Trying to keep my longest tourist streak going is getting increasingly more difficult with other commitments. Heading to Abingdon parkrun as there was the Gloucestershire League Cross Country Cirencester later on. However, the nearest parkrun was already in the streak. However, going to Abingdon parkrun instead possibly helped with not being hit with road closures!
Rye Meadow, Abingdon
OX14 3HY car park postcode and what 3 words placed.plants.scouts
Facilities at Abingdon parkrun
Parking
No toilets
Abingdon parkrun Course
A mix of on and off-road, with scenic riverside and historic meadows of Abingdon. Starting at Rue Meadow it passes through Abingdon lock; around the perimeter of the meadow with a return along farm track. Then on to road where you need to be careful of traffic. Two laps then a sharp right back into the meadow.
Experience
Despite starting on a field and not that many runners in the grand scheme of things it did feel very congested. Luckily not after a PB as it really narrowed. Everyone was forced to walk several times, and it was over the first 1 km before we went onto a field where proper overtaking could take part.
Mix of grass and road.
Nice family cheering outside their house on the road bit. It happened to be Halloween and I think they were looking out for costumes. The children did gleefully notice that I had a spooky sports bra on.
It was awfully hot running and lots of people had started to strip their layers. Near the end I told a young girl to leave her top with a marshal and go back for it. She actually was younger than I thought she was.
The Finish
Anyway as we turned the corner I told her we just had 200m to go. But then I saw the finish and knew it was much closer than that. Encouraging her we sprinted. However, she was much faster than me. Two lads had been chatting on the way around. Again I thought they were much older but turned out to be in the JM11-14 category. One of them also decided to speed up and he was a bit more of a challenge for her!
Afterwards she thanked me for pacing her and I explained that I had a race to go to.
McDonalds
Later in McDonalds there were some other parkrun tourists and we had a chat about the parkrun. Plus our tourism adventures.
Results for Abingdon parkrun
494 participants
- 17:37-71:22
- Fastest female Lucy 22:22 (VW40-44)
- Highest age grade Jane 93.10% (VW70-74) 23:55
- Male Alan 82.4% (VM60-64) 19:59
- 1 sub 18
- 3 sub 19
- 12 sub 20
- 122 sub 25
- 197 sub 28
- 254 sub 30
- 11 first timers
- 64 tourists
- 22 volunteers
- 45 PBs
Other parkrun locations I have done nearby:
Harcourt Hill parkrun (5.0m), University Parks parkrun (6.6m), Oxford parkrun (8.5m), Witney parkrun (13.2m), Kilkenny Lane Country parkrun (15.5m)
See Cross Country Stroud – my first race of the Gloucestershire League 2026/7
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
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