Homewood parkrun (#111)

No specific reasons to go anywhere this weekend, so I decided to fill one of the gaping holes in my Voronoi map and head to Homewood parkrun for the first time. This comes with the added benefit of helping me towards completion in the Surrey Regionnaire challenge. Also, I knew I wanted to go there in summer, since it is supposed to get very muddy when it rains and, apparently, the thing we are having this July in SE England still qualifies as summer.

I quite like roaming around Surrey for parkrun: it is a beautiful part of the country and it tends to have beautiful forest courses. Any problem? A tiny one: they also tend to be pretty hilly..

Homewood parkrun does not hide its hilliness and also during the pre-run briefing the ED was pretty open about the challenges ahead, in a fun unapologetic simil-smug way that I had only seen before at Huddinge parkrun… and Huddinge did not disappoint.

Spoiler alert: Homewood parkrun did not disappoint either: it is as challenging as it is fun, if you have a moderately masochistic streak. But you are a runner if you are reading this, so you most likely have it. That said, among the courses I’ve ran since I’ve started this blog, I still think Sunny Hill, Reigate Priory and Roundshaw Downs are harder. Let me know if you disagree!

Trip to Homewood parkrun and parking

Many of the Surrey venues are great because they are in or around beautiful forests and hills, because they feel truly ‘rural’. Even though looking for a really rural place in South East England is probably a bit naive, public transport is not exactly geared towards getting us to the nice forest for a quick run. Understandably.

According to the official course page, Chertsey and Addlestone train stations are both an option, assuming there isn’t a strike on the day. However, those will still get you 2 miles away from Homewood parkrun.

For me, coming from Wimbledon, a fast drive out into Surrey was again the most convenient option.

It was quick and easy on a parkrunday morning, since traffic was minimal and even the frequent roadworks on this route were not too annoying. It was a matter of getting into the A3 and then a short section on the M25. Once you get out of the motorways, it is probably 5 minutes drive to your destination. If you use Waze with the postcode I wrote above, it makes you turn 100 metres too early into a small residential cul-de-sac… but understanding you need the next turn is not difficult from the map.

The parking is not huge, but more than enough for an event that seems to get around 100 runners a week and mostly local. I arrived there at 8:30 and it was nearly empty. By 8:45 it was still half empty. Big bonus, parking is free and there is an additional parking spot at the opposite side of the playing fields in case this one fills up by the time you get there.

Homewood parkrun: start and briefings

You can literally see the start area from your car. While still sitting inside, if you get there early. It is extremely convenient even for the laziest parkrunners, so even for me.

The toilets are at the opposite side of the parking area from the start, but there is no more than one minute walk between the two.

From the parking, just get into the fields to the left and you have reached a long and narrow corner clubhouse: volunteers and other parkrunners will be congregating in front. There doesn’t seem to be a lot of non-parkrun related use at this venue before 9am, so the vast majority of people will be chatting or warming up around the start area.

From here, you can see the entrance of the forest of pain at the other side of the playing fields.

The first timers and main briefing were quick, informal and friendly, it is clearly this event still retains a strong community feel that you lose in the larger mass venues. And somehow, so true pride in their status as a real trail run that will inflict pain on the naive newcomers 🙂

Once all the prep is done, it is just a few seconds walk down the field to the start line. And the fun begins… until you get to Achilles’ Hill (Heel?) 🙂

Reigate Priory parkrun course review – star ratings

Homewood parkrun course review – route highlights

This is a small-to-average sized event, around 100-150 runners if I go by the attendance on the day I was there and the averages showing on the course page. This means there is absolutely no congestion at the start, but there might be a bit when you get into the trails, especially if you are a mid of the pack runner. Nothing particularly annoying and there will be plenty of stretches where you are running nearly alone and can soak in the woods, but on the first trail sections overtaking might be complicated. Also, buggies will be very challenging to get up some of the inclines or navigate around roots.

The course starts and ends on grass, but the full loop you repeat 3 times is all on wood trail. The grass section is short and well tended to. The trail sections can get fairly wild, with one steep incline and a lot of roots along the way. Road shoes were totally fine when I was there (in July), but I hear mud can be a major feature outside of summer.

The elevation profile is interesting: there is one obvious very steep hill, but it is short. That said, from the chart below, you can see there are at least two meaningful elevation gains. Those are not as steep and short and they challenge your endurance more than the main, evil wall.

