FOUNTAINS ABBEY PARKRUN REVIEW

GETTING THERE

In December last year, I was fortunate enough to take a trip across to the UK to visit my Mum and Dad and other family members. I also made sure to put it in the schedule to run a Parkrun whilst I was there and I wasn’t disappointed. The folks live in Ripon, North Yorkshire and the nearest Parkrun is in Fountains Abbey, 3 miles SE of Ripon. The day I ran, it was raining and yukky cold, but I suppose one shouldn’t expect anything less in December.  It certainly wasn’t difficult to find; not that I was really paying attention. My Mum drove. 

PARKING

Fountains Abbey is a World Heritage site so as you can imagine, there is excellent parking. When we arrived, we followed the other cars to an expansive car park. This is a good 10 minute walk from the actual start.

TOILETS

The Visitor Centre is quite flash in comparison to the other Parkruns I have run. They were very clean and sparkly. Unfortunately, they were a fair distance from the start. We arrived really early because Mum didn’t want to be late and we ended up standing around in the wind and the rain. She needed the bathroom but decided to hang in there until after the run because of the hike back up to the Visitors Centre.

THE COURSE

As I said, we walked down from the Visitors Centre to the actual start of the run and we were quite early which meant I hung around in the cold and the rain. Having just come from the Australian summer, I was struggling. This however didn’t seem to bother the locals. Many were standing around in their shorts and vests ready for the start. I on the other hand was in multiple wet layers.

We started from a very old looking, stone building called Huby’s Tower. This is a two-lap course. The first loop is shorter and takes you past beautiful lawns, over a bridge and along a rustic path on the far side of the Abbey. The second and longer loop takes you the full length of the Abbey and leads you across a narrow wooden bridge, which is just in front of a lake. You then follow the rustic path to the finish.

I wasn’t prepared for how fast these runners would be. I dashed out way too fast, mostly to keep up with one of my Mum’s friends who happens to be quite a bit younger than me. I was surrounded by some very classy school student runners who were obviously well trained. The pace was swift considering how undulating it was. The first loop went quite quickly and I managed to take in the majestic Abbey to my right. It was spectacular to say the least and I found it hard to believe that I was actually there. By the time I passed Huby’s Tower, I knew I was in a bit of trouble. The cold air in the back of my throat and in my lungs was a little confronting but I had my pride to uphold. After all, Mum had boasted my PB to her friend so I had my reputation to uphold. Haha. They say pride come before a fall and my fall was about to happen.

I slowed a bit and tried to take in the splendor of my surrounds. The second lap ends with a gradual incline and before I knew it, it was all over.

The event attracts some really good runners. The top two finishers ran under 17 minutes, which is seriously good considering how undulating the course is. For a small country town (They think Ripon is a city) in the middle of winter, to draw a crowd of just under 200 people is amazing. They have a culture of not making the weather an excuse for not exercising. All I can say is wow. I was certainly thinking of some excuses after the run.

Because the Abbey is a World Heritage site, there is no access to the public until after 10:00am and all participants have to be out of the precinct by that time. This also means that there are no members of the public on the course whilst the run is on. It is really cool to have the entire Abbey to ourselves for the run and I certainly didn’t take it for granted.  The pathways are a mixture of grass, concrete paving, wooden bridges and I guess bitumen but I could be wrong. Some of the sections along the back half are a bit narrow but this worked to my advantage as I may have prevented myself being overtaken. (joke)

Every Parkrun wouldn’t be complete without dogs on the leash and parents with children in strollers and even in this weather, they were there. 

VOLUNTEERS

How on earth do you get people to volunteer in the middle of winter, in the rain and the cold? Fountains Abbey certainly seems to get it right. The organization involved was very good. The run director made the briefing short and sweet. I scanned my disc really quickly and we walked briskly up to the Visitors Centre.

PHOTOS

I perused the Facebook page but there are no pictures of this particular event. I then went through the Flikr site but I don’t think anyone took any pictures on that day. Never mind, Mum took a picture as evidence. I did manage to crack a nod in the weekly run report which was pretty cool. 

Click here for the Facebook page

THE ALL IMPORTANT COFFEE AFTERWARDS

Fountains restaurant has a captive audience. We bundled into the warmth and got some English breakfast tea and scones. It was toasty and snug in there and the place was bustling with activity.

OVERALL 

I was in awe of the spectacular views as well as the elite runners who presented on the day. The course was much tougher that I initially gave it credit and the cold got to me. I spent the rest of the week with a hacking cough. It is not often that you get to run in a World Heritage site so the Gary rating for this run is a chilly 9/10.