Houghton Hall parkrun - event 330

On the 4th October 2025 I ran the Houghton Hall parkrun which was the 330th event held at the venue, my 256th parkrun and 173rd different course I'd attended.

The first named storm of the season, storm Amy brought with her weather disruption all across the UK with forecasted winds up to 100mph and caused a series of parkrun cancellations across Friday and into Saturday morning.

Being well trained by now in the art of the last minute weather related detour, I needed to keep my wits about me and show some of the agility skills I barely get the opportunity to display out there on the course.

Although it wasn't just the weather that was causing me logistic challenges. First it was the football calendar, then it was bacon rolls long before Amy came along.

Gillingham were scheduled to play MK Dons at Stadium MK which meant that I'd have time to do parkrun in the morning and have time to get to the game by 3pm with one of our more local away games. But the powers that be at Sky television thought that the game would be prime lunchtime viewing and moves kick off forward to 12:30.

The 12:30 games are a nightmare at the best of times, even at home as they don't give you time to complete your normal Saturday routine. I figured that I'd be able drive up early and complete a parkrun en-route. Having Hayden with me normally means a plod around the course at snails pace so I don't need to be worried about being hot and sweaty (also known as 'parkrun fresh') and so didn't need to concern myself with shower facilities or anything nearby.

I chose to visit Wendover Woods as it's a course I've been wanting to visit for a while and having Hayden with me gives me the perfect excuse for walking up the hills! 

That plan got thrown in the bin when the football plans started to be made. Mark was coming up with Joshua, Reaso and George and had seen a reel on Instagram of a breakfast cafe at a farm on the outskirts of Milton Keynes. Rowley's Cafe looked to sell incredible breakfast rolls with vast quantities of bacon, hash browns, black pudding and other such breakfasty delights. 

Rushmere parkrun is much closer to Rowley's Cafe than Wendover Woods was, and it would be easier to get to after the parkrun was finished. So plan A became plan B and then Amy blew into town.

Rushmere was quickly cancelled on the Friday as it is a woodland based course. I contemplated reverting back to plan A, but figured that would be risky as Wendover Woods was also likely to be a victim of Amy's wake.

Sticking instead to the path of the M1, the possible choice of alternatives widened somewhat, even with cancellations taking into count. Saturdays plan C became Houghton Hall and if that failed Bury Field would be plan D instead.

Saturday morning, I woke up nice and early expecting wind, rain and misery. But was instead greeted by bright sunshine, albeit somewhat breezy. With no more cancellations to worry about Houghton Hall it was.

As I'd left with plenty of time to account for contingency we arrived super early. 8:15 we pulled into the carpark, much to Hayden's annoyance who was already fuming as he had messed up charging his tablet in the car. Rather than plugging the lead into the USB port he'd plugged it into one of the air-con vents instead...

Despite the blue skies, it was very windy with a slight Baltic blast. Hayden came back to the car to get his jumper to add on another protective layer from the elements. Oblivious to the fact that if you actually ran and moved a bit, the weather becomes redundant.

Houghton Hall parkrun consists of three laps around the park. The first lap is slightly longer than the first two with a section that takes participants through the woodland at the North West quadrant of the park.

Aside from the woodland area on the first lap the rest of the clockwise route is taken on well maintained firm paths that encircles pretty much the full perimeter of the park.

Running through the woodland segment on the first lap a volunteer has set up what I've later discovered as being a permanent residence. Blasting out music on a portable disco machine, including flashing lights bringing a touch of unique energy to proceedings.

I had wondered whether we'd see her again somewhere else on the course after everyone had completed their first lap and indeed we did on one of the last corners of both laps two and three.

Volunteers are the life blood of parkrun and without them we'd not enjoy any of our activities of a Saturday. When they come with such character, enthusiasm and energy it really does make a difference and people like that need to be treasured.

If you find yourself visiting Houghton Hall, do look out for the fairy in the woods!

As I was with Hayden, and in no real hurry I went at Hayden pace and didn't nag as much as I normally do. We eventually found ourselves completing the third lap and mandatory 5k. I finished in 324th place out of a field of 334 in a time of 51.18.

Not breaking into a sweat had it's advantages as it meant I wasn't in need of post event showers. A quick spray in the carpark and a change of clothing meant we could head towards Rowley's Cafe and enjoy a well-deserved breakfast.

However, Instagram fame comes with caution. And it wasn't just Mark who had seen the reel on social media, half of Milton Keynes also had. We arrived and joined the queue, which didn't go anywhere for the 20 minutes we were there. There was a whole bunch of people in front of us, and whilst it reminded me of a mini Diddly Squat, it didn't have the same well-oiled efficiency of Jeremy Clarkson's side line.

So we left and didn't sample anything which was disappointing. Along with a 3-2 defeat and a nightmare return journey home via not one but two closures on the M25.

Some Saturdays you win, others you lose