South Woodham Ferrers parkrun - event 276

On the 26th October 2024 I ran the South Woodham Ferrers parkrun which was the 276th event held at the venue, my 208th parkrun and 129th different course I'd attended.

A little while ago I redrew my parkrun planner with a whole new strategy. Rather than a focus on London events I decided to prioritise those events closest to me geographically. It means that for every week that passes I have to travel that little bit extra further to the next event.

There are anomalies to this plan, the fact that the actual nearest to me that I've not done yet is Beckenham Place which I'm putting off until the course returns back to its original point-to-point configuration and others where I am aiming to combine football with parkrun, or next week when I meet my cousin Nick.

The first week of this revised schedule threw up South Woodham Ferrers, which is just over the water in Essex in a place that I've never heard of until this thing called parkrun came into my life. It worked out beautifully as the close proximity of the event meant that I'd be home early and back in time to get showered and changed ready for our trip to Swindon to watch the Gillingham match in the afternoon.

As always in the lead up to parkrun day I asked the various members of the household if anyone would like to join me - and Layla, after a period of absence said that actually, yes she would and could her boyfriend Kian come along too?

Who am I to discourage anyone's enthusiasm for joining in on a free weekly timed event where they can walk, jog or run?

South Woodham Ferrers is a small town on the outskirts of Chelmsford that sits alongside the river Crouch. I was hoping for some pleasant riverside views and I was not disappointed.

Upon arrival, the skies grey and overcast with the water as still as a millpond with vessels lying dormant offering views both up and downstream. Despite a few tentative drops of rain I knew straight away that we were going to be in for a great event and another brilliant parkrun morning.

The course was on its first running of the winter course of the season and from what I understand is not a huge deviation from it's normal summer route. It is effectively a one lap course running in an anti-clockwise direction and is mostly on trail.

Starting from the car park next to the yacht club on the bank of the River Crouch the route circles around the carpark and picks up the two path and heads east alongside the water.

Once past the yacht club a marshall directs participants down the grass slope and the course heads inland around the perimeter of a field where upon turning right at the northern end the path changes from grass to concrete.

This concrete stretch of the course is lovely and flat and felt good running on after the soft grass and trail surfaces of the route this far. Eventually though the path ends and participants are directed up another short bank where the course followers a berm between two fields, which I assume is a flood defence. The section of the course acts as an out-and-back and is the variable part of the course between the winter and summer versions of the route.

Participants follow the berm and take a couple more dips up and down the short but steep verge, each point well marshalled and marked out by cones. This section does give off a rather social feel with people running in all directions and high-fiving or waving as they go past friends, family and acquaintances.

Kian had already overtaken me by this point and I could see him in the distance, but as I was finishing the out-and-back section I past Layla who was just making her way along the end of the concrete path and still had a fair way to go. 

I followed the route along which carried back along through the field we'd navigated around previously and eventually found myself back on the tow path alongside the river, but much further downstream.

Once the river had been reached it was a case of following the route all the way back, past the yacht club and into the carpark where the finish funnel was set up.

I finished in 49th position out of a field of 107 participants in a time of 29:24. I had overtaken Kian along the tow path and somhad an opportunity to welcome him across the finish line of her first parkrun event.

We then walked back along the course retracing our steps to meet Layla and walk/jog back with her to give her some support and encouragement.

Whilst walking with Kian I asked him how he enjoyed it and from what he told me was a genuinely positive experience which was great to hear. It wasn't difficult to be distracted though by our surroundings and it's like what I explained to Kian as we walked.

Looking out over the river and the views as we were walking, how lucky was we to be outdoors enjoying those views and the wide open space and countryside we'd just been running through? Neither of us would have experienced those views or visoted South Woodham Ferrers if it hadn't been for parkrun and so what if it means getting up a little bit early on a Saturday morning, or travelling in the car for 45 minutes. It's all worth it, and the more we can share those experiences with others the better.