Canterbury parkrun - event 381

On the 19th November 2022 I ran the Canterbury parkrun which was the 381st event held at the venue, my 103rd parkrun and 37th different course I'd attended.

I was torn this week between Tonbridge and Canterbury, both of which I'd scheduled this week and next, but elected to head towards Canterbury  on account of its further distance from home. Next Friday we are in London for Mums 60th birthday celebrations so didn't want an extra early start after a late night before.

It worked out well in the end as Tonbridge was eventually cancelled due to flooding on the course after some significant rainfall this week here in Kent. It was still rather wet and miserable on Saturday morning and the temperature had notably decreased too.

I wasn't really sure what to expect with Canterbury as like Bedgebury the week before information online was quite hard to come by. There were whispers of a challenge on the course and the word 'hill' had been mentioned once or twice so it promised another week where I was going in fairly unacquainted with what I could be looking to expect.

Although the parkrun course was new to me, the starting location at the University of Kent and the Canterbury campus wasn't. We had been on a.few occasions a couple of years ago when Oliver was younger as part of his football. The Gillingham youth teams are located at the campus and play their home games there and Oliver came up against them once or twice when he was at Dartford.

It's with those memories that I was trying to place where the possible hilly parts where and I was at a loss - from my recollection everything was pretty much flat. Evidently what lies around the corner carries many surprises!

When I arrived at the Pavillion, the central hub of the sports facility at the University of Kent it was deserted. It was spitting with rain and I did consider for a moment just what I was doing in an empty carpark when I could have been wrapped up warm in bed. Everything was exactly as I remembered it, so decided to get out the car and go for a walk and explore the course.

I walked across the playing fields, following the line as marked on the course map and took a right at the top of the grass bank at the edge of playing field itself. This brought me out onto a tarmac path and according to the course description was the Crab & Winkle way.

Turning right, I followed the path for a little bit which took me through two lines of trees, completely obscuring the playing fields to my right. No wonder you couldn't see anything from the campus itself, it's hidden by nature. After a couple of hundred yards or so the path dips downwards and the trees open out to a set of fields revealing a steep valley that the path sweeps down and follows to the bottom and although I couldn't see, evidently back up the other side. 

I'd seen enough at that point, it was raining harder and I'd made the decision to change my shoes. So I head back towards the car, avoiding the playing fields and walking back via the campus support road. The playing fields were muddy and I'd found it slippery wearing road shoes on my outward journey, so trail shoes were definitely the better option and I thanked my lucky stars that I'd brought both pairs with me for the first time ever. Something I'll no doubt be doing more of in the weeks to come.

Whilst I'd familiarised myself with part of the course and ruined part of the surprise there was still lots to look out for on the run itself.

From the start, which takes place on the southern perimeter of the lower playing fields participants head west towards the short grass bank at the far end which I had walked up earlier. At the top, participants cross the pathway and head left through an open gate which takes you into another, much smaller playing field.

This field is ran in an anti-clockwise direction and brings you out onto a tarmac path that runs alongside a campus building of some kind. It's only a short stretch on this path before turning left onto the Crab & Winkle way which I'd walked along earlier.

Following my earlier footsteps the path does indeed head down the valley hill and weaves around the trees before dipping out across the bottom of the valley and back up the other side. The hill upwards is longer in distance and sharpness so took a lot of effort and perseverance for me to not stop. Once participants have reached the top next to the church you reach a turnaround point and have to retrace your footsteps back down the valley and up the other side.

From the return back up the hill it's a case of retracing your footsteps to the campus building, turning left the way you come and then right shortly after onto the upper playing field where you go around the perimeter once more but in clockwise loop.

Once the field has been successfully circumnavigated you return back once more onto the Crab & Winkle way where the whole out and back sequence is repeated again for the second time, including the clockwise loop of the playing field.

I felt like I'd been running well and in good time, I almost, very nearly made it all the way up the second hill for the second time without stopping, but couldn't quite muster the energy for the last twenty meters or so. Either way, I was still pleases with myself. Even as recently as August I had trouble completing full courses, so to be disappointed in a course as challenging as this one shows how far I've come.

After completing the second clockwise loop of the upper playing field, instead of turning left onto the Crab & Winkle way for a third time participants take a right, back down the small hill onto the main lower playing field. From here it's a case of full beans back to the start which had been transformed into a finish funnel whilst we were gone. With the surface being wet, muddy and slippery, getting up to full sprinting speed was difficult. I'd imagine in better weather there's potential for some great sprint finishes, but I managed to give it a good go.

I finished in 46th place out of a field of 98 participants in a time of 29:24. With 20 different events in Kent now under my belt I feel fairly qualified to pass judgement on each of the events merits and Canterbury is certainly up there with one of the most challenging. But a challenge I'd love to try and take on again given half a chance.