Roundshaw Downs parkrun - event 666

On the 29th April 2023 I ran the Roundshaw Downs parkrun which was the 666th event held at the venue, my 128th parkrun and 57th different course I'd attended.

I had a conundrum this week. My parkrun planner has been arranged for a number of weeks and I knew that I had another Nelson number event lined up at Roundshaw Downs. However a post on Facebook made me question my choices and whether or not I needed to reschedule.

As mentioned last week, these number challenges are completely arbitrary and have no formal recognition by anyone from parkrun. It stems from an app made by an enthusiast that has gathered a cult following and those cult followers can cause some unintended chaos.

Earlier this year at Wimbledon Common parkrun, the event held their 777th running - a Nelson number and the first opportunity for participants to knowingly 'collect' a number towards the challenge. That week, over 1,000 people turned up and inundated an event that normally gets an average of 400 odd people.

Parkrun events are only possible with a team of volunteers that enable an event to take place. When an unexpected crowd turns up like that the usual form of organisation can quickly fall apart. Each course only has a finite number of barcodes for example and some course are naturally thin and cope well with a normal.number of runners, but form bottlenecks if too many people turn up unexpectedly.

Which was the concern that the run director at Roundshaw Downs had when he addressed the tourist community on Facebook with a post outlining the dos and don'ts of attending this week.

You could interpret the post in one of two ways. The first one being an acknowledgement that you are part of the solution, i.e., by not attending you are reducing the number of potential visitors. Or the second way, the way I interpreted it was to follow all of the advice to the letter and contribute to a well organised event.

I did ponder a change of venue, of course I did. But it was a small part of FOMO, and a large part of the reaction to a group of holier than thou people on Facebook whose response to the run directors post went along the lines of 'oh, I never do these challenges because I care about other people and am not selfish'. I'm paraphrasing of course, but these comments missed the point for me about what parkrun is all about. Community and the fun of being part of a collective. Yes the event was going to be busy, more than double the numbers of normal. But everyone was aware of the situation so let's all just follow.the guidance and have a great as morning as possible.

Which we did, all 508 of us and a volunteer army of 43.

Upon arrival, parking in the Collonades on Purley Way as requested it was clear that there were a number of people likely in attendance. People wearing all sorts of parkrun clothing were milling about and heading towards.Roundshaw Downs which is an area of open grassland on what used to be Croydon airport.

There were a large number of people gathering at the start line under a warm spring morning. The sun was out and the sun was the warmest it had been all year and the atmosphere was one of excitement and fun. People were dressed up in devils outfits, wearing devils horn and/or generally getting into the spirit of the event number 666.

The start of the event was one of the primary concerns to the event organisers as it started just beyond a berm which has been manmade to prevent motorcyclists from tearing their way around the fields. The berm.has a single opening space to allow pedestrians through, although you can take the more cumbersome route straight over like a Tommy exiting the trenches.

From the start the route is two anti-clockwise laps around the fields of Roundshaw Downs which contains a section through the woods and places in some areas that are no more than single file paths. The first of these being shortly after the start, meaning that 500 people had to filter down quite quickly and progress was initially slow and taken at no more than walking pace.

The stretch through the woods was also taken at walking pace, initially due to the volume of people, but mainly due to the ground being wet, slippery and puddles had formed from.the weeks rain.

By the time the second lap had come around the field had stretched right out and so congestion wasn't quite the same challenge. On return second time around to the path through the woods I took it too confidently, hit a puddle, slipped and fell arse over tit into the mud. My right hand side was brown, wet and muddy. I got back up and those around me ensured that I was okay. I was fine, but filthy and dirty! After I'd made my way out of the woods and back onto the grass I wiped my hands on the floor to get as much mud off as I could and cracked on again to the finish.

Trail course are generally tougher than road course and Roundshaw Downs was no exception. The first part of the course was uphill, not a serious incline but enough to be noticeable. Which meant the last part of the course was downhill and it was a lovely way to finish the event as you could see a brightly dressed train of people all running downhill the end, or to start thei second lap.

I finished in 224th place out of a field of 508 in a time of 29:58. It was also the first time I'd fallen over at a parkrun event! It was the 4th out of a current list of 8 nelson numbers that I'd collected, but the number really doesn't mean anything at all. Being part of the fun, excitement and vibrancy of an event such as this one is all that matters.