Cuerden Valley parkrun

A few weeks ago I had the distinct pleasure of running the relatively new Cuerden Valley parkrun, situated a little south-west of Preston, Lancashire and very close to the M6 / M65 junction.

It had the feeling of another recent addition to the parkrun family, Kingsbury Water parkrun, in that it's in a rural setting, not too far from civilisation! Kingsbury Water parkrun is relatively flat, but Cuerden Valley does not make that mistake, opting for a tough, hilly and really enjoyable route on mixed terrain. It'll definitely be one for trail shoes as the weather gets wetter. Garmin Connect reckoned on a total ascent of 89m over the 5km but I wouldn't be surprised if this is a conservative estimate, with this elevation profile (from 49m to 80m):

Lowest elevation 49m, highest 80m, total ascent 89m.

You can see my run at Garmin Connect and read Cuerden Valley parkrun's route description at their site - essentially, there's a run in, followed by two figure of eights and an uphill struggle to the finish line, which isn't quite where the start line was.

However, I wanted to show you the route as it's a really pretty one! A few days after the I ran it therefore, I went back, camera in hand. Without the excellent marshals around, it was harder to find my way around, but I got it right in the end.

Come with me, then, on a journey through time and space. Or around Cuerden Valley's beautiful parkrun. The distances I've given are very approximate and please note you can see larger versions of all the images by clicking on them.

You can skip between each section following the nav links you'll see every so often:

Part 1 (the run in) | Part 2 (loop 1) | Part 3 (loop 2) | Part 4 (loop1 again)

Part 5 (most of loop 2 again) | Part 6 (the stagger to the line)

Part 1 - The Bit Where You Don't Run Uphill (~200m)

The route starts on an excellent path and soon snakes down a steep hill to a junction where you'll be turning left.

The route begins vaguely on the straight, but not too narrow

It's only a hundred metres or so before you snake down a fairly steep hill,
coming to cross in the path where you'll want to turn left.

Part 1 (the run in) | Part 2 (loop 1) | Part 3 (loop 2) | Part 4 (loop1 again)

Part 5 (most of loop 2 again) | Part 6 (the stagger to the line)

Part 2 - The First Loop (~1km)

You have now entered the first loop which begins in earnest with a steep climb, soon flattening off somewhat, but continuing upward more gently for a little way.

There's a short flat section before you attack the first uphill stretch

The hill bears left and flattens off a little as it carries on to the right

With the toughest part of that climb out of the way, the path opens up...

and it's well worth glancing round you as you run,
you're surrounded by beautiful, Lancashire countryside!

Take a left fork in the path and follow it as it bears further left

Take a right turn and almost immediately follow the path to the left

You'll be passing a pond to your right...

so don't miss another opportunity for some fleeting sight seeing

With heavy duty climbing out of the way for now, you'll head into the woods
with a distinct change in terrain. This is where your trail shoes will come in handy!

I hope you get as good a day as I had when I walked the route
to take these photos, the sunshine really highlights the beauty of
the place and there's something special about dappled sunlight
on the woodland floor.

As you take a right out of the woods, you'll head back towards the fork

(where you took a left a little way back). You'll be turning left, possibly
into the path of oncoming parkrunners, so do take care here.

On parkrun days this little junction is well marked and on

the second half of this loop you'll need to take this left turn.

You'll head back into the woods...

following the path which takes you generally rightwards,...

emerging near the top of the first hill you climbed,

taking the left fork when you get to the bottom.

Cross the bridge into the uncharted territory that is the Second Loop.

Part 1 (the run in) | Part 2 (loop 1) | Part 3 (loop 2) | Part 4 (loop1 again)

Part 5 (most of loop 2 again) | Part 6 (the stagger to the line)

Part 3 - The Second Loop (~1.3km)

The second loop is a little longer than the first but has a similar mix of terrain and elevation with a nice flat section, towards the end of the loop, where the route follows the river.

The second loop begins on the flat, but just as the first loop did, it soon
diverges from flatness! You need to keep left, heading up into the trees.

Another stiff climb reaches a plateau with a another sight seeing opportunity
to your left. After the little picnic area on your left, you'll need to turn right.

