Panshanger

My usual parkrun venue at Wimpole Estate being cancelled it was time for my first foray into parkrun tourism.  I had narrowed down my options to Panshanger or Luton Wardown, opting for the former due to it being a single lap course.

Leaving plenty of time to get there I was relieved when I arrived as the carpark I had neglected to read would be used for the start was unavailable, an about turn at the roundabout lead me back up the hill and to s housing estate within a short walk's distance to the start.  Initially concerned I was relieved to note a number of other runners parking at the same location.

Gathering at the starting area there was a lot of friendly comments and a really good new runner briefing which explained the course well for first timers.  Once this was done we were guided to the start line for a very brief pre run briefing and then a 3-2-1 start which came as a bit of a shock after Wimpole but I was later to discover is not entirely uncommon.

Course map

The course starts by getting a significant amount of the uphill (interestingly I initially wrote uphell here which could be considered an apt typo) out of the way in the first kilometer with a fast start to be advised to avoid the perils of a narrowing of the course, followed by a short wooded section and then a climb to the higest point and sharp left turn at the 1km mark.  If you are on target at this point you are probably in line for a good time.

Course Profile

A reasonably flat 1500m almost loop around the fields follows and then a very sharp right hander takes you to a long downhill section which provides ample recovery for the final section.

By the lake at the bottom of the hill the going can start to get a little soft (I regretted not wearing trail shoes at this point) with some sections actually feeling like you are going backwards through the mud if you are not well prepared.

As seems to be a common theme in parkruns they leave a hill for the end for which it is well worth leaving a little in the tank as there can often be a coulpe of runners to pick off on the way up and then to the finish.

A coffee van is on hand for refreshments at the end of the run with the very friendly community.

Panhanger parkrun are on facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/panshangerparkrun/ and twitter: @Panshangparkrun