Wimpole Estate parkrun

I’m still not sure how I managed to wake up early as planned and make the solo drive to Wimpole Estate parkrun. My parkrun tourism is littered with good intentions, those Friday nights where I pick a new location to visit but then wake up with a massive case of the ‘can’t be arsed’ before going back to sleep and visiting a local parkrun.

Other Dan was feeding his cross-country fetish so I made the lonely journey to the Wimpole Estate. It did look like a cracking venue though, as the National Trust venues tend to be, so maybe that conquered my need to stay wrapped in duvet land.

There’s plenty of parking as befits a National Trust property and, more importantly, some nice toilets near the start. I went for a warm-up jog around the pathways and green area directly in front of Wimpole Hall. I then attended the new runner briefing to find out that we should stick to the pathways during the parkrun and not go onto any of the protected grass areas. The same grass areas I had jogged on a bit while taking in the majesty of the house. Sorry Wimpole Estate, my knuckles have been lightly tapped with a wooden ruler as punishment.

This is the first parkrun where there’s been a separate start line for runners accompanying their canine pals. There are a lot of eager dog runners at this one and they set off a hundred or so metres ahead of the main pack of runners. This gives the dogs the freedom to bark & bound their way on the first path with their running human, where they take a slightly different route to the pursuing pack of runners.

The course is trail over grass and pathways, crossing fields of grazing cows and sheep. The dog course kept to the edge of the livestock fields so at times I caught up and crossed paths with the dog runners. There’s one notable hill on the course, which I decided to walk up so I could take in the view of the surrounding countryside.

It’s a one lap course taking in the grounds of Wimpole Estate where the finish brings you back in front of the house and through the finishers funnel. I didn’t have time to hang around as Mrs dan & The Son were expecting me back for a prior commitment but there is a café available near the finish.