New Year’s Day is the only day of the year you can register results at two different parkrun events on the same day, so different events set their start time to make ‘doubles’ possible. We’ve previously done an Ashton Court and Pomphrey Hill double (in 2016) and a Penrose and Heartlands double (in 2019). This year we really wanted to run two new-to-us events, oh and also had to sort out the logistics of Lani wanting to run one but not being strong enough to run two yet. A babysitting offer from my parents sorted the second part, and a look at a map and the new year double finder led us to the town of Cheltenham for our double.
King George V Playing Field parkrun (commonly known as KGVPF for fairly obvious reasons) only started in November, and so is a relatively new addition to the South West. Cheltenham parkrun, on the other hand, started way back in February 2013, but this was the first time they’d run on New Year’s Day. At an hour and a half from home, this is right at the edge of what we’d normally do in the day, so with two runs together we travelled up on New Year’s Eve and stayed in a hotel overnight.
The main page for KGVPF actually includes the parking postcode in their location, which is awesome. The satnav found it easily, although it was still a relief to see a mass of parkrunners and know it was the right place. Ben had run straight to the playing field from the hotel, so, after changing to my trail shoes, Lani, KK and I followed the group round the corner to the meeting point.
Having left children and layers with my parents, Ben and I headed over to the first timers’ briefing. Unfortunately the large crowd of excited runners meant we couldn’t hear it, but a quick check of the course page on a phone confirmed our recollection that it’s a 3 lap course round the playing field. The run briefing was slightly more audible, and the run director explained that they average less than 80 runners a week – so the lack of audio equipment was perfectly reasonable.
A small shuffle got us into starting position, and to my surprise I actually heard the starting countdown. The route starts by heading down to the main lap. Almost the entire course is on grass – the heavy, energy sapping kind as opposed to the kind that easily becomes a bog. Ben was thick with cold so opted to run with me, although he did temporarily abandon me just after the start to say hi to someone he knew.
The lap layout is really similar to Street, as you go straight down one side of the field and then do some turning on the other side to make it longer. The far end of the field had a slightly slippy muddy patch, but on the whole it was definitely sticky instead. In the middle of the lap is a short tarmac section, which I found to be a welcome break, even if it did cause a lot of mud to flick up at my legs from my shoes.
The latter section of the lap also included two short-sharp climbs to get between layers of playing field. Unsurprisingly, Ben found these significantly easier than I did, what with having a) fitness and b) height. The last bit of the lap went right past the play area, and so that’s where we saw our supporters.
My initial hope had been to get a sub-30 at both parkruns, but after the first lap I just knew it wasn’t going to happen. The second lap went slightly faster, but my legs started to feel heavier and heavier with each step. By the end of the third lap we were right on the edge for time. Just the matter of the peel off to the finish, which I could see was slightly too long for what I needed. Ben encouraged me to go for it anyway, and overtaking a few people just before the line I finished in… 30:02. Ah well.
The finish funnel process went pretty smoothly for me. I was scanned by someone who’d finished their run and then hopped on the app to help out. The turnout was more than triple their previous highest, so the event team coped fantastically.
All too quickly we were heading back to the car to move on to the next event. Ben had initially intended to run between the two, but his cold had made running too hard for that to be a good idea. The satnav and course instructions made it straight forward to find where we were going. We parked in the leisure centre car park, given the leisure centre itself was closed for the day, and a short walk further along the road took us to the meeting point.
Knowing that the winter course at Cheltenham is 4 laps on tarmac (see, we do occasionally do research), we’d swapped to our road shoes. During the first timer’s briefing it was explained that, due to numbers, the 2 lap summer course would be used instead. At which point Ben left the briefing to get our trail shoes out the car, arriving back just in time for us to change shoes and head down to the start. (It turns out this was announced on Facebook the night before, we just weren’t organised enough to see)
The main run brief was through a sound system, as you’d expect from a larger long-running event. We all assembled in position ready to charge up the grassy hill. My highlight from the start was running past two volunteers shouting “I’m a rock, don’t run into me”, as they stood on top of rocks that would certainly have tripped a lot of people up otherwise.
Less of a highlight was realising, as I rounded the corner at the top of the hill, that I had nothing left. My legs were shot and I had very little energy to spare. And I was once again running on sapping ground. The combination of low fitness levels, lack of sleep, not eating or drinking enough, and pushing on the first event had taken its toll. The prospect of trudging round the course by myself felt distinctly unappealing, and so I slowed right down, and then headed back through the field slightly to find Ben and Lani. Because if I was going to have a slower run I may as well have company and enjoy it.
So for the first time ever, the 3 of us ran together. As we headed down the grass, Ben paused to grab my hoodie from my dad (so that I didn’t freeze). After continuing along the grass a little, we joined the path next to the lake. The character of the course changed completely here, from a field to pretty park. At the end of the lake was a bridge with bollards to dodge. A sign or marshal instruction would have been useful here, as the path split three ways and only runners ahead showed us the correct option.
The view from the other side of the lake was just as lovely, particularly seeing the stream of runners all around the park. The course then cuts onto a field for a loop round (more energy-sapping terrain!), which was pretty much what you’d expect it to be. By this point we were being lapped thick and fast, a fact we became more conscious of as we returned to the path and lost the extra width.
After a short bridge (with no sides) over the water, we rejoined the main path and then merged onto the grass. We assumed we would carry on up the hill to go past the finish, but a marshal directed us on a trail across the field instead. This is a fantastic way of avoiding crossing over near the finish, but could have done with better direction as we overtook at least one person who’d gone the whole way round.
The second lap was much the same, just slightly slower. Lani could have done with more food and sleep as well. It was noticeable how many regular park users were out and about on the paths, but unsurprising given it was later in the morning on a bank holiday. The support from other runners who’d already finished was absolutely fantastic – Lani loved pointing out that it was all aimed at her and not at us.
Once back on the grass where we’d peeled off at the end of lap 1, it was just a short stretch further up the hill to the end. Actually shorter than I’d realised, as the finish was right on the corner. A zig-zag funnel was taped off, although a section had been taken down by the time we finished so that we could cut straight through to get our tokens. Finishing 516th and 518th gave Lani and Ben their biggest ever token numbers (I was 534th when we went to Poole).
I really enjoyed the route at Cheltenham, and would love to go back and actually run it properly some time. Clearly I’ve mentioned that more directions would have been nice, but I do also need to say that the volunteers were friendly as you’d expect.
The normal post-run cafe is the leisure centre, which was closed, so we headed towards town to find a Wetherspoons to refuel at instead. That just left the drive home, and plenty of time to discuss our parkrun tourism plans for the rest of the year.