Wycombe Rye parkrun

This week I visited Wycombe Rye parkrun for the first time. I has been quite a while since I’ve been at a parkrun in Buckinghamshire. Before I had the pleasure to visit beautiful Black Park parkrun on the way to an afternoon meeting and the gorgeous but very challenging Wendover Woods parkrun a couple of summers ago. The latter remains one of the most challenging ones I’ve been at so far. Wycombe Rye has a tiny hill, nothing comparable to that.

This visit was as unexpected as they get. The night before I had planned to visit another location in the Home Counties, but I realised late at night that this was going to be a week with many parkrun cancellations. It looks like the rain during the week had caused a good amount of flooding and my target venue had raised the white flag. As I checked alternatives, I realised many were known for being prone to mud and I did not fancy a mad bath.

Wycombe Rye parkrun also provided an additional benefit: it connected my Voronoi map so that Wendover Woods is not a stray island away from my main block anymore. I will need one more trip up here to connect Bicester parkrun as well, then I can start filling the blanks.

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

Trip to Wycombe Rye parkrun and parking

The meeting point is just outside Wycombe Rye Lido, in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire. The location is not far from London, just outside the M25, on North-Western corner.

Looking at the public transport section of the official event site, the only station being mentioned is High Wycombe station. The station is operated by Chiltern Railways. Looking at google maps, the station is 0.8 miles away from Wycombe Rye parkrun meeting point, or about 15 minutes walk. If you are in the area, the official event site provides several options to catch a bus and reach the venue.

If driving, Wycombe Rye parkrun is located on the A40, on the Eastern side of High Wycombe town. If you can set your GPS to the Lido car park, you will reach a fairly large car park seconds away from your target destination. I arrived around 8:20 and it was already roughly half full though: this is a busy event. Come early or look at the alternative parking recommendations on the official event site.

If you are coming from this car park, look at te corner with a few buildings and you will see a toilet block, the nirvana of all long distance parkrun tourists. Head for it and, if a stop is not needed, through the opening on its left. The small clearing you will reach is already the meeting point for Wycombe Rye parkrun.

Wycombe Rye parkrun: start and briefings

As you cross from the car park to the meeting point past the toilet block, you are immediately met by the tables around which volunteers gather. In front of you, the open expanse of green meadows that will frame around half of the course. I found it quite peaceful, even many people congregating for what would be a fairly busy event.

The First Timers briefing was held on grass, just in front of the toilets. They have a big poster to show the route, which was useful because I could barely hear anything that was being said.

Shortly afterwards, people slightly shift their sight to the left and the Main Briefing started. There is no loudspeaker system here and I was standing too far, so I heard pretty much nothing. Special mention must have gone to the many members of a local running club that were volunteering as pacers. They offered their time ahead of a 10 miler on Sunday, hope you had fun running it!

Afterwards, everybody walks towards the centre of the fields for about 200m to position for a wide start on grass.

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

Wycombe Rye parkrun course review – star ratings

Wycombe Rye parkrun course review – route highlights

There were 563 parkrunners on the day of my visit to Wycombe Rye parkrun. Impressive for a late January cold day coming after a very rainy week. But probably locals knew this location could cope (relatively) well with mud. This is a a large number, but the event never felt overcrowded and the general vibe was very welcoming and cheery. In general, attendance seems to settle around mid to high 400s most weeks, with some weeks in the 300s and several above 500. Wycombe Rye parkrun could support slightly higher numbers without impacting the experience negatively, but I think they are currently operating around their sweet spot.

It is definitely a busy event, but the wide start on grass makes any congestion feel not a problem. A big party rather than a traffic pile up. After that, everybody runs on open fields for about 300m, maybe more. Plenty of time for the field to thin out before the first turn. After that you start running on normal paths, but they are always wide enough not to feel too busy. Eventually, you will start sharing them with people coming back and that’s likely to happen up in the hill where paths are narrowest. However, unless you are walking at the back, that won’t be happening for long. The only other weird feature is a few stone steps at the end of the turnaround loop. Stone, hence slippery if wet. Unusual and interesting, just try not to slip here. They looked hard. Harder than my head, at least.

