Those chasing a parkrun alphabet will know that there is no parkrun in the world that starts with a letter x. So some people like to get the nearest thing – for us that was Exmouth parkrun.
Exmouth parkrun, Esplanade, Exmouth EX8 2AY
The Haven Holiday
Exmouth parkrun is a stone’s throw away from Haven Holiday’s Devon Cliffs park. This campsite also has fantastic beach access. As a cold water swimmer I was really excited when I saw an offer for only £49 for the weekend for the four of us! Even with an upgrade of an extra £20 for heating and double glazing we couldn’t grumble!
Our 17 year old had remembered that we had done a parkrun from the same holiday camp previously. In actual fact it was Parke parkrun back in 2017! He even remembered that his shoe came off during the parkrun – but not a lot else about that particular holiday.
Exmouth parkrun is within walking distance of the campsite, but our son’s leg still hurts following Stroud Half Marathon so we decided to use the car.
Parking Exmouth parkrun
We arrived early and were able to get into a relatively small carpark right near the start area. It has summer and winter rates. As we had arrived so early we knew we were best to get at least over an hour. With 90 minutes being £1.50 we figured we may as well pay the extra 50p and have until midnight.
There is plenty of other parking around but where we parked later on (as we went away and came back and couldn’t get back in) was more expensive – but not ridiculous. I think we paid £4 for 2 hours maybe. Even though it was winter there was not free street parking from what we could find.
Since writing this I have seen that the sign did actually say that you could use the same ticket in other carparks – but we thought it best just to pay again!
Long and short stay car parks are at Foxholes, The Maer and Queens Drive.
Exmouth parkrun Course
Normally an out and back along the Esplanade. This is the course we did. Not only was it fairly straight forward but never have I seen so many Hi-Vis heroes! There were 39. Am sure most of my starting breath was taking up trying to thank them all!
It is flat and fast and usually there are pacers.
From Saturday 23rd November 2024 to March 2025 there is going to be a temporary 2 lap course. It is between Orcombe Point and Hangtime Cafe at Sideshore, starting and finishing at Orcombe Point. This also means that the meeting point will change to Orcombe Point.
It is due to imminent sea-wall repairs between the Sideshore Development and NCI Tower Slipway. Due to the nature of the course dogs and pushchairs are discouraged. Outside the Lifeboat Station the path is used four times and the slipway will go down the slipway and onto the sandy beach.
Facilities at Exmouth parkrun
There seemed to be plenty of toilets around. For the new temporary course public toilets between the Lifeboat Station and Orcombe Point will remain open until the new Foxholes facilities are complete.
There are also plenty of places to get something to eat and drink.
It is also right by the beach for a post swim!
My Experience of Exmouth parkrun
Exmouth parkrun was very friendly. The Run director was cracking jokes and he explained all the course obstacles – including the fact he told us that a roof had been put on upside down so it needed fixing!
Initially it felt quite quiet but people appeared to be warming up and suddenly there were lots of people. Unfortunately the Exmouth parkrun sign wasn’t put out until this point making it impossible to get a good picture without people in the background.
Clearly it was going to be a fast course and there were several people wearing Vaporflys!
The parkrun Itself
As there were pacers we were asked to let them get in position first. It was already gone 9 and people were just too impatient to do this. Somehow I managed to get in front of the 35 minute pacer but not the 30.
From the off I knew Jeffing was going to be impractical but used the intervals pro app anyway in case that changed as the course went on.
As our 17 year old’s leg still hurt he decided to run with me. For some reason our youngest also decided that he was going to stay with us.
There was a bit of a walk and a shuffle at the start and then we started to jog on. Never mind I thought, just finishing would be good and get it down as another parkrun done.
Going Faster
The gaps to get round people were quite small so I had to try and take them when I could, the boys managing to fit through after me. Every now and then the 17 year old would tell me to go through a gap and off we would go again, gaining speed.
Next we overtook the 30 minute pacer and I felt a bit better about the run. Just hoping to actually get a sub 30 – my aim since I had first achieved it again back in June.
My trainers felt okay, as I was wearing my Nike Air Max as I didn’t want to have to pack too much footwear. My usual parkrun trainers were caked in mud from the Twilight Scooter session still!
Getting the PB at Exmouth parkrun
Soon the 17 year old exclaimed that I didn’t want to know how fast I was going! This in itself put me off mind! When I wanted to slow down or start jeffing he just kept encouraging me to keep going.
Next he just happened to comment about how he breathes when he runs, and if that would help. But then he said something I didn’t believe! He told me if I just kept going, not even needing to speed up, that I could get a parkrun PB! I told him that was ridiculous – my pb was like 27 ½ minutes!
But then we caught up with my husband. He had slowed down because he was hurt but he is usually much faster than my hoped for 30 minutes. Even then keeping going because I wanted sub30. Don’t ask me why I hadn’t been able to work it out on my watch!
But then we were nearing the end. Visible in the distance. He said you can make that in under a minute! But by now my legs hurt and the little girl next to me had sprinted off earlier than I would be able to carry a sprint! But I did manage to finish on a 61/2 minute mile and obtain a PB.
Official results weren’t quite as fast as our watches but it was still a parkrun PB – something I had not beaten since 2019! It is now Thursday and my legs still hurt mind!
What helped
Apart from our 17 year old spurring me on there were some things I think that helped with the pb (other than not jeffing). He held my top when I got too hot (usually I slow to stuff it in my skort pocket) and the fact that I hadn’t stopped to take photos or make a video!
Running with the boys meant I ended up with negative splits (when you progressively get faster) and obviously a new PB and age grading.
Exmouth parkrun Stats for Event 286
- Met Toni Mallin who was also wearing Flanci move-it and Linda Davies – who finished with an incredible age grading of 70.32%. But if my calculations are correct she was actually the 68th highest age grading for that week!
- Julie Hedges took the highest age grading with an impressive 84.24% (vw60-64). With first finisher George SAFRANAUSKAS having the highest male age grading of 83.64% (vm20-24) in a time of 15:29.
- 235 males, 202 females and 21 unscanned.
- 52 participants were Tourists.
- 82 people had PBs at Exmouth parkrun. However, this doesn’t count anyone who achieved a parkrun PB but it was their first time at Exmouth parkrun, like myself.
- There were 19 people who were doing their very first parkrun.
- All 458 parkrun participants had finished by 55:08.
- 322 sub 30s