Oakwell Hall parkrun

West Yorkshire, England

Oakwell Hall parkrun route. Up the middle and right, two laps, then a right turn to the finish.

The sign tells you it’s stunning, so it had better be.

On a rainy day I figured I’d drive somewhere, so left nearer, walkable, events for a nicer day. A few miles West of Leeds is Oakwell Hall, which I’m sure is worth a study when it isn’t raining. On this day, I went, ran, and got back to dry out.

10 minute walk to the start from the lower car park.

As the event course page asks, and the Facebook page reiterates, participants should park at the lower car park and walk up to the start. It’s convenient as there are toilets there, and you’re on the route as soon as you walk out of the park. Just allow 10 minutes or so to walk across the field and up the steps to the hall and find everyone gathered.

This is both the course and the way back to the car - the field from the photo above is at the top of those steps, runners tended to take the slope on the right.

Enthusiastic and friendly marshals occur at any point you might lose motivation or need direction.

The rain flirted with us before and after 9, then came down in earnest at 9:15 or so; it was much nicer to run in than stand and marshal, though at least all the latter were prepared with coats and umbrellas. Everyone participating got thoroughly wet.

That said, this is a hugely varied course, and there are sections through trees that gave some respite from the falling rain. It’s a course that goes up and down, left and right and has a zig-zag section with near 180 degree turns that I defy anyone to take all of at any pace - at some point you’ll be in the wrong place for a racing turn, it’s probably quicker overall to take it steady. Certainly with possibly slippery ground underfoot, I took it slower-than-steadily.

You can just see a marshal at top left - come down from there, turn right round the wooden railing to get to where the camera is, then a hard left.

Back into the field and up to the gate we saw earlier.

Through the gate, past the children’s play area and you arrive at the car park. The course goes into the woods on the right, ahead.

The surface varies from wide tarmacced paths through packed mud and one section of cobbles. I never slipped, but was a bit cautious of footing on some of the downhills, particularly those where water had cut a gully through to make it look treacherous. I can’t imagine it’s a particularly fast course because of the ups and turns, but today we all had extra excuses if needed. There’s plenty to see and to think about - ‘where shall I put my feet’ alone diverted me, and there’s also ‘path or grass through this field?’. We’d been assured beforehand that either was fine, and I could see why - the path heads off round to the right, so even if going across the field is harder underfoot, it’s obviously a little shorter. Even more welcome given this is another uphill, if gently so, section.

Wide sleepers on a hill - best go past rather than over them

The rain made for a muddy event, and I finished with fairly brown legs and wet shoes. I hadn’t noticed either on the way round, even when I splashed through a puddle near the car park, which shows how much the scenery occupied my thoughts. It’s also very well marshalled, with plenty of people to cheer us on and commiserate about the weather. They’ve had bespoke signs made to cheer you up, too. The one promising you weren’t far from bevy time was technically correct on the first lap, but much more cheering on the second. The cafe is right by the start, and there’s another by the car park so you can take your pick or go from one to the other.

Several sections are covered or nearly covered by trees.

Pushing a buggy is hard work round this course - you’d want to be confident in your ability.

Oakwell Hall is a great course, a decent challenge and scenic. On a clearer day I’d have hung around and explored a little more, but it was atmospheric and fun even on a wet day. Check the website for other events; they’re flexible enough to move this week’s theatre indoors, next Sunday there’s music in the park, and so on.

Results from Oakwell Hall parkrun #329, 22/7/23; 146 finishers.