As I've said before, do take opportuinities to have a look round,

as Cuerden Valley is really pretty!

After the right turn, you're into the woods again. Just keep to the path

You'll soon drop down to a bridge that you'll cross, probably in single file!

I do like a nice bridge!

Keep on the path for a spell of ascent and then descent

You'll come to a T in the path where you'll be heading right.
Have a glance to the left though. Scenery awaits.

Soon enough, you'll be out in the open again and enjoying the

gentlest part of the route as the path follows the river for 500m or so.

Keep to the path, you can't miss it!

Keep to the left at the fork as you approach the bridge..

and cross it once more. You're back on charted territory.

Part 1 (the run in) | Part 2 (loop 1) | Part 3 (loop 2) | Part 4 (loop1 again)

Part 5 (most of loop 2 again) | Part 6 (the stagger to the line)

Part 4 - or Part 1, The Return of the Hill

Part 4 repeats the first loop in full but with more dread as you face the hills before you. Just remember you've been up them before and all will be well. Is that helpful? If not, remember the view you might get from the top!

Part 5 (~1km)

Part 5 repeats most of the second loop, up until the 4.5km mark, approximately, where it's all change!

Part 1 (the run in) | Part 2 (loop 1) | Part 3 (loop 2) | Part 4 (loop1 again)

Part 5 (most of loop 2 again) | Part 6 (the stagger to the line)

Part 6 (~500m)

Part 6 starts part way round your second lap of loop 2. You'll be presented with an escape route with about 500m to the finish line. Remember though that most of the last section is uphill and I think this is the longest climb of the run, so keep something back for the finish!

You may have spotted this junction part way round the second loop
when you ran round it for the first time. On your second run round,
take this left, over a different bridge.

I do like a nice bridge :-)

You're really on the home straight now

with just the small matter of a hill to climb!

The path takes you through this gulley...

which gradually opens out...

and the path widens, just in time for the...

...wait for it...

The finish line, straight ahead of you!
Your work here is done.
You've done it.
You're there.
More or less.

You're assured of a great welcome at the finish line.

Well done!!

So, that's that. I hope you enjoyed a tour around Cuerden Valley parkrun. I urge you to get there if you can.

Part 1 (the run in) | Part 2 (loop 1) | Part 3 (loop 2) | Part 4 (loop1 again)

Part 5 (most of loop 2 again) | Part 6 (the stagger to the line)

Copyright and licensing note

I've licensed all of these images under a Creative Commons license, details below. Essentially, you're welcome to use any of these images, unaltered, for non-commercial purposes if you credit me. Contact me on facebook if you have any questions.

'Photos of Cuerden Valley parkrun' by Matthew Shepherd is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

The parkrun tweet that made me sad

A couple of days ago I read a parkrun tweet which made me just a little bit sad.

I won't name the Twitter user that made the tweet and I won't quote the tweet too accurately as I don't want anyone to feel bad about this.

The tweet went something like this....
...I overheard a woman saying to someone "my son won parkrun this weekend", and I said to her "your son didn't win parkrun, because parkrun isn't a race" 

To be honest, this is correct really, parkrun isn't officially a race but was this response really necessary or helpful? That woman may have been the most proud she has ever been of her son. No good reason to dent that pride.

I'm certainly not intending to reject the content of that tweet, far from it. It's fair to say that the tweeter has only repeated what parkrun (the organisation) have said themselves. parkrun isn't officially a race. And this in itself is an excellent standpoint for parkrun (the organisation) to have. Simply by stating this, parkrun opens itself up to a far greater proportion of the public. Many people are put off by the idea of a "race", and parkrun therefore gives many more people the chance for regular exercise than any other running event or race.

So really, I'm writing this more to provoke thought and perhaps discussion. Was it really necessary for her to speak up in this way? Did it achieve anything positive? The only positive thing I can come up with is protecting a brand, but I don't think it was worth it in this case.

parkrun is fantastic for making running an inclusive event. No longer do you have to be a club runner, decent runner or anything else, in order to access regular timed, marshalled running events. The parkrun community is amazing. Many of us have made numerous friends at parkrun. parkrun has broken down so many barriers that stop many people from running or exercising in general.

