Markshall Estate parkrun - event 178

On the 26th July 2025 I ran the Markshall Estate parkrun which was the 178th event held at the venue, my 246th parkrun and 164th different course I'd attended.

As parkrun day fell on my birthday it was a chance to have a rare Saturday morning with my family in tow - although that didn't quite include Oliver who can't be convinced to get up early in the morning for anyone.

So knowing that I'd have them joining me, and knowing that they'd not be willing to participate i had to encourage them by other means - breakfast.

My normal planning schedule now had another criteria it needed to meet. Event number, unvisited and a stones throw away from aeam bacon sandwich.

Top of the list that met all of those parameters was Markshall Estate, my 17th Essex venue and home to Mrs Salisbury's of Coggeshall Tearooms. Once again, another example of where the road to parkrun has taken me to places I would never have otherwise heard of, let alone visited.

An hour from home, a relative short hop over the river and up the A12 we arrived at Markshall Estate and I learnt a valuable new lesson. Always read the directions on the event website! We arrived at the carpark to find that there was a £1 charge for use of the carpark. As it was a country estate I Googled the address in Google Maps as opposed to reading the event page where all instructions are usefully provided. Fortunately for us I was able to scrape together £1 in shrapnel from the bottom of my wallet in amongst some old euros and bronze I'd not seen for ages.

The start is an 8 minute walk from the carpark, which a sign reliably points out. It wasn't me being scientific and timing it for accuracy. The sign sat on the main course path which was just out the Tearooms which was preparing for a busy morning service.

We were directed over the humped bridge, with ornate white railings and followed the path up the hill. Steph and the kids were trundling up, safe in the knowledge that they weren't having to worry about running up it, whilst I was hoping the course wasn't going this way and that there would be a detour somewhere along the way.

I did suggest to Stephanie and the kids that they might like to walk the course, or at least walk the three quarter lap back around to the start. But no, i'd spoken in tongues, or a foreign language and the suggestion was widely dismissed. I learnt another lesson that morning and won't be doing that again either!

The course, 1 and 3/4 laps takes place within the arboretum and travels in an anti-clockwise direction. The arboretum itself is made up of plant and tree species from all around the world and is divided into geographic sections. Species from Europe, North America and the Southern Hemisphere. 

As my knowledge is totally limited in this area I couldn't tell you what species was what. But as you ran along the course you could clearly see the evolving nature of the plants and tree that surrounded you.

Ran primary on a concrete path that runs around the arboretum the course loops eventually back around to the Tearooms and other adjacent buildings. The descent down is more gradual whereas the hill back up was short and sharp. As I knew that I was only going to have to tackle it once I, and it was the only ascent on the course I was comfortable pushing myself and ran past a couple of other participants which made a nice change. Normally hills are my nemesis and I crumble after the first few metres so hopefully I can use this experience for the next one.

After the circuit has been.completed 1 and 3/4's of time the path forks off to the finish which lies on the grass, the other side of the Tearooms. I finished in 145th place out of a field of 286 participants in a time of 29:40, which was incidentally the exact same time as the one I got last week!

I find that quite amazing actually. Last week was a flat, four lap course in rainy conditions with quite an open start and field in general. This week was a congested start where I started quite far back on a course that contained a hill and in some places a slightly challenging surface. But yet the net result was the same. Did that make my run any better this week than the week before, or was my run the week before slower than it should of been?

Guess I'll never know...

After the event, Stephanie and the kids had bagged a garden table at the Tearooms and had chosen their breakfasts in readiness. We feasted on a lovely meal and the kids had lots of fun swatting away wasps and whatever energy they didn't spend walking, jogging or running the course they spent it.on waving their arms.around trying in vain to.get.rid of them. Oh the irony!