The parkrun 20202020 challenge - Number 20

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My final parkrun of this challenge was Sixfields Upton in Northampton. I was back up north for a week's holiday staying at my father's house. On the Tuesday morning I headed over to Upton, a housing development adjacent to the football ground.

An area of land was reserved for a country park when building the estate. This is the location of Northampton's second parkrun - the first being at the Racecourse. Sixfields Upton course is a simple double loop starting at the Elgar Community Centre and heading in a clockwise direction.

The track was a narrow path through green trees and bushes which passed a field full of sheep and emerged next to the River Nene. A green bridge was the signal that I had run half a mile. From there the path continued to curve around to the right until it reached a gate. Yes, a gate.


I hadn't realised that this course contained a number of gates which, when parkrun was officially taking place, were held open by marshals. On this day there were no marshals in sight but plenty of sheep ready to exit if the gates were left open and unattended.

This meant that I had to come to a shuddering halt, grope for the latch, pass through and then ensure it was closed properly before continuing. Five metres further on was another one! I regained my pace and passed through a farmyard before having to navigate another gate. This time I struggled for a few seconds trying to open it before catching my leg in the wooden bars. Not very graceful and definitely losing me a few extra seconds. 

Another quarter of a mile and I had done one lap. Just one more to go (and another three gates). I pushed hard and was very short of breath when I reached the first gate again. I was actually glad of a breather. Once through the gates there was a sprint to the end which took me around behind a barn.


My lungs were on fire as I had pushed as hard as I could knowing that this was my last one. I finished and collapsed on a nearby bench. My watch read 19:47. Given that I must have lost around twenty seconds on the gates I would have been pushing a new PB. I felt good to have completed my 20202020 challenge, and also to know that I could still run as fast as I did back in 2015 when I was in my 30s.

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