Ever since we did Lanhydrock parkrun last year, we’ve been planning to have a weekend in Cornwall to go to Eden Project parkrun. But, as always, there have been so many reasons for it to not happen. Happily, my brother-in-law and sister-in-law recently had a baby, which gave us the perfect excuse to head down to see them… and take in a parkrun on the way of course.
Eden Project parkrun is, unsurprisingly, based at the Eden Project, near St Austell in Cornwall. In case you’re not aware of it, the site is an old clay pit that was transformed into spectacular gardens, with two giant biomes housing plants from around the world. We stayed over on the Friday (and Saturday) night at the St Austell Premier Inn, which is approximately 10 minutes drive away (parking space to parking space) and so we managed a fairly laid back start to the day.
The parkrun course starts in the car park, and so as long as you park in ‘Banana’ it’s really straight forward to find. Having set up the buggy and walked over, we made use of the toilet block, and then decided we all had too many layers on and sent Ben back to the car with an armful of them. Had we wanted to keep coats or hoodies on a little longer, there are bags provided for the volunteers to take your layers to the finish for you (which I imagine is most welcome in winter).
The first timers’ briefing was very well attended – not exactly a surprise that on a sunny May weekend we weren’t the only tourists. From the course description I picked “2 and 3/4 laps”, “hill” and “go past the big tyre 3 times”. The hill part (which we were well aware of before arriving) was the bit that worried me. Particularly as Lani had decided to run with Ben, and so I had KK in the buggy. And hadn’t really had a proper run since Glastonbury.
The actual start is on nice wide road. At the briefing here we were reminded that the route we were about to take into the Eden Project is not regular pedestrian access – you need to make sure to leave through the main visitor centre. After a quick countdown (which we could actually hear from the back!) we were off. It was quite busy near the back at first, so Lani and Ben initially got away from me (with being able to weave through), but I slowly started to pick my way through. My legs were feeling pretty rough, and so the slight incline didn’t help to warm up. But we quickly turned a corner, and the downhill began.
When you’re on solid path (which we were), running downhill with a buggy is pretty fun. My biggest worry was weaving round various people as I tried to find where in the pack I should be. This continued for almost half a mile, at which point we joined the main lap and were well and truly inside the Eden Project. Now surrounded by beautiful plants, the path took a sudden turn up. Around this point I found myself running with two BHAM runners and a guy from Shepton Mallet – somewhat of a Somerset takeover!
We quickly reached the top of the hill, with my thoughts consisting of “Oh that wasn’t so bad” and “Hmm I bet that will feel harder later”. We passed the massive tyre mentioned in the briefing. Looking at it later, it is from one of the trucks that worked on the clay pit. The actual truck is the size of a 3 bedroom house! I was a little confused, though, at it being used as a lap reference as we didn’t seem to be anywhere near the finish yet.
There’s then a short sharp drop down, which is great for getting some momentum going again, that takes you to by the visitor centre path. The next section of the course is amazing. It’s called the Zigzag through Time, and is the main path that sweeps down from the visitor centre towards the biomes. There’s so much to see, with plants and information panels surrounding you. My main efforts focused on a) making sure I was in control not the buggy and b) not knocking into anyone, but I still managed to appreciate the scenery.
At the end of the zigzags you turn right and continue down towards a marshal. The path then follows to the left to go around the back of The Core and, you guessed it, has another little incline followed almost immediately by more downhill. The path on this section was much narrower than other places, and felt almost like a tunnel of wildlife. We then re-joined the main path and headed alongside the front of the Mediterranean biome, towards the stage area.
Running alongside the stage area, the finish line was in sight ahead. Except, of course, we had to turn left and do another two laps. And so begins the proper hill. Steep uphill zigzags, with just a short section of down a little way in for relief. Particularly challenging for me was staying to the left of the path. We’d started being lapped a fair way earlier (due to long first lap), and so I had to stay tucked in on sharp turns I would normally take the outside line for with the buggy. Not helped on a couple of these where the runners lapping me decided to cut to the left to take the inside line for a corner!
By the time we made it up to where we’d joined for lap 1 I had nothing left, and so slowed to a walk. Which I should point out is not exactly a rest, as fast-walking a buggy up a steep hill is arguably harder on your arms than running it is. Needless to say, I was relieved to get to the top and enjoy the downhill. Although I was surprised to see at this point that my average pace was still pretty good. The zigzags down did not disappoint, and I managed to read a few more information signs on the way past. The trickiest bit of this lap was the narrower path round The Core, as I was both lapping and being lapped at the same time. Typical timing!
And so to lap 3, by which stage I was definitely feeling tired. I ended up slowing for a walk considerably earlier than on previous laps, but this did give me extra time to enjoy the scenery. And got me a couple of complaints from my buggy buddy. At the top of the hill I lapped Ben and Lani. I could hear Lani saying that she wanted to catch up with me, but as I launched myself down the zigzags one last time she had no chance.
Other than getting stuck behind someone on The Core path, I managed to finish the rest of the lap feeling strong. And even correctly aimed the buggy into the finish funnel. Tape guided you from the tokens to the barcode scanning. There were a few steps in between, but someone kindly helped me carry the buggy down.
Having scanned in, I took everything out the buggy so I could leave it there and head back to find Ben and Lani. KK had a great time exploring round the path, and trying to get into the stream when he thought I wasn’t looking. My aim was to get somewhere I could take a nice photo of Ben and Lani running. Naturally, irregular toddler pace meant that I actually ended up just near a corner when they came past and so I didn’t spot them in time.
Once we were all gathered back at the finish, Ben grabbed the buggy to take it back to the car (and pick up our backpack). The kids and I headed straight to the café, which was selling bacon rolls, spinach & mushroom rolls, and an insane collection of cake (the cinnamon buns are AMAZING). Once Ben had joined us and we’d finished our food, we got changed and headed off to explore. Because, as if this parkrun wasn’t already amazing enough, you get to stay in the Eden Project as long as you want, for free!
I can’t really recommend this parkrun highly enough. The surroundings were simply beautiful, with so much variety that there’s no chance of saying multiple laps is boring. The volunteers were fantastic – apparently on the final trek up the hill Lani was given a high-five by every marshal. And the course was challenging and yet surprisingly accessible.
One word you cannot use to describe it is ‘flat’. I think over the entire 5k there was about 50m where we weren’t going either up or down. But the surface was solid throughout, the worst of the hills were in sharp bursts, and it was massively net downhill. There’s no denying I’m in pretty good shape at the moment (just think how good it would be if I actually trained), but there was no way beforehand I expect to walk away with a buggy PB. I think what I’m trying to say is, don’t be put off by the hills, just be aware of how you handle them.
We’re already planning our next parkrun weekend trip, this one was so much fun. But with only one new-to-us course left to visit in Cornwall (for now), I’m pretty sure we’ll be making a return visit to Eden Project parkrun in the not too distant future.
