Riddlesdown parkrun - event 577

On the 24th June 2023 I ran the Riddlesdown parkrun which was the 577th event held at the venue, my 136th parkrun and 65th different course I'd attended.

I hadn't really done my planning very well this week, if I had I'd not have picked a trail run. Running hungover is far from pleasant at any time, trail courses in the summer even more so!

I knew that Hayden's football presentation night was on Friday and I should perhaps have either run locally at my home event, or repeated one that I'd done before but I was adamant that my tourist streak was going to continue, and so it did.

After a late night and a few drinks, it was up at the crack of dawn with the early light coming through the loft window and waking me up, a good couple of hours earlier than I'd intended. But that's been the way of the last few weeks since the temperature has dropped and our skylights at the front of the house have been opened overnight.

A short trip around the M25 and I found myself in Whyteleafe which always reminds me of the football team. Except they were dissolved in 2021 and so the football team is no longer. It's a real shame when a community loses one of their biggest assets. I just hope that a phoenix club had been formed and they can get back to where they were previously.

Riddlesdown parkrun is just on the edge of Whyteleafe, east of the the town that seems to merge with Caterham and the rest of the London sprawl. But there are still slivers of countryside, including Riddlesdown which the parkrun covers a small part of.

I followed the course instructions and parked at the local school on Tithe Pit Shaw lane. There was plenty of parking available at the time I arrived (8.30), and I think even for latecomers their should still be ample space available.

From the school you come out of the carpark and turn right, along Tithe Pit Shaw lane and if you look carefully enough you'll spot the parkrun sign attached onto a fence on the corner of the road as it bends and swings to the right.

The ubiquitous purple pop up sign welcomes you to the downs, a large expanse of fields that make up part of the South London Downs National Nature Reserve and is a nesting ground for skylarks and other birds and wildlife.

Immediately inside the gate to your right is the finish funnel and just ahead on the left was where all of the volunteers and the event HQ were being set up.

I left my drink here in readiness to be drank at the end of the event as the start line was still a little way off. I followed the signs leading me to the start and was an opportunity to enjoy my new surroundings and take in some of the downs.

Effectively the area is made up of various fields with paths at their perimeter. The paths are made by mowing the grass short around the edges and they crisscross each field to join the various fields together. Some of the paths have worn down over time to the soil beneath to make a permanent route and at no time along the course would you consider there to be any hard standing routes of access.

The starting point is reached fairly easily and is at an intersection of two fields. The first-timers meeting and race briefing is given here with a starting funnel staked out to prevent participants from standing on and damaging the long grass that makes up the fields contents.

The run consists of two undulating laps around the perimeter of various adjoining fields in an anti-clockwise direction. Once the second lap has been reached you continue on pass the start and follow the field around its edge to the finish.

Each lap is more interesting than just running around interjoining fields. The route passes through a couple of copses of trees which zig-zags through a lovely section of shade before reaching a long undercover section along a bridleway of some kind. This section was bumpy and you need to keepmyour wits about you a little as it's easy to twist your ankle as I did without any damage. Under the hot summer sun this section was great respite and I'd say around a third of the lap was taken up by this stretch of treeline so not unsubstantial.

The final leg to the finish is a little uphill section, not particularly steep but you know it's there. I finished in 105th place out of a field of 188 participants in a time of 29:44. Certainly not my quickest time, but the slow start under funnel conditions, the heat and the terrain all added up to a tough course. Oh, and the slight rumblings of a hangover too!