Squerreys Winery parkrun - event 79

On the 20th August 2022 I ran the Squerreys Winery parkrun which was the 79th event held at the venue, my 91st parkrun and 26th different course I'd attended.

We are fortunate in Kent to not only have a number of different parkrun events, but events that consist of contrast and points of difference. Whether that's the hills and elevation of Lullingstone or the flat out and back routes of The Leas and Deal & Walmer you can find a wide variation of everything in-between.

Of the 24 events in Kent I had done until Saturday exactly half of them and hope to visit the other half by the end of the year starting with Saturday's event at Squerreys Winery. I had been keen to attend this event ever since I'd first heard about it. Not necessarily for the run, but the fact that on the same site was a local brewery with the chance to pick up some craft beer alongside a shiny new PB.

In the week leading up to the event, my friend Bartek had finally succumbed to my relentless evangelism and informed me that he'd registered for parkrun and had downloaded his barcode. I finally had a parkrun buddy and what an event as a complete first timer!

I owe Bartek a debt of gratitude actually, as he offered to drive. Our car was still suffering from injuries sustained on the long drive back from the peak district, so I was planning on a week off tourism due to the rail strike, but Bartek offered and no doubt I'll repay the favour in the weeks to come.

Squerreys Winery is a working vineyard near Westerham. In fact the number of times I've driven by it on the M25 and not known it was there must be in the hundreds. You can't actually see it, even if you did know it was there as it's well protected by a line of trees, but it was easily accessible and parking was easier than we anticipated (getting there early always helps).

The course description and accompanying map look fairly straight-forward, although the route is a little more complex than at first glance with various switch-backs betweens rows of vines which makes the course all the more appealing.

From the start, which was more open and wider than I expected it to be. It still helps to line up in approximate positions as paths do become quite narrow quite quickly and for much it of the course it is a single file path at best. From the start the course runs south around the main vine field, before switching back north for the first pass down the edge of the vines themselves.

Participants then switch west into a neighbouring field which had recently been given a haircut so was short and spiky if you strayed into the field itself. The main path around the outside was fairly compact and due to the dry weather was firm underfoot. I can imagine in the winter months the course would be an absolute mud-bath and trail shoes would be a must, with spikes likely to be the preferred option. The course follows the outer circumference of this field and just as you start to come back on yourself on the return back, the course switches again into another field where the path leads you on and around the circumference of this one too in a clockwise direction.

After a full rotation of the second field, in the same place that the course transitions between field one and field two - participants swap again into the first field and follow the path back north to the vines.  The course then picks up the original path from the start, passing the vines again on the left hand side for the second time.

The course is relativing flat, but there are some mild undulations both up and down with the real exertion being caused I think by the terrain itself. The ground did suck a bit of energy out of the legs and as I came back alongside the vines for the second time I did start to struggle. I wasn't sure whether it was just general fatigue from the course, or having to carry around the device I was wearing to measure my heart rate, or both. But by the time I had entered the clockwise loop of the first field for the second time I had to stop for a brief (and frustrating) walk.

Incidentally, the heart rate device isn't necessarily anything to worry about. I had a few 'funny turns' and a 24 hour ECG which nothing of note was discovered. The doctor wanted to have a listen to what was going on for a longer period and so I'm currently wearing a heart rate monitor for a week to see if there's anything not quite as it should be.

Once I'd sworn at myself several times and given myself a good telling off, I picked the pace up again and completed the rest of the loop of the main field. Instead of turning left into the second field on the second lap, participants keep going, back past the vines for the third time. Where on reaching the end, instead of turning right and west again for the third lap of the field, participants loop back upon themselves and head through a line in between two rows of vines which might just be up there with my favourite segment of any parkrun course I've run to date. 

At the end of the tunnel of vines, after smiling for the camera the course turns right, back onto the start line back towards the main complex and the finish line itself. I finished in 101st place out of a field of 154 in a time 29.44, which made my little walking stretch all the more frustrating.

Once I had recovered and composed myself I went to the turnaround point at the entrance of the vines to wait for Bartek so I could join him at the end of his first event. I didn't have long to wait and I so I ran with him and clapped him over the line on what was a very respectable first attempt.

Normally at this point I head back home after an event, but at Squerrys Winery there was plenty to see should you want to. Aside from the brewery, there is a large farm shop where many types of product can be purchased, including wine from the winery itself. Outside the main barn were market stalls selling local artisan products, a bakery, a fishmonger and a butcher. I brought a cinnamon roll from the baker which was worth a return journey by itself. I also visited the brewery which was one of the key appeals of the event for me. Whilst we didn't take a full tour around the brewery itself, I was able to pick up some of the local produce which after consuming the goods from Saturday, will definitely be making a return trip at some point!