So on the 1st January 2018 I run my first ever New Years parkrun double header in the beautiful new town of Milton Keynes and first up was Linford Wood

It is great to see how ancient woodland can be incorporated into the design of a new town that allows for the people to be in one with nature but at the same time be convenient to get too, simple but brilliant with Linford Wood fitting that bill perfectly!

New Year’s Fever

There was certainly a buzz in the air about celebrating the start of a new year through our beloved community parkun’s and with numbers doubled to over 400 runners you could definitely feel the sense of excitement just before the start!

Course

The course is a single clockwise lap of Linford Woods that surface is entirely run on tarmac footpaths and elevation is slightly undulating!

Points to Note

• Course is vey well marshalled with other footpaths conned off so you don’t go the wrong way!
• Interesting feature I think it is always fun running underpasses that connect the Danstead Way section with the wood in both directions!
• As with all woodland courses even on tarmac footpaths underfoot conditions may change due to do a number of weather related factors
• This is definitely a running trainers course don’t let it’s name fool you into thinking trail shoes are the way to go!

My time was poor as I was conserving energy for the second MK parkrun event as I have not been running combined distances of 10K recently, time 40:17

Facilites

The main car park is at Breckland that is free to use outside office hours, Sat Nav MK14 6FG, but unfortunately there are no toilet facilities at this event!

Afterwards for the post run coffee they go to  the Ora Café where toilet facilities are available!

Other Facilities Include

• Guided walking routes
• Cycle routes
• Bridal paths
• Picnic sites

Final Verdict

I would like to thank the run director Steve Dicks and his team of volunteers for doing a excellent job handling their biggest ever attendance of 449 runners, great job done guys!

So I would throughly recommend a visit to Linford Wood and I am sure in the spring it is stunning to run around when the bluebells are out in full bloom!

Best

Mark

Event 71 Milton Keynes 01-01-2018