Earlier in the week TailChaser texted me with exciting news. There was a brand new parkrun starting in our neighbourhood and the inaugural event was this weekend. Last weekend Sandie1961 had experienced an inaugural parkrun in her neck of the woods and we thought we should make the effort to match such a great achievement.
The course was at Wolford Wood (near Moreton in Marsh). I grew up very near to Great Wolford and had many memories of the big wood on the outskirts of the village. My Dad had told us tales of playing in the wood when he was a boy, and as a teenager I rode my pony there often. Although most of my memories are of over-grown trails and mud that was hock deep, so I was anticipating quite an interesting morning.
As it happened the route was mostly in a meadow, where the ground was uneven and boggy in places, and there was an out and back section that went into the wood along a track of rough stones. It was 3 laps of the meadow and 4 goes up the out and back.
The organisers hadn’t made a song and dance about it’s inauguration as the parking is limited and they did not want to be over-whelmed, but TailChaser , Katnap and I put on our trail shoes and joined about 90 others on the start line. The day wasn’t too cold and there was little wind (the meadow is quite sheltered by the surrounding woodland). Running around the course we were cheered on by some very vocal, friendly and encouraging volunteers, we could hear songbirds and woodpeckers in the wood and met the delightful Gloucestershire Old Spots in their enclosure next to the course.
The runner first over the line completed in under 20 mins. I took considerably longer. My feet seemed to have forgotten how to run on uneven ground and I became very nervous of tripping or twisting my ankle so I opted to walk most of it. On the third lap I was no longer being overtaken and there was much more space around me so I ran more of the course, just walking on the rough stones and the boggy sections, I had worked out how to shorten my stride and felt much more confident. No parkrun banner for a photo-shoot but some plastic piggies in volunteer jackets made for an interesting image.
I think I might return another day, my trail running definitely needs more practise and there is promise of a different route for the summer months. We had a fabulous morning and for me it was very special. Memories of my childhood flooded back and I called out to my ancestors as we drove home past the churchyard in my village. (You will be pleased to know they did not reply).
Home run celebration 
Southsea (not) parkrun crew on tour at Portsmouth Lakeside!
Parkrun PBs aplenty - HU C25K Team Snail 🐌 
