Westmill parkrun - event 297

On the 13th July 2024 I ran the Westmill parkrun which was the 297th event held at the venue, my 192nd parkrun and 114th different course I'd attended.

Not all parkruns are born equal. Inevitably after you've run more than one course you'll ask yourself which one you preferred. After you have completed ten or so, a league table begins to form in your mind about which one was better than another. Even though it feels terrible for entertaining the idea in the first place.

Parkrun is a 5k run, hosted by teams of amazing volunteers. They all glow with community spirit and pride and so each one therefore is as good as the other. But, a three lap loop around a recreation ground is not the same as a lap around a forest which is not the same as as an out and back on a coastal promenade.

Why am I even talking about this anyway? What's having favourites got to do with Westmill parkrun? Well, after my visit on Saturday I have a new entry in the upper echelons of my favourite parkruns and it was all rather unexpected.

Where possible I watch a video on YouTube of the event that I'm going to visit. But of course, the television is two-dimensional and cannot accurately reflect terrain and sights and smells that make up reality.

Originally I had planned to head to Horsham, but road closures on the M25 meant that I'd be better off avoiding the area completely and so I looked for an alternative venue around the other side of the London Orbital motorway. As I'd recently visited the University of Northampton I only had one remaining place to visit to claim my Compass Club membership and the closest course that contains 'West' was Westmill in Hertfordshire.

The video of the course portrayed it as a trail course around a countryside setting and was two anti-clockwose laps. The reality was very much that and very much more.

Arriving at the venue, Westmill was more than just a working farm. It was a local leisure facility with a campsite, arts centre, climbing centre and watersports centre. I think I even ran past a building that had the words 'axe-throwing' on the side!

The whole place was also located on the side of a valley, with the start at the top and the lake and watersports at the bottom. 

As I'd arrived so early I decided to take a walk around the course. I figured it would be a 2.5k loop and that I'd have plenty of time, but as I made my way around each corner I seemed to be getting no closer again to the start and I seemed to be going down hill quite a lot further than I anticipated. I got to a point on my walk where I was slightly concerned that I'd miss the start. That if I turned around and retraced my steps I'd have to go all the way back uphill, but knowing I'd come so far downwards it was only going to uphill whichever way I went, so I carried on going as I was.

The course, meets at the top of the hill outside the cafe complex. Participants are led, after the briefings a short stroll along, through some gardens and out onto an access road. This access road services the campsite and as I made my way around, first as a walker and then twice more as a runner there were various people milling around to the shower blocls getting ready for their day. There was also a lovely smell of bacon coming from the campsite which was an absolute tease!

After the shower block building had been passed and we'd ran downhill, the course diverted onto a field which formed the steepest descent of the course. In fact there was a marshall here to collect any over eager participant from a hedge that was positioned at the bottom.od the hill as the route turns 90 degrees right here and I can imagine being rather precarious in damp conditions!

Having survived the downhill section the next part of the course is a series of pathways that transition you around the bottom.of the course. These paths undulate gently up and down and offer great views of the lake that runs across the bottom of the valley. At some points on this stretch of the course you run through farm yards past agricultural buildings. You also run uphill again past a waterslide that was laying ready for children to use for their days entertainment.

Eventually the course leads to another field, the largest of the fields that the course passes through. Here runners run around the bottom part of the field before turning upwards and running a short stretch uphill. I walked twice out of my three visits, the last one to much deep frustration!

After the short sharp hills, still within the field the course turns right and the gradient levels itself out quite considerably but continues to make its way upwards. The path here is made by mown grass and is on somewhat of a camber which made for rather awkward running.

Once at the top you reach another access road but not for long as the course diverts you over the road and onto another grass track, this time covered by trees which made for some nice sheltered running conditions.

This stretch is also uphill and follows the access road without going onto it. I'm assuming it's for health and safety purposes as it's a working game and so the access road can get traffic. But once at the top the road is crossed once more and the final stretch is a grass path uphill to the finish.

Fortunately I made the last few seconds of the first timers briefing, but it wasn't without a little.jog back uphill! I was feeling it in my legs before i'd even started, but I'm.glad that I did it because the route was beautiful and well.worth doing just for the enjoyment value.

As for the run itself, I finished in 51st place out of a field of 91 participants in a time of 30:35. Overall, considering the challenging route I think just over 30 minutes was a cracking effort and am really annoyed with myself for not making it up that last hill without walking.

But what a lovely place for a walk! It's amazing where parkrun has taken me and the places that I would never have visited in a million years if it wasn't for this strange obsession I've found myself in!