When: November 27th 2022
Where: Registration at The Spire and Spoke, 21 Hill Road, Watlington OX49 5AD. Start and finish at the junction of The Ridgeway and Hill Road.
Course: Single clockwise loop along The Ridgeway towards the M40, then a hilly return via Shirburn Wood and Watlington Hill.
Other routes touched (walk): The Ridgeway, Oxfordshire Way
Finish time: 1h 10mins
When: October 16th 2022
Where: Frieth Church of England Combined School, Henley-on-Thames, RG9 6PR
Course: Single loop from Freith through Fingest, Skirmett and Hatchet Wood
Other routes touched (walk): Chiltern Way
Finish time: 57:52
When: September 18th 2022
Where: Fieldhouse Lane, Marlow, SL7 1LU
Course: Single loop around the River Thames between Marlow and Bourne End. 10 mile option also available.
Other routes touched (walk): Thames Path, Walking The Marlow Donkey, Shakespeare’s Way, The Chiltern Way Berkshire Loop, Cookham Bridleway Circuit
Finish time: 59:25
When: September 4th 2022
Where: Mapledurham Country Park, RG4 7TR
Course: Single loop hilly course in the woods and fields around Mapledurham Country Park.
Other routes touched (walk): Chiltern Way Southern Extension
Finish time: 57:48
If something is outdoors, has variety, can be tracked and has challenges, it’s a fair bet that I’ll get obsessed with it. parkun ticks all of those boxes and it’s been an obsession of mine since 2012. A friend who had got the parkrun bug a few years before took me to a Boxing Day Freedom Run in December 2012. I was hooked straight away and returned to Black Park to do my first official one the following week. I started touring early, heading over to Wycombe Rye only a few weeks later. As it happened the event was called off due to ice but we did a Freedom Run anyway and returned the following week to do it properly.
Since then I’ve been touring as much as possible, collecting challenges and counties along the way. Here’s a selection of my blog posts on parkrun. Comment below or contact me if you spot any errors and I’ll donate £1 to the parkrun Forever fund for each correction made.
I add in a new county collection page once I’ve completed at least 3 events in the county. If you would like to speed up the process, Buy Me A Coffee and I’ll create a new one for your chosen county.
My completion year for the various parkrun clubs, challenges, countries and counties. There’s a few other smaller challenges that I’ve not shown here.
Green achievement badges sourced from the Running Challenges extension
Crossing the River Rother 2.5km to the finishing line at Petersfield
When: July 2nd 2022
Start: A field in Riverhill Farm, Petworth
Finish: Petersfield Rugby Football Club, Penns Place, Petersfield, GU31 4EP
Distance: 50 km (31 miles)
Elevation change: +611m / -685m (Net -74m)
GPX File: get via Buy Me a Coffee
Other routes touched (walk): Sussex Diamond Way, New Lipchis Way, Sussex Border Path
Other routes touched (cycle): None
OS Trig Pillar: TP3749 - Hesworth (at 9.2km from the start)
Maps:
- Arundel & Pulborough Map | Worthing & Bognor Regis | Ordnance Survey | OS Explorer Map OL10
- Haslemere & Petersfield Map | Midhurst & Selborne | Ordnance Survey | OS Explorer Map OL33
Finish time: 7 hours 03 minutes
Links: Serpent Trail Guide, Serpent Trail Race, Fittleworth, Lavington Common National Trust, Midhurst, Petersfield
Following last summer’s brutal 100k on the Race To The Castle I was up for a shorter Ultra this year. It was also a good one to do with my friend Mark as his second Ultra after our Downs Link race in October.
The Serpent Trail is a 106k long distance path snaking through the greensand hills and heathland in the South Downs National Park. It’s north of the South Downs Way and connects Petersfield to Haslemere. The end point at Haslemere is also the start of the Greensand Way, a 174 km path across the North Downs to Kent. There was a 100k race option to cover the whole length of the Trail but 50k was definitely enough.
