Parkrun tour #3 Alice Holt

Next on the Parkrun tour is Alice Holt, 11 miles from home, a 851 hectares (2,100 acres) Forrest, South of Farnham in Surrey. 

As this was my first parkrun at this location, I went to the new runners briefing which was imformative and well delivered. There was quite a few new runners, maybe from it being the long Easter weekend.

The course is two loops, the first around a mile long. The second loop follows part of the first mile and then takes in more of the Forrest. See above......does that not remind you of a whale entering the sea with part of its back and tail?....only me?....ok let's move on! 

Definitely trail trainers for this run. There is a mixture of terrain but there is also some sharp corners with mud and stones as you hit the bottom of some of the downhills, so good grip is required.

This is an undulating course so chances of a 5K PB are slim. Having said that there are plenty of fast downhill sections particularly on the first lap, but what goes down must come up!

Just before the 2 mile mark there is a hill. It's fairly steep but fortunately not too long. From then on the course undulates to the finish line. My legs were quite tired after the run!

Apologies for the blurred picture above and doesn't do justification how beautiful the course is. There is some lovely sections where you are in deep pine Forrest, well worth a visit whether you're running, walking or cycling, all of which are popular at Alice Holt.

There's lots of changes in direction but these were well marshalled, so no problem with course directions and the main race briefing at the start was good too. Ran like a well oiled machine. I shall be back.

Runners 248

Atmosphere 8.5 out of 10

Scenery 9 out of 10

PB potential 6 out of 10