Pontefract parkrun - event 650

On the 29th March 2025 I ran the Pontefract parkrun which was the 650th event held at the venue, my 230th parkrun and 148th different course I'd attended.

Horse racing isn't my thing, and so a visit to a venue that hosts horse racing isn't necessarily on my list of places to go to. Had it not been for parkrun I'd not have visited any at all, but after York, Pontefract racecourse was the second parkrun venue I'd ran at where horse racing is also held.

Being a Gillingham fan in league two this season has meant a lot of long away trips and lots of hours on the road. It has also provided opportunities to tick off a few parkruns in areas of the country I'd not be able to justify travelling to just for a 5k run. Combining football and parkrun tourism has also allowed me more time to explore the towns we play football in which has been an unexpected pleasure.

This seasons we've done Doncaster Rovers, Morecambe, Fleetwood, Notts County and Carlisle all in combination with a parkrun visit. With Harrogate being such a distance away from Kent it made sense to try and arrange another weekend of it.

I had looked to attend the Harrogate event, but hotels and accommodation in the local area was fairly expensive in comparison to places outside of town. Harrogate parkrun was also running an event number I'd already attended and so I started to look around at alternatives.

Just north of Harrogate is Fountains Abbey which is a parkrun venue that draws tourists from all over and is consistently voted one of the most beautiful courses in the UK. It remains high up on my wish list to visit, but the travelling distances on Friday night after work just made it difficult.

Eventually I decided upon Pontefract, A) it was a one course event, B) there was a cheap Premier Inn nearby and C} it features as part of the 'Full Ponty' parkrun challenge which I never considered I'd have a chance of competing.

(The Full Ponty challenge ticks off the following four events; Pontefract, Pontypool, Pontypridd and Pont y Bala).

After a leisurely drive up on Friday night after picking Hayden up from school, and dinner at the Wetherspoons over the road from our accommodation. We woke up and took the short drive to Pontefract racecourse and parked at the event carpark which was busy with a steady stream of arrivals.

York racecourse was pancake flat and rather grand and expansive with an elaborate looking grandstand, with views all around the course from wherever you stood. This contrasted quite sharply with Pontefract racecourse which was placed on the side of a hill, with the smaller and older looking grandstand at the top overlooking the complex from afar.

Pontefract racecourse had other recreational elements accessible inside of the course, including a rather large playground where Hayden enjoyed himself for a good twenty-five minutes before the event got underway. There was also an ornamental lake of sorts which features as part of the course. 

From the start, which is on the bottom of a hill next to the playground and the lake. Participants head around the lake in an anti-clockwise direction. The path here is made up of fine shingle and so makes an absolute racket with 500 people all running over it. 

After the lake has been successfully circumnavigated the course heads up hill past the playground and towards the grandstand which sits proudly at the highest part of the complex.

The course then follows a lap of the racecourse on a trail path that bumps it's away around the internal perimeter of the track.

As I was with Hayden I found myself with lots of time enjoying the surroundings in which was a beautiful spring morning. The weather was warm, the sun was shining. The elevation of the course and surrounding rolling hills made it an absolute pleasure to be outside on a Saturday morning.

It would have been nicer had I had a little more peace and quiet. But I had Hayden as company and so I had to listen at all the reasons why he wasn't able to run. Including each area of his body which hurt, ached or was painful as is now a customary tradition.

I had hoped that by the time we had made our way around the full lap of the course and made our way back to the lake that he'd feel like running again, but that wasn't going to be the case.

Once the lake is reached again, participants then have to lap it again, but in the opposite direction. The full distance is probably around 500m, but even with the finish line in sight Hayden could only be persuaded to run the last 50m.

Eventually we crossed the finish line, and I came home in 303rd position out of a field of 315 participants in a time of 50:54.

Parkrun isn't about running, it's about participation and whether that's walking, jogging or running it's entirely up to you. So I ended up having a really quite pleasant morning as already mentioned enjoying being in a unique space and a place that I would.never have visited had it not been for parkrun. Do I wish Hayden had shown a little more effort, a little more determination and a little more enthusiasm? Yes, of course and I moaned at him all the way around as much as he moaned to me. Which is all a bit contradictory to the ethos of the parkrun movement isn't it? He did it, which is a lot more to be said of plenty of other children his age who didn't.