Surface-wise, this is a mixed route, but without any real trail segments. It starts on low grass, then transitions onto hard paths and finally, paved ones. You reach the end and do all three again, in reverse. I visited after a very wet week, with many events cancelling in the South East. However, Wycombe Rye parkrun was a pleasure to run on, with no mud on the grass segments and an only a few manageable puddles on the hard paths section. I run wearing road shoes and had no issues with them. Except, maybe the big stone steps around the mid point.

In terms of elevation, the 47m of elevation gain might suggest more ups and downs than you will really experience during your run. The first segment around the fields is pancake flat. After that, you climb up the hill and run alongside it. The ‘straight’ on the hill side is not perfectly flat, but the slight undulation will not be painful. At the end of that straight, the beginning of a wide turnaround loop brings you a fun, steep downhill. This was slippery on the day of my visit so I had to hold back a bit, but I am sure it is glorious with better weather. Going back up will be via stairs: faster and less painful way to climb back after that fun descent.

In terms of course layout, it reminds a U-shaped out and back, with a large loop at the end to make the turnaround point more interesting..

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

As said above, the start is comfortably wide, on grass. You head back towards the cafe and lido buildings and pass them leaving them on your right. After passing them, you keep cutting through the fields diagonally until you reach the corner. Here you turn hard left and start running up the short side of the fields. At the end of this shorter segment, turn wide left around a big scenic tree and you will find yourself on a hard path. Good surface on two slightly different levels, with the fields on your left and a nice stream on your right. There were a few big puddles, but, all considered, the minimum amount of mud was a great surprise.

About 2/3 of the way through, you will negotiate a small S-shaped curve and keep going in open terrain and, now, on tarmac. You are crossing the fields, so quite exposed if windy or rainy, but soon you will reach the end of this section. There, a gentle left turn around a large clearing will get you heading back towards the hill. After a short straight, you pass a small boating lake on your left and then start climbing. A wide left-leaning hill will bring you to the elevated hill path.

Once you are up, the path flows relatively flat and straight under the trees and with a view on the small lake on the left. There are a few curves and some slight up and downs, but all in all it is flattish. If you are running in the middle of the pack, eventually you will see faster runners coming back in the opposite direction. The path is not super wide, so overtaking will become a little bit trickier, but not impossible.

Towards the end, the path separates and you will take the left leaning option, leaving returning runners on your right. You are now going down gently and then turn left and go down a steep descent. At the end, if you are still standing, keep going and run a square around a small field. At the other end, turn left and climb up the stairs. Literally. Maybe walk up, they are slippery. At the top, turn right this time and run the last new segments of this course. It won’t be long until you reach the bifurcation where you went down before. Keep going straight this time and you are now going to run it all back. In the opposite direction.

On the way back, you will not go all the way to the start line. The finish funnel will welcome you in front of the Lido buildings!

Congratulations on completing Wycombe Rye parkrun!

Facilities at Wycombe Rye parkrun

Wycombe Rye park starts by the Lido and goes all around an impressive open area with a lot of green, but also a good amount of dedicated outdoor activity spaces.

The cafe is about 30 metres away from the meeting point, following the building to their end. It is open before 9am, in case you need some emergency energy or caffeine supplies. After the event, they offer a good spread of savoury snacks, alongside a slightly more limited choice of sweet pastries.

Toilets are by the car park. A large block, with male stalls entered from the car park side and female stalls entered from the other side. They are open before the event and seem to be enough to support the large numbers coming here.

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 Wycombe Rye parkrun, I ordered a blood orange San Pellegrino soda, a lemon muffin and an espresso. This cost me £8.5, slightly above the usual prices these days.

Wycombe Rye 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

Totally unexpected visit, but it gave me a great parkrunday. I am sure this route is glorious in spring and summer, but even in January it is not too muddy and enjoyable. The novelty horseshoe out and back is also great, because it feels like a one-lapper. And those are the best, fight me on that.

Finally, obviously, thank you, Wycombe Rye parkrun team for your hospitality!