Bevendean Down Parkrun
The 3rd March 2018; the day the earth stood still. Well, not quite, but most of the UK did as a blanket of ice and snow - "the Beast from the East" - covered the country. Parkrun took a huge hit this weekend; somewhere close to 410 cancellations.
I'd been keeping a close eye on forecasts for much of the week as Abigail and I were travelling to Brighton for a gig on the Saturday evening. Over the duration of the week, forecasts shifted constantly and it became increasingly apparent that travel would be tricky. By the Thursday a number of parkruns had already been cancelled as a precaution; in fact, my local runs at Pegwell Bay, Canterbury, Whitstable and Margate had already cancelled by this point. Fortunately, the parkruns in the vicinity of Brighton and Eastbourne all looked to be going ahead.
By Friday the list of cancellations had continued to increase and the weather forecast was increasingly dire. A snow-day email from work gave me the opportunity to reassess things; we'd originally planned to travel down to Brighton on the Saturday morning, taking in a parkrun on the way (Eastbourne, probably), however, looking at the forecast I identified a narrow window on the Friday where the snowfall would stop for just enough time for Abigail and I to get down to the south coast. I quickly added another night's stay to our Travelodge booking, packed our bags and set off to East Sussex. As we pulled into the Travelodge at Hellingly, the snow was pelting down again, but it didn't matter as we were in the vicinity of five or six parkruns that, as yet, had not been cancelled.
7am Saturday morning, my friend John Matthews (a proper parkrun tourist - look him up) was messaging me from New Zealand. He'd already bagged his parkrun in balmy Palmerston North and was eagerly watching the cancellations from the UK popping up on various Facebook groups. I think he was as nervous about me missing a parkrun as I was. Anyway, I had all of the 'reachable' parkruns on Facebook auto-notify so that I could see instantly when they posted an update. Most had promised last-minute inspections. Eastbourne was my preferred choice and it seemed sensible to focus on this event as it had an excellent cancellation history (something like one cancellation in five years).
Then they all started dropping...one by one a little notification would appear on my Facebook feed... Peacehaven: cancelled, Preston Park: cancelled, Eastbourne: cancelled. This wasn't good. I don't know Brighton and didn't fancy doing a last minute dart into the city to take a punt on Brighton and Hove or Hove Promenade. The only parkrun that seemed feasible was Bevendean Down. I sent them a message, but by this time they'd be busy checking the course, so I knew I had to take a risk and drive down there.
I parked in a nearby housing estate and walked up the steep roads and footpaths towards Bevendean Down. The footpaths were like sheets of ice and the roads weren't much better. I couldn't see any other runners, despite it being 8.40am. As I passed through a little ginnel on to the Down I could see two hi-vis clad figures in the distance...one of them was setting up the finish funnel...I couldn't believe my eyes!
I had a lovely chat with the Run Director who told me that Bevendean Down virtually never gets cancelled because the course is all run on grassy slopes. I pointed out how lucky I was to find a parkrun, the response... "wait until you've done the hill....twice!". As I survey the large hill in front of me, the Run Director leans over and says "by the way, that's not the top...the top is obscured by the mist". Gulp. What I didn't realise is that Bevendean Down has the 6th highest elevation ranking in the UK... Lullingstone (which nearly killed me a few months previous) is 8th.
Anyway, a small flurry of parkrunners turned up on the Down; around fifty in total. The course begins with a relentless ascent, just over 200m in 0.5 miles. You quickly lose elevation as you run down the side of the hill, back to the starting point. The ground was frozen solid so I had to be very careful not to slip or turn an ankle. On the second lap I took the hill at a much slower pace as I found it extremely tough. I reminded myself that I was just very lucky to be running a parkrun today. After a very quick descent I managed to cling on to fifth position, finishing in 21.33.
All in all, I was pretty chuffed with this parkrun. It felt like a little victory against the snow and ice, and I was pleased that I got to run such a lovely (albeit tough) course, surrounded by some very friendly volunteers. I'd recommend it to anyone in the Brighton/Eastbourne area as it's very easy to find/park.
As an aside, just before the parkrun began, I had a weird moment of coincidence. At Christmas I'd been up North visiting my parents and had run the Sale Water parkrun. At the start line I'd overheard a female runner mention to a marshal that they were from Brighton. I didn't really think anything of it until, three months later at the start line at Bevendean Down, I immediately recognise a woman's voice standing next to me... it's the same female runner from Sale Water! I speculatively introduce myself... "did you happen to run Sale Water a few weeks ago?".... "yes! I did! Did you run it too?!"... "yes!"..."How did you recognise me?"... It sounds a bit rude if you say you recognised someone's voice. Either way, I dodged the question because the starting horn went off at that moment. For the record, the female runner is Caroline Wood - a member of the three hundred club. A weird and wonderful moment of coincidence that made for a really enjoyable visit!
