Edenbrook Country parkrun - event 56

On the 8th July 2023 I ran the Edenbrook Country parkrun which was the 56th event held at the venue, my 138th parkrun and 67th different course I'd attended.

One of my work colleagues is a keen runner and has recently completed the Manchester and London marathons. Whilst he's not a regular parkrunner (due to family commitments) we made a date in the diary for me to join him at his local event - Edenbrook Country.

Just over a year old, the event is held at Edenbrook Country park which is near Fleet in Hampshire. Edenbrook itself is a small village recently built as a housing development with local facilities included as part of the build including the country park and leisure centre.

The start takes place at the leisure centre itself where there was ample parking in the overflow carpark. I arrived a little early and took myself for a walk around the first part of the course before heading back and meeting my colleague where we observed the pre-run briefing and listened to the celebratory messages of the NHS and their 75th anniversary.

As the starting point is narrow the organisers have added helpful seeding point notices so participants can get in roughly the right order before beginning the run. Various markers indicating 5 minute intervals line the right hand side of the starting area and so we stood somewhere between the 25 minute market and the 30 one. 

It still meant for a hectic start, but it was reasonable in the circumstances. The seeding posts are a definite good idea and I'd like to see them established at other events. It might not seem like a requirement for parkrun which is supposed to be a free, weekly timed event that is about the participation rather than the competition. But it did seem to help get the pack moving and spread out a lot quicker than other similar events I've been to.

From the leisure centre participants follow the gravel path that leads put of the leisure centre and along the housing estate into the main open parkland. This path twists and winds it's way along and at the beginning is fairly narrow. The houses alongside are all new and looks like a lovely place to live. Even better with a parkrun literally on the doorstep!

After the starting/finishing leg reaches the main park area the course swings right and the first of two anticlockwise laps begins.

The lap consists of the same type of gravel path that heads deeper into the park, crossing bridges and weaving around grass verges and through copses of trees - all delightfully flat. At a couple of points the course switches back upon itself and runners enter little contraflow sections which are a great feature of the course as it encourages interactions with people as they pass. I high-fived my colleague as he ran by and there were plenty of people doing the same as well as shouting cheers of support.

The first lap is completed by rejoining the junction of the main lap with the start/finish leg and carrying on around to the left to complete the second lap.

It was a hot and humid morning, but there was plenty of rain cover and I was secretly hoping for a downpour. It threatened at the start and even dropped a few fat raindrops but the weather was teasing us. My colleague messaged me later in the morning to tell me the weather had waited until he was nearly home and dumped it all on as he jogged back the last mile home!

After the second lap is successfully navigated participants rejoin the start/finish leg and run back towards the leisure centre navigating their way through the twisty path until the finish funnel is reached.

I finished in 130th place out of a field of 351 participants in a time of 27:07.