We headed to Thornbury parkrun which is the last of the parkruns that have any vague association as being a Gloucestershire parkrun. Personally I would consider it to be a Bristol one, but we went because it was also one of our more immediate NENDYS and an event number for my floating Wilson (see parkrun Stats and Challenges).
Thornbury parkrun Location
Mundy Playing Fields, Thornbury, Bristol, BS35 2XN w3w: ///fatigued.clenching.swatting
We had no problems getting to and from Thornbury parkrun despite it being the weekend of the Bristol Balloon Fiesta. This of course meant that Ashton Court parkrun was not on and I think it was busier at Thornbury parkrun due to this.
Getting there
There were several (paid) carparks near to Thornbury parkrun. We chose Castle Court car park which had clear instructions/signs of how to get to the parkrun early on. Note that we like to arrive at the car park by 8:30am. It was just a short walk – but do leave yourself a bit of time for this.
It cost £1.30 for up to two hours (parked in the short stay area). Blue Badge holders are free.
You can also access Thornbury parkrun by public transport, as well as obviously just walking.
Facilities
Thornbury parkrun has toilets (including a disabled toilet), play park, and Splash pad during the summer months.
This is a no dogs course however there is “dog parking” where there are also bowls of water.
Thornbury parkrun Course
The course at Thornbury parkrun is described as slightly hilly. Users had disagreed and said that slightly was an understatement. Having completed some much hillier courses of late I can totally see where the description of slightly comes from.
Although the feeling of how hard it was for me was perhaps not helped by the heat. It’s definitely not flat, and it’s not like one great big hill – definitely undulating though!
It is a grass course, apart from a 300m stretch of tarmac on each lap. This includes on the incline just before the finish. Fortunately, there is a nice flat, straight part to sprint finish on! Although this is quite narrow if there are other runners around.
Our Experience at Thornbury parkrun
Community
Parkrun is such a wonderful community event. Honestly I love how a lot more chatty it makes my husband. This week he happened to recognise that some people were at the Parc Coed Gwilym parkrun the week before with us! On chatting to them they had also gone for event number 9. Actually there local they described and I instantly recognised it as Cycle Route 43 parkrun.
The Course Experience
There was no self-seeding at the start, which meant for a difficult start. In fact I had worried we were too far forward but think everyone kind of went from around the sides.
However, we did manage to get around people and settle into our own pace quiet easily. This included the ability to just be able to stop and walk too.
Obviously it was a very pleasant (apart from the heat and hills) and well supported parkrun. Thank you so much to the 15 volunteers.
The Finish
On our youngest’s sprint to the finish one of the people who had already crossed the finish line cut across where he was running in front of him. He wasn’t really worried about his time (luckily) but was just really upset. If our son hadn’t have slowed down then he would have crashed into the man!
Note I have not fed this back to the Core team as I am sure it was just an unfortunate (one-off) incident and they honestly have enough to do.
Personally I had a great finish. Had to wait to go round people as it was too narrow on the hill and only just got around them to nip back in at the top of it (sorry if I cut the gentleman up a bit). Our son (having finished a long time before me) managed to film it!
Our faster son came 6th in 21:10. I was happy to finish in 29m 29s. Lots of walking as I really do not do heat – but a sprint finish that our son recorded!
Post-parkrun
We headed home, no McDonalds any more (prices are too high now I do not get employee discount). But not before heading to see The Secret Keeper Gromit.
Thornbury parkrun Stats for Event 267
- 146 participants – 95 male, 48 female and 3 unknown. 4 first time to parkrun and a further 58 tourists on their first visit to Thornbury parkrun.
- 19:54-56:29
- First lady finished in a time of 24:48.
- 94 people finished in 30 minutes or less.
Other parkruns we have done nearby
Three Brooks parkrun (5.2m), Severn Bridge parkrun (5.8m), Berkeley Green parkrun (6.0m), Chipping Sodbury parkrun (7.1m), Wotton parkrun (7.2m), Lydney parkrun (8.0m), Blaise Castle parkrun (8.2m), Pomphrey Hill parkrun (9.1m), Eastville parkrun (9.1m), Rogiet parkrun (10.8m)
See also Sarah at Mum of Three World who also blogs about parkrun