Bedgebury Pinetum parkrun - event 271

On the 12th November 2022 I ran the Bedgebury Pinetum parkrun which was the 271st event held at the venue, my 102nd parkrun and 36th different course I'd attended.

After my last parkrun at Charlton on the 29th October, I sat at home watching football on the television and at the full time whistle got up to get a snack from the kitchen. My foot which had caused me some issues in the days leading up to the event was now swollen and almost impossible to walk on. I spent most of the following day waiting to see someone in A&E where a GP diagnosed me with gout and prescribed me with a dose of antibiotics. I spent the next week having multiple conversations with people about my age, my diet and my alcohol intake and firmly defended all three. It also meant that any running activity was out of the question. My goal of running 50 parkrun events in a calendar year was over and my planned parkrun schedule had to be rewritten. It also meant that I could volunteer at my local Cyclopark event which was the only silver lining.

In fact, I could have run last week such was the speediness in which the medication worked its magic. But I'd put my name down on the volunteer roster and wasn't going to let anyone down with a change of mind. With only 6 weeks until Christmas Eve I rejigged the calendar and so the ambition of completing all the parkruns in Kent by Christmas has been maintained. It has meant the loss of the last few alphabet chasing events, but those can wait as there are no immediate plans to chase the final elusive Z which involves a trip overseas.

So with a plan in place and injury free (for now), I headed off bright and early to Bedgebury Pinetum, an Arboretum managed by Forestry England in the south of Kent at the border of East Sussex. I'd been to Bedgebury on three previous occasions, the most recent last Christmas where we visited with Stephanie's family to view the Christmas lights which is an event I'd highly recommend to anyone.

Knowing the park and how beautiful it was, the Bedgebury parkrun event was one that I was definity looking forward to. It was also one that I was slightly apprehensive about as I knew that the park was hilly and that the course would be something of a challenge. It was, but until I ran it remained a little bit of an unknown. In the lead up to any new parkrun event I scout the course via YouTube to see what the course looks like and pre-empt any surprises. But content on this parkrun was thin on the ground and anything that I could find online made reference to the previous course which was discontinued after the COVID enforced hiatus.

I arrived early, just before eight and joined a few other early arrivals in queuing on the main road outside of the main gates which were open promptly at 8 o'clock. I always aim to give myself plenty of time to avoid any traffic issues and to have a look around before the event, especially seeing I was at Bedgebury - having the forest to myself for a little while was a great experience.

Bedgebury has a number of different running routes for all different abilities. Just ahead of where the parkrun event finishes was an information sign which detailed the 2km, 3km, 5km and 10km routes that are clearly marked around the forest. The description for the 5km route read "A challenging route used by parkrun, which offers a good mixture of inclines and downhill tracks. This route leads you under the canopy of forest trees amidst seasonal wild flowers". If that doesn't whet your appetite then I don't know what will.

As I still had so much time to kill, I decided to walk the first part of the course. With autumn in full swing, the colours in the leaves and trees were remarkable. There is an aura around walking through the woods. A sense of peace and quiet that is layered with the senses of smell and sound that resonates of nature. I hadn't ventured very far at all before realising the description above was 100% accurate, challenging was going to be utilised to the full meaning of the word.

The course starts towards the bottom of a reasonably steep hill. Parkrunners congregate at the finish line which is at the top where the pre-run briefing takes place and first-timers meeting. The first timers description of the course was equally as encouraging and gave name to the aforementioned hill as "Gruffalo Hill" on account of the statue that you can see in between the trees just to the right of the path that heads down towards the start.

From the start, there is short run down hill where the path dog-legs right and starts a 1.6 mile upwards climb. Whilst not a steep hill, it certainly does go upwards and zigzaggs its way outwards to meet a wide circular looping section. The climb upwards does include some undulations, so whilst it is a net 1.6m upwards slog, there are moments of relief as you flatten out and go back down again briefly before climbing up once more.

Upon reaching the loop, the path turns left where a marshall guides you accordingly. The loop also contains some brief undulations, both upwards and down albeit a lot lighter in intensity and much more manageable. The paths were mainly gravel and firm underfoot, with some places that had accumulated leaves and mud making them a little bit slippery underfoot. I had read plenty of reviews which said that road shoes would be possible all year around. I had thought about wearing trail shoes, but stuck to the majority rule and ran in road shoes which I was fine with and didn't slip or suffer any issues with grip. If you wanted to wear trail shoes, they'd be just as fine too. Although had it been raining I think trail would have been the way to go.

The loop continued on and being circular there were multiple right hand turns that made the route feel rounder and longer than it actually was, but after what felt like the longest time the marshall who guided us onto the loop originally reappeared and guided us again back down the route we had come.

As the first 1.6 miles was a net uphill climb, it meant that the next 1.6 miles was a net downhill run. Which is always good fun. Although as on the way up, the downhills were punctuated by other undulations and so once you'd gotten into a rhythm of running downhill the gradient change took the wind out the sails and forced you to work harder all over again.

At the bottom of the descent, it was the return of the dog-leg, which this time turned left and spat you out at the bottom of Gruffalo hill. For most of the run I was in a pack of five or six runners who all hit Gruffalo hill at the same time. By the time I'd reached the top of the hill and the finish line the other runners were nowhere to be seen and had long since finished! I don't cope particularly well with hills at the best of times and one so long and steep at the end of a 5km run is pure evil to me. Although it was a tough slog and took all my effort to keep going, keep going I did and managed to complete the course without stopping to walk.

I finished in 51st place out of a field of 99 people who walked, jogged or ran the event. I finished in a time of 29:37. I went to Bedgebury Pinetum with high expectations and those expectations were certainly fulfilled and quite possibly exceeded them. The surroundings and environment is simply a spectacular place for any recreational activity, let alone a place to run. The event is one of those where you could return four times over the course of the year in each one of the four seasons and have a completely different experience every time you went. 

I know I've said it before, but we are incredibly lucky in Kent to have such a diverse portfolio of events. Hopefully in a few weeks time I can complete the set.