Fell Foot parkrun - event 493

On the 28th February 2026 I ran the Fell Foot parkrun which was the 493rd event held at the venue, my 278th parkrun and 191st different course I'd attended.

Last week I revisited Bushy Park parkrun to celebrate with Mark and his 50th milestone. It was great to be running again at the home of parkrun, my second visit after celebrating my 100th milestone back in 2022. It was just as good as my first, the rampaging, Braveheartesque start, throngs of people and chaotically organised finish complex all in the wonderful grounds of a royal park.

But this week was back on the road and back to the Lake District for my second visit. Barrow Vs Gillingham is not for the faint of heart. A near 650 mile round trip, with almost 11 hours in the car. With great mileage and travel to contend with Barrow away is almost certainly best done with an overnight stay. I fully commend those who do it in one day, or take the long slow trudge up by coach.

Two years ago we did the trip with Reaso and George and took in Whinlatter Forest parkrun which is probably my all time favourite course. So the temptation was always to revisit. But with George and Reaso not being able to make the trip this time I was able to design something that suited Hayden and myself.

Travelling up on Friday morning, we made our way to Ulverston via the Lakes Aquarium which sits on the South western side of Lake Windermere. Being February and out of tourist season we had pretty much the lake and facilities to ourselves. A look north west could see the mountains in the distance and over towards the opposite shore on the south eastern side we could see Fell Foot, where Saturday mornings parkrun was to take place.

Having visited the aquarium and a skate park in Ulverston we took a quick visit to the birthplace of Stanley Laurel. It's quite remarkable how a many from this neck of the woods went on to become a globally recognised icon, oarticiin the day and age he came to fame. We had dinner in the Stanley Laurel Inn and Hayden ate so much he struggled to walk back to the hotel afterwards!

Now that Hayden is 11 years old the rules of engagement have changed at parkrun. Under 11s have to be accompanied by an adult. So I've always said that if his old enough to run unaccompanied then he's old enough to let me leave him at the finish unaccompanied where he can wait for me. But after a heavy dinner then night before and being a beautiful location for a parkrun I reconsidered my views. Why can't he take part, even if he walks and finishes with tail walker?

As it was, this is exactly what transpired!

Fell Foot has two courses, both winter and summer. We were of course running the winter version this morning which is four laps of an undulating roller-coaster of a route taking in the main park grounds which are located at the bottom of a hill on the banks of Lake Windermere.

During the first timers meeting we were told that there were 16 undulations over the course of the four laps, four per lap. But like most rules, what comes up must come down.

Starting at the carpark behind the dock where a few groups of people were getting ready to row out onto the lake, the course runs uphill, following the road to the highest part of the course before dipping back down into the park itself. From here the route meanders it's way around the edge of the park, including two switchbacks with sharp u-turns at the end before eventually dropping down to the path that runs along the lake back to the boathouse complex.

The run along the lakeside is idyllic and I could have ran along there all day. With distant views of the mountains and the lake as still as a millpond it felt quite epic and you could relate to people who romanticise the region and get enthralled by it's natural beauty.

At the boathouse, the route turns sharply uphill, dips down into the car park before another switchback sends you back around for the start of another lap.

With three switchbacks on the course it gave me an opportunity to try out something I had seen online. A video showing a Japanese runner encountering a U-turn where instead of naturally following the U-turn around in a forward facing position, they ran backwards down the return part of the U-turn and span around in a single 180 degree turn.

My description doesn't do it justice, but nevertheless I gave it a go and the first time I tried it felt really odd and uncomfortable. I was half concerned that I'd fall over and get my legs in a twist, but after a couple of attempts it actually felt quite natural and definitely achieves what it's designed to achieve and make the act of turning into a faster, more efficient way of turning and keeping running momentum going. Theres definitely something in it. So don't be too surprised if you start to see this more often as I'm not the only one who will have seen the viral video.

After two laps of running I caught up with Hayden who was coming up to his second lap. He had a face like a slapped arse and radiated utter misery. He was chatting away to the tail walker and I decided to walk with them for a lap to try and gee him up and get him to get a move on. I failed in every aspect. So after a lap, I ran the rest of the course and waited around for him to finish lap three. I then walked with him for the fourth and final time where his level of misery and dejection had evidently grown considerably.

I did actually have to tell Hayden off at one point, purely for being rude. The volunteer marshalls were wonderful and were really encouraging and cheering him on with applause and enthusiasm. His face remained deadpan and he didn't acknowledge a single one of them. I told him.he needed to say thank you and be grateful that they were there stood in the cold when they didn't have to be. This did of course only go to make his mood even worse, but we did, eventually make it over the finish line.

I finished in 114th place out of a field of 151 participants in a time of 36:28. Hayden finished in 150th in a time of over 60 minutes. Most people tend to get quicker the more they do, especially if you are 11 years old. But oh no, not Hayden!