Well, that really was a spectacle of splendour, opulence, pageantry and glory if ever I saw one. Irchester Country parkrun really is a pretty stunning venue and the event team literally get the flags out to welcome arrivals at their parkrun party week in week out. It was a bit of a trek for me from Sheffield, though granted it was probably speedier and more practical to travel in an 2007 toyota yaris than a Diamond Jubilee State Coach from circa 2012 or indeed the Gold State Coach from 1760, and I fancy my maintenance charges are considerably more manageable, though I suppose if the taxpayer pays for everything that’s less of a consideration.
Why Irchester? Why I? Or Wye aye even?
Well, it was a last minute thing to be honest. I’d read the previous week’s rather excellent write up for event number 110 and it made it sound really fantastic, with bluebell possibilities. It has been on my radar for a little while. Another parkrun beginning with the letter ‘I’ is always a win (second alphabet completion from the original Running Challenges badges AND an Old MacDonald completion from the 5k app). Oh, and it is a Nelson number too, albeit one I already have. It is a long way from Sheffield but the main pull for this weekend in particular, was that as I was browsing through possibilities I came across this post, declaring a ‘walk with Karen‘ parkrun, which they do on the first Saturday of every month, to try to encourage people to come and walk the course. This is an initiative close to my heart. I’m desperate as a walker to find events where I feel genuinely welcome and a large part of that is finding I’m one of many other parkwalkers. Also (shhh, not official yet) I’m in discussion with a local event about how to make their parkrun more walker friendly, so it would be good to see how they do things at Irchester. I was a bit worried about the length of the drive, driving seems to cripple me more than anything, and general fatigue. In the event, I was awake and blinking in the small hours anyway, so decided to go for it on the morning.
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It was a long but quietish drive. I think the secret to doing long parkrun tourist trips is to pick national holidays or special events to undertake them as I can only assume many were staying home to bake their coronation quiches and fine tune their bunting before firing up the tv and settling down for the duration. It was a mild day, but humid and I drove towards rain.
Right, before I go on, let’s get the official blah de blah out of the way. According to the Irchester Country parkrun website:
The course is at Irchester Country Park, Wellingborough. The course is run entirely on trail paths.
Course Description
The Irchester Country parkrun course is run on well surfaced trails through diverse woodland that reveal elements of the park’s ironstone quarrying history as well as its Jurassic limestone geology.
The course follows an out-and-back route with a 1km loop in the middle. Starting outside the railway museum, it finishes on the Royal Meadow close to the café. Please stay to the left-hand side of the path at all times, and follow the marshals’ directions. Take care when approaching the finish line, as the meadow has uneven ground with some molehills and rabbit burrows.
Facilities
Toilets are located in a block adjacent to the café. Irchester Country Park has an adventure course with zip lines, a children’s play area, and a diverse network of trails in a 200-acre area of woodland.
and it looks like this:
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Lovely. Look at all those trees! A forest bathing opportunity as well as a Nelson, an I, a parkrun, a welcome to parkwalkers and bunting too. What’s not to like? The map diagram reminds me of a caterpillar, the loop is its head, and then it’s body is sort of undulating behind, as caterpillar bodies too. You have read The Very Hungry Caterpillar right? Good. Well in that case you’ll know exactly what I mean. Do you see it too.
It was pretty straightforward to find the country park, though with the benefit of hindsight I can cast a few pearls of wisdom your way. I parked at the top car park, the first one I came too. In fact if you are early, you can drive on down to another car park a lot nearer the start. It’s not too far to walk to be fair, even for me, but might be a consideration if you had mobility issues or stuff to carry. The other thing was I really struggled with the car park machine. I don’t begrudge paying, but I do begrudge the faff of incomprehensible instructions on the machine. It took me several abortive attempts, and then I stood aside for someone else to have a go. They were able to fathom it – albeit not immediately – and the supervised my doing so afterwards. Car park marshals in high vis appeared shortly after I’d parked possibly to shoo people down to the other parking areas. The machine was a complete pain, and in fact the start was delayed because people were still queuing to pay because presumably everyone using it for the first time also had several attempts before nailing it. Oh well.
