Thorp Perrow parkrun
North Yorkshire, England
I had chosen to head to Thorp Perrow because the promise of it being one-lap and set by an arboretum were too good to resist. It also turned out to be a good choice for an icy day that saw plenty of events cancelled. With hindsight, there’s a whole swathe to the East of Leeds that were fine, shown in green on the map below, but those nearest my starting point (the blue dot, middle-left) were all cancelled, and sitting in one place watching cancellations come in can make it feel like everything is going to be - it’s easy to overthink it, end up trying to be in the middle of several possibles and end up not able to make it to any. Though had I stayed put and waited to see, I could have made it to Skipton (just to the right of the “AONB” on the map).
But I had no regrets about my choice. I was there for their once-monthly first-timer’s welcome in song, which set the tone, and is a remarkably effective way to stop people talking in the background, to boot.
It was very cold - actually freezing, not “oh it’s ‘freezing’” - but calm and clear, and the open area that hosts the event allows great views of the terrain and the skies.
This course clearly has heavy mud potential, but the freezing temperatures had hardened almost all of it up. I overheard a runner say afterwards that this had likely been the fastest conditions possible till some time in summer, and can well believe it. We were warned that there were some icy puddles, they’d coned some off but run out of cones, but with it being an off-road/tarmac course, they weren’t out of place and didn’t seem an obstacle.
The paths are wide and provide a good surface - as you can see above, some aren’t likely to get too muddy even after rain and warmer temperatures.
But the latter part of the route is across fields, and those were rutted. We were also warned about crossing an electric fence; the run director got a laugh for telling us it would be deactivated till 9:40, but he wasn’t kidding. A marshal was deputed to hold the fence down, as you can see below.
Crossing the fence took us to the sheep, who had arranged themselves on either side of the path. Some of them crossed, but they managed to do it without any blockages I could see - better than some people manage when crossing a race route, frankly, though I accept its more from nerves than because they’re ever so polite. It made for a lovely extra ‘in nature’ feeling at any rate.
This latter section was, at least today, the hardest part of the route. The whole thing undulates, but never with any really serious hills, just enough to keep you aware you’re making an effort. But those fields at the end were hard underfoot thanks to the freeze, and would usually be muddy and thick to run through. Plus water had gathered and frozen, forming hidden puddles between the ruts in places, and good luck if you tried to avoid them. I didn’t end with terribly wet feet, but I found it best not to think too hard about where I was going, pick a straight route and just deal with whatever I stepped in.
The picture above shows the last part of the course. As you run down the field you can see people ahead, coming back the other way on the path used at the start. It seemed a long way to get to the turning!
This is a lovely course, one that’ll be very different through the seasons, and a lovely mudfest periodically. It also seems less likely than others to get dangerous - not much danger of the sheet ice from which many local parks suffered this weekend - and so if you can get there, you should be able to enjoy it no matter what the weather’s doing (though do check in advance).
Results from Thorp Perrow parkrun #59, 4/1/25; 143 finishers
Great write up, thanks John.