Leamington parkrun

Introduction / List of reviews

If you’re new here click the link for an introduction post and list of other reviews –> Click me

Date of Visit

13/05/2023

Number of runners

470

Event Number

562

Visit Number

1

This has been my NENDY for ages but I’d never gotten around to making the trip. Had a reason to go into Leamington this weekend so finally made the visit.

Results

https://www.parkrun.org.uk/leamington/results/562/

parkrun Link

https://www.parkrun.org.uk/leamington

Facebook Page

https://www.facebook.com/leamparkrun

Strava Segment

https://www.strava.com/segments/1227278

Weather

Don’t say it too loudly but the weather is finally edging towards something looking like summer.

Was a bit overcast but I was perfectly fine in just my t-shirt.

Getting There

Newbold Comyn is a country park that’s in middle of Leamington Spa so is well connected.

From a sat nav point of view if you put Newbold Comyn Leisure centre in that’ll get you nearby but don’t use their car park.

The park itself has two car parks which are both free to use.

Newbold Comyn Carpark which is accessible by driving past the leisure centre on Newbold Terrace (52.28904062044538, -1.5134110886211802 or a google maps link is here ) Short walk towards the football pitches and the start is opposite side of the changing rooms.

Radford Road is a smaller car park with a short walk over a bridge to the start

I couldn’t find it in Google maps but it’s here

52.28437114729857, -1.5140209029364342 or google maps link is here

For public transport, Leamington train station is just over a mile away so if you can get there early enough close enough to walk or jog to as a warm up.

If you’re a cyclist then cycle path 41 goes directly past where the event starts

Facilities

There’s a small building in front of the start/finish area that has toilets and a volunteer run café for post run refreshments. There was tea, coffee, squash as well as cake and biscuits. Take what you want and they ask for a donation to a local charity which is a great idea. Seeing as parking is free you may as well throw in what you would have used to park at least!

Briefings and Volunteers

They had a map for the first time briefing which I’m always appreciative of! Young person doing the first time briefing was only on her second go and did a superb job.

Main briefing was in front of the main block with a megaphone! Very welcoming to all the visitors. With nearby Warwick Racecourse being off they got a bumper crowd and was keen to give people hitting milestones a cheer.

Start line and finish funnel

Both the start line and finish funnel are on a huge field so plenty of room. Start line was nice and wide and there was plenty of space to run into so no fear of bottle necking.

Course

1 lap.

Starts with a section on the football field before joining a path that goes all around the park. There is a very big hill in the middle! You’re essentially running to the hill, up to the top then back down it to the finish line.

Shoes

Trail in the winter or if it’s been wet in any way. The start on the field alone could get squelchy in the winter but a fair few of the paths were muddy on this visit and it’s the middle of May!

That said, through the summer road shoes are entirely fine. I ran this one in road shoes and other than a bit of puddle jumping I just about got away with it.

Short or Long? (based on our watches and checking out other Strava profiles)

I had exactly 3.11 on my watch though someone I bumped into from my running club had it about 400m short. There’s a lot of tree cover though so I’d expect some GPS weirdness.

Andy Stats

parkrun number:

88

Tourist event number:

40

Official time:

19:10

Position:  

8th (72.26% age grade)

Bryony Stats

No Bryony this week. She’s still struggling with her knee so decided not to come this time. She’s doing lots of volunteering at Riversley Park Junior parkrun at the moment so she still gets her parkrun fix

How did it go?

I really enjoyed this despite having a massive hill which I’m always keen to avoid. Route itself was very nice around the trail paths and once you get to the top of the hill you do have a great chance at picking up speed up on the way down.

Having drinks and cake virtually on the finish line is great for encouraging people to hang around afterwards which was great.

Return Visit Likely?

Probably, though the hill will make me think twice. It’s still on Bryony’s list so she’ll want to tick it off at some point.

Pictures and that.