Paid up, I pootled down towards the main visitors centre. Already I was feeling ‘ooh, well this is rather lovely’, mainly because it is. Trees and exciting little pathways entice you into the woods, but in a nice, warm fuzzy feeling way, not in a being lured to your death by an axe murderer sort of vibe. You can see the buildings of the visitors hub, with loos etc from a distance, hurrah! The loos are worthy of a mention in their own right. Grand that they were not only open but clean. There were some very specific rules regarding trainer pants though. I didn’t know trainers had pants as an optional extra. Every day a school day it seems. Again, I appreciated the attention to detail re kite flying as well, those high voltage power lines can be real killjoys. I did a parachute jump decades ago, and one of the safety things they really hammered home was around ‘what to do if you land entangled in high voltage electricity cables’ basically shoo anyone who comes to help away. Don’t let anyone near you or it will end badly. I think you are ok once the fire brigade arrive, but just say no to any have a go heroes. They also covered ‘what to do if you land on a moving vehicle’ and ‘what to do if you land in water’. It was all quite off putting, but it must have been a really good training course as I remember it all. Anyway, the point is, that Irchester Country Park is clearly actually rather fabulous, with loads of facilities as well as fun activities, of which parkrun is clearly the most fun of all.
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In face Wikipedia pleasingly makes an explicit mention of parkrun in its blah de blah about Irchester – look!
Country park
The village has a large country park managed by Northamptonshire County Council,[37] created after local open-cast ironstone quarries were allowed to revert to the wild, having been worked out some decades after the war. The removal of the ironstone and some limestone that overlaid it has lowered the land around the working face by several metres, though this is not apparent except near the vehicle entrance. The park has an unusual ridge-and-furrow topography with several metres’ relief, marking the movement patterns of the machines that stripped the overburden to expose the ironstone. The park offers maturing woodlands (planted about 1965) and grassy meadows with surrounding trails. There is also a children’s play area and a café.
Irchester Narrow Gauge Railway Museum in the country park shows working steam and diesel locomotives among more than 40 items of rolling stock. A 250-metre demonstration track can be seen.[38]
Since November 2019, Irchester Country Park has hosted a free, weekly parkrun timed 5-km run/walk, every Saturday morning at 9 a.m.[39]
This, it seems, is yet another venue that I left wanting to come back to see more next time, though it is a loooong way for me, so not sure that’s exactly on the cards. Do as I say, not as I do, and do yourself a favour and allow more time to explore post parkrun, it won’t disappoint. On the subject of ‘I do’ did I mention that one of those attending today was doing a pre wedding parkrun. His own wedding! Hurrah. Most thoughtful to involve the whole parkrun community in his big day.
As I descended from the car park and the buildings came into sight, you could see the volunteers gathering in the carpark area. Some early bird on course set up had already put a sign up directing new arrivals to the start area which was a hundred metres or so on from the car park. I followed a volunteer down to the starting area, which was also the finish funnel. Oh no wait, you go past the finish funnel in fact and down to where the pop up sign is, not miles away but a few hundred metres from where you’ve parked so you need to allow a little time for that to be fair. I was quite taken by all the fallen seed heads and blossom that gave a white hue to the sides of the paths, like a dusting of snow or a deep late frost, most picturesque. Check out how lush everything looks too, rain may be wet and all, but it is jolly good for greening everything up, the Country Park was looking fabulous. This is a venue that would also most definitely reward coming back at different times of year and different times of day, I bet every day you come you’d notice something changed or new.
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Also picturesque was the finish funnel decked with joyful bunting, and a table groaning under the weight of coronation themed cupcakes.
