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Harleston Magpies parkrun

After a few weeks of not making any progress on my Fibonacci Index, this week, I decided that ticking off 21 was reason enough to attend Harleston Magpies parkrun this week with new milestone tshirt in hand!

The area

Situated on the Norfolk/Suffolk border, Harleston Magpies Hockey Club plays host to Harleston Magpies parkrun every week. Interestingly, while the residential area of Harleston itself is in Norfolk, the hockey club actually lies across the border in Suffolk.

The course

The Harleston Magpies parkrun course is run on two joining fields, following the perimeters of each field, while each field also includes an inner triangle from the half-way point, to each opposing corner and back. Each lap is repeated a total of 3 times, and the course is entirely on grass, including only some minor elevation.

Parking is available on site, with the primary parking located across the road from the main entrance (overflow parking in the hockey club car park), and is only available during parkun. Additionally, free parking is available in the town centre for up to 2 hours. Toilets and a cafe are available in the clubhouse.

The run

A frost lay over the course as I arrived at Harleston Magpies Hockey Club today, initially making me hopeful for a sturdy surface for today's run. Unfortunately, by the time we were ready to start, the sun had managed to melt most of the frost, making the grass feel heavy to run on. Fortunately the course remained mostly mud-free, with the only real mud accumulating on the turning points.

One of the fields - half of the course

As I was running, I couldn't help but think that many of the events in the Norfolk area take place in relatively small settings, and are very community focussed, with comparatively small attendances compared to events in other counties I've attended. It would be interesting to understand whether this is by design, or a consequence of the relatively dispersed population, but the events are always enjoyable none-the-less.

Finish funnel with one of the fields in the background

Thank you to all of the volunteer team for hosting the event, it is always great attending such community oriented events like this one!

Ian sporting the red milestone tshirt

Links: Run report | Results | Strava

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Location: Syleham Rd, Diss IP21 5UF, UK

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