A 3-lapper (because why not get as much as you can of a good thing like Achilles’ Hill), it is very well signposted and marshalled and there are no areas where you can be confused or get lost. There is also a funny loop area 2/3 of the way through the lap that could qualify as a a mini curly wurly. If the real curly wurly, Thames Path and the old pretender (Somerdale Pavillion) had a child, this could be the baby curly wurly parkrun. Not much room to grow in the middle of a hilly forest though, poor kid.

You start on open fields, so people can spread out pretty wide and progressively come together to avoid congestion. It works well and you also avoid having too much distance between the middle of the pack and the actual start line, getting your real time closer to the ‘official’ time.

You then keep going in straight line for about 200 metres until you get to the hedge of the forest and turn right to keep coasting it until you again turn left and slowly head up the hill towards the proper wood trails. It is still outside even while you start climbing for 1/150 metres, passing next to a small play area. The elevation here is noticeable, but not awful. That said, start pacing yourself, the worst is yet to come.

Now you will enter the wood on a continuously sloping path that gets pretty narrow. Straight for a while, than sharp left before a big tree that claimed the centre of the path and forces parkrunner to split around it and its majestic roots. This is the section where I got a bit stuck and had problems overtaking. Probably a silver-lining because at the end you get to to a short section with high grass/weeds/green stuff and then there it is: a smiley volunteer showing you to your left.

What’s on your left? The monster wall dabbed Achilles’ Hill: it is not more than 20 metres long, but it must be nearly 10 in elevation. Proper trekking. Enjoy! The first time I ran up and then exploded; I did not even try and walked up the next two times.

Once you get on top, there is a short respite, with a flat area then gently gets into a decline for a little while before going up and down again shortly and then give you back what the hill had taken from you with a longer, gentle descent. The ground is uneven and there are many roots so, by all means, let gravity to its thing and recover some time, but try to avoid gravity having too much fun with your head and upper limbs involved as well.

At the end of the descent there is a sharp turn left where a volunteer will cheer you up before you see that the descent was not a gift. It goes up again from here for a while. Not a short while, but not steep… this course has a thing for sneaking up on you while you aren’t noticing it and then ask for payment. In blood and tears. 🙂

Up top you enter the mini loop where you see runners coming back as you approach. It’s not long, maybe 50 metres, but it is nearly perfect circular. You get down into a flat circle and turn around until you are back just beside the place where you entered this section and read to enjoy the last small incline.

After a few seconds of gentle climbing, you turn right and it’s all downhill from here until you get back to the playing fields. Coast the wood and go back to where you entered them the first time. It was fun, wasn’t it? So why not do it TWO more times! 🙂

The last time you get here you will run in the same direction but towards the field and reach the finish funnel half way towards the parking area, on the opposite side of the fields compared to the start. That’s how you get the horseshoe bit on the map: this are the only segments you will not repeat during your 5K (or a touch below that, according to my Garmin).

The finish funnel is efficient and fast and the team is great. You survived Homewood parkrun, well done! 🙂

Facilities at Homewood Priory parkrun

Not much in terms of additional facilities at this venue, but the basics are there and convenient.

Toilets are open before 9am and available at the entrance of the parking. Fairly small, but more than enough for a venue that still attracts manageable numbers of runners.

Unfortunately, no cafe or drinks at the venue, but this is clearly written on the official event page. Knowing that I had brought my own refreshments with me for after the run.

As a competitor to the McDonald’s index, I am continuing to collect data for the parkbreakfast index: how much is breakfast at each location? Unfortunately, Homewood parkrun goes into the n/a column. They say they go to a cafe nearby, which I am sure is delicious, but I have not followed the recommendation this time.

Homewood parkrun: Video Highlights

As usual, I’ve taken a few video snippets during the run to give an idea of the course. If you like it, please subscribe, it’s a fun past time for me 🙂

The other parkrun videos on my YouTube channel are all linked on the course review and video highlights summary page.

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Achievements and performance

Conclusions

It’s a beautiful place for a hard and rewarding run. I know I say it often, but I mean it, I will be back when I’ve managed to get back to decent levels of fitness. I want to get below 30 at least for this venue and I thoroughly enjoyed my experience here. And it’s not far for me.

Thank you Homewood parkrun for your hospitality! See you soon