Parkrun tourism: Killerton parkrun

We recently did some parkrun tourism at Killerton parkrun in Devon. Killerton parkrun is entirely on National Trust land in the grounds of Killerton House, near Cullompton and Exeter.

Parkrun tourism is when you run parkrun somewhere other than your regular ‘home’ parkrun. Some people like to do it most weeks and some people never do it. Some people choose to do parkrun tourism to fit in with a challenge, like running the alphabet. Generally, we just tend to do parkrun tourism when we need to be somewhere other than home at 9am on a Saturday. For us, missing parkrun is never an option. So if we need to be away from home on a Saturday morning, the first thing we do is work out which parkrun we will be running!

We ran Killerton on our way down to Padstow for our recent holiday. We set off from home in Gloucestershire at 6am to make sure we were there on time.

Killerton parkrun is a one-lap course, which is quite unusual. Most parkruns are two or three laps. It is a multi-terrain course, which includes grassy tracks and stony trails, woodland and farmland. It is very scenic, but it can get quite muddy during wet weather.

Parking is at the National Trust car park. It is free for National Trust members and £2 for everyone else. You can use an app or coins to pay, but you can’t use a card on the machine. The app can be slightly challenging as the mobile signal isn’t great! There are toilets at the car park. Then it is a short walk to the start line.

The good thing about Killerton is that it is more downhill than uphill. You walk up a hill to get to the start line. The finish line is in a slightly different place, so you don’t need to run back up the hill at the end. The course starts by heading downhill and there are more downhills further on. There are a few slightly climbs, but they are gradual and not very big. There are tree roots and uneven paths, so it is important to watch your footing, especially on the hills. I did manage to turn my ankle, but luckily it was only minor.

I got the short straw of running with Hetty, our lively cockapoo, at Killerton. Hetty doesn’t do parkrun very often as she’s not very well behaved. She ran the first half a mile at about 100mph, dragging me along just behind the front runners. Then she slowed down to a trot, pulling in the wrong direction and looking behind her. Keeping her under control meant it was a slow parkrun for me, despite being predominantly downhill. My husband finished five minutes ahead of me and ran one of his fastest parkruns of the year, so he was happy!

If you are looking for a parkrun to run on the way to a holiday in Devon or Cornwall, I would definitely recommend Killerton parkrun. As ever with parkrun tourism, it makes sense to check the individual parkrun’s Facebook page before you go, just in case it has been called off due to bad weather or a special event etc.