Babbs Mill parkrun, nr Birmingham

I didn’t have a watch for this run, so no course map, but you’ll find one on the event’s course page. Essentially it’s a flat loop around a lake, with wide paths and a lovely friendly feel.

A wide path next to the lake. Hi viz vests are wrapped round some low bars to make sure we don't run into them — Hi-Viz marks the bars

For reasons I still don’t understand, I missed the car park right by the start, and instead parked at Babbs Mill Lake East, leaving me with a little walk to the start. It wasn’t a problem at all, except that the car park was so deserted that I wondered if the event was off until I spotted the hi-viz vests marking some low bars, as in the photo above.

A grassy area next to the start on the path. A parkrun flag and start banner are on the grass. — The start line

I wandered to the start line all on my own – everyone else was warming up round the lake, or just wandering from the larger car park very near the start. Still, I got a friendly welcome from the run director on the day, who was very happy to have any visitors.

Cones and tape mark the finish on the path, leading finishers off onto the grass — The participant’s view of the finish

The start was pretty well seeded – there was plenty of space early on for people to sort themselves out, but it might be congested with more people, so it’s a good habit for the event team to be in. All the briefings and welcomes were friendly and effective – I always feel welcome at parkrun, but here I felt accepted into a community, which was pretty special.

A bridge over the lake, gone over twice — The bridge

A narrow path heads through scrubby bushes, some showing dark red colour — A narrow path

As for the course, it’s pretty flat and scenic round the lake, with a hill to head up as the course moves away from the lake on the Southern side. An intentional bit of extra exercise! A very supportive marshal encouraged us all through the turn, and I needed it on the second lap, but was glad of the exertion.