Wollaton Hall parkrun - event 128

On the 10th February 2024 I ran the Wollaton Hall parkrun which was the 128th event held at the venue, my 169th parkrun and 93rd different course I'd attended.

Last week I revisited Malling parkrun on request of the two Andrew's who are enjoying the parkrun experience but haven't quite taken to touring in the same way as I have. Despite having a posse of pacers I wasn't able to get anywhere near to last year's PB, although I suspect the heavy night of alcohol the night before was partly to blame.

I didn't mind the revisit as I knew I had this weekend coming up and it's been a weekend that I've looked forward to now for some time.

Last September a colleague in my department arranged a volunteering day at Wollaton Hall which involved us spending an afternoon in the walled garden and doing chores around the place to try and maintain it's upkeep. As part of the day we had a guided tour of the house, including walking out around the rooftop and deep underground in the cellar. The house has a rich and varied history, but most people will probably recognise it as Wayne Manor from the Batman franchise.

One thing that struck me on my first visit was the grounds, which were spectacular and the views up to the house which is sat atop a hill really are impressive. I knew that I wanted to return back one day and that I was going to use the parkrun as an excuse it do it 

As both Nottingham Forest and Notts County were due to play at home on the same weekend Notts County's game against Gillingham was moved to the Friday night. This provided us with the opportunity to watch the game on the Friday night, stay overnight and run the parkrun event in the morning - which is exactly what we did.

The game itself deserves a little mention at this point. The Gills put in their strongest performance of the season and we're worthy 3-1 winners against a decent Notts County outfit. The team and supporters celebrated together afterwards in what was a real show of solidarity which I've felt has been missing for much of the season. I just hope it's the start of a strong finish towards the end of the season and not the latest high before a disappointing low 

As the parkrun event was on one of our football weekends I was joined by Reaso and George as well as Hayden. It wasn't going to be much of a run for me, which I don't necessarily mind as it affords me more time to enjoy and take in the surroundings.

The course wasn't the normal route as detailed on the event website. But the 'b' course, or winter route which doesn't take in a loop of the lake, which is replaced with a couple of out and back sections instead.

Starting at the northern entrance by the car park and walled gardens, the route runs south up a long tree-lined avenue. The path rises gently up towards the house with the golf course on the left hand side as you go. With nearly 500 people in attendance the start was congested and took a little which to spread out, so finding a good place at the start would be crucial if anyone was trying to set a fast time.

The path then winds around and heads steeper towards the house before passing directly in front of it. I was running with Hayden holding his hand to try and keep a steady pace going. We were running very lightly and he made a good attempt of it. But I think the hill was more of a psychological problem rather than a physical one, but it didn't stop the first of many different ailments that struck him on the way around. 

From a bad neck, bad back, sore legs, sore foot, stitch and a stomach ache Hayden went through the lot! As we passed the house and made our way down the hill on the other side watching as participants spread out in all directions leading downhill and up and down both out and back sections.

At the bottom of the hill, instead of heading around the lake participants turn left and follow the path all the way up to the gate at the end. The path is laid out beneath another avenue of trees and I'd imagine looks beautiful throughout the changing seasons. Once at the end participants turn around and head back the way they came running on the mud, parallel to the tarmac path in which they just come.

The weather in the weeke leading up to the event had been pretty horrible with heavy rain and some snowfall, leading to the cancellation of two nearby events. I thought this might lead to even bigger crowds, but it wasn't quite as busy as it could have been.

Despite the weather the conditions were still fairly good underfoot. At the end of the first out-and-back, the second is immediately started. This one runs parallel to the lake which you could see, flat as a millpond on the left hand side. This part of the course was the most affected by the recent weather with areas that were slightly muddy and slippy underfoot. Hayden and I didn't really need to take it particularly careful as we were walking but I'd imagine this part of the course would have slowed some of the runners down a little bit for fear of slipping over.

Once the second out and back section had been completed it was a case of retracing our footsteps up the hill to the house and back down the other side to the finish.

Having started off positively and then regressing into a series of aches, pains and whinges we made our way around the course mostly at walking pace. Once we had taken the final corner and had the long finishing straight ahead of us Hayden decided to finally join the parkrun party. With around 300 meters to go he started running and the closer we got to the end the faster he bagan to run. There were a load of volunteers at the end of the course next to the finish line and other people watching on cheering as people finished. Once Hayden had put the foot all the way into the gas and sprinted forward to loud cheers and claps of encouragement it gave him a huge boost and made me smile massively with gratitude.

I finished in 455th place out of a field of 478 participants in a time of 46:16, a second behind Hayden. It was by no means the fastest parkrun time in the world, but it was definitely up there with one of the most scenic and enjoyable what with the cheering and celebrations at the end. This football and parkrun tourism is a winning combination - I could definitely get used to this!