California Country parkrun - event 221

On the 19th October 2024 I ran the California Country parkrun which was the 221st event held at the venue, my 207th parkrun and 128th different course I'd attended.

There are parkruns I want to visit as they are iconic, like Great Yarmouth North Beach which is ran on sand, or Fountains Abbey for it's scenic beauty. There are other parkruns I want to visit purely because I like the name. Father Collins, Peter Pan and Pocket all fall under this category. 

So when I was putting my plan together for this weekend and had no idea where to go, I chose a parkrun purely on that fact that it sounded cool and I'd always wanted to go to California. Even though the country park in Wokingham was nowhere near the west coast of America, and as far as I can tell, nowhere nearly related.

As we start to get deeper into the autumn and November appears ominously closer, us tourists need to start keeping our wits about us. Weather can and quite often does cause havoc and can sometimes lead to some very late cancellations.

Upon arrival at California Countryside park, I found a parking space and turned off the ignition. It had been raining gently for most of of the 90 minute drive around the Berkshire. But as I was about to get out the car and inspect the parking meter for payment instructions the sky opened.

It opened with biblical proportions, absolutely hammering the windscreen and making loud thumping noises on the roof of the car.

Naturally my enthusiasm waned quite considerably and permutations ran around my mind (a lot quicker than I've ever managed a parkrun). My concern was getting absolutely and completely soaked through. I had a change of trainers but that was all. I had nothing else with me and faced the possibility of having to drive home with saturated clothes. No joke, if I'd stodd outside of the car for ten seconds, even with my coat on I'd have been wet through and wringing out my underpants.

The minutes passed and I watched the rain with incredulity. I pondered turning the ignition back on again and driving back the way I came. There's always going to be one time when I head to a parkrun and I don't do it for one reason or another (repeating the Telford parkrun incident of 2022!).

With good fortune though, the rain eased off and settled back into a gentle drizzle. All was left behind was great puddles and in the distance a lake looked to be very close to the edge of the banks. A quick look at the event Facebook page showed no signs of a cancellation, so I head off to find the start.

From the car park the start of the event is a ten minute walk away, sign posted by little yellow arrows which lead through the country park estate on firm resin based paths. Eventually you come to an uphill section which opens up at the top with a stretch of grass alongside the path and trees either side of the space.

Here the event briefings take place and where the course layout is described for newcomers. It is one of those that when described sounds a little bit complicated but once you've ran it, it all makes sense.

Starting from the start/finish straight, participants head out towards the woods ahead on the right hand side. The path starts off on the firm resin based paths, but once the woods are reached it's off onto trail.

I described this as being muddy, with mud on top and puddles on top of that with more puddles on top of that! It was a quaqmire! And thoroughly enjoyable! As everyone was running through this loop section in the woods that brings you back out again on the start/finish straight, heading back in the opposite direction to the way we came pitting everyone against each other to find the safest route. 

It was congested and the ground beneath was muddy and wet. So people were hopping each way over puddles and/or straight through them. I had accidentally landed in one trying to avoid another and so was soaked right through. That enabled me to tackle the puddles head on and just run right though the middle of them all - so much fun!

Once back past the start line, participants head downhill towards the route that I'd taken from the carpark, but halfway down the hill the route turns right where a long out and back section can be found. This stretch of the course was actually quite pleasant. The path underfoot was decent and the resin base had a slightly rubbery feel to it which was almost bouncy.

The out and back always served as a nice respite from the mud and allowed for some conventional running where pace could pick up a little, but once heading back it wasn't long before we had to turn left and head back into the woods again.

The return segment back in the woods runs parallel to the start/finish straight, beginning with a shortish hill which matches the elevation of the path on the route out. But this path is a lot tougher going as there is mud, tree roots and other woodland perils to avoid.

Eventually the route connects with the first loop through the woods which means we had to take this part of the course for the second time. The mud based paths were flattened down with the amount of foot traffic that had just run through, which meant a safer route than some of the grass area that ran alongside.

We were warned about slips at the beginning and there were a couple of times I was close to going over. I didn't see anyone topple over whilst I was out on the course, but at the finish line I saw someone who had quite evidently enjoyed a head first tumble into a puddle!

For most of the event, the rain had held off, but picked up again slightly towards the end. After our second loop around the woods at the top of the course it was back once again down the start/finish straight where the finish line appeared and the chance to dry off loomed closer.

I finished in 72nd place out of a field of 142 participants in a time of 30:45. I hadn't run particularly well and the conditions hadn't helped support a quick time. A lady I was taking to at the end said that the course was in fairly good condition and that it's better when it's muddy like that as in the summer the ground becomes hard and rutted and tricky to run on. I'll take her word for it, but I quite enjoyed it for the mud and super splashy puddles. I might not have ran very well, but I got out of bed in the morning and made it there. A lot further than many othera did that's for sure.