The 50k option started in a field near Petworth and joined the Serpent Trail after 2.5km. It was a dry day and there had been very little rain in the weeks leading up to it, so I managed to avoid the blisters and trench-foot of several of my previous Ultras. It was also hot too and I was feeling the effects of it from 12:00 to 14:00. I much prefer to run in the cold and by 14:00 the heat had taken my energy to go faster than a quick walk.
I thought that I was struggling due to the heat but ended up crossing the finish line at 7 hours and 3 minutes. That was 4 minutes slower than my previous 50k on the Chiltern Challenge in 2020. I decided to call it a tie though having wasted around 4 minutes getting off course on Ambersham Common having missed a very obvious signpost. Meanwhile Mark stormed it, finishing 14 minutes head of me with a time of 6 hours 49 minutes.
It was a great route with a bonus highlight of bagging a Trig Pillar that was right on the route at Hesworth Common. I still have the first half of the Trail to find a way to complete so I’m sure I’ll be back in the area soon.
When: June 26th 2022
Where: Stanmer Park Nature Reserve, Falmer, Brighton, BN1 9RE
Course: Single loop hilly course in the woods and upper fields of Stanmer Park. Marathon distance also held.
Other routes touched (walk): none
Finish time: 58:56
When: May 29th 2022
Where: Kempton Park Racecourse, Staines Road E, Sunbury-on-Thames TW16 5AQ
Course: Start and finish behind the main grandstand. Single lap snaking around the grounds of the racecourse. Half Marathon and Marathon options also running.
Other routes touched (walk): none
Finish time: 54:16
When: March 27th 2022
Where: Lee Valley White Water Centre, Station Road, Waltham Cross, EN9 1AB
Course: Start and finish at the Lee Valley White Water Centre. Single loop around the lee Valley Country Park on tarmac paths. Fast and flat.
Other routes touched (walk): Lea Valley Walk / River Lea Navigation Footpath, Greenwich Meridian Trail
Other routes touched (cycle): NCN 1
Finish time: 52:06
My stats for the year:
TOTAL DISTANCE IN 2021
Run (outdoor): 670 miles (1,071 km)
Run (Zwift): 93 miles (149 km)
Cycle (Outdoor): 1,089 miles (1,743 km)
Cycle (Zwift): 1,315 miles (2,104 km)
Trek: 506 miles (810 km)
SUP: 30 miles (48 km)
Total = 3,704 miles (5,926 km)
Trek = recorded hiking & walking events, not general steps.
KEY EVENTS IN 2021
2 x Ultra Marathons: Race to the Castle and Downs Link Ultra
7 x 10k events: St Albans Easter, Loseley Park Trail, Henley Trail, Hardest of Snails Trail, Thame, Run Reigate, Weybridge
6 new County Tops: Craigairie Fell, Merrick, Kirriereoch Hill-Northwest Slope, Culter Fell, Broad Law, White Coomb
Completing the Finland Archipelago Trail Cycle Tour
When: March 27th 2021
Where: Walton Bridge Car Park, Walton Lane, Shepperton, Walton-on-Thames, TW17 8LY
Course: Start and finish by Walton Bridge. Short out and back along the river then a big clockwise loop along Oatlands Drive to Weybridge and back along the river.
Other routes touched (walk): Thames Path
Other routes touched (cycle): NCN 4
Finish time: 53:29
Crossing The Old Shoreham Toll Bridge on the last mile
When: October 10th 2021
Start: Church of St Martha-on-the-Hill, Halfpenny Lane, Guildford, GU4 8PZ
Finish: 3rd Shoreham Sea Scouts, Shoreham-by-Sea, BN43 5LT
Distance: 61.3 km (38.1 miles)
Elevation change: +456m / -622m (Net -166m)
GPX File: get via Buy Me a Coffee
Other routes touched (walk): North Downs Way, Tillingbourne At Work (SCC), Wey South Path, The Fox Way, Greensand Way, Sussex Border Path, West Sussex Literary Trail, South Downs Way
Other routes touched (cycle): NCN 22, 223
Maps:
- OS Explorer Map (145) Guildford and Farnham
- OS Explorer OL34 Crawley & Horsham
- OS Explorer OL11 Brighton and Hove
Finish time: 8 hours 32 minutes
Links: Downs Link (Wikipedia), The Cranleigh Line, The Steyning Line, St Martha’s Hill, Surrey Hills AONB, Wey and Arun Canal, South Downs National Park
This was a return to familiar territory for Mark and I. We’d cycled the Downs Link in July and passed by St Martha’s church on the Hardest of Snails 10k shortly after. Running the whole of the 38 mile trail was an altogether bigger challenge. This was also Mark’s first Ultra and my first running one with a friend.
I had worked out a plan to get us through it at a steady pace with 30 minutes contingency for the 10 hour cut-off. I have a consistent pace for Ultras, but not knowing how Mark would get on I didn’t know whether we would be able to stick together or not.
The first 6.4k to the old railway path is steep and hilly. With a lot of runners packed tightly into narrow paths you have to go at the speed of the group. This was a comfortable pace for a short race but faster than I had planned for this. I couldn’t see Mark at all in this first section and was worried that I was getting a long way ahead. I needn’t have worried as he arrived at the first Aid Station 30 seconds behind me.
This was the pattern for the first half of the race. I was slightly ahead on each section and we met up at the Aid Stations. Somewhere between Henfield and Steyning we’d both slowed to a fast walk and kept together to the end. By the finish point at Shoreham-by-Sea we were a hour ahead of our planned time and well within the official cut-off.
This is billed as a great Ultra for first timers and I’d argue that it’s a great one all round. After the first 6.4k it’s mostly flat and on good ground. There’s a few long straight stretches that got a bit boring but made up for by the remains of the old stations along the way. See my post on the cycle trip for more about these.
Running and crossing the finishing line with a friend made it special for me. Well done Mark on joining the Ultra club and huge thanks for Mark’s family for supporting us along the way.
When: September 19th 2021
Where: Priory Park, Bell Sreet, Reigate, RH2 7RL
Course: Start and finish in Priory Park with two separate loops to the south of Reigate town. 5k and Half Marathon Routes also available.
Other routes touched (walk): Greensand Way
Other routes touched (cycle): N/A
Finish time: 53:55
When: September 5th 2021
Where: Thame Leisure Centre, Oxford Road, Thame, OX9 2BB
Course: Single loop out through Thame Town Centre and back via the Phoenix Trail
Other routes touched (walk): N/A
Other routes touched (cycle): Phoenix Trail, NCN 57
Finish time: 52:31
There are 22 parkrun events in the Historic County of Gloucestershire, of which I have completed 4. Two of these events: Blaise Castle and Eastville are now in the Ceremonial County and Unitary Authority of Bristol. Three events: Thornbury, Chipping Sodbury and Pomphrey Hill are in the Unitary Authority of South Gloucestershire. The name for having completed all parkrun events in the county is “Glos’ed Over”.
Severn Bridge gets a special mention as most of the course is in Gloucestershire but the start and end are in Monmouthshire, Wales.
The county’s first parkrun event was Forest of Dean, whose inaugural was on April 24th 2010. The newest event is Blaise Castle which started on May 6th 2023.
The interactive maps below take you to the approximate location for the course, typically the centre of the park. See the course instructions in the parkrun page for each event for specific directions to the start. Course maps show the route at the time that I ran it and may have changed since then.
I have not yet completed this event
Inaugural: February 1st 2020
Links: Event Home Page, Course Page
I have not yet completed this event
In the Ceremonial County & Unitary Authority of: Bristol
Inaugural: May 6th 2023
Links: Event Home Page, Course Page
I completed this event on: December 28th 2015 with a finish time of: 25:43
Other routes touched: none
Inaugural: February 16th 2013
Links: Event Home Page, Course Page
I have not yet completed this event
In the Unitary Authority of: South Gloucestershire.
