Skip to main content

Upton Court parkrun

My target for this week was a "U" event. Of the few events that exist which begin with a "U", several are in the south east of England, and therefore a relatively short distance from me, while the other "U" events in the UK all seem to be in Scotland!

With my goal settled, I selected Upton Court parkrun, both based on convenience, but also due to the fact that should it be cancelled, neighbouring events begin with letters I also need to tick off.

The area

Upton Court Park is located in Upton - a suburb of Slough. Positioned within commuter distance to London, Slough serves as home for many global company headquarters, having the highest concentration in the UK, outside London.

Upton Court Park is located in the south east of the town, and adjacent to the M4 motorway. The park is in the process of being renovated to its Victorian prime, and has views of Windsor Castle to the south.

The course

The course follows two laps of the park, primarily on grass, with some gravel paths too. The first lap is slightly larger than the second, taking in an additional field.

A view of the start area with the main grass field in the background

A free car park is available a short distance from the start, and toilets and a cafe are available within the rugby club.

The run

The surface was quite muddy and slippery this week, and I think that slowed down a lot of the field, as they were being more careful with their footing than normal. Fortunately for me, I had brought trail shoes, and so it felt like I was running on a dry surface.

During the run briefing, we were reminded to look upwards at the northern corner to see Windsor Castle. The sight served as a good marker after the lap of the field to help break up the run before entering the wooded area.

I was slightly surprised with my finish position today - last week (at Oxford) I finished position 238, while I finished 5 seconds quicker this week and in position 62! I knew there were a lot of people in Oxford last week, but didn't realise quite how many.

Ian running with a group of other runners

Thank you to all of the marshals, especially considering the wet weather we've been experiencing in the run up to this event.

Links: Results | Strava

Labels:
Location: Upton Court Park, Upton Rd, Slough SL3 7LU, UK

Popular posts from this blog

Coldham's Common parkrun

As my recovery from injury is still underway, I decided that I would attend a flat course this week to avoid any potential for reaggrevation. Unfortunately this means I will need to pause my completion of the Essex events, as the remaining courses are all somewhat lumpy. Having visited all of the other Cambridge parkruns, including Storeys Field parkrun, Fulbourn Hospital parkrun, and Cambridge parkrun knowing that they are all relatively flat, I decided that this week I would complete the Cambridge set. The area Coldham's Common has a long history, serving as both a hospital during the 17th century smallpox outbreak, and a quarry during the 19th century, as well as a rifle range also during the 19th century. The course The route follows two laps of the perimeter of the common through an hour-glass shape, connecting two fields through a five-bar-gate. The course is all on grass, and is all flat. Limited parking is available nearby, while toilets are available in
Read more

Delamere parkrun

Being the festive season, I decided to pause my exploration of the East of England in favour of visiting events closer to family in Liverpool. While there are a number of events closer to Liverpool, I decided to visit Delamere parkrun, being somewhere I hadn't explored when living in the area previously. The area Delamere forest is all that remains of a much larger forest in the area. The forest spent some time as a Royal hunting forest, before being handed to Forestry England. The course The course follows a single lap of a lollipop route, through forests, and around the Blakemere Moss lake, starting and finishing near the visitor centre. The visitor centre includes paid parking, toilets, and a cafe, while free parking is also available in some of the other forest car parks, though they are further from the start line providing a great opportunity for a warm up! The route is all on a mixture of gravel and trail, and is mostly flat except for one short but steep incl
Read more

Aldenham parkrun

Icey conditions in days leading up to parkrun day meant many events were cancelled this week. While I would have ideally been able to visit another event in Essex, I decided that I valued having options more in the event of cancellation this week, and so I instead headed to the cluster of events surrounding the Watford area. The area Aldenham Country Park is located near Watford, and centres on Aldenham reservoir, with grassland and woodland surrounding the reservoir itself. The reservoir was excavated by French prisoners of war during 1795 as part of the wider management of the Grand Union Canal's water levels, and now serves as a reserve water supply. In addition to the reservoir, the country park also supports the breeding of a number of rare species of farm animals, including cattle, goats, pigs, and sheep. The course The course follows two laps of the reservoir, with the second lap skipping the inner peninsular. The course is flat, and is run mainly on trail pat
Read more