourn towards Cambridge you will spot the Fulbourn Windmill which has stood here since 1808. A little further along on the very edge of Cambridge is Fulbourne Hospital, which specialises in mental health treatment.

The hospital first came into existence as a result of the Lunacy Act 1845 and the County Asylums Act 1845 which mandated that all local authorities must provide asylums for the mentally ill. Thirteen years later, in November 1858, 'The County Pauper Lunatic Asylum for Cambridgeshire, the Isle of Ely and the Borough of Cambridge' finally opened. Although built in the Victorian era the design of the building was Elizabethan. An on-site farm existed and was tended to by the patients. The original grounds to the front of the building were well-known for their large petal-shaped beds. Each petal had a different crop planted within it and the produce used to feed the patients. 

The name of the facility changed throughout the years, in addition to its original name, it also operated under the names 'Cambridgeshire County Asylum' and 'Fulbourn Mental Hospital'. The hospital became part of the National Health Service upon its creation in 1948 and it is now known simply as Fulbourn Hospital. Additional buildings were added over the years and the housing of patients moved from the original building into smaller bungalow-style buildings. The main 1858 building is called Victoria House and is now home to the headquarters of 'NHS East of England' with some of the adjacent land being home to a business park. The main modern-day hospital sits just to the west of Victoria House.

In December 2019 the hospital became home to its very own free, weekly, timed, 5km event, Fulbourn Hospital parkrun, which became the second UK parkrun to be staged within the grounds of an active NHS facility. The first was Bethlem Royal Hospital parkrun, in London. I visited the event on a lovely, sunny morning in June 2023 and took part in event number 94. I travelled by car and parked in the free-of-charge, on-site car park. For cyclists there is a sheltered bicycle rack, adjacent to the car park, which ended up completely full just before 9am. I've never been to Cambridge before but I think cycling is a popular way to get around.

For anyone travelling to the venue by public transport, the nearest train station is Cambridge, which is in the city centre. The onward journey to the hospital is around 3 miles, so if you don't fancy walking/running, the Citi 1 and Citi 3 buses may come in useful. I hear they will get you to the Fulbourn Cherry Hinton Tesco Superstore which was built in c.1992 on land which was formerly part of the hospital. From here there is a footpath that leads from Tesco into the hospital grounds, or you can walk around using the main roads. The travel options are all very well covered on the Fulbourn Hospital parkrun's official course page. Once at the venue the main meeting spot is in front of the brand new Resource Centre building which conveniently houses the toilets and the cafe - the building should be accessible from around 8am.

The briefings take place at the meeting point and everybody then moves across to the start area which is just on the other side of the nicely landscaped open grass field. The 5k parkrun course is made up of one small lap around the main grass area, followed by four full laps of the course - all in a clockwise direction. The terrain is largely flat, but there is one section where there is a gradual incline that has to be done five times. Underfoot is mostly grass, but also has sections on a concrete path and a tarmac road. I'm told that the drainage is very good due to the chalky soil in this area, so it should never get overly muddy here. Those who prefer to be cautious may wish to go for trail shoes in the winter, but in the dryer seasons road shoes will be just fine. Buggy runners will be fine here, but please note that no dogs are permitted at this venue.

Please note: The course has changed slightly since I visited.

The course starts on a concrete path which runs alongside the main entrance road. It can just about accommodate two people side-by-side so expect a bit of over-spill onto the adjacent grass. Within about 80 metres the route turns onto the grass and makes its way around the main grass area. The exact path to take is marked by a seemingly endless number of disc cones, which must take ages to put out and then clear away, but do come in very useful. There was a warning during the briefing to watch out for rabbit holes while on the grass areas, and although I did see some, the main route was surprisingly free of them. In fact, the grass paths used for the course are very smooth and enjoyable to run/walk on.

This main first section of grass is where the gradual incline can be found. According to my GPS data, the incline lasts for around 100 metres and rises by about 5 metres, so it is fairly gentle. When reaching the end of the incline on lap 1, everybody is directed to the right by one of the brilliant marshals and the course simply works its way around onto the opening concrete path where the small lap is completed. For the record the small lap is 500 metres in length.

The next four laps all start the same but when you reach the marshal at the end of the incline everybody goes left through the trees and into another section of the hospital grounds. This section initially remains on grass, but does eventually end up on the tarmac road for a short stretch at the far end turnaround loop. The biggest thing to note about this section is that it features two crossings of the internal road (which is closed during the event, but I would still advise to keep an eye out for vehicle movement). These crossings both involve a kerb down and another back up onto the grass.

After the second road crossing, the course heads back into familiar territory and eventually rejoins that concrete path and the full lap is complete. The full lap is around 1.1km in length, and after completing it four times the course peels off from the concrete path where the finish line awaits. It's worth pointing out that there is a lot of lapping happening on this course, so every single participant will either lap someone or be lapped themselves. Most will probably find they do both! The main thing is to remember to keep count of how many laps you have completed, or if you are wearing a running watch just keep going until you hit 5 kilometres.

Barcode scanning currently takes place right after the finish line. Once that is done the natural thing to do is cheer some other parkrunners into the finish and then head across to the main meeting point at the Resource Centre building and grab some refreshments from the cafe, 'The Edge Cafe @ Fulbourn'. The Edge Cafe is a social enterprise with a focus on supporting members of the local community with their recovery following specialist mental health treatment, which of course fits this venue perfectly. It is run by a mixture of paid staff and volunteers.

The results were published online shortly after and 84 people participated in event 94 in times ranging from 18 minutes through to 55 minutes. I recorded the course using my Garmin, and you can take a look at that data if you'd like to see the course in more detail. There's also the Relive Course Fly-by Video which was created using that data and can be viewed on YouTube. I'd had such a lovely morning at this delightful venue, and I'd like to thank all the volunteers and other parkrunners for making me feel so welcome.

Related Links:

The course GPS data (3 June 2023)

The Relive Course Fly-by Video (3 June 2023)

The Cambridgeshire parkrun Venues (blog7t page)

Bethlem Royal Hospital parkrun (blog7t write-up)

Cambridge parkrun write-ups:

• Coldham's Common (not yet visited)
• Fulbourn Hospital parkrun write-up (2023)
• Storeys Field parkrun (not yet visited)
• Milton Country parkrun write-up (2024)