This was my 30th parkrun venue, and it's a gorgeous woodland run, with beautiful scenery, a few inclines and a mix of hard surfaced trails, muddy straights and soft woodland trails. It's been raining a lot lately so the muddy section at the moment does represent a bit of a challenge, but it doesn't last forever and the rest of the route is largely unaffected by the rain. It can also be quite fun to squelch though the mud, best bet is to bring some hybrids and wear a big fat smile through the muddy straight. The forest itself is a former medieval hunting forest, the largest ancient wood in the county of Northamptonshire, and it's situated between Newport Pagnell and Northampton.
Parking for this parkrun is right next to the start and is £2 pay and display and there is also a cafe and toilet facilities which are open before the start.
Difficulty
I'm going to rate this as a 3 out of 5 (maybe 2.5 out of 5 on a dryer day), it was raining on the morning of my first visit, and the muddy section was tricky and there was just enough inclines to make you work that bit harder. It's one of those, where you expect it to be a quicker course than it actually is. The inclines on paper only come to a total elevation of about 26m, but it's a tough going course and it's not particularly quick. It's a challenging but very pretty parkrun, so forget about the time and try to take in all the beautiful scenery.
Briefings
The briefings are held next to the car park, and give the usual description of the course, including a heads up about the mud section. Due to the first proper straight being very narrow, this parkrun operates a phased lineup according to your expected finish time. In practice this worked very well, getting the quicker runners out of the way and ensuring no one is held up by runners who are out of position. They also have a PA system (which was well wrapped to protect it from the rain).
Course
Once you've been directed to the start and are set off you head North East, a gradual up-hill with a few turns, first left, then right and then after cresting the hill, it's right again, before taking a left turn onto a narrow tree-lined straight, which lasts about 500m or so heading gently downhill, where the trees above you lean in towards one another (lots of autumnal colours in the trees at the moment, so this is a very pretty section of the run), the running surface here is good but narrow, so not much overtaking potential (this is why this parkrun operates a phased start). At the end of the tree lined straight you take a slight right turn onto a another (muddy) straight, this one last's about 600m and while it's just as enclosed overhead, the path is a bit wider here so more room to spread out, best bet here though is to find the best (least trodden) route though the mud, at the end of the muddy straight a marshal will direct you right to a more open section of the forest with great views up a valley, after reaching the bottom of the gradual downhill you've been running, you now start a gradual climb which lasts about a km or so, you'll come to a right turn reaching another straight and at the end of the straight you'll be directed left into a densely wooded, woodland bark trail path, by this point you'll have reached the end of the uphill and you'll be running roughly on the level, after taking a right turn you're now on the perimeter of the woods, and while you're still under tree cover you should be able to make out open fields to your left though the trees, they were foggy and mysterious on the second time I ran this course, and created quite a dramatic scene, there's a couple of wooden footbridges in this section and then you'll reach a short sharpish downhill section, which ends with a right turn, leaving the dense wooded section and onto hard surfaced trails where you start another climb. A couple of right turns and a couple of left turns brings you back to the start finish straight and it's now a straight level 500m run to the finish line.
Elevation
Total of 26m climbing on this parkrun, which doesn't seem a lot, but you will notice it out on course, the worst climb is after you've finished doing the muddy section. They're not particularly challenging climbs but you will be aware of them.
Parking, Facilities and Coffee
Parking is £2 for an 'Early-Bird ticket' which lasts up until about 11am. Car park is literally right next to the start. There are toilets (open for parkrun) and a cafe a short walk from the car park. So another parkrun which is very well served in terms of facilities.
Summary
Another stunningly beautiful woodland parkrun, with tree lined path's, forest landscapes, and a fun woodland trail section. Gentler than Rushmere, but still a decent challenge.
Links
Link to official parkrun site for this course - https://www.parkrun.org.uk/salceyforest/
Link to my Relive summary of the course - https://www.relive.cc/view/vPv4Jy8EQR6
Link to a short video of the course I found on YouTube -
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