New year, fresh starts. What a way to begin the year with a special Parkrun event on New Year’s Day. Typically, Parkruns are held on Saturdays, but some locations participate in special events such as Christmas Day and New Year’s Day Parkruns.
Norwich is blessed with 5 Parkruns and also a few more in the nearby vilages outside of the area, but it was Catton Parkrun that hosted a New years event.
Course overview
This is my first time participating at this event and i was very surprised by the cicuit.
The cicuit gives off cross country vibes and features a mix of multiple terrain changes such as tarmac paths, woodland, and grass. Despite this the course remains relativly flat and being such a large park space there is plenty of room for overtaking, running abreast, dog companions and supervised children. One great thing i enjoyed from this couse was the start line its a wide field starting position so once the Marshalls signalled go it didn't feel cramped and in quick time everyone began to spread out and pace wasn't effected.
Going back to the terrain I got good weather for this event. Despite the cold start the course was very dry but i suspect in the damped conditions puddles can occour and especially in the woods there are some big pot hole like areas. Overall i got perfect weather considering the time of year but if your a regular Parkrunner a little rain probably won't bother you.
A direct quote about the route of the circuit and a screenshot. "The route begins near Buxton Lodge. It consists of one full anti-clockwise circuit of the park followed by a figure of eight that heads along the central path before turning right, back around to the central path, along and then left at the end. The course follows the perimeter into the woods. It exits by the picnic meadow fence which is followed to the finish funnel" Source
Moving on to transport, parking, and park facilities, this Parkrun event is in a great location. There is a bus route with a stop just outside the park gates, making it easy to reach by public transport. For motorists, there is a limited-space car park however, i do not recommended, as it is quite small. From what i have seen, most participants park along the road leading up to the park’s main gate. For cyclists, the park offers plenty of bike racks, which are conveniently located close to the Parkrun start line. For pre/post parkrun refreshments there is a small coffee shack and a small indoor area to get away from outdoor conditions.
In terms of Numbers for the event there was a total of 543 runners but this number is slightly higher with it being the only New years special in the city, looking at previous results the course averages around 300 runners per event and around 30 volunteeers.
A quick selfie once i began falling away from the pack and ultimatly i finished the course in a time of (40 minutes, 38 seconds placing 477 of 543) I enjoyed this circuit very much the different terrain made it challenging and the park is very nture filled.
This will wrap up my post about Catton Park Parkrun. You can find relavent event infomation Here
I also use 5K parkrun app Here to keep track of events and cancellations as well as my results, stats and friends.
Thanks for reading.