On the subject of big days, yes we were, earlier on, keep up, you might have clocked that today was also coronation day for King Charles III. I’m not a fan of the monarchy to be honest, but credit where credit is due, the royal family was much in evidence at todays parkrun. Both King and Queen put in a stint of volunteering at Irchester Country parkrun this morning before rocking up for the coronation later on, that must have been cutting it fine. Almost as fine as the parkrunner who was attending today pre their wedding this afternoon, finding time to write the run report at some point as well. Sometimes it really hits home just how much of an underachiever I am. Still, I can make other feel all the more productive and glorious by comparison. Also, it’s not helpful to compare your situation to others, it only leads to bitterness, self-pity and existential angst. Or is that just me. In any event, the royals were in full on Santa territory, taking in pretty much every parkrun across the kingdom in one short morning, and still making it to the church on time. Look if you don’t believe me! Granted, there are fair few minor royals I don’t recognise, but enough pomp and paraphernalia to make me confident they were carriage bound for the Abbey straight after they’d been scanned and returned their barcodes as is the parkrun way. And as all parkruns take place at the same time on a Saturday, they may even have been channeling their inner Hermione Granger Time Turner skills, not to be confused with Tina Turner skills. Mind you, that might have been beyond fabulous at Westminster Abbey don’t you think – a bit of ad hoc TT inspired karaoke would most definitely have livened things up. What do you reckon – ‘(simply) The Best’ or maybe ‘We don’t need another hero’ possibilities are near endless. Oh what might have been. Anyway, check out the pics and the tributes too. This is just a shameless way to shoo in photos of other parkruns into this post and capture them for posterity. Would be shame if all that effort was to just fade away.
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Anyways, those were other parkruns, doing their admirable thing whilst I was at the main event at Irchester. I made my way to the start area, and despite being somewhat curmudgeonly about the whole coronation thing, I am at heart more of a joiner in and I will concede that watching people arrive in red, white and blue, or besporting flags was exceedingly jolly. The morning did have the air of expectant celebration. People were in a good mood and it would have been mean spirited not to go with the swing so to speak. I did my paparazzi impression pointing and pushing and taking random photos. I am loving my new phone and its camera, even if I am not quite sure how to use all its many impressive features.
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Whilst I was faffing, a regular at the parkrun filled me in on its finer features which was welcoming. I’d given myself away as a first timer by my desire to photograph anything and everything as a way of locking every moment of it into my memory. After a bt though, I was called away to the first timers’ welcome. This was a jolly affair. Quite interactive. Hands up if you’ve come for an ‘I’; ‘hands up if you’ve come for a Nelson’. Everyone pretty much called out where they were from, there was a scattering of first time everers which was good to see, though I fear that starting on such a high will make future parkruns have to work hard to maintain momentum! Someone had a birthday and the first timers spontaneously sang a rousing chorus of ‘happy birthday’ which was delightful as well as mostly tuneful. People had milestones and some donned tabards or shirts accordingly. It was all very friendly, delivered with confidence and clarity. In response to ‘how flat’ we were informed that compared to Norfolk no, compared to Woolacomb dunes probably yes. It was most good natured. And who doesn’t like a sing-a-long at a parkrun? We were warming up nicely.
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A little later, we were gathered to start and for the Run Director’s Briefing. King Charles himself took on the role this morning and did pretty well really. There was an address system, lots of communications between car park marshals and the RD. People were still queuing to get into the carpark and to pay so there was a short delay. The briefing alerted us to milestones, thanked the volunteers, pointed out the Karen we could all walk with, let us know about the person getting married today who would also find time to write the run report. We were told of cakes at the finish, I think there was a group doing some sponsored thing or a running group of some sort but I got confused and distracted by all the bunting and flaggery so I’m not honestly sure. I am sure the tail walker had an actual tail, I always appreciate this. Seemingly a dinosaur tail, I’m not sure if they brought it with them, or got lucky exploring the dinosaur trail in the park first thing. Sometimes it’s tactful just not to ask isn’t it.
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The RD waited as long as she/they possibly could, but eventually the shout for awf went up and off everyone went. It was a chaotic but courteous start. Regulars were in position at the front, but others spread widely across the ground, narrowing to join the path and string out ahead. Onwards, past the finish funnel, a dog leg by the visitors centre and suddenly you were in the park proper with gorgeous mature trees towering overhead. Lovely!
