Anna Ostojitsch Reports: a flat, fast,scenic and a perfect Pb course apart from oh the pollen!
Starting in what appears to be the middle of nowhere on the edge of a field, Evesham Parkrun is a 2 lap out and back course. Following the path of the river Avon it passes to 2 further fields before turning back at the local rowing club boathouse, back through the fields to the middle of nowhere and repeat. For me this made it boring and despite being flat no I didn’t get that Pb 2 grassy fields and a river bank meant that the basic function of breathing was tricky a best. Note to self and any other hayfever/asthma sufferers don’t do this one if the pollen count is high it doesn’t work.
That said with only 105 runners today it was friendly enough with supportive marshalls and Evesham Vale runners providing a running pick me up when the going got tough. The closeness of the air made it a hot sticky run as well and I am not sure anyone least of all the rather discerning residents of Evesham were ready for my snap decision to run the 2nd lap without a tshirt but needs must and safety comes first and well it was loose the t-shirt or have a DNF and having worn my team BvH t-shirt for the first lap I wasn’t going to let team teal down by recording one of those.
So in brief if you want a flat course with nice scenery and a potential Pb than Evesham is a good choice unless of course you run in the summer with hayfever and then maybe not. I didn’t try out the Cafe as was visiting my mom but having undergone extensive refurb recently I am sure the next tourist will enjoy its hospitality.
The cafe is great, Anna – I’ve done Evesham twice and enjoyed breakfast there. What I liked about it was that there are the people rowing up the river alongside the route. When I ran, it was very muddy (the grass, not the river) – but you won’t have had that problem.