The “Road to Nowhere” ParkRun: Reading about... - Bridge to 10K

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The “Road to Nowhere” ParkRun

SkiMonday profile image
SkiMondayGraduate10
7 Replies

Reading about the inaugural parkruns on posts from damienair reminded me of this event back in July. It’s not often that you get to do a parkrun on a dual carriageway! This was a trial run for a potential new parkrun on Westerleigh Common in Yate. There were only about 20 of us running so there were no problems with a bottleneck at the start. It took place on a Tuesday evening back in July and, gosh, it was hot! Most of the run was on the common but after 2k, the route joined the dual carriageway which was even hotter! After 2k up & down that, the route re-joined the common for the last leg. I’m glad that I abandoned my plan to start sprinting at 4.5k because the overall distance was 5.44k (well, it was a trial run).

I think it’s worth pointing out that the “Road to Nowhere” is a road that was built back in the 1970s. Funding was never found for the bridge that was required to cross the railway so it’s completely traffic free. In the end, the council turned down requests to make this a proper parkrun because they have plans to turn the common into a nature reserve. In the photo, I’m the one heading away from the camera.

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SkiMonday profile image
SkiMonday
Graduate10
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7 Replies
backintime profile image
backintimeGraduate10

I'd like them to do one nearer to me lol. My nearest one is 2 hours away

SkiMonday profile image
SkiMondayGraduate10 in reply tobackintime

It's probably down to things like how many people live in your area and availability of a suitable location. Parkrun seem to provide support for people setting up a new event, maybe you could have a go at that or, even better, persuade someone else to do it or work with a group of friends?

backintime profile image
backintimeGraduate10 in reply toSkiMonday

Not sure I have the time atm. I may look into it though

Tasha99 profile image
Tasha99Graduate10 in reply tobackintime

No way. I’ve got about 8 in a 10 mile radius! You need parkrun near you 🤣

Tasha99 profile image
Tasha99Graduate10

You’ll have to find another one then 🤣 How are you doing?

damienair profile image
damienairAdministrator

Oh wow. That looks amazing. A road to nowhere. Nice to have been involved in the first run, even if it never got going afterwards. I always find the straight line out and back parts of parkrun courses are the hardest. I ran one recently where the last 1.5k was a straight line to the finish funnel. I thought I’d never get there. 😀 Thanks for sharing.

Damien

UnfitNoMore profile image
UnfitNoMoreGraduate10

I’ve only ever seen one road that’s like this, somewhere in the south lakes that used to be an A road but got bypassed.... will have to go run it sometime.

It’s a shame that parkrun isn’t something the council can bring to a nature reserve... I run in one all the time, but I guess if the numbers got into the high hundreds it could be an issue. Have they found somewhere more suitable?

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