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Mildenhall Hub parkrun

This week I decided to make some more progress on the Fibonacci Sequence challenge by attending event number 5 of the new Mildenhall Hub parkrun!

The area

Mildenhall is a small market town located between Cambridge and Bury St Edmunds. The modern town's population is heavily influenced by the two airforce bases located on the outskirts of the town, with up to a third of the town's residents being born in USA!

The town is also where the Mildenhall Treasure was discovered - a collection of Roman silverwar considered to be perhaps the most important and valuable Roman treasure find in Britain. Owing to its importance and value, the treasure is now on permanent display at the British Museum.

To the west of the town lies Mildenhall Hub, a newly built community centre, and host of this week's parkrun event!

Mildenhall Hub from the back

The course

One lap of the course follows an initial out-and-back section, followed a lap of the adjoining meadow, with runners following the route two and a half times (3 out-and-backs, but only two laps of the meadow. There are several surfaces throughout, with the majority being run on tarmac or grass, with a small amount of gravel, and it is very flat.

Free parking is available on site, and toilets as well as a cafe are available within the hub itself, as well as many other facilities.

The run

During today's run briefing, we were reminded that it is one year since parkrun's return, which seems like a very long time ago! As the event was so young, the First Timer's Welcome was delivered as part of the main briefing, so everyone could hear it, and from the number of shoutouts and milestones, there were a lot of tourists like myself who appreciated it!

Despite being a relatively simple course on paper, it is actually a very pleasant one to run, with the out-and-back section providing a chance to see other runners and cheer them on, and the lap of the meadow providing some very pleasing views over neighbouring fields.

Grass path around the meadow (right) with open fields (left)

Thank you to the volunteer team for a great event - it was hard to tell that this was only the 5th event; everything went so smoothly!

After the run

Unfortunately, I only had limited time to explore my destination today, and so after the event, I followed the River Lark eastwards towards Thetford Forest Park.

The River Lark

Along the river, I encountered the town's beacon, which was likely last used during the Queen's Platinum Jubilee earlier in the year.

Mildenhall town beacon with coat of arms

Thetford Forest Park is located on the western boundary of Thetford Forest. As I discovered when I first visited Brandon Country Park parkrun, as with much of the rest of the forest, the park is made up of a mix of deciduous and coniferous trees planted on the grounds of former flint extraction facility.

Deciduous and coniferous trees in Thetford Forest Park

The site has been used for farming rabbits since the 1300s, with the 600-year-old Mildenhall Warren Lodge being one of only two warren lodges dating from this time remaining in the area.

Mildenhall Warren Lodge

While at the Warren Lodge, I was reminded of the fact there are multiple air bases near by, with multiple planes landing within short succession of each other.

Links: Results | Strava

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Location: Sheldrick Way, Mildenhall, Bury Saint Edmunds IP28 7JX, UK

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