Great to be back on the road again after 6 weeks away from parkrun touring with today visited Watermeadows parkrun that is based at in the lovely market town of Towcester, Northamptonshire.

Watermeadows History

Watermeadows park used to be part of Easton Neston estate and closed off to the public until 2009 when it was purchased for the people of Towcester, by the then South Northamptonshire Council.

The park has been developed over the subsequenting years to give the local community a beautiful green space to be proud including a natural designed play area for the children.

Milestones

So today I have reached the unofficial milestone of 150 parkruns events with 125 of them being different ones.

I have been blessed with so many great adventures on my travels that I cannot wait for to see what happens in the next 150 🙂

I would like to also give a big well done to my running club & parkrun friend Dawn who reached her 100 events at our home parkrun of Luton, Wardown today.

Course

The course is a simple just over 4 clockwise laps of Watermeadows park, run almost entirely on newly laid gravel path that is almost flat in elevation terms.

After finishing the final lap there is a short stretch run back along the footpath, then you veer off onto the grass where the finish funnel awaits.

Sorry no course map image this week as I am still getting to grips with my new sports watch and my map was not accurate enough to publish!

Points to Note

• New path was only laid by Christmas last year and is in excellent condition!
• Be careful if you go onto the grass to overtake as it is a bit uneven and cracked in places
• Narrow gate pinch point near the playground section that are to be fair marshalled

Overall, this is a very flat well-maintained course to post a fast time on, for me I was happy with a posted time of 32.42

Facilities

There is free parking at Tove long stay car park Sat Nav NN12 7AH and as stated on their parkrun event website there are no facilities in this park.

For toilet facilities they recommend using is at Tesco, Old Tiffield Road, Towcester, NN12 6PF

For the post run coffee, I retired to Claire’s Cottage Kitchen that is a lovely mobile cafe that is set up just outside the parks main entrance.

I do recommend after completing you parkrun pop up to the top of the ancient monument Bury Mount for excellent views of both the park and the town.

Conclusion

I would like to thank Grace this week’s run director and her team of high viz heroes for making us all feel extremely welcome on the morning, well done guys!

So, if you want a flat fast course to visit then Watermeadows has to be high on your tourist list, you have been told!

For me that I have learned on my travels is parkrun events evolve and are not cast in stone, courses are modified and, in some cases, even change location.

So, my parkrun event reports are only as accurate I can make them for the day I visit, but if I ever go back, I will update my report accordingly to reflect any changes that may have occurred.

Finally, until next time happy parkrunning everyone:)

Best

Mark aka Silent Runner