Haverhill parkrun - event 346

Haverhill parkrun

On the 12th September 2026 I ran Haverhill parkrun, which was the 346th event held at the venue, my 304th parkrun and 215th different course I'd attended.

Parkrun tourism is very much a game of contrasts. This week's event and last week's event could not be more physically opposite from one another. Watergrove in the North West, on the outskirts of Manchester was hilly, scenic, challenging, beautiful and an experience you could talk about for hours.

Haverhill was green, pancake flat, slightly repetitive and one of those events where you almost feel bad having a negative thought about it, but is ultimately what it is and as a course, leaning towards boring.

But, and it is a huge but here. Whilst the courses and overall experience are polar opposites, all parkrun events no matter where they are in the world all have that consistent and permanent vein that runs through each and every one of them. Community.

The volunteer team at Haverhill had that joyous infectious enthusiasm for what they do every Saturday morning and makes you feel glad that you got up early to make your way around their course. Each tourist was asked individually where they were from and the Run Director was genuinely interested in listening to people's answers. She described the event as small, but perfectly formed and that is a much better description than the one I used above.

Part of the appeal of parkrun tourism is seeing towns and villages that I'd never have otherwise have seen if it wasn't for my Saturday morning jaunts. But with the location of this course I never actually got to see any of Haverhill either as the car park was right on the edge of town. You crossed into an adjacent field and never left it for the duration of the event.

Three laps of Puddlebrook playing fields which was all marked out fresh with new football pitches and goals hanging up in readiness of the new season. The recent rains had added much needed colour to the grass which was a bright autumnal green, a change from the recent straw like conditions.

The three laps take in the outskirts of the playing fields with the start and finish area to the far western side on a smaller field that was separated from the main field by a small brook. This added a little bit of interest to the course at the beginning and end of each lap as you crossed a wooden bridge and cut through a small tunnel of trees.

I finished in 35th place out of a field of 55 participants in a time of 31:00.

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