Warning - ridiculously long post with lots of numbers!
Southsea Prom is lovely, and very very flat, but Dexy5 and I have seen a lot of it lately and fancied something different today. So we hoicked ourselves off up the A3 to the Queen Elizabeth Country Park, which is not at all flat. That thing over my left shoulder is what I believe people call a hill .....
There is a parkrun course here, one short lap (1.75k) followed by a longer one (3.25k, obvs), both starting with a height gain of 30m in 400m before the short lap dives downhill and the long one carries on climbing more gently, gaining about another 20m in the next 600m. Then it in turn dives downhill. Both laps return to the start via an undulating path in the valley bottom. I think this parkrun comes #6 in the UK elevation list ......
We ran separately and for tactical reasons I decided to do the longer lap first. My idea was that if Dexy did the shorter one, we might finish the first lap roughly together (I'd underestimated the difference in length) and see how we felt about going on .... Amazingly, I started slowly enough to keep running all the way up hill 1, though I nearly cracked just before the gradient eased, that first 400m taking 3 mins, so 7'30"/k pace. Things did then get easier and the first 1k split at the top of the hill was 6'42".
Down the first dive gave 5'11" for k2, and the undulations along the bottom 5'28" for k3. And then came hill 2 .... the pace trace shows a dramatic slowing as I changed gear, a steady further slowing over 100m as the hill bit, and then my cadence dropped from 180 to 130 as I surrendered to a walk for 150m, before getting going again for the last 150m to the turn and the blessed relief of a steep downward slope. 6'29" for k4, which came up at the bottom of the hill, and 5'20" home along the bottom. The finish came up earlier than I was expecting, but I don't know exactly where the parkrun starts and finishes, never having run it for real (roll on the renaissance). Whatever, 5k on more or less the right course in 29'10", which will do me, compared to 29'41" 15 months ago when I last tried it.
Never saw Dexy - she can tell her own story!
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UpTheStanley
Graduate10
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Very well done to do that not parkrun so quickly. Well, mine is a very different story. I don’t do hills but I thought I’d better get some training in to add a bit of variety.
We have tried to do a parkrun meet up here twice, once it was cancelled because of gale force winds and once because of the first Covid lockdown a year ago.
I think it’s the first time I’ve ever been on this route when it is dry underfoot, usually I’m carrying a lot of mud on the soles of my hiking boots. It was not quite as rutted either, I guess no parkrunning for a year has helped with the surface too.
While I was running up the first incline I decided to do the big loop, rather than the two small loops so that I only had to run up that steep bit once, even if it was a lot longer!
There was a lot more run/walking going on for me but I did let go on the amazing downhills. The view of the Hampshire countryside was beautiful in the April sunshine but I don’t think UTS noticed. 3.8 k done for me.
cheekychipmunks and JonathanP will love running this route. I think Coddfish and Oldgirlruns will be run/walking like me 😀
Sounds like you had a good time Dexy! Hopefully we’ll be third time lucky with a QECP meet-up! And by that time I hope to be able to do 5k instead of limping around 3 k at a walk!
I can certainly feel it now Oldgirl. I think I’ll have to do some calf strengthening exercises before my next attempt, or run up and down Southsea castle.
I have run/walked it on a couple of occasions. The problem I have is I can’t run up the 2 main drags because I am not strong enough, and I can’t run down the 1 steep descent because I am not brave enough, so it makes a pretty slow course for me. And I am currently really slow anyway. Suspect I would be slower than your average tail walker at the moment.
Thanks UpTheStanley . That's where we differ because a run like that is exactly my idea of fun - I love hills and trails, hate flat roads! Not that I've ever really run on flat roads, they're in short supply round here.
Oh, and a really stupid question: does the run follow the path that's over your right shoulder, or do you go through the woods? 🌳🏃♂️🌳
The pic is an "after" shot, and I'm looking towards the start from a point halfway back to the loos shown on the map Katnap pointed you at, so the answer is "neither" . But the big climb is surfaced like the path over my right shoulder, one of the big downs is on grass, the rest is on tracks like the one you see leading into the woods. Very definitely (imho) requires trail shoes .....
Hi Cheeky, the 30m up in 400m along, right at the start of each lap, is substantially steeper than the worst Eastville has to offer. Both times I've tried it, it's forced me to walk a bit of it on the second time around. On the long loop, the climb then goes on to make a full 1k in all, but the rest of it is comparatively gentle. The dives down are significantly steeper than the ups and need a bit of care, especially the sharp turns onto the bottom straight .....
I’m ok with steep as long as the ground isn’t soggy. The little path up from the lake at Eastville is pretty steep (not in use for the B course that you did), and Ashton Court is steeper still. And Lyme Park. So I’d be happy to give it a whirl, albeit in first gear! 🏃♀️
It’s steep uphill at the start of both laps, but the 2nd lap starts slightly lower on the hill (ie below the start line) and takes you up further. Other than that it’s downhill, except towards the end of each lap where you get an annoying rise. The first lap has a steeper descent in it than the second as you cut across to where the larger second lap comes down. I can neither run up it, nor run down the steep section. It’s also very chalky, great when it’s dry and a quagmire when wet. It’s very different to Southsea!
Well there I was suitably impressed with the hills and times and thinking how lovely a photo and. read to the very last sentence and cracked up, Never saw Dexy I wonder if you found her later, that made me giggle
We were contactable by phone if necessary, but as I didn’t do the full 5k I ran around a flat picnic area until UTS popped out of the woods. 🌳🏃♀️🌳🌲🌲🌳🏃♂️🌳
I did - I was somewhat surprised that parkrun has only just written to landowners seeking confirmation that they agree to it restarting, but I guess they were waiting until they could make the strongest case, eg the recent research about very small risk of infection transmission?
I think is not the first communication from parkrun HQ, but the one that asks them to commit. Is your landowner the council or the business park owner?
The council - they bought it in 2019. A good sign is that Portsmouth Jogging Club have recently restarted their runs from theretwitter.com/LakesideCampus/...
The research was done last year before their previous planned restart date. I think they have been waiting to let infection rates reduce and vaccination volumes increase, it’s more likely to get support that way, and it’s hard to reverse a rejection.
I’ve run along Southsea Prom many moons ago! I used to use the lampposts for guidance. It was brilliant when the wind was blowing from behind 😆. It’s been many years since I’ve been to Queen Elizabeth Park, it sounds as though you had a great time. Happy running 🏃♂️👍😊🦶👟.
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- she can tell her own story! 
. But the big climb is surfaced like the path over my right shoulder, one of the big downs is on grass, the rest is on tracks like the one you see leading into the woods. Very definitely (imho) requires trail shoes .....
When is a hill not a hill?
Running up that hill...🏃🏽♀️👍
When is a hill a hill? 
