My 31st parkrun and a letter 'I' for my Alphabet Challenge, found us visiting Irchester Country parkrun on their second week of running, it's a stunning out and back (with a loop) hilly woodland course, all on hard trails and with amazing views. I wore trail shoes, but I think you could get away with road shoes on this one. It has all the benefits of a country park, including a decent car park, toilets, a cafe, a takeaway drinks and snacks van, and it even has a PB gong. Parking is a very reasonable £1 to parkrunners on arrival. [I visited here on the 9th November 2019]
Difficulty
I'm going to rate this as a 3 out of 5 purely for the elevation (which is about 51m of total climb across the course), but the terrain is good and is entirely on hard trails and footpaths, and good times are possible due to the downhill bits of the course. On a wet morning the course can be a bit slippy so if you have some road shoes with grippy rubber that would probably be a good choice.
Briefings
The briefings are held near the finish area next to a tree close to the cafe and takeaway van. They have a PA system and a laminated map of the course. The key message on the course briefing is a reminder to keep left, this being an out and back course you will see lots of runners coming the other way. After the briefing there is a group walk to the start approx 200m along a footpath, and you start by heading back towards the car park and finish area. [Update 06/01/2020 - The run director has informed me that they’ve moved the briefings to be by the start line now that they have a good battery-powered PA system]
Course
This course is basically a 2k out and back with a 1k loop is the middle of the course. You start 200m back from the finish area and head east (slightly uphill) towards and past the finish area, at the car park you'll turn left where the path flattens out and head North East into the woods and before long the footpath becomes a hard trail. You'll pass some spoil piles on your left, before you take a sweeping right turn and then a sweeping left turn still on the flat but the trees gradually getting denser around you. After staying straight for a while, there is another right turn, closely followed by another sweeping right turn which takes you south and uphill. The next 600m or so are straight and south and a steady climb uphill, eventually at the end of the straight, you'll reach the end of the treeline, and you'll take a left turn to head East onto a shorter straight (still climbing). you'll next reach a marshal who will direct you left and North to start the looped section. After a short sharp climb at the beginning of the loop, you'll be going downhill as you head north into a less dense part of the woods, after the downhill straight you'll reach a right turn into a denser tree line and before long you'll be climbing again. You'll then follow a slight sweeping left and then right turns and then a sharper right turn before you emerge from the tree line and you're now heading south around the perimeter of the woods, with stunning views to your left as you head back towards the start of the looped section climbing all the way, keep an eye out on the left for a bridge type structure that's something to do with the Irchester Narrow Gauge Railway. Shortly after that you'll be back at the start of the loop, keep left because depending where in the running order you may be passing runners on your right turning off to start their own looped section. You've now reached the end of the climb and you'll now be following the same 2k route you came along back to the start, but this time heading gradually down the hill back through the woods.
Elevation
With 51m of climbing on this parkrun, it is a fairly tough course. Good times are possible here because the terrain is good, but it's not a PB course by any means. Essentially most of the route out is uphill and most of the way back is downhill, so plan accordingly.
Parking, Facilities and Coffee
Upon arrival at the car park a Marshall sold me a ticket for £1 parking, which is very reasonable. Car park is very convenient for the briefing area of the parkrun. There are toilets (open for parkrun) and a cafe right at the briefing area. There is a take-out van as well as the cafe and they do a very good flat white. This Country park is also home to the Irchester Narrow Gauge Railway, which is only open on Sundays so if that's of interest, then you'll need a return trip. There are also playgrounds and a high wire activity at this park, so it's very well served all round.
Other Points of Interest
Home to the Irchester Narrow Gauge Railway (open on Sundays)
Summary
Yet another stunningly beautiful woodland trail parkrun, with tree lined path's, forest landscapes, great views and a decent running surface. A decent challenge of a parkrun, but this one doesn't get too muddy, so it's one you can still do if you don't own any trail shoes.
Links
Link to official parkrun site for this course - https://www.parkrun.org.uk/irchestercountry/
Link to my Relive summary of the course - https://www.relive.cc/view/vrqDmAKE1wv
Link to video of the course I found on YouTube (from the morning of my visit), see if you can spot me or any of my running buddies hanging around after the finish -