Malling parkrun - event 296

On the 11th March 2023 I ran the Malling parkrun which was the 296th event held at the venue, my 121st parkrun and 2nd time I'd attended the event.

After a period of heavy touristing culminating in last week's 50th different event celebration in York, I found myself with a bit of a dilemma. I had planned to run at Alton Water, a scenic run around a lake near Ipswich which was celebrating its 71st event. But as usual the challenge of getting access to the car wasn't straightforward and so I was trying to decide between three events in London from which to choose from; Fulham Palace, Clapham Common or Burgess. So I put the question to the boys on our WhatsApp group and the answer from Mark was, have I done the one at Leybourne Lakes?

Last April, I ran Malling parkrun, event number 249. I came 100th out of a field of 256 participants in a time of 28:17. I ran the event with Mum and haven't been able to pursuade her to join me on a parkrun ever since! 

The course that day was an alternative out-and-back course on account of building work that was taking place next to the lake. The local council had invested in the park to add a new toilet block and cafe which was being built directly on the parkrun course. What is normally two laps was temporarily changed whilst this development took place.

I had thoroughly enjoyed my first visit and so when Mark asked if I had done it before, I confirmed that I had, and arranged with him to return again instead of venturing back to London on the hunt for another new parkrun I've not done before. My next goal is a 100 different parkrun venues, but there's no rush yet to get there!

On my first visit to Malling parkrun, the weather was warm, the sky bright blue and spring was in the air. This time around, whilst it was relatively sunny it was still very cold and we'd not long had snow after a week of wintery weather. The paths leading from the carpark to the event start were slightly slippery and I regretted not bringing my trail shoes. Whilst the paths are all firm, there had been an accumulation of mud in places and the damp weather just made it slippery underfoot.

As mentioned above, the course is a two lap affair. Starting by the new cafe, participants head in a clockwise direction all around the main lake of Leybourne Lakes country park. The path is generally flat, but does weave it's way around the lake and dips and rises in places without creating any additional stress for anyone taking part.

For majority of the course I was able to run quite well, I enjoyed running through some of the puddles on the course and making a bit of a splash, but I did have to take it carefully in one or two areas on account of the slippery terrain. This was particularly noticeable at the top of the course as the path runs parallel to the main road and Tesco's supermarket.

The alternative course on my first visit was practically the same, running almost the same entire lap, but instead of completing the circuit there was a turnaround point just as the second lap was about to start. After a 180 degree turn, you retraced your footsteps all the way back around again to the other side of the lake where the finish was located. There was also a slightly convoluted out and back at both the start of the event and at the end in order to make up the short distance where the lap didn't quite join. This made for a fun start and finish with people running into and away from each other - but the normal two-lap course definitely flowed better and felt much more natural.

And that's the appeal of Malling parkrun, nature. Running with the water always over you right shoulder the event feels quiet and peaceful. The water adds an element of quiet and serenity and constantly changes colour as the sun goes in and out and changes position as you go around the lake.

I finished in 69th position in a time of 27.04 out of a field of 212 participants. Mark finished 34 seconds up the road in 59th place where I could maybe have finished alongside him had I not had to tread so carefully in the slippier areas of the course. But having been back twice now, it's only the fourth event I've returned back to, opening up another challenge! 2 more the for the p-index!