Inaugural: February 22nd 2014
Links: Event Home Page, Course Page
I completed this event on: November 13th 2019 with a finish time of: 26:49
Other routes touched (walk): Monarch’s Way
Inaugural: February 3rd 2018
Links: Event Home Page, Course Page
I have not yet completed this event
In the Ceremonial County & Unitary Authority of: Bristol
Inaugural: November 18th 2017
Links: Event Home Page, Course Page
I have not yet completed this event
Inaugural: April 24th 2010
Links: Event Home Page, Course Page
I have not yet completed this event
Inaugural: February 24th 2018
Links: Event Home Page, Course Page
I have not yet completed this event
Inaugural: October 10th 2015
Links: Event Home Page, Course Page
I have not yet completed this event
Inaugural: September 14th 2019
Links: Event Home Page, Course Page
I have not yet completed this event
Inaugural: June 6th 2015
Links: Event Home Page, Course Page
I have not yet completed this event
Inaugural: January 2nd 2016
Links: Event Home Page, Course Page
I have not yet completed this event
Inaugural: August 31st 2019
Links: Event Home Page, Course Page
I have not yet completed this event
Inaugural: March 9th 2013
Links: Event Home Page, Course Page
I have not yet completed this event
In the Unitary Authority of: South Gloucestershire.
Inaugural: March 1st 2014
Links: Event Home Page, Course Page
Most of the course is in Gloucestershire but the start and end are in Monmouthshire, Wales.
I completed this event on: November 3rd 2018 with a finish time of: 28:14
Other routes touched (walk): Wales Coast Path
Other routes touched (cycle): NCN4
Inaugural: August 11th 2018
Links: Event Home Page, Course Page
I have not yet completed this event
Inaugural: July 23rd 2016
Links: Event Home Page, Course Page
I have not yet completed this event
Inaugural: August 31st 2019
Links: Event Home Page, Course Page
I completed this event on: August 17th 2019 with a finish time of: 28:54
Other routes touched (cycle): NCN 48
Inaugural: May 18th 2019
Links: Event Home Page, Course Page
I have not yet completed this event
Inaugural: July 4th 2015
Links: Event Home Page, Course Page
I have not yet completed this event
In the Unitary Authority of: South Gloucestershire.
Inaugural: November 18th 2017
Links: Event Home Page, Course Page
I have not yet completed this event
Inaugural: October 22nd 2016
Links: Event Home Page, Course Page
parkruns are free, weekly, community 5k events all around the world. I started in December 2012 and have been obsessive about it ever since. See my parkrun Collection page for details.
Featured and popular parkrun posts:
When: August 1st 2021 (when I did it, but it’s on every Sunday)
Where: Wades Park, 50 Stratton Road, Princes Risborough, HP27 9AX
Course: 5 or 6 laps of Wades Park depending on what else is happening in the park
More Info: Risborough Run In The Park
Other routes touched (walk): None, but the Outer Aylesbury Ring runs along the north-east edge of the park
Other routes touched (cycle): None, but NCN 57 runs past the entrance to the park
Finish time: 24:31
When: July 28th 2021
Where: Shalford Park, Guildford, GU4 8AA
Course: Hilly twisted loop course from Chantry Wood to Newlands Corner via St Martha’s Hill. 5k and 15k routes run concurrently.
