Great to be back on the road this week in market town of Rugby, Warwickshire and this being the first parkrun I have ever run in this county.

The town is probably being best known as the modern birthplace of the game of Rugby where the sport takes its name from the public school in the town.

The story goes that in 1823 “when William Webb Ellis caught a football at Rugby School and ran with it, a game was born.” source

Today’s venue

Rugby parkrun is based at Whinfield recreation ground that is the largest multipurpose sporting venue for the town and caters for football, rugby and cricket!

Also part of Rugby parkrun course is run around Whinfield woods that boasts recent grants for both planting new trees and improving the paths around the woods.

Excellent stuff love investments in green projects that are good for one’s mental health and the natural environment!

Course

The course consists of 2 clockwise laps of Whinfield recreation ground & woods with a mixture of running surfaces that included gravel, tarmac paths and grass field sections.

At the end of the second lap, you turn right with the finish funnel awaiting you!

Points to Note

• There is a wide start line on the grass near the changing rooms and I would start off at the pace you are going to run the event as the following corresponding paths around the main playing field is hard to overtake on
• There is a short trail section they call Wilderness that incorporates a downhill then short but sharp uphill piece that will test your fitness
• Love the Strava name for the uphill section Alpe-d’ cemetery with a gradient of 4.8
• Could see running around the grass football pitches perimeter getting very muddy if they have a long period of rain
• Love 2 lappers as the pace I currently go did not get me overtaken by the faster runners that is always a boost to your morale.
• Finally, tourists do not panic like me with no other parkrun runners are around, they all seem to turn up at 8:55 🙂

Over I am happy with my time of 32.47 and I was delighted to be able to run up the hill section twice 🙂

Facilities

There is free parking at Whinfield Recreation ground and Cemetery Sat Nav CV21 3SB, but there are no toilet facilities in the park.

For the post run coffee they retire, to The Canal Lounge @ Bridge 66 Sat Nav CV23 0EY

For me I had to get away afterwards, but on the way home I was so hungry, I pop into the closest service station for breakfast.

It was not lost on me being a Luton Town supporter that I was having my pit stop at Watford Gap Services 🙂 but little did I know was that the service station took its name from the Northampton village of Watford with a population of 320 🙂

Conclusion

I would like to thank this week’s run director Joel and his team of Hi Vis heroes for doing an excellent job on the morning and it was great to chat to the marshals & tail walkers David, Tracey Donaldson after I finished my run!

So, if you want to experience an interesting multi terrain course with a hill section then I can highly recommend a visit to Rugby parkrun.

Best

Mark aka Silent Runner