The Plens parkrun - event 83

On the 4th July 2026 I ran The Plens parkrun, which was the 83rd event held at the venue, my 295th parkrun and 207th different course I'd attended.

Had it not been for parkrun I would never have heard of the Plens, Desborough or Desborough Leisure Centre. But there I was, two hours from home on a Saturday morning outside a shiny new leisure centre slap bang in the middle of a new housing estate ready for another 5k run.

The Plens was celebrating it's 83rd event and in my quest to reach 100 on the Wilson Index I took an opportunity to fill a gap. After all, with no football to rush home for, and long warm summer mornings what better things to do with my time than driving up the M11 and A14 in persuit of a place is never been to before and likely never will.

Some courses are simple and straightforward to explain, others are a little more complex but achievable with the clever use of words. Others are batshit crazy and require seeing to understand them.

In simple terms the Plens parkrun is an out and back course. But the end doesn't finish where it started, there's two laps to complete around half-way. Oh and there are some stairs and a washing machine en route.

Starting alongside the rather impressive looking BMX track the course heads out into the Plens which is the name given to the area of nature reserve that sits on the edge of the new build housing estate.

Along gravel paths on an undulating gravel track the first part of the course is fairly standard. The course then turns right into a natural bowl like environment where the route circles around the rim before dancing into the bowl and out again in two places. The part of the course reminded me very much of Somerdale Pavilion based on the mixture of people along the course running in all kinds of directions.

It sounds mad, looks mad but running it all makes sense. After being spat out of the washing machine section, the course rejoins the gravel path, turning right deeper into the Plens. This path leads around in a wide loop, again slightly undulating as it goes whilst being surrounded by long grass and natural vegetation.

Once a lap of the wild grounds is completed, participants head back into the washing machine where another lap of this complex is completed and a further lap of the wild grounds is undertaken.

After the second lap, instead of heading back into the madness of the washing machine participants turn right and head back the way that they came. Instead of heading back to the start as a traditional out-and-back would, the route continues onwards until you reach a set of wooden steps that leads up to the final part of the course.

There are around thirty steps altogether and are fairly shallow in height but wide in depth. I got slightly cocky and bounded up them like a subtle mountain goat. It wasn't until that I got to the top and realised that I had over exerted myself and puffed out on the final leg.

At the top of the steps the course turns right into a field where the finish line is set up around four hundred meters along the tree-line.

I was rather frustrated with blowing out so late on, but the heat and my foot still not being recovered hadn't helped.

I finished in 27th place out of a field of 46 participants in a time of 30:27. Had I managed to continue running at the pace I was, I would have got a sub-30 on what was a challenging course. Mixed terrains are always a bit of a struggle, adding on the undulations and twisting nature of the course you've got a venue with real interest.

It's a shame that the event isn't more widely supported, as it's a cracking parkrun venue and one I would definitely visit again if I was more local.