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Also hugely refreshing and lovely about this event was the number of walkers. A proper army of people walking. There weren’t people in the blue parkwalker bibs as such for some reason, but in addition to a couple of tailwarkers there was a posse of volunteers sporting the pink high vis who were clearly walking. I don’t know why I came over all shy but I did, and therefore didn’t particularly join the walkers which was a shame as I’d have loved to learn more about how their walking initiative was going. Inevitably, with me getting progressively slower because, well you know dear reader, this body of mine letting me down – and taking photos as I tried to rebalance for the upward flat sections I ended up on my own in the twilight zone between the parkwalkers ahead and the tailwalkers behind. This was my choice, I was quite enjoying the solitude and greenery and didn’t feel like being social.
There is so much to see on this course too! As well as the cheery and astonishingly attractive marshals at intervals, there are all sorts of discoveries to be made on and adjacent to the trails. From the wooden troll figures to the super-sized ants. I’m all for encouraging wildlife, and indeed, have recently been occupied with constructing a bee bank for solitary bees in my very own back garden, but not gonna lie, if these moved in my back garden I might not call pest control but I’d definitely be closing my curtains and keeping the lights off in order to avoid drawing any attention to myself. Impressive though aren’t they. Impressive, but not law abiding, they are clearly ignoring the ‘do not climb’ signage, or maybe they can’t read? Or maybe they can read it’s just that English isn’t their first language? Whatever. You’ll find them shortly after you enter the woods, peel off to the left, and then there they are, you can’t really miss them to be fair, unless you are running so hard and fast sweat from your forehead has streamed into your eyes, stinging them and causing temporary blindness. If this is the case, next time wear an attractive towel sweat band, or better yet, a parkrun buff, and then you’ll be able to spot them. It would be well worth the investment, pus those parkrun buffs are fab. That’s why I was wearing one, even though it was a bit hot and sweaty doing so. parkrun call them snoods. How odd, must be like hoovers and vacuum cleaners I suppose… Mind you ‘buff’ is a stupid word as well really. ‘Running in the buff’ jokes wear thin pretty quickly, but still worth a shot now and again I suppose…
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The shape of the course means that you return on the section you head out on. It logically follows that the back of the packers will meet the fast (but hopefully not furious) parkrunners heading back as they head out. I quite liked this. The track is pretty wide so you aren’t likely to crash into one another on the contraflow section, and there are signs and marshals to remind you to keep left and to even point in a lefterly direction if you are struggling with your lefts and right. It was quite social, and lovely to see cheery runners flying past on their way back. Hurrah! Don’t they look jolly! Spoiler alert, that’s because they were!
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I particularly appreciated the parkrunner(s) who did aeroplane arms going round the corners. I’m a huge advocate of this at junior parkrun, where I try to encourage participants to execute these aerial assisted manoeuvres on the down hill sections as it is a FACT (a Lucy Fact granted, but a fact all the same) that shouting ‘wheeeeeeeeeeeeee’ and sticking your arms out like aeroplane wings when you run down hill makes you go way faster as well as hugely amusing the marshals. It was beyond heartening to see this FACT being applied to parkrunners cornering uphill, positively innovative. I bet the guy in the photo got a new PB, he deserved one at least.
The outward bit eventually ends and you are directed on to the loop which involves pretty much a right hand turn. Then it becomes quieter, because by this time I was way at the back and couldn’t really see any other participants, a glimpse of walkers through trees ahead and the tailwalkers behind but no more approaching parkrunners to cheer on. This was a more contemplative section for me. I appreciated the trees a lot. There was a lack of bluebells, I’d been expecting loads, but was either too late or too early, there are plenty around, just not yet in flower for the most part. There was lots of animal habitat, and curiosities too. A viewing point for the original quarry workings and a sort of overground/underground station that might have been for the railway or possibly zip wires, I didn’t have adequate time to explore.
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Loop looped, I was falling further and further back. Marshals stood down shortly after I passed, and started to swell the numbers of the back escort, carrying assorted cones and signage and coronation paraphernalia back to the start. I was heading back along the outward track, past elaborate root systems, under calming forest branches, back to the wooden carving and enormous ants, past marshals still in situ where I’d passed them on the way out. Eventually I was back with just 200 metres to go, the finish in sight!
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And then a little beyond, the finish funnel in all its glory, still fully flanked by a guard of honour.
