Sherwood Pines parkrun - event 360

Sherwood Pines parkrun

On the 20th April 2024 I ran the Sherwood Pines parkrun which was the 360th event held at the venue, my 179th parkrun and 102nd different course I'd attended.

Last week I went back to the Isle of Sheppey and ran The Leas parkrun for the second time. Foordy had requested a visit to a flat parkrun and it was the closest one to home that matched his criteria. I managed to get a new course PB and was a few seconds shy of a new parkrun PB. Has happened a few times this year, so I must be doing something right.

It was back to the tourist trail this week with a trip to Sherwood Pines and doubling up the day with a football trip following the Gills on another away day.

Reaso and I had a conversation about whether or not we'd be going to Mansfield Town for the last away game of the season. I'd never visited Field Mill, home of Mansfield Town before and so I was quite keen. I suggested an early start and taking in a parkrun on the way. The suggestion went down well, except Reaso wanted somewhere to shower after the run and before the football. I'd have been okay with some deodorant and being a bit 'parkrun fresh' for the day, but couldn't convince Reaso of the same. It wasn't until we looked at hotel rooms for the evening that we found a Premier Inn in Mansfield for £35 a night, all we had to do was to decide what parkrun to attend.

The closest event to the hotel was Brierly Forest, less than 4km away. We could have ran there for th a warm up if we had wanted to. The other option was Mansfield itself or Sherwood Pines a short 30 minute drive the other side of Mansfield away. I'd heard good things about Sherwood Pines on YouTube and so chose to visit that one on that basis.

There was another deciding factor, the fact that Sherwood Pines was a single lap course whereas the others were 2 and 3 laps respectively. A single lap course is always better than a course with laps, purely on the basis that the whole route has something new to see and nothing is repeated. This is also just a personal opinion by the way!

From the carpark, the start is a short two minute walk away. Just follow the crowd of people towards the central thoroughfare where you'll see the start line in front of you, surrounded by great long pine trees heading up towards the heavens with the sun shining through the gaps creating wonderful shadows and rays of light everywhere.

Up ahead was a a go-ape climbing facility and to the side an adventure playground. This area of the forest would be a brilliant day out with the kids even without the parkrun, but it was the parkrun that we were all here to enjoy.

The start takes place in the middle of this wide thoroughfare and heads south for a couple of hundred metres before turning right. This indicates the start of one large anti-clockwise loop which brings you all the way back again the same junction, before turning left and following the route back north to the finish line.

Reaso didn't believe me when I told him it was a flat course, and remained skeptical throughout the race briefings as both passes without a mention of any inclines.

In truth, it wasn't entirely flat. If you think of the course as a rectangular shape, the smaller axis on one side gently sloped upwards, whilst the other side dipped more severely, but included another stretch back up again to even everything out again. But the two long sides were very every and quite straight, but with the added delight of running through lush greenery and trees that were miles high.

The steeper slope downward was the highlight of the course, as not only was the gradient unexpected, it also weaved it's way downhill as it went via a slalom shaped path. You can't really make this out on the GPS recording the route, but it was definitely perceptible running down it. If running through the woods didn't bring out a smile, this part of the course definitely did!

I finished in 131st place out of a field of 301 participants in a time of 28:40. It was a lot busier than Rendlesham Forest which still remains one of my favourite events. The route and paths of Sherwood Pines felt much more established with some resin paths able to cope with the bigger crowds of people. The start got off well too without any bottlenecks and people tripping over one another

I've said it before and I'll say it again, there's something magical about running through the woods and so Sherwood Pines won't be the last course I visit with a forest involved!

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