Oaklands College parkrun - Event 70

On the 18th July 2026 I ran Oaklands College parkrun, which was the 70th event held at the venue, my 296th parkrun and 208th different course I'd attended.

Last week I missed my second parkrun of the year and only my seventh in the past four years. Whilst I got stuck in traffic back in May, my absence this week was for much better reasons.

My nephew Elijah was turning 18 and my sister wanted to celebrate as a family. A few ideas were thrown around from a trip to London, to Dublin before someone lobbed the word Ibiza into the mix. As soon as that was mentioned I developed a severe case of FOMO and so a plan was born.

A flight out Friday afternoon from Stansted to Ibiza, a night on the tiles, a club overnight and a flight straight back to Stansted early Saturday evening. No hotel, no change of clothes, a proper no fuss, no thrills visit to the party island of Europe.

To say that the weekend went well would be an understatement. Elijah, least expecting his boring Uncle Adam to be boarding the party plane was surprised to see me arrive at the Wetherspoons at Stansted where the first of many drinks were consumed.

One flight later, a taxi trip into Playa del Bossa and a crawl along the main strip to Hi Ibiza where we spent pulling shapes to the sounds of Dom Dolla.

If I was going to miss a parkrun it was going to be for a good reason and a rather extreme, extreme day trip is certainly a better excuse than many.

After a week away, it can actually take a little bit of effort to get back on the horse and I nearly failed rather spectacularly.

Hayden had his year 6 leavers party on the Friday afternoon and I went along after work to see out the festivities. I arrived at 5:45 ahead of a 6pm start and asked Stephanie what time we were due to finish. She answered 'when the bar closes'. 

I thought she was joking.

Various parents arrived and the hall started to empty of children as they made there way outside and enjoyed the sunshine and a bouncy castle that was hired by another class from the same school by the parents in the adjoining hall.

The parties quite clearly went from celebrating the children to consoling the parents. We had three children pass through Shears Green school with Hayden being the last one for a generation. It seems we wasn't the only one and so this odd evening ensued where parents between rival classes grew competitive as to who could throw the better party, before coming together to celebrate and then eventually console one another as the alcohol kicked in.

Stephanie was right, the parties finished when the bar closed. By which time I had no tea, and goodness knows what to drink. I wobbled my way home and woke up in the morning with deep regret and no desire to run my way around 5 kilometres of what would be living hell.

I also had to get myself to parkrun and there is a very strong argument to suggest that I wasn't and shouldn't be making that trip by myself.

It was the closest I had ever been to not going parkrun through choice. But I ultimately made what was probably the wrong decision and made my way around the M25 to Oaklands College and my latest Wilson Index tick.

The course is an out-and-back in and around the grounds of Oaklands College. Starting outside an old house, impressive in stature the course heads out along the playing fields before picking up an access road the runs across the estate.

From here the route heads out along a three pronged route with each prong consisting of an out and back that leads back to the access road.

The first two prongs lead to the edge of the estate which is where some form of agricultural vehicles must be in use. The ground had become deeply rutted in places and baked hard over the course of the summer. It was particularly treacherous along stretches of this part of the course and I'm still feeling the effects of a twisted ankle.

I chose to walk these areas and save myself from further pain. Physically I felt okay running, but it was difficult to see where the bumps and potholes were, so I was taking no chances.

After the third prong, the path returns back to the house, back across the playing field where the finish lays in wait just outside the house where the start was situated 

I finished in 60th position out of a field of 93 participants in a time of 33:17.

Having walked much of the course I was quite relieved to see a sub-34 time. Had the ground not been quite so rutted I would have gotten a time vastly better than that, despite the rotten hangover.

As I ran through the finish line I said to the timekeeper 'I'm never drinking again'.

That might not be 100% true, but I'll definitely not be drinking before parkrun again!