Just behind we were the tail walkers and a parkrunner with a dog who was very excited at the coming back shenanigans and bounced around with considerable energy albeit misdirection as her accompanying human hilariously tried to steer her across the finish line. It mattered not. It is important to let everyone appreciate and participate in parkrun in their own way after all. Go Tild! Go random royal coming in behind. I get them mixed up, William I think. Because he isn’t sporting a beard, but I’m surprised to see him with so much hair? Mind you, people do always look a bit different in real life than they do on the telly I find.
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So all in all quite a lot to celebrate this weekend, weddings and walkers and milestones and birthdays. Excitingly though, it was also this weekend where the number of members of the parkrun 500 club tipped over 500. That’s such an amazing achievement. I remember seeing people in 50 milestone t-shirts when I just started at parkrun and that seemed extraordinary enough, and yet how the milestones grow. What really blows my mind is the junior parkrunners who have grown up with parkrun, assuming parkrun achieves its goal of being free, for everyone, forever, I wonder what milestone numbers parkrunners may reach in the future. Some run directors, event directors and volunteers are so committed to parkrun that I am confident even as worlds come and go, their ghostly presence will still be seen from space, placing cones around 5k routes that once were there, and cheering and clapping as best as a formless presence can, their calls of ‘well done’ and ‘nearly there’ echoing through space and travelling ever outwards to infinity and beyond, their shouts travelling with the ever expanding universe to new galaxies far far away. Probably. Point is, one day there will be a thousand members of the one thousand milestone club for sure. I wonder what colour that top will be. Teal is very much of the moment – oooh how about doing some fancy Anne Bolyen milestone headbands to go with them only with the parkrun logo rather than the poundland one. Go on Google it, once seen, it cannot be unseen. You know what, I’m going to spare you the trouble, hang on …
I still loved the look though. I’d totally wear a cape and a hat like that if I got the opportunity. A thousand parkrun milestone would be as good a reason as any. That sword was seriously heavy though by the way, and the crowns that King and Queen were sporting. A lot of media coverage banged on about how hard it must be carrying a 2kg diamond embedded crown around all morning, but Penny was carrying a sword that weighed a mahoosive 3.6 kg , and to be fair, that would be tough holding at that angle for so long, but I’m not giving away too much of a spoiler if i say I regularly carry around way more than a 4kg excess with me at all times and I don’t get anyone massaging vegan oils into my chest and giving me a fly by at the weekend. However, pity me not dear reader, since I did however get a cheer through the parkrun finish funnel at Irchester Country parkrun which is worth way more. Priceless in fact.
parkrun finished, I did a bit more floating about and photo shooting. Including a quick foray to get a snap of a little clump of bluebells in a nod to the flower I’d hoped to see in a great blue sea across the forest floor. They must be beyond spectacular when they do bloom. People were socialising round the cake table, or availing themselves of the now open coffee place. It had a nice vibe.
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and that was that. I was too shy to broach the cake offerings, but there were still a great many left by the time I got back, always a boon. I said my thanks and farewell to the team and the RD. And I meant it. The thanks I mean, this really is the most amazing event. I think I find the forest parkruns especially calming. This was a lovely relaxed, supportive and enthusiastic parkrun, a parkrun fit for a King you might say, but more importantly, fit for anyone, it did feel chilled and inclusive and unhurried. I left the party in full swing for my journey home. Thank you Irchester Country parkrun I was happy and your parkrun was glorious. Hip hip, hooray!
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Oh, and for triangulation purposes, check out these official event reports from the day – in particular the bride and groom who shared their wedding day with the most splendid of parkruns, I hope Irchester didn’t entirely upstage their actual wedding, whatever, I’m sure they will have had a day to remember as well as an abundance of celebratory cakes. Yay for parkrun passionistas who share their big day with other parkrunners!
And if you want more you could always browse through all my parkrun related posts here. Or not. It’s up to you. You’ll need to scroll down for older entries though.
Til next time then, happy parkrunning, and hold out for a cape when we make it to a thousand parkruns. It’ll happen for some, for sure! If you have already been to Irchester Country parkrun you know how fab it is, if you haven’t, check it out, forest bathing, bunting and a friendly welcome. Lovely!
Thanks for sticking with me, appreciated.
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