Shorne Woods parkrun - event 435

On the 1st January 2023 I ran the Shorne Woods parkrun which was the 435th event held at the venue, my 111th parkrun and a repeat of one of 41 different courses I've attended.

After I'd completed the Margate parkrun on December 17th I decided to enjoy the Christmas period without touring and repeating my local events at Cyclopark, Great Lines and for the first time since New Years Eve 2020 Shorne Country Park.

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were spent at Cyclopark and Great Lines respectively and I enjoyed the pleasure of setting new PBs at both events. I wasn't quite so fortunate yesterday on New Years Eve where I ran slightly slower at Cyclopark, but I still managed to set my fifth fastest time at the event.

I've wanted to return to Shorne Woods for a while, in the knowledge that my previous times were set during the beginning of my parkun story and I'd improved a little since I last ran a competitive attempt at the event. My last visit was on New Years Day 2020, the last of the New Year doubles where parkrunners were able to run two parkruns in a single day. I ran Cyclopark, jumped in the car, drove out to Shorne Country Park and ran that event shortly after. The time that day was 39.33 and I was absolutely beaten by the end of it. My last real attempt at a decent time was in September 2018 where I set my personal best at 33:28. 

The course has evolved a little bit since my last visit, another reason why I was keen to return. Whilst it is still a three lap course, the first lap has been reconfigured to include an out-and-back section to make up for some of the course that was lost as part of the redevelopment of the playground and rerouting of the previous pathways.

Participants gather at the edge of the carpark where the first-timers meeting and race briefing are held before marshalled down some steps towards the start line.

One of my dislikes of the event is the congested nature of the start line and this morning was no exception. After the countdown and "Go!" command the pack shuffled forward politely and it seemed to be several yards before we started running. The first part of the course was spent trying to jostle for position without impeding anyone else. Other courses have the luxury of grass areas either sides for the pathways for people to use as overtaking areas, but any runnable areas this morning were waterlogged so no one really bothered.

Once we'd gotten around the first quarter of the lap, we came to the new out and back section. This area was less 'firm path' and more 'off-road' than the rest of the course. It also contained a little bit of undulation making for some very slippery conditions - all good fun in the mud!

The out and back is actually quite short, but does add a little bit of interest to the course, especially on a multi-lap course where for some events that can feel repetitive. The lap contains twists and turns, goes up and down without feeling exhaustive and so it may be a three lap course, but it's one that does keep you occupied.

After the out and back the course turns right where the field starts to stretch out and room becomes available for overtaking. It then becomes a case of following the lap around to the end and repeating the same loop twice over without the additional out and back appendage.

I finished in 90th place out of a field of 186 participants in a time of 30.14 which is the new course PB I'd hoped for. It was also the slowest time that I'd ran over the Festive period, which aside from the 4 parkruns included two 10k runs which were both relatively new distances for me. So whilst it wasn't quite the time I'd hoped for - there's always room for improvement and another excuse for me to return!