Highbury Fields parkrun - event 616

On the 7th December 2024 I ran the Highbury Fields parkrun which was the 616th event held at the venue, my 214th parkrun and 134th different course I'd attended.

If last week was a cautionary winter tale warning about mud, this week is chapter two - entitled 'wind and rain'. 

Thanks to Storm Darragh parkrun events across the UK were being cancelled on the basis of safety. The parkrun map on the 5K app was a sea of red pins denoting that the event was no longer going ahead. Initially across the east, but spreading westward and I was frantically refreshing the screen of news from Highbury Fields, my chosen event this weekend.

The event Facebook page, although still available hadn't been updated for years and so I had no real context of whether the event was likely to cancel or not so waking up on the Saturday morning it was a case of getting to the event to find out one way or another.

Highbury Fields was one of those events I had pencilled in the get to by trains such is the ease of the High Speed connection and two stop tube journey. But with Foordy in tow I decided to drive and hire a driveway close to the event. This actually worked in our favour as train cancellations due to Storn Darragh were playing havoc with the timetable and if I had attempted to go by train then I doubt I'd have made it.

Upon arrival, we were greeted with freezing temperatures, high winds and equally high rain. This was parkrun for the hardcore and the mentalists and as we were pottering around waiting for the formalities to take place I had a firm word with myself asking just what my life had come to and if I needed to see someone to talk about it.

The course is five laps of Highbury Fields, a small area of recreation ground in the middle of some rather large and fine housing. In fact the homes that we ran by alongside the course reminded me of Downing Street such was the familiar architecture.

Starting towards the bottom part of Highbury Fields in the centre, participants run outwards to the perimeter path via a spot of grassy which with the rain and elements had turned into slippery, squidgy mud. It was like being back at Malling Rec, but only very briefly as once off the grass you reach the main path and head anti-clockwise up hill to start the first of five full laps of the space 

I'd only ever ran a five lap course once and spent most of the time over analysing and counting multiple laps more than I thought had done before realising I was over analysing and finishing with no problem. With that experience behind me I could concentrate on staying alive instead.

At the top of the hill, the course turns left, where we were open to the elements, the 80mph winds that were coming sideways on, alongside rain which was horizontal and stinging like hell as it pelted my face. Life choices debated again as I made my way down the downward arc, meeting the bottom of the hill which we made our way back up again for the start of lap two.

As each lap passed, my jacket got progressively heavier for carrying so much rain. The items beneath my jacket also got progressively wetter, as did my shoes for treading in puddles that doubled in size as each lap ticked on by.

Eventually the fifth and final lap was completed and we head back towards the start/finish complex in the middle of the green, (which was now brown) and gratefully accepted a barcode from the equally woebegone volunteer who we should be eternally grateful for, especially on days like today.

I finished in 223rd place out of a field of 338 strange and masochistic participants, in a time of 29:19.

After the event, Foordy and I got back in the car, soaked through, freezing cold and completely windswept.

If you'd have asked us both whether we'd have preferred to have stayed in bed we'd have both said no - neither of us would have missed it for the world!