On Saturday 6th of September a small group of us from Burgess Hill Runners went along to join a parkrun that was special for very different reasons to the long running Bushy Park. Horsham Parkrun was launching its very first parkrun although, as a few observed, you wouldn’t know. If the organisers had had any fears as to whether anyone would turn up, they needn’t have worried as 366 runners showed up to sample what it had to offer. I don’t know whether other ones in the area, such as Tilgate, took a hit or whether Horsham is just going to have a huge pull from the immediate locality, but it was great to see a fledgling event host so many keen runners.
The course is 3 laps of a gently undulating park opposite the train station. Having commuted to Horsham for work for a year, I can say that despite the change of trains at Three Bridges, it does make it a viable option for public transport. The 3 laps were no walk in the park (have I already made that joke before? Probably!) and it was weird how the small inclines seemed to feel so tricky and every lap seemed longer than previous, but it wasn’t the hardest one i’ve sampled. The start of the course was very cramped and I got shoved into a lamp post as everybody eagerly legged it off the start line. Hannah says she had to walk over the start line due to the bottle neck. I won’t whinge, I know the organisers of Parkruns study the various options they have available and I imagine they thought it was better to start there than essentially alongside where the finish funnel would be.
There was a bit of mixed terrain on this one, with some concrete paths, light trail and grass all of which could be tackled easily in road shoes but may get churned up in the Winter.
For all the difficulties we experienced at the beginning, the rest of the course opened up and allowed for some overtaking. The finish funnel was extremely well organised and despite huge queues, there was a feeling that they were coping well with the numbers. The locals turned out to cheer on the runners which also made for a positive experience.
I put in a hard effort with this one, although kept in mind that I had a league race the next day. This gave me a time 17 seconds away from a PB. I’d say that this one will always bring me in with a slightly slower time than the likes of Preston Park and Hove.
A great start for this further alternative option and I really hope it thrives.
Pictured: Starting to plot these on a map of South East England. The dots are roughly in the right place (and in BHR colours)!
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