Parkrun tourism: Severn Bridge parkrun

I’ve been wanting to do Severn Bridge parkrun for years and we finally got round to doing it recently.

Parkrun tourism is when you run at a parkrun other than your usual local (home) event. Some people like to do parkrun tourism most weeks and some people never do it. We generally do it a few times a year, when we’re on holiday or out for the day. We don’t generally travel somewhere especially for parkrun tourism, but we made the exception for Severn Bridge. And we weren’t disappointed!

Severn Bridge parkrun takes place on the old Severn Bridge (M48). It starts on the Welsh side of the bridge in Chepstow, goes into England (Gloucestershire) and back again. It is the simplest course ever. There is definitely no getting lost or confused!

The journey for us from the north of Gloucestershire to Chepstow was about 50 minutes. I’d checked the website in advance so knew where the parking was (a local football club) and most importantly:

• There are no toilets
• Dogs aren’t allowed

I travelled down with my husband and eldest – doing his first parkrun in nearly two years. We stopped to use the toilets at Michaelwood services on the M5 on the way down. Obviously there would be toilets closer by, but I didn’t want to worry about trying to find them.

We got the last parking space at the football club, but there is also lots of parking on local roads. It was then a five minute walk down the hill to the start. There was no fear of getting lost as there was lots of runners to follow. As it’s such a unique run, there was a much higher number of tourists than at most parkruns.

Runners assemble at a tunnel close to the bridge. This is where the run director gives their briefing (and is also the finish line). There is then a short walk up a path to the start line, right at the start of the bridge. Unusually, it started right on time. I find that many parkruns tend to start the run director’s briefing at about 9am, with parkrun actually getting underway at about 9:03. If you’re late for this one, you will miss the start!

There is a fairly wide path for runners to run on, with plenty of room to accommodate runners going in both directions. As ever, faster runners start at the front, with slower runners and walkers behind. My husband and I assembled near the front, with my eldest a bit further behind. It was pacers’ week and, as he hadn’t run for a while, he planned to run with the 25 minute pacer.

We were lucky enough to do Severn Bridge parkrun on a sunny day and the views were stunning. I would have loved to take in the views a bit more and take more photos, but running is always more important than photos!

If you’re scared of bridges or heights, clearly Severn Bridge parkrun is best avoided. I must admit I was very slightly nervous at first. It was rather breezy, which I suspect it often is! If it’s very windy, the bridge gets closed and the parkrun cancelled. Whenever you do parkrun tourism, it’s best to follow the particular parkrun on Facebook and check it on the morning before setting off, because this is where they will post about cancellations.

As the course goes up onto the bridge properly, there is a bit of a slope, but then it is very flat.

The course doesn’t go right across the bridge, but it’s probably about two-thirds of the way across and is still considered England. The turning point is around the second (of two) tower on the suspension bridge. There is one marshal there and an arrow marked on the ground. That marshal is literally the only marshal on the course. Most parkruns have loads of marshals as the courses are often quite complicated and the marshals are needed to tell people where to go. Marshals are also needed for safety and I did see an older gentleman had had quite a nasty fall on the run. I hope he’d had it pretty close to the end because it would be a long way to go without help.

My husband had set off in front of me, but I gained on him at the turn, then overtook him. I kept thinking he would catch me, but he never did.

When you come off the bridge at the end, you get to run down the small path to the finish line (the one we walked up to get to the start line). Coming off the bridge is downhill, as is the path. Just as I was coming off the bridge I glanced at my watch and realised I was going really quickly. I wasn’t sure exactly how far it was to the finish line, but I suspected it could be a PB.

So I ran as quickly as I could down the hill and back into the tunnel for the finish funnel.

I finished in 22:15 and was third lady, with my biggest age grading ever of 74.46% (age gradings are a way to accurately compare runners of different ages and genders). I’d got a PB! My previous PB was 22:23, set in 2017. I never thought I would reach this kind of pace again, just because I’m getting older. I got my old PB at 43 and I’m 49 now. My best time last year was 23:08.

My husband came in at just under 23 minutes and my son came in at just under 24:30. We loved Severn Bridge parkrun and will definitely go back.

Sadly, my PB won’t be recorded anywhere as a PB, as you get a PB for each course. Your first time running at a new course is recorded as your first time, so if I go back to Severn Bridge and run slower, this time won’t retrospectively become my PB.