Catford parkrun - event 225

On the 1st January 2024 I ran the Catford parkrun which was the 225th event held at the venue, my 163rd parkrun and 88th different course I'd attended.

The hardest parkrun of the year is the special event held on New Year's Day. Getting up out of bed after the night before and having to moderate how much you can drink (unless your not driving) all adds to the challenge. The last thing you need after all of that is a challenging course. 

Being New Years Day I was limited in which event I could attend. Not every course hosts a special event on New Year's Day and with two years worth of touristing under my belt the closest event to me that I've not completed yet is getting ever further away. I contemplated re-running Bexleyheath which was my very first tourist venue (before touristing was a thing), but I figured Catford wasn't that much further up the road so why not visit their instead.

I was joined again by Foordy who is having an extended stay at home. He and his mum were visitors at our house in the evening and 7 hours after they'd left I was around his house ready to pick him up for our run.

I've driven through Catford a number of times using the south circular and would have driven past Mountsfield Park where the event takes place on a number of occasions had I known it was there. A short right hand turn off the south circular along a street covered by terraced houses on either side opens up with Mountsfield Park on the left. Parking was plentiful and free right by the entrance so didn't have far to go in order to find the start.

There is a bandstand just inside the park next to the formal garden area. There were parkrun direction signs on the pathways, so we were evidently walking part of the course. Once we'd reached the bandstand the views opened out revealing fields that dipped down fairly steeply offering views out to London beyond - and our first clue that we wasn't going to be in for an easy run!

Mountsfield Park is quite compact and isn't a particularly large park, which meant the organisers of Catford parkrun had to be creative in the design of their route. The course is three laps, two long and one short and pretty much makes full use of the park.

Starting from the bandstand participants run north around the formal gardens and back to the bandstand on the opposite site. There is a play area on the left and the main pathway divides the park in half. After the play area is passed the route comes off of the main pathway and hits the grass. After the rain we'd had during the week the grass was wet, boggy and muddy. I was wearing trail shoes but Foordy wasn't and he was a little delicate on his feet to begin with.

The route follows the perimeter of the field right along it's western edge before cutting back in towards the parks central path where it cuts straight over and picks up another path which takes you downhil along the parks southern border.

Half way down the hill there lie cones marked out leading participants onto the grass and another circumnavigation takes place. This was my favourite part of the route as the field was marked out in cones in a wide circle so you could see and interact with participants making for quite an appealing view. The exit off of the field is next to the entrance and so everyone runs almost a perfect anti-clockwise circle on what is ultimately a clockwise route.

After rejoining the path, the course follows the route all the way south, up the western perimeter of the park all on tarmac paths which again were muddy and puddly in places. At the furthermost point of the western end the path turns right, up hill and rejoins the fork for the formal gardens/bandstand.

After the first two laps participants turn left and head back around thought the formal gardens and repeat the same lap three times. On the third visit participants turn right and continue to head up hill to the bandstand where the finish funnel.has been set up in readiness.

I finished in 74th place out of a field of 131 participants in a time of 29.03. it was a tough run across some tough terrain and undulations. The finish straight was on the evil side running uphill but another parkrun I enjoyed despite the conditions.