Bracknell parkrun

On the last parkrunday of October, I have interrupted a streak of trips to the East of London and visited Bracknell parkrun for the first time.

After a couple of very enjoyable trips to the other side of town, with Roding Valley parkrun and Brentwood parkrun, it was nice to have a later morning and come back to the western suburblands.

This location was also one of the last, disturbing empty spots in the area within my Voronoi map, so it had been on my todo list for a while. And I am glad I made it here on a warm, sunny autumn day. The views with late sunrise light were gorgeous and the forest section was dry and enjoyable.

Anyway, enough with my rumblings. It’s time to dive into some more info about Bracknell parkrun!

Trip to Bracknell parkrun and parking

The Recreation Grounds where Bracknell parkrun starts are at the South Western edges of Bracknell proper. They are actually pretty easy to reach if you are able to drive there, but not the most obvious ones if you are trying to get there by public transport.

According to the official event site, the best way to reach the event is to hop on bus 94 from Bracknell bus station, which is by Bracknell train station. This is served by Southwestern, so if you need to get there you can take advantage of frequent services from Waterloo or Reading. The station is about 3.5 miles from your target parkrun meeting point, so, in theory you could also end your commute with a job or a walk. Finally, the event site says Bracknell is planned with cyclists in mind, so maybe you can board your bike on the train?

If driving, the venue was fairly convenient to reach from my base in SW London. Hop on the A3 and M25 and there won’t be a lot of travel on secondary local roads. Once you get there, the free car park is conveniently signposted. It can be a busy event, so come with time to spare and you won’t have issues finding a spot. If you find it full, please respect the team’s strong request not to park on the grass verges along South Road. This is the route to a crematorium and it is maintained with care by the local council.

Bracknell parkrun: start and briefings

If you have left your car at the free car park by South Road, you will see a line of squat buildings at the edge of the playing fields. Head for those to reach the meeting point, in a paved little square between the cafe and a children play area.

The cafe and toilets were open before the event and people started to arrive fairly late. I did not think it was as busy an event as it actually turned out to be.

The First Timers briefing was held on the grass, just a few metres away from the volunteers table and everyone was welcomed with enthusiasm and friendliness.

Immediately afterwards, the RD used a good speakers system from the middle of the little square to give the main briefing and some of the usual reminders. After that, everyone has to walk about 150/200 in the direction opposite the nearby meadows. And face back towards the meeting point, looking at a nice tree-lined narrow(ish) path.

Then, I heard the RD start the countdown. ‘3, 2, 1, go!’. It was time to go.

Bracknell parkrun course review – star ratings

Bracknell parkrun course review – route highlights

There were 390 parkrunners on the day of my visit to Bracknell parkrun. It was an unseasonably sunny October day, maybe people found it easier to get out of the door, to enjoy one of the last nice parkrundays in a while, I guess. This was not record attendance, there are other events in the 390s and some in the low 400s over the last few months, but it is one of the highest attendance days in a while. On average, I can see attendance levels in a 300-350 range, which is still very very respectable. It felt good: it was not annoyingly busy, but it very much gave the feeling of a large group event. And, while short, the two-way segment definitely contributed to that feeling.

Congestion is something that you might feel, especially during lap one. It was not a problem at the start, where the path is wide enough, but it can become a problemm in some of the twists and turns of the woodland area. There was a bit where I thought I wanted to overtake, but it was not really easy. If I am honest to myself, however, as narrow as it might have been, overtaking was not impossible. I probably just took it as an excuse to ease in a bit.

Surface-wise, there is a bit of grass, but it is mostly trails. Most of the trails are well pressed, without a lot of roots or rocks to negotiate and even when exposed, it was not wet when I visited. As a result, I had no problems running in road shoes. However, I would probably think trail shoes would be recommended during winter.

Elevation-wise, at 35m elevation gain over two laps, this is flat. It’s not necessarily a PB course because of all the narrow turns and busy field, but while there are inclines, they are not particularly gruesome. There are a few short ramps in the woodland area and one slightly more noticeable ‘hill’ 2/3 of the way through the Northern loop, but that’s about it. Wet grass or mud could be an issue here in winter, but elevation will never be.

In terms of course layout, it is two loops connected by a two-way segment. The Southern loop includes the fun and weird woodland segment, while the Northern segment is a more regular ‘lap around the fields’, with a lot of it happening under three cover. And you do all of this twice.

A quick Relive route plot is on my YouTube Channel, with longer video highlights embedded below.

After walking past the tennis courts from the meeting point, everyone turns to face that area again. When it’s time to go, everyone runs back along the path by the tennis courts until you reach the little clearing in front of the cafe. After you pass it, turn slightly left and keeps running on path for a few metres before turning right into the meadows. Here go straight up to the middle of the fields on a mild uphill and the crest the fields before a short descent towards the entry into the woodlands.

The woodland section is hard to describe in detail. You can look at the map above, it is windy, messy and fun. At a certain point, you reach a corner where a marshal shows you the way to the left, but on the opposite side you can see the frontrunners already coming back. On the second lap it will be even nicer to see a never ending line of runners going both ways. As you reach the opposite side of the area, a long and slightly less winding way back starts, on narrower paths were overtaking might take a bit more commitment. Eventually you reach a clearing that transitions you back into the playing fields. Now go along the path on the side of the car park until the end. There, turn 90-degrees right and run along the buildings until you reach the corner by the meeting point.

Turn 90-degrees left here and run the path by the tennis courts in the opposite direction. This will now be a 2-way flow segment, so keep to the left. At the end, turn 90 degrees left and run two sides of another set of large playing fields. On the day of my visit, a football game was on. After the end of the of the fields, turn left into a short descent that gets you back into a tree covered area. Straight for a short while and then it is time to turn 90-degrees right again. A short segment in another less dense woodland gets you to the only real hill. This is steepish, but very short. On the other side, you will soon be on an straight out in the open that will lead you back to the start line.

As you get there, start the second lap, this time with people coming back the other way in the two way flow area, potentially.

At the end of the second lap, turn into the fields instead of crossing them and the finish funnel will be there waiting for you.

Congratulations on completing Bracknell parkrun!

Facilities at Bracknell parkrun

The arrival to Bracknell parkrun location is fairly unassuming, but as you get closer you see the Recreation Grounds offer plenty of attractive facilities.

Toilets, on the opposite side of the cafe, are open before the event and they are plentiful and clean.

The cafe is also open either side of the event and it offers a good choice of sweet and savoury options. Also, it comes with a spacious outside sitting area that is a pleasure to sit in, if it is not too wet.

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?

At Brentwood parkrun, I ordered a diet coke, a muffin and an espresso. This cost me a shocking £4. I checked twice and asked if they had made a mistake. Apparently, they had not.

Bracknell 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

I really enjoyed Bracknell parkrun, It’s a beautiful location with a lot of different terrains, areas and views, it definitely has more to offer than you would think based on first impressions. The woodland segment is bonkers, in a fun way. Shame it did not last longer!

It’s not very far, so I think I would love to come back and log a better time if I ever get back in shape again!

Finally, obviously, thank you, Bracknell parkrun team for your hospitality!