Ben's Yard parkrun, Ely - Event 65

Ben's Yard parkrun, Ely

On the 27th June 2026 I ran the Ben's Yard parkrun, Ely which was the 65th event held at the venue, my 294th parkrun and 206th different course I'd attended.

Working through the event numbers attempting to visit all events from 1-100 requires a little bit of planning and a lot of patience. There are elements of luck involved too. For example, event 65 and Ben's Yard coincided nicely with the hot summer months. Running a trail course on a farm during the winter would be great fun, but avoidable where possible.

It was also lucky in that after the event I was able to pop in again and see Auntie Sue, cousin Nick and his wife Jenny. Eating breakfast in the garden under a gazebo isn't something we can do at home, so to be able to do it with the company of family we don't see often was a bonus.

With the hot weather continuing and my ankle still showing levels of discomfort after my twist at Dereham two weeks ago I wasn't planning on full beans attacks. The course, mostly on gravel also included areas of grass around the perimeter of a field was challenging and not only did I twist my bad ankle again I twisted the other for good measure!

The course starts next to the car park at Ben's Yard. The main visitors complex is to the left where there are ships and restaurants including an impressive (but expensive) butchers. The first part of the course which leads to a row of trees in the distance where beyond the bulk of the course is located.

At the trees participants turn right and circumnavigate the aforementioned field. It could have done with a bit of a mow on the day I ran it, as some of the grass was long and difficult underfoot. After exciting the first field, participants exit out and into another section which loops around a reservoir.

This reservoir is part of the fens flood management and helps with irrigation of the local farmland. This part of the course was pathed and enjoyable to run around as it is slightly elevated. The water on the left and arable land on the right it's very pleasant on the eye. At one point of the lap there is a large ornamental photo frame which when you look through you can see Ely and it's cathedral in the background which really did make a pretty picture.

Once the reservoir is successfully looped around participants repeat the two laps again, once around the field and then the reservoir until you reach the finish at the intersection of the treeline with the gravel path from which we started 

I finished in 63rd position out of a field of 102 participants in a time of 31:10.

Having enjoyed the loop around the reservoir so much I decided to take a walk around the same loop to take some photos and enjoy the scenery at a more leisurely pace.

Events like this are examples of what parkrun tourism is all about. I can run anywhere at anytime I want to, but without these organised events I'd never know about these running routes and I'd never get to enjoy them. So why not make the most of it by doing as many as possible?


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