Bethlem Royal Hospital parkrun - event 131

On the 3rd June 2023 I ran the Bethlem Royal Hospital parkrun which was the 131st event held at the venue, my 133rd parkrun and 62nd different course I'd attended.

If choosing parkruns by event numbers, or for one of the arbitrary challenges wasn't difficult enough, then adding course characteristics to the mix and you've gotten yourself another variable to add to the mix. Courses change over the seasons and a course that runs well in the summer months is a completely different beast during the winter. Bethlem Royal Hospital falls into that category - mud, glorious mud in the winter/beautiful meadows adorned with buttercups in the late spring/early summer.

I'm not afraid of the mud, in fact I quite like a wet and muddy event. But when your feet are buried and you run leaving your shoe behind is the type of mud I've not quite managed to brave just yet. As my options grow increasingly smaller the more I tourist, the more chance there is that on one wet wintery day I'll face the mud from hell. But until then I'm going to do my best to plan around it.

So Bethlem Royal Hospital it was, for another Prime Number - in the dry! And like most parkruns the reality of the event is very different from the course description you read on the course website, which doesn't elaborate in any great detail and almost feels a little threatening.

From the carpark of the hospital itself where visitors are allowed to park for free, a volunteer awaits who either guides you to the meeting point or if you get there earlier points you in the appropriate direction. The visitor car park is at the southern end of the grounds of the hospital complex and so heading north along the main road it's a case of following the illuminous yellow signs to the gathering point.

The first-timers briefing is held on a patch of grass next to a metal gate which is surrounded by trees. Through the metal gate is a pathway that once that formalities are over leads to the start line which is a 150m or so further along the path. At the end, the trees open out to reveal a field, adorned as above with buttercups which was a very nice and pleasant surprise upon my visit and most unexpected.

Also at the end of the pathway, on the ground are a family of plastic ducks of various colours and painted with various bright plastic colours. The duck pond, whilst bone dry yesterday is a visual indicator as to the general condition of the course and so I assume that in wetter, wintery months that the ducks float quite freely in their bespoke pond and put the fear of God into any parkrunners about to embark upon their two anti-clockwise laps around the two adjoining fields.

Which is where I headed, past the duck pond, around the first field which undulated gradually upwards and back down towards another copse of trees where another pathway took you via contraflow into the second field. Much like the first, participants circumnavigate around the outside, undulating gradually as you go. Cones marked the corners and ensured that runners didn't cut across a sneaky corner, which I didn't see any suspicion of. But once successfully around the second field, it's a case of running back through the contraflow and completing the full lap of the first field before repeating the process all over again.

Once around the second lap and you've completed the figure of eight course twice over you return back to the start and the patiently waiting ducks. From here, you take a right and return back down the welcome pathway where at the end the finish line awaits. 

I can imagine that the finish line comes as a welcome relief in most weathers as it is well shielded under tree cover. From the rain on a colder day, or like yesterday a little bit of respite from the emerging morning sun.

Once through the finishing funnel, participants head back through the metal gate and return to the green where the barcode scanners and post-run recovery spot takes place.

I finished in 47th place out of a field of 82 participants in a time of 28:12. I also promised myself I'd head back one day and see what difference the mud really can make.