Wickford Memorial parkrun - event 150

On the 11th May 2024 I ran the Wickford Memorial parkrun which was the 150th event held at the venue, my 182nd parkrun and 105th different course I'd attended.

Another weekend and another adaptation to the parkrun schedule. I had planned to attend South Oxley near Watford to eat away at the wider list of events inside the M25. But Foordy had to be back for 10:30 and so I had to pick an event a little closer to home. Without doing a revisit that challenge is a little easier said than done, but Wickford Memorial was second closest on the list of Nearest Events Not Done Yet and with the course offering a flatter option Vs Hadleigh in first place, a decision was made.

In the lead up to any parkrun event I subscribe to the event Facebook page to keep an eye out on any up and coming potential cancellations or news. On Thursday evening the event posted that this week would be packets week and that all positions had been filled.

The pages of this blog are littered with tales of me Vs a pacer and this week was likely to provide a similar tale along the same narrative. Foordy and I spoke tactics beforehand and I decided that whatever I was doing previously wasn't working and needed to change my approach. This feeling was confirmed after a conversation with the 21 minute pacer shortly after arriving at Wickford Memorial park, where the chap told us he generally tries to aim for a time shortly before the target number. So for pacing at 21 minutes he'd look to finish in a time of 20.50, or thereabouts.

That conversation was a bit of an eureka moment for me. So where I'd been trying to keep up with the 26 minute pacer, the 26 minute pacer is actually a minute ahead of my best ever time on a flat course. So I needed to reign my ambitions in slightly and maybe attempt to cling on to the 27 minute pacer instead. That was my plan, and I was sticking to it...

Wickford Memorial parkrun in a two and a bit laps, taken in a clockwise direction around the perimeter of the park. The park itself is a thin sliver of green space on the edge of Wickford, on the perimeter of a housing estate surrounded on two sides by woodland. The run takes place on mostly firm paths except for the start  and finish which takes place on the grass in the centre of the park.

From the centre, participants head north on the grass until they come to a firm, cinder based path which weaved gently around the top most edge of the park before turning left at the first marshall point. This was marshalled by man named Glyn. Or at least I assume it was as it had a parkrun sign named in his honour 'Glyns Gates'. These signs are always a joy to come across as they really add a personal stamp to the course and emphasise the community nature of parkrun and volunteering. Further around the course we came to 'Daves Dogleg', and there may even have been a third one which if there was the name has escaped me.

After we'd turned left at Glyn's Gates we head up a short sharp hill and the start of memorial avenue. A tree lined stretch of the park where each tree had the memory of a soldier written on a placard at the base of the tree which was a lovely touch. This path took us past a play ground and formal gardens on our left and the finish line which was just a little way off the path into the grass.

At the end of the memorial avenue the route took you off onto the grass, but only momentarily to avoid a kink in the pathway through some gates. Once rejoining the path again you follow the course all the way around the perimeter of the park until you complete the lap. The route does have plenty of interest though. It's not just a path alongside playing fields. It breaks off on a couple of occasions and leads you through a copse of trees. It leads you alongside some football pitches, but the best part is the top North West corner which is a long stretch through the woods which is taken slightly downhill and gives you an opportunity to build up a little bit of pace.

Through the twisty and slightly undulating course on changing surfaces I managed to keep to my goal. I was within distance of the 27 minute pacer the whole way around the full two and a little bit laps. The gap between us varied from touching distance to a few metres and yo-yo'd like that all the way around. It had been a tough run and I felt like I had worked really hard all the way around.

I finished in 85th place out of a field of 261 participants in a time of 26:56. My strategy had for once proved to be correct and I was well chuffed with the end result. A huge thank you must go to Steven Thurgood for pacing around and keeping us honest.

It's a bit of strange paradox I think. Parkrun are seemingly discouraging statistical information under the belief that statistical information is a barrier to entry and yet encourage people to participate as pacers. The pacer role effectively encourages people to push and perform better to improve their stats...

Anyhow, It's not a race, i know that, the only race is against yourself and for once I felt like I won, I'll take that all day long!