Gadebridge parkrun - event 514

On the 29th August 2026 I ran Gadebridge parkrun, which was the 514th event held at the venue, my 302nd parkrun and 213th different course I'd attended.

Visiting different parkrun venues means taking the rough with the smooth. Or in the case of parkrun not every event is flat, so have to accept a few hills.

I don't arrive at a parkrun venue unprepared. I've often read blog posts, watched a video and read the course description on the app. I knew Gadebridge parkrun was going to be a challenge and it was going to be taxing

After Crosby last week it was definitely going to be different swapping the flat beach hills and undulations. But what my research and preparation hadn't informed me was the challenge in getting to the venue itself.

Swindon is well known for its Magic Roundabout. I've navigated it many times whilst visiting the football ground and it never gets any easier. A roundabout with a series of smaller roundabout around it with individual roundabouts around those! If that description doesn't make sense, then fine as nor does the roundabout.

The guys who designed Hemel Hempstead were obviously from Swindon and homesick, so decided to incorporate a part of home when implementing their road system. So in order to get to Gadebridge parkrun I needed to navigated their roundabout which had roundabouts at each point of the roundabout and drive around in circles getting myself dizzy in the process.

Fortunately I managed to successfully drive around it unscathed and arrived at the designated parking spot which was wonderfully free of charge. All parkruns are great, but those with free parking tend to elevate themselves in the appreciation stakes.

Gadebridge parkrun is based on a valley. A river and roadway run through the middle of the valley and beneath the road is an underpass so visitors can make use of both sides of the park.

In simple terms the course is a figure of 8, with the top part of the eight a loop on the north side and the bottom part of the eight a loop on the south. The underpass is the connection between the two.

Whilst the north side contains the start and a small proportion of tarmac path, majority of the course is off road and based on grass. 

After the glorious sunny weather we finally had a spot of rain and so the grass was starting to regain some of its natural green colour. But it also meant some of the downhills had gotten a little slippery.

Gadehill parkrun was one of the events that got into my head. I thought it was going to be hard and therefore was going to walk some and so therefore that's what I did - a self-fulfilling prophecy that I did nothing to try and overcome.

Running around the first part of the course was fine, a gradual uphill climb on tarmac before moving onto the grass. The map of the field down hill and back along the river was fine. On the tarmac under the underpass and back uphill again was also fine. But the gradient and surface changed, back on the grass and slightly sloping turned into steep and upwards.

I folded like a pack of cards and walked.

Having known I was going to walk I then gave myself the hump for doing what I said I was going to do in the first place and not doing anything about it.

I walked all the way along the top of the second field cursing rude words at myself before getting excited about the downhill and galloped down it like an excited school kid.

The second lap was an identical story where I eventually trundled home in 151st place out of a field of 192 in a time of 35:53.

At least the rain had mostly held off, I normally like running in the rain and it actually helps me to run faster. Not this time though!

At least I managed to get home again safe and sound, navigating back via the Hemel Hempstead roundabout which was slightly busier due to the later morning traffic.

Not all parkrun accomplishments are about running!