Watergrove parkrun - event 537

On the 5th September 2026 I ran Watergrove parkrun, which was the 537th event held at the venue, my 303rd parkrun and 214th different course I'd attended.

Two weeks after our first away game of the season Gillingham returned to the north west for their second. Hayden and I were travelling solo to Rochdale as both Reaso and George have already visited Spotland and had other plans for Saturday night.

I was following the guidelines of The parkrun 92 Club Challenge group on Facebook which determines a successful visit to a football ground and it's closest parkrun in the same day as a 'Grail'. I've managed to collect a few different ones over the last few years and was looking forward to achieving another one.

There was one downside though. The closest parkrun to Rochdale is Watergrove, the UKs fifth toughest parkrun.

My dislike for hills is well voiced on these pages and with the early realisation that the event was going to be difficult I didn't let it bother me. I arrived with the mentality of, "let's just enjoy it".

Hayden of course arrived with a much different mentality. One of plain refusal.

Since he turned eleven and no longer needs to be accompanied by an adult, I've allowed him to opt-in or opt-out of taking part. So far he has a 100 percent opt-out rate, not even willing to walk the course

This attitude put in a bit of a dilemma. The course was supposed to be beautiful, amazing views, incredible scenery and yes, up hill and tough. I didn't want Hayden to miss out and wanted to him to join in if he could.

The course is shaped like a Y. Starting off at the foot of the Y the course layout offered Hayden and opportunity. I suggested to him that he walks, only as far as where the fork in the course converges. This meant he'd only have to walk a little way and he's still get to experience some of the course.

Having stayed overnight on the edge of Rochdale in a Premier Inn, we were conveniently located to be able to make early access to Watergrove. The course page warned of a lack of parking spaces so I wanted to arrive early to secure a spot. I need not have worries too much as there were many more spaces than the course page led me to believe. What it had also failed to mention was the detail regarding the last half a mile of road.

At the end of a country lane was a gate, through the gate the road turned to cobble stones. Like that of Coronation Street. Driving over cobbles is a bumpy experience anyway, but the road being goodness knows how many years old had undergone serious weathering, with huge bumps and dips in the cobbles that made driving pretty much impossible beyond four miles an hour. 

Hayden of course found the whole thing utterly amusing whilst I suffered mild anxiety at the thought of being stuck halfway up a mountain on the other side of the country and my car being defeated by a cobble track.

Watergrove parkrun gets it's name from the reservoir, which itself is derived from the village that lays beneath the water and has done since 1938.

The village was situated on the side of the south Pennines, and from the reservoir edge you not only get wonderful views across the water, the surrounding hillside but out beyond you can see the evolving skyline of Manchester.

The course, as mentioned is shaped as a Y. Starting on the south east corner of the reservoir the route runs alongside the reservoir initially before turning right and heading up hill. The ascent is long and drawn out, made particularly challenging as the path is a continuation of the cobble driveway we'd driven up earlier.

I was warned to be cautious about the cobble pathways as they can become slippery when wet and it's not difficult to see why.

Coming out of the treeline, the course eventually winds its way up to a junction on the side of the hill, exposed and high above the reservoir offering even better views as the altitude allows. This junction is marshalled and was where Hayden made his way up to.

I first took the left hand fork which ran further anti-clockwise around the reservoir up in the hill. This stretch was essentially a sheep path and provided me with my first experience of fell running.

This out and back stretch of the course first dipped downhill, which was initially a tonic after theong upwards along on cobbles. But it soon started to twist and climb up once again, in, over and through little streams that dotted the side of the hill.

Whilst the terrain and running route was brutal, it was absolutely beautiful and clearly makes a genuine usecase for my favourite portmanteau - brutiful!

After surviving the first out and back, I reached the Marshall point where Hayden had eventually found his way to. I was able to give him a laboured high-fice and continued upwards along the next out and back.

This fork wasn't as undulating as the previous one, returning back on a part cobbled path the route meandered more gently, but was on a gentle incline that continued upwards to another U-turn and marshall point. As it was the highest point of the course the views were of course spectacular and the growing city of Manchester looked impressive in the distance.

Being at the highest point, everything was now downhill to the start. I normally love a downhill stretch but the cobbles and rain were a dangerous mix that is been warned about previously. So I was a rather cautious downhill runner on this occasion, meeting up with Hayden who I managed to convince to run alongside me for the whole of ten metres before he gave up.

We walked a little while, continuing downhill until my patience left me. The joy of running downhill was too much as the last part.chsnged from cobble to dirt trails.

Once at the foot of the hill the route around the reservoir to the finish felt like an Olympics athletics track in comparison so I was able to do some actual running and finish off with a bit of a sprint finish.

I finished in 64th place out of a field of 71 participants in a time of 37:47.

It might very well have been a slow and cumbersome time, but what a course Watergrove parkrun is! I'd gladly visit again and get a slower time next time on the basis that I'd get more time to enjoy the course, the scenery and the amazing connection it provides to the great outdoors. There really is a feeling of being outside here, up in the hills and the wide expanse all around. Parkrun has afforded me opportunities to experience places I would never have experienced without and for that I am incredibly grateful.