I'd been keeping a close eye on forecasts for much of the week as Abigail and I were travelling to Brighton for a gig on the Saturday evening. Over the duration of the week, forecasts shifted constantly and it became increasingly apparent that travel would be tricky. By the Thursday a number of parkruns had already been cancelled as a precaution; in fact, my local runs at Pegwell Bay, Canterbury, Whitstable and Margate had already cancelled by this point. Fortunately, the parkruns in the vicinity of Brighton and Eastbourne all looked to be going ahead.
By Friday the list of cancellations had continued to increase and the weather forecast was increasingly dire. A snow-day email from work gave me the opportunity to reassess things; we'd originally planned to travel down to Brighton on the Saturday morning, taking in a parkrun on the way (Eastbourne, probably), however, looking at the forecast I identified a narrow window on the Friday where the snowfall would stop for just enough time for Abigail and I to get down to the south coast. I quickly added another night's stay to our Travelodge booking, packed our bags and set off to East Sussex. As we pulled into the Travelodge at Hellingly, the snow was pelting down again, but it didn't matter as we were in the vicinity of five or six parkruns that, as yet, had not been cancelled.
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| Cancellations in red! |
Then they all started dropping...one by one a little notification would appear on my Facebook feed... Peacehaven: cancelled, Preston Park: cancelled, Eastbourne: cancelled. This wasn't good. I don't know Brighton and didn't fancy doing a last minute dart into the city to take a punt on Brighton and Hove or Hove Promenade. The only parkrun that seemed feasible was Bevendean Down. I sent them a message, but by this time they'd be busy checking the course, so I knew I had to take a risk and drive down there.
I parked in a nearby housing estate and walked up the steep roads and footpaths towards Bevendean Down. The footpaths were like sheets of ice and the roads weren't much better. I couldn't see any other runners, despite it being 8.40am. As I passed through a little ginnel on to the Down I could see two hi-vis clad figures in the distance...one of them was setting up the finish funnel...I couldn't believe my eyes!
I had a lovely chat with the Run Director who told me that Bevendean Down virtually never gets cancelled because the course is all run on grassy slopes. I pointed out how lucky I was to find a parkrun, the response... "wait until you've done the hill....twice!". As I survey the large hill in front of me, the Run Director leans over and says "by the way, that's not the top...the top is obscured by the mist". Gulp. What I didn't realise is that Bevendean Down has the 6th highest elevation ranking in the UK... Lullingstone (which nearly killed me a few months previous) is 8th.
Anyway, a small flurry of parkrunners turned up on the Down; around fifty in total. The course begins with a relentless ascent, just over 200m in 0.5 miles. You quickly lose elevation as you run down the side of the hill, back to the starting point. The ground was frozen solid so I had to be very careful not to slip or turn an ankle. On the second lap I took the hill at a much slower pace as I found it extremely tough. I reminded myself that I was just very lucky to be running a parkrun today. After a very quick descent I managed to cling on to fifth position, finishing in 21.33.
All in all, I was pretty chuffed with this parkrun. It felt like a little victory against the snow and ice, and I was pleased that I got to run such a lovely (albeit tough) course, surrounded by some very friendly volunteers. I'd recommend it to anyone in the Brighton/Eastbourne area as it's very easy to find/park.
As an aside, just before the parkrun began, I had a weird moment of coincidence. At Christmas I'd been up North visiting my parents and had run the Sale Water parkrun. At the start line I'd overheard a female runner mention to a marshal that they were from Brighton. I didn't really think anything of it until, three months later at the start line at Bevendean Down, I immediately recognise a woman's voice standing next to me... it's the same female runner from Sale Water! I speculatively introduce myself... "did you happen to run Sale Water a few weeks ago?".... "yes! I did! Did you run it too?!"... "yes!"..."How did you recognise me?"... It sounds a bit rude if you say you recognised someone's voice. Either way, I dodged the question because the starting horn went off at that moment. For the record, the female runner is Caroline Wood - a member of the three hundred club. A weird and wonderful moment of coincidence that made for a really enjoyable visit!
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| The hill x2 |
