Haverhill parkrun

Haverhill parkrun is in Suffolk, but very near the border with Cambridgeshire. The start and finish is next to Cleves Road, but the course page asks runners not to park there (technically, it says Cleves Way, but they do mean Cleves Road) and the reason why became apparent when we drove down Cleves Road – parking there turns it into a blind spot and it is becomes quite dangerous. It’s probably also quite irritating to the residents, as it is a residential area. There is a free car park in the day nursery on Homefield Road (it’s called Dizzy Ducks on the course page, but the sign had a different name) and it was large enough to accommodate the modest number of runners that Haverhill parkrun has each week, so please do use it. It is only a 5-minute walk from the car park to the start line, across the playing fields. There are no facilities or toilets, so do go prepared for that. The postcode provided (CB9 8NJ) did not quite get us to the right location, so use Dizzy Ducks Day Nursery in the SatNav.

Haverhill parkrun is three-and-a-bit laps around Puddle Brook Playing Fields and is entirely on grass. There are two small bridges on each lap, which traverse the brook, but as runners only go one way over each bridge, they don’t really cause a problem. The bridges are the only pinch points and the rest of the course is very wide. It’s a really flat course, with only a very slight incline for a short part of each lap. The route is very straightforward, but also extremely well marshalled and signposted. There are quite a few corners on the course but there is a marshal or cone at each corner and you have to run around the marshal/cone in order to complete the full course.

Runner numbers at Haverhill parkrun generally hover around 80, as this parkrun is still quite new, but the numbers may increase over time, so get in early if you want to get a small finish token number.

Official Event Page: Haverhill parkrun

Nearby postcode: CB9 8NJ or use Dizzy Ducks Day Nursery for more accuracy

Hills: No data, but a very flat course

Subjective PB potential: 8/10 –flat but all on grass