"A mouse took a stroll through the deep dark wood..."
This parkrun was so good, I just couldn't wait to write it up. I visited it this morning on a cold crisp December day. It was 0 degrees Celsius, but felt colder, a lot of runners in jackets and hoodies! First of all Wendover Woods is a gorgeous single lap hilly trail run around Wendover Woods country park, you're in the wood pretty much all the way round, sometimes fully in tree cover, but other times with views out over the countryside. This parkrun offers beautiful scenery, good running surfaces, fantastic views and massive hills. I'm not kidding, this course is Very Hilly, I'll cover in more detail in the course notes, but suffice to say, be prepared for some climbing if you visit this parkrun, oh and watch out for that Gruffalo! [I visited this parkrun on 15th December 2018]
Difficulty
Yep, I'm giving this my first 5 out of 5, I can't lie, this is a toughie, but I promise you it is worth it for the amazing views. The first 2.5k is largely downhill with a few uphill sections, but the last 2.5k is very uphill with a few short downhill sections. Make sure you go out steady and save some energy for the later stages as you're going to need it. But the views!!!
The Course
This is basically a single clockwise lap of the Woods. The first timer briefing takes place close to the carpark and cafe, it's worth a listen, they give a description of the course, and warn you not to let the first half of the course lull you into a false sense of security, as there are some hills towards the end, they're not joking, this is definitely a course of two parts. After the first timer briefing there is a collective walk of a few hundred meters downhill to the start line. The course is almost entirely on gravel paths, and you should be OK with normal road shoes, there is a bit of mud in places but nothing too major.
From the start you head back up your first (gentle) incline past the go ape high ropes, and back towards the briefing area near the cafe. After about 600m you'll reach the cafe and turn right and you'll now be heading downhill, look to the right and you'll see a Gruffalo facing away from you. After about another 500m you'll take a sharp turn to your right and almost go back on yourself still heading downhill, after 100m you'll take a left turn and about 100m or so after this you'll reach your second (gentle) climb which lasts for a 200m during which you'll take another left turn, you are now heading downhill again, there are some great views out over the countryside on your left hand side so make sure you remember to take a look. After about 800m you'll be sweeping left on a climb towards a right turn (with a sign and a marshal), you'll be about halfway around the course at this point and after the right turn you'll see at first and then feel in your legs the first major hill, good luck with this one it's about 300-400m long and goes up approx 40m in this time, so it's quite steep and remember don't try to power your way up it, also don't be afraid to walk part of this if you need to, there will be other people doing so. This hill finishes just after a left turn and you will now reach a downhill section (don't forget to look left again for some amazing views, I saw a Kestrel very close to the path hovering on the spot looking for his breakfast). The downhill section will get quite steep, let gravity take you if you can to gain a bit of free speed. After about 500m you will take a slight right turn and start climbing again. The final mile is all uphill, the first 600m being quite steep and the last km more gently uphill, in total you'll climb 60m in the final mile. 100m before the finish you'll come out of the trees into a clearing and you'll see the finish line, feel free to have a final sprint if you have anything left in the tank. Congratulations you've just completed one of the top 20 most hilly parkruns in the UK.
Elevation
HILLY... well to be fair, strictly speaking the first half of the course is largely downhill. Just make sure you save some energy for the second half of the course. The chart below gives you some idea. This course is too new to have yet been rated by https://jegmar.com/stats-hq/fastest-races/parkrun/ but according to the elevation I tracked I think this course is probably somewhere in the top 20 most hilly parkruns' in the UK at time of writing.
Parking, Facilities and Coffee
Parking is a pay on exit carpark, but there is no postcode which takes you direct to the carpark, I just put Wendover Woods into my Waze app on my phone and it got me to the correct carpark (Google maps also has the correct location for Wendover Woods). Car park costs £1.70 for up to 2 hours. Post parkrun coffee can be found at the 'Cafe in the Woods' (visible from the carpark), I had a very nice Cappuccino. Toilets, Children's Play Area, Gruffalo Walk and Go Ape are all available as well.
Summary
This is a fantastic, scenic and challenging parkrun, it is now in probably in my top 3 favourite parkruns' (along with 'Rushmere' and 'Killerton')
Links
Link to the Official parkrun site for this course: http://www.parkrun.org.uk/wendoverwoods/
Link to a video I found on Youtube of this route: