Race Report: Walsall Arboretum Parkrun 17/03/2012

As I was heading down south this weekend to take part in another race (in a seperate race report coming soon...) I thought I'd take the opportunity to run only the 2nd Parkrun at Walsall Arboretum. It's probably a bit too far for it to be a regular run of mine especially as Hanley is but a short jaunt down the M6. Also, the rumour mill has word of a possible new Parkrun event at Astbury Mere in the not too distant future.

Standing on the road looking down on the race start

The venue was easy enough to find being onnly a couple of miles of main road away from
Junction 10 of the M6. As I approached the park I could see the Parkrun flags flying in the park below the road to my left.

The race is three laps of the outskirts of the parkland around the Arboretum. Mostly on tarmac paths but with a short stretch of grass. At the pre-race briefing we were warned about a couple of sharp corners and a stretch of path along the higher end of the park which was in a state of disrepair. Nothing really to worry about but from a race organiser's perspective it's always better to be on the safe side. There were around 50 or so runners milling about near the start when I arrived and unusually for such a new event there were plenty of Marshalls. Each corner and twist of the route was well Marshalled, so whoever is behind this event clearly had some decent support.

Apparently there is a lot of regeneration work going on in and around the park and once that's completed the course may change to take in more of the park. As it is the course is fast and has a few interesting sections in just to keep it varied such as the tight corners, a steep-ish banking and a section on grass. There were also a couple of supporters doubling us as photographers which is always a nice thing to see. One of them shot this video of the start. I am on there, but it's a case of blink and you'll miss me and that wasn't because of my speed :-)

All in all and having now run at 6 different Parkrun events I'd say this one perfectly epitomised the Parkrun spirit. It was friendly, slickly organised, had a wide variety of standards of runners and most of all like all Parkrun events was both fantastic and FREE.

For more information visit the Walsall parkrun webpage.

Michael