We headed to Haldon Forest parkrun for another Boomerang Reunion. Actually it was quite a last minute decision. One we landed on due to it being in a forest and the never ending heatwave.
Haldon Forest Park, Kennford, Exeter, EX6 7XR
Facilities at Haldon Forest parkrun
- Paid parking (£6 for two hours) or FREE for volunteers or members of Forestry England (£96 a year).
- Also accessible by bus or bicycle
- Toilets
- Café
- Showers
- Walking Trails
- Go Ape
- Play Area
- Cycle tracks – with Pump, Loop & Skills area
- Yurt
- Picnic Areas
- Wildlife Hide
- Table tennis
- Room on the Broom trail
Course Haldon Forest parkrun
- Despite being through the trees my watch recorded a very accurate 5km at Haldon Forest parkrun!
- It is set on Haldon Hill and 250ml above sea level.
- Unsuitable for canicross due to narrow sections. Lots of people DID run with dogs.
- Quite a few runners with pushchairs but I would say that they are pretty hardcore runners!
Loop 1 of Haldon Forest parkrun
Haldon Forest parkrun starts downhill before turning off into the trees and up a steep narrow path. Here there is a clear sign for walkers to go to the right. What it meant was so that people could overtake on the left, what actually happened was that people then ran on the left even when no-one wanted to walk.
Next the course levels out, passing through the forest and through a rhododendron tunnel to the ridgeway, which has stunning views across the Exe basin to Exeter, before returning to the start.
Here there is a sign to show that you go left for loop 2 and right for the finish.
Loop 2
With another 3km to go you past the first turning point and on for another 500m.
Then there’s a longer climb through the woods.
Finally you reach the aforementioned turned right to the end.
My Experience of Haldon Forest parkrun
Somehow I completely missed the first timers briefing – it must have happened in the super short time I was actually in the toilet. By the time I came out everyone had gone and walked to the start. Which is actually where the finish is, but we were told the finish was where the scanning happens so left our water there.
Positioning
After finding my way to the start I got talking to someone who informed me about the lovely downhill start. Knowing he’d done the course before I asked what sort of time he was hoping for so it was easier for me to self-seed. A “slow” 23 minutes because it’s hot! Plus he’d told me that half of the course was uphill!
Therefore, I decided to stand behind several men with pushchairs. Figuring they must be so hardcore and fast. However, this meant actually I got stuck and it felt quite a slow start.
The Injury
However, I had been trying to just run and not look at my watch and so the first km was a decent 5:23. If I’d have known I’d have been disappointed though because it was a lovely downhill which I can do much better at. But at this point I had caught up with my husband who had hurt his ankle. His leg was all covered in mud and he wasn’t sure he would be even able to drive home!
Carrying on
After stopping to check on him he told me to go on. He was going to walk and said he’d be okay. That he didn’t wish for me to walk with him. When I finally got to the next marshal I informed them of his injury.
Views
Although this was my catalyst for starting to walk. It was a lot more open than I thought and hot. However, this did mean I got to capture some photos of the stunning views.
The Under 11
Next, somewhere along the way I noticed a young boy running on his own. He told me he was hoping for a sub30 but didn’t have his watch. In fact he told me quite a lot – another reason under 11s shouldn’t be running on their own!
Anyway I told him he was on for his sub30 and encouraged him around. He’d done the course a few times before and warned me of the hills. Saying we would walk them.
However, at the last hill his dad finally caught up with his younger brother and they all sped off up the hill to the finish!
The PBer
Finally there was a man who was also running and then walking. He looked the kind to have a good sprint in him. As I caught him up I told him so. At around 200m to go, he started speeding up, and I asked how accurate the course was. He said very.
With 100m to go I knew to speed up. But he put his arms out across to stop me getting around. We turned right into the finishing straight and I finally managed to get around. There were two ladies in front making the final push difficult.
Getting down to a 2:26/km pace (just for a split second or so) I did manage to finish just in front. Am so glad he managed to achieve a parkrun PB. It was very exhilarating.
After the Finish
He said he would have beaten me if it wasn’t for the ladies in front – but I told him he definitely wouldn’t. Turns out he is 30 years old next month and was surprised when I said that my son is also 30 this year!
My husband was only 11 seconds in front of me so had missed it. Another couple came over and asked if I beat him, as they’d seen him put his arms out!
Boomerang Reunion 2
It was good to see Debbie and Ally again. This time I did have some of the yummy treats (there felt like a lot more). Still forgetting to take my replacement sticker but did write in the Visitor Book.
Event 304 Stats Haldon Forest parkrun
274 participants – 132 male, 129 female and 13 unknown.
- Well done to first finisher (JM15-17) on their new PB of 18:33 – and an age grading of 75.02%
- First female finished 7th in 20:54 an age grading of 75.28% (VW40-44)
- These were NOT the highest age grading of the day with an extremely impressive 96.13% in the VW60-64 in a time of 21:05!
- Highest male was 79.90% (VM50-54) in 19:04.
- 25 PBS
- 7 first ever parkrun
- 76 tourists
- 34 volunteers
Finishing Times
- All 274 participants finished under an hour
- 266 sub 50
- 240 under 40 minutes
- Just missing out, and my husband being the last of, the 130 sub 30s
- 99 under 28
- 56 under 25
- An impressive 26 under under 23
- 14 sub 22
- 7 under 21 (with only our first lady for the women)
- 3 sub 20
- And only first finisher in under 19 minutes.
Other things to Note
There were a couple of the parkrun signs – one near the car park where scanning happens and one on the way to the start.
A new plaque was erected to honour and remember volunteer David Nash.
Visit these other bloggers who cover parkrun: Sarah at Mum of Three World, Jackie at Never Imitate and Chrissy at It’s Me Chrissy J and Nickie at I am Typecast
Nearby parkruns I have done:
Exmouth parkrun and Parke parkrun (this was my first ever tourist place so not written it up) – both really accessible if staying in Haven’s Devon Cliffs Holiday park.