Colchester Castle parkrun - event 600

On the 28th March 2026 I ran the Colchester Castle parkrun which was the 600th event held at the venue, my 282nd parkrun and 195th different course I'd attended.

Upon arrival at Colchester Castle parkrun my heart sank a little. Our car was parked at a leisure centre at the bottom of the park and my eyes scanned upwards towards the castle in the distance and knew straightaway that I was in for a difficult morning. Hills and me are not compatible.

With Mark and Foordy otherwise engaged I had expected to be travelling solo. But Hayden was on a punishment as a result of not doing as he was told. He therefore had to forfeit football training for accompanying me to parkrun. He was free to not join in if he didn't want to and he took that punishment with good spirit.

The starting point for the event is three quarters away up the hill towards the castle on the southern end of Castle park. There is a flat thoroughfare with a bandstand and some ornamental gardens which makes for a good meeting place and a wide start/finish straight.

As Colchester Castle parkrun was celebrating it's 600th event there was very much a party atmosphere and an above average attendance. There were photographers, people graduating from running programmes like 5k your way and to Hayden's joy and excitement - plenty of cake!

The course consists of three laps, one short and two longer ones which are entirely identical.

Lap one, the shorter, starts from the bandstand and turns north downhill towards the bottom of the park. At halfway down, the park is split into two parts by a wall which is accessible via a gate. The first lap bypasses the gate and heads past it, returning back uphill and around the play park which was closed on our visit for refurbishment. 

After the play park the route continues south, slightly uphill and circles the castle itself. 

Once past the castle, the route heads back down to where the starting path is, and the second lap begins.

Laps two and three start in the same way, downhill towards the gate. Instead of passing the gate, participants head through it and turn immediately left down a short sharp hill deeper into the park below. 

The next sector consists of a loop around the northern section of the path with an out and back leg part way through the loop. The course eventually makes it's way back up to the gate where it picks up the route of the original short lap around the play park and castle.

On the third lap, after running past the front of the castle three times the course returns back along the start straight where the finish lies.

The gated area where the two parts of the park are traversed becomes a little bit of a bottleneck which was very well managed by the organisers of the event. There are two marshalls at the gate standing a couple of metres apart. The are tethered together with a rope and thus creating a divide between those running downhill and those running back up. I'd not seen this before at previous events and it was clear that this innovation had gone a long way to prevent collisions between those taking part.

I finished in 267th place out of a field of 449 participants in a time of 32:21.

Having finished the course I was mightily relieved. I arrived and had been intimidated by the surroundings, but the reality was quite different. Despite the undulating nature of the course the uphill segments were challenging but achievable. There wasn't any long steep upwards climbs, but gradual ascents instead. I think the course could have been a whole lot more challenging if the route had been ran in reverse but if anyone does want a course that provides an achievable challenge than Colchester Castle certainly is that.

One final thing. 

It's said that Colchester Castle is Englands most historic parkrun on the basis that it contains a Normal castle, a Roman wall, a Victorian bandstand and a medieval weir. Now those are facts, whether the claim is accurate or not I don't know, but it will certainly take some beating!