Woodbank parkrun - event 649

On the 5th August 2023 I ran the Woodbank parkrun which was the 649th event held at the venue, my 142nd parkrun and 70th different course I'd attended.

The start of the football season is one of the most eagerly anticipated matches of the year and so when the fixture list came out and Gillingham were pencilled in to play Stockport County at Edgeley Park there was no way I was going to miss it!

As Reaso and George were on holiday it was only Hayden and I who were going to be in attendance which gave me an opportunity to convert the days football into another parkrun tourism adventure.

Ensuring that I was able to attend parkrun on time we travelled up by train after work on Friday and arrived at a local Premier Inn just after ten. This is a great way of traveling as it breaks the day up, albeit at a slightly increased cross.

After what was a gloriously dry and sunny Friday we woke up Saturday morning with heavy rain. I looked out of the window from our room and looked at our clothing choices and neither Hayden and I were sufficiently prepared for the weather that was on display outside. I had a choice, do we miss parkrun, or do we go and hope the rain holds off?

Woodbank parkrun was only a short ten minute walk up the road but we were drenched by the time we got there. We also arrived early and so huddled under a large tree to wait everyone else. The course was all set up and all the signs were in place but there were no pink high-viz heroes anywhere to be seen! Hayden was convinced the event had been cancelled but he was speaking more out of hope than expectation.

Five minutes to nine and out of nowhere the high-viz brigade arrived along side runners from all directions. Hayden and I were soaked through to the skin and Hayden's desire to join in was at rock bottom. He was stood, shoulders stooped, shivering and dripping wet. We couldn't possibly get any wetter, so I tried to provide enouragement in that when we start running we'll warm up.

Hayden has done a couple of parkruns with me previously, most notably Whinlatter Forest in the spring. He's also been taking part in the junior events on a Sunday, not that he is particularly keen on the idea. Although he is the most interested out of the three children, albeit the other two are not interested in the slightest!

Once the pre-event pleasantries had concluded we set off. I had hoped that Hayden would make a good attempt at running the course, but with the weather conditions and his sopping wet state it was more around getting him to the finish by hook or by crook. To be fair to Hayden he made a good stab of the first part of the course which is the first pre-lap before the main two-lap figure of eight course is taken on.

From the start participants head clockwise around the edge of the park before running past the finish funnel on the left hand side which is within a small wooded area and due to the weather very muddy and full of puddles. The finish line marks the start of the first lap.

Running through the trees the course runs down a couple of steps and through a gate with a building complex up ahead. This gate marks the transition between Woodbank Park and Vernon Park which the course spans both.

Once inside Vernon Park the route runs steeply downhill which managed to bring a bit of life, energy and smiles out of Hayden. Who doesn't love a downhill run?!

From the bottom, it's a sharp left and a return back uphill via a winding pathway which takes you through a small tunnel which was very picturesque and a great place to run. Whilst this part of the course was beautiful with manicures lawns and pretty flowerbeds it was also where I felt grateful I had Hayden with me! Ordinarily running this part of the course would have been brutal and a real challenge. Walking with Hayden allowed me to take a more leisurely approach - but one tinged with slight regret that I wasn't a able to take on the challenge myself!

At the top of the hill the route leaves via the Vernon Park gates, around the carpark road and back into Woodbank Park where the route continues past the finish funnel on the left and picks up the path that we started the pre-lap but in reverse. This part of the course is flat and on tarmac paths which  means if you were running the event you'd be able to make up any time lost on the earlier upwards climb.

Once the lap is completed it's a short matter of completing the lap again, which in normal running conditions would make for a decent, challenging course. However, Hayden and I were increasingly finding water in places we weren't expecting water to be found and eventually finished the course in 46:04/46:05 which was 144th/145th out of a field of 152 participants.

After the event we trudged back to the Premier Inn where Hayden spent an hour blow-drying his clothes dry and wringing his pants out in the bath! My backpack weighed twice as much as it did on the way home as it did on the way up on account of all the excess water in my running gear! 

Nevertheless, it was a parkrun neither Hayden nor I will forget in a hurry!