Chevin Forest parkrun – Probably the Toughest parkrun I have ever run!

Having a lot of family in Yorkshire has meant quite a bit of parkrun tourism over the years. I have run 7 out of the top 10 NENDY to my mother and father in laws house, and half the top 10 around my sister in laws. However, this mainly took in the areas south and east of Leeds. This weekend though we were staying at my brother in law’s to the north of the city which opened up the opportunity to tick off another new run. There were multiple options within a small radius but I quickly settled on Chevin Forest parkrun.

There were a few reasons why I settled so quickly on this event. First, as the crow flies, it only missed out on being the closest to his house by about 300m. In the car though it was probably the closest. We had also gone walking on the chevin with him before so I knew it would be a beautiful location to run in. Then, from a purely geek point of view. It would knock off the letter C on my alphabet challenge (although if they had called it Otley Chevin, an O would have been even better for me!) and on the Voroni map that you see on the 5k App, it would link together the rest of my West Yorkshire parkruns with Fountains Abbey parkrun that I did last year with a friend.

Decision made we headed off to the Chevin. The official suggestion is to park at the Surprise View car park and walk down the 15mins or so. When I have walked on the Chevin we have parked here in the past and then had lunch across the road at the Royalty pub which is delicious. However, there are some car parks a little closer to the start that are also mentioned on the course page so we decided to try our luck and got one of the last spaces in the “larger” car park near the start. This cost just over £1 on the parking app as I didn’t want to chance my luck again and get a parking fine! From here it was a short walk to the start area.

As we were walking along we heard a little voice shouting “First Timers” so gathered around. Officially the briefing was given by Emily but the real star was her young daughter Grace and whose voice we’d heard. Once we had been warned about the potential hazards like horses (“They might kick you”), mountain bikes (“If you crash in to them you might die”) and wild animals (today apparently including Eagles!) we were ready to go.

Now, one thing I did know about the Chevin before the run was that it was steep and the run was likely to be hilly. During the 2019 Tour de Yorkshire we were stood just after the cyclists had cleared the “Côte de Chevin” and they looked spent and having walked it, I knew there were steep bits. Perhaps what I didn’t realise was quite how steep some bits would be.

From the start you immediately start heading up a hill. This was described as a small hill and it didn’t look that bad. However, after less than 100m it swings right and what faces you next is BRUTAL. According to Plotaroute the hill starts at a gradient of 14% up a hill that is very uneven. I had started a little way back so was fighting my way through which did at least slow me down a bit. The worst is over after no more than 100m but you then still have another 250m or so of climb, this time “only” at an average of around 4-5%! Less than 500m in to the run and my quads were already burning and wondering what I was doing to them. Note to self if I ever do this event again, make sure I have warmed up first!

The irony was that even though it was now flatter, the course didn’t get any easier as you enter a wooded section they have even signed as “Here Comes the Mud”. Now as it was, it wasn’t as bad as I think that it could be in the winter months but even just the few days of rain we have had this week after a dry spell were enough to leave some wet and muddy patches. Today I was in road shoes and they were fine, but come the winter you would almost certainly be wishing for some trail shoes.

One benefit on a hilly course is usually the fact that what goes up must come down and the next section of the course brought that. That said, whilst not as steep as when you went up, it is still around 8-9% down in parts. At 6’4, around 90kg and with big feet, I’m not the most graceful coming down hills either (living it East Anglia is definitely better for me!) so it was a chance to gather some breath back but not necessarily any time. As you come back along the bottom of the course you do get one lovely break in the trees with views but by this stage I was panting. What’s more, as the temperature started to rise, it was getting quite muggy in the woods.

This brings you to the end of the first lap, and your reward is to do it all over again! This time, about halfway up the steep hill I ended up walking. I hate walking and know that once I go once then I will probably walk again but to be honest, I wasn’t going much quicker whilst running. I did get going again and continued around the second loop but with a couple of quick walks. The course does though have one more surprise for you. Having completed the second lap you then head for the finish line. It’s only 250m but up another hill, this time with an average gradient of 5%, sapping every last ounce of energy that you have left. I crossed the finish line in a time of 26:42 and my legs were screaming!

Now reading this review of Chevin Forest parkrun you may be mistaken to think I hated it. However, as any true runner knows, you may hate every step while you are doing a run, but afterwards the sense of accomplishment overrides everything else. I knew in advance that this was a hard parkrun. Looking at recent events on RunBritain Rankings its average SSS has been around 4.5 and I saw several posts expressing their dismay that they had not been selected as one of the top 10 hardest parkruns in a recent article. I am also currently well out of shape!

With the benefit of hindsight, I did really enjoy the run as it was such a challenge. This was my 23rd different location and whilst some parkruns blend in to others, I know this one will remain fresh in my mind.

I am sure that next time we stay at my brother in law’s I’ll probably use the opportunity to add more new locations but I do think I’d like to give Chevin Forest parkrun another go when I am feeling fitter (and have warmed up first) as I didn’t give it my best!