Perhaps, might a better response have been "...your son does parkrun? So do I! Where does he parkrun?". That is more the kind of parkrun inclusivity that we are used to seeing from parkrunners.

So, onto my main point....parkrun is not officially a race, I've said it already, but I'm saying it again. That doesn't mean it can't be a race. A very significant part of what part IS, is that it can be whatever you want it to be....I'll say that again, as it is my main point....parkrun can be whatever you want it to be. And none of us should judge anyone else who treats parkrun differently to ourselves.

parkrun can be....a great way to start the weekend, somewhere to exercise as a family, on your own or with your friends. It can be one of many training sessions a week, it can be your only weekly, fortnightly or monthly exercise. It can be part of a longer run, a training run or speed work. It can be injury recovery, it can be race preparation. And yes, if you want it to be, you can even treat it as a race. There is one caveat to that, and that is as long as you racing it does not detrimentally affect the enjoyment of other parkrunners (other than by "beating" them) or any other park users for that matter.

Racing is not just limited to the fastest few. Their can be little races at the back of the parkrun field just as much as at the front. And so long as no one gets hurt, no problems are caused, and the aftermath is a shake of the hand, a pat on the back or a good discussion on the run and how each other did, then where is the harm in that? I don't think there is anything other than good to come from that. I have seen many "races" throughout the field at parkruns and I have never seen anything other than a positive outcome once the line has been crossed. I, for one, have parkrunners that I now count as my friends, purely and simply due to "racing" each other at parkrun before I even knew them.

On another point....
We have all lived through the last decade or more, where competition has often been considered a bad thing, particularly in our schools. I think we all know that experiencing competition is an important part of life, certainly for kids preparing for "the real world". I also believe that there is a fair chance that one (perhaps many more) of the 5 to 10 year olds that we regularly see enjoying our parkruns will one day go on to be great athletes and perhaps even Olympians. parkrun is a great way to introduce these kids to running and even running (semi-) competitively. Certainly competitively with themselves, their PB, and against the clock, so why not also against their peers? It's a great enviroment to be introduced to this, where the outcome really doesn't matter at all, except to the individual.

If you hear someone say they "won" parkrun, you may not consider it to have been a race, by they might. And as long as it hasn't done them or anyone else any harm, why not congratulate them? For all you know, it may be the only thing they have ever won and may do them more emotional good than any other achievement in their life to date. Why risk taking the shine off someone else's achievement just to say "it's not a race" for little or no benefit.

parkrun is amazing and can be anything you want it to be. That should be the message we all spread.

For me.....
This week I think my parkrun will be about sharing my love of parkrun and exercise with my 9 year old and my 5 year old as we stroll around at their pace.
Next week I will be introducing some of my childhood friends to parkrun and I think we will all be "racing" each other and the clock to some degree.
The following week I will probably be Run Directing, to put something back into our brilliant community event.

Three weeks, three different ways to treat my parkrun. 

parkrun can be anything you want it to be!

parkrun stats of the week...14th September 2013

The parkrun statistics of note for last weekend are:
- 296 parkrun events run (breaking the previous record by 5 events!)
- 41,066 runners

The average number of runners per parkrun event run was: 138.7.

17 parkrun events recorded new record attendances last weekend, as follows:

Event		Record Attendance
Delta		339
Dusi		178
Ebotse		184
Griffeen		133
Hilly Fields		108
Mitchelton		155
Newbury		391
North Beach		329
PE Hobie Beach		344
Roodepoort		144
Uvongo		159
Wallace		113
Warwick		104
Westport		104
Woodlands		172
Wynnum		279
Zary		80

The longest standing parkrun attendance record is:

Event		Record Attendance	Record Week
Amager Faelled		146	28/08/2010

And in the UK it's:

Hackney Marshes

75

21/05/2011

The highest attendance this week was exactly 803 at Bushy parkrun.

The lowest attendance this week was just 7 at both Summerfields and Vejen parkruns. 

Impressively, 109 runners ran under 17 minutes around the world of parkrun last weekend. 17 of them under 16 minutes and 2 under 15 minutes. There are so pretty decent parkrunners about!

The fastest parkrun time in the world this week was 14:45 by Ian Kimpton at St Albans parkrun.