Epworth Equestrian parkrun - event 54

On the 7th September 2024 I ran the Epworth Equestrian parkrun which was the 54th event held at the venue, my 200th parkrun and 122nd different course I'd attended.

Sometimes the stars just align and impossible things become possible. In my schedule I'd planned to visit Woolford Wood parkrun for event number 54, which is another gap at the the lower end of my missing event number spectrum. But a post on Facebook changed all of that.

The organisers of Epworth Equestrian parkrun announced on Facebook that the owners of the Equestrian centre in which the parkrun is hosted had revoked ongoing access to the course, and so it was sadly to close part way through October.

As part of the list of arbitrary parkrun challenges on the 5k parkrunner app is a challenge called 'we where there' and is achieved by running at an event that is no longer running or is closed access to the public (parkrun does run in some prisons and participants from outside can apply to attend).

I wondered where Epworth Equestrian was located and looked it up. Just outside of Doncaster. When was Gillingham due to play Doncaster? Ooh, before the event closes! What event number is on that weekend? Ooh, number 54. As I say, sometimes the stars just align.

Hayden and I therefore travelled up on Friday night and stayed, as is now customary in a trusted Premier Inn (also known as a Purple Palace). The hotel was a stones throw away from Doncaster Football Club and so was perfectly located not just for the football but for the short journey to parkrun in the morning.

There are indeed a few closer parkruns to Doncaster FC than Epworth Equestrian and so I'd not be claiming my third grail of the season, but instead a Double which is the next best thing. (Rules and naming conventions determined by the Parkrun 92 club on Facebook!).

We arrived in the morning via two of the longest, straightest roads I'd ever quite possibly driven down. It was quite disconcerting following the sat nav along a road that says six miles and your driving in nothing but a continuous straight line. Although the second road, a right hand turn 90deg's off the first was incredibly bumpy. Not in a pot hole sense, but the tarmac had gentle dips and bulges throughout it's length which Hayden found hilarious as the car boing, boing, boinged it's way along at 30mph.

Eventually we arrived in the middle of the countryside, seemingly miles from absolutely anywhere at a horse riding facility where every parkrun tourist from Yorkshire and beyond had also seemed to arrive at the same spot at exactly the same time. It seemed that the appeal to claim an arbitrary achievement was quite a powerful incentive.

On one side of a country lane was the main Equestrian centre building, carpark, cafe and various paddocks where some people were gently trotting around on horses. The parkrun was located on the opposite side of the road and started on a field alongside further buildings belonging to the facility.

The field was fenced off to create an access road of sorts around the perimeter and a short way along the road was the start. As there were many people in attendance and a crowd was starting together I made sure Hayden and I were standing fairly close to the back as Hayden isn't a natural runner.

As we were standing we got chatting to various people and one of those was the run report writer who asked where we were from and we told her about our weekend plans. I also explained about it being my 200th parkrun event and we got further chatting about milestones and achievements. She had previously completed all the events in Cumbria and so Hayden shared his horror story of Whinlatter Forest - all good pre-parkrun chat and got Hayden slightly more into the spirit of things as he wasn't particularly enthusiastic about what was to come.

The course is effectively an out and back course with two laps of a field in the middle. As always the longer description is more compelling than the outline. So I'll do my best to paint a more detailed picture.

From the start, participants follow the field around it's perimeter where on the far side is an exit onto a dirt track which heads further deeper into the countryside and surrounding farmland. The track passes a dog kennels where a cacaphony of barks echoed out as we passed, scaring the hell out of Hayden in the process and putting a dash of jet fuel into his running shoes.

The dirt track swerved right and the further along you went the less dirt there was and the more grass become eventually turning into field again. Either side of the path were fields, flat and distant as far as the eye could see. In the distances all around were farm building and agricultural infrastructure surrounded by a low grey mist. In fact the weather added an extra allure to the event as with moisture in the air, the ground became damp giving it that strong earthy smell and the distant mists just made everything wholly more atmospheric.

After a short distance we came to a marshall stationed next to a gate between the track and a field. This field was evidently used by the equestrian centre as additional facilities for the horses as there were further jumps and other such apparatus dotted all around.

There were actually two interjoined fields here and the route circumnavigated the perimeter of them both. Separating the two fields was a tall line of bushes and trees and so you had to run along one side of the line, through the gate at the top and back down the other side into the second field.

It was difficult running conditions around the two laps of the fields. Designed for horse and not for humans the course was bumpy, rutted and uneven. As like the straight access road coming into the event it was bumpy and dipped in places and so caution needed to be given for much of the lap.

Once the two laps had successfully been completed participants exited the field at the same marshall point as before onto the grass track that turned into dirt now that we were running along it in the opposite direction. By the time the track had turned into dirt, your feet sigh with relief as it definitely felt good running on former, flatter and sturdier surfaces.

Following the way we came, past the barking dogs and back into the final field it's one last sprint around the perimeter and to the start/finish line where the finish funnel has magically appeared.

I finished in 251st place out of a field of 282 participants in a time of 47:44. With the course being a challenging one, it was always going to be difficult to get Hayden motivated and running with any sort of pace around this one. But I don't mind that, it's always good to slow down and take in the course, enjoy the walking parts and being overtaken, cheering on the speedier ones as they whizz on by. 

It's a shame that this course is going to be going away in a few weeks time, but glad that I had a chance to visit before I did. Thanks to the stars for aligning nicely and letting me!