Other routes touched (walk): North Downs Way, Tillingbourne at Work SCC, Scholar’s Trail
Other routes touched (cycle): Downs Link
Other routes touched (run): Downs Link Ultra
Finish time: 66:35
Bamburgh Castle. 1km from the Finish Line
When: June 26th 2021
From: Kirkharle Courtyard, NE19 2PE
To: Car Park, Radcliffe Road, Bamburgh, NE69 7AE
Distance: 102.6 km (63.7 miles) based on my Garmin stats. Official distance = 100 km
Elevation Change: +1,141m / -1,591m. Net -450m
GPX File: get via Buy Me a Coffee
Other routes touched (walk): St Oswolds Way, Hadrian’s Wall Path, Northumberland Coast Path
Other routes touched (cycle): NCN 1
Maps:
- OS Explorer OL42 Kielder Water & Forest
- OS Explorer Map (325) Morpeth and Blyth
- OS Explorer Map 332 Alnwick and Amble, Craster and Whittingham
- OS Explorer Map (340) Holy Island and Bamburgh
Guidebook: St Oswald's Way and St Cuthbert's Way: With the Northumberland Coast Path (Cicerone)
Finish time: 17 hours 46 minutes
Links: St Oswolds Way, Northumberland National Park, Rothbury, River Coquet, Warkworth, Alnmouth, Craster, Seahouses, Bamburgh, Bamburgh Castle
I’d signed up for Race To The Castle as soon as tickets were open. This was the fourth and newest of the Threshold Trail series. Having done the other three, I needed to complete the set. It would take a while to get to the start line though. As with most 2020 events Covid pushed it back a year. So, 18 months after signing up, I was in the 08:30 start wave ready to run my second 100k ultra.
All the usual pre-race nerves were there. Although I do an ultra every year it has been five years since my last 100k. My preparation had gone well, but you never know how the day will go.
It was tough. Most of the elevation was in the first 35k, with a long slog up and down the Simonside Hills. By the end of that section my thighs had tightened up and my slow running become a fast walk. The weather didn’t help either. The whole day had low grey clouds with constant drizzle. I changed my socks for dry ones after the hills but nothing could stay dry for long.
The countryside was beautiful and likely much more so if it had been sunny. The route, mostly following St Oswald’s Way, took in forest, track, rivers, pretty villages and coastal paths. The coastal section would likely have been a highlight. By the time I got there is was getting dark so I didn’t see much of it. Although I always choose the 1 day non-stop option for these events, anyone doing the 2 day option would have seen the best of the coast.
My low point was at midnight on the National Trust land at Newton Links. It felt like high exposed moor but I only realised that it was next to the sea when I looked at the map the next day. It was completely dark, raining a lot and no other runners in sight. By now I’d already completed 88k and there was no stopping now. It still hurt though.
From the final pit stop at Beadnell I’d got some new motivation. Timea followed closely in the car and fed me cookies and Lucozade to keep up my energy. As Seahouses approached there was more streetlighting and people around. After Seahouses the route took an inland curve down a quiet country lane. From 97k Bamburgh Castle was in sight, lit up in the distance. I passed the castle at 99k with the final 1k along the coastal road to the finish line.
At 17 hours 46 minutes, I was 13 minutes off my 100k PB. I was more that happy with that though as this was much tougher than Race to the Stones. I now had the medal to complete the set of 4.
When you’re finishing an ultra on your own late at night it’s easy to think you’re the last to finish. There were still a lot of people coming in as we drove back to the hotel and even some when we got up the next morning. This has definitely proven that Race To The Stones wasn’t my 100k fluke. I’m not in a rush to do any more any time soon though. 50ks will do me for a while.
Thank you to the Threshold Crew for another very well organized event. Thanks especially for my awesome wife who is my personal support crew on the runs. Seeing her every 10k along the route and at the finish line is a big motivation. The cookies and pasties that she brings also help too :-)
Related Posts:
When: May 2nd 2021
Where: Temple Island Meadows, Church Lane, Remenham, Henley on Thames, Oxon, RG9 3DB
Course: Single loop with a flat stretch on the Thames Path and a slightly hilly section to Henley bridge
Other routes touched (walk): Thames Path, Chiltern Way Berkshire Loop, The Wokingham Way
Other routes touched (cycle): None
Finish time: 54:30
