We headed over the Pennines to check out one of the newer parkruns in Greater Manchester. Clarence parkrun, in Bury, was a real surprise in lots of different ways! The team were second to none in terms of friendliness and parkrun passion, and the course was super interesting to say the least! This has to be one of the muddiest parkruns I have ever run! You know it’s going to be bad when you’re advised to make sure your shoes are tied tightly in the Run Briefing!
If you like Cross Country racing then this will be a great parkrun for you… If you don’t then I would strongly advise waiting until the end of the summer to visit! My top tip would be to visit the Tuck Shop straight after parkrun to allow the queue in the café to go down. Then head to The Green for breakfast. Both the Tuck Shop and The Green are community ventures which are well worth supporting, and they couldn’t be located in a better position as they are literally a stones throw from the parkrun start/finish.
When you visit this parkrun then make sure you chat to the team, if not you’ll definitely be missing out!
If you would like to contribute to the channel then you can visit:
https://www.buymeacoffee.com/nicolaruns
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Some useful links are below.
Happy running,
Nicola 🙂
https://www.parkrun.org.uk/clarence/
https://www.bury.gov.uk/local-leisure-events/public-parks/clarence-park
https://theburydirectory.co.uk/services/friends-of-clarence-park
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I continue to appreciate the lovely values you have always shown with regard to Parkrun, the running community, and kindness in general. Your videos speak for themselves about the benefits of outdoor exercise with new friends. (And muddy "water features.")
16:25 omg! 😂
i will have to do this one 1 day when it is not as muddy one park run i would recomend is Sewerby at Bridlington i did that last year and then the Bridlington 13.5 trail race which is a very tough one
Mud mud, glorious mud, nothing quite like it for cooling the blood… As my mum used to sing when we were going on family treks 😂
You know it's a muddy one when the RD is in wellies!
That First Timers Welcome was awesome 🙂
Marshall at 11:05 then tokens at 26:03 – Vince, who was on Peel's core team before Clarence started and involved with the juniors at Ramsbottom too I think. Another prolific NW volunteer (you know the Burrell's obvs!). Btw, there's a heavy parkrun presence at the Ramsbottom Summer Mile each year, midweek race that might be worth a nosy (though might already be sold out for this summer).
13:50 – Clarence is the only Gtr Manc venue I haven't ran yet [I'm holding it back for advent, but it cancelled the week I planned to run it this winter); but I did marshall at that spot a few weeks back so have been there. Due to events later in the day though, I was in road shoes which made crossing the field interesting! Agree about the community spirit 🙂
This looks on par with Cheadle Hulme at its muddiest (albeit with more pavement; both cancelled this week as too waterlogged), and Worden has quickly gotten a similar rep over here as well.
Poor Poppy, sometimes we go through a lot of colds etc but the plus side is it boosts the immune system for the future xx
This is going on the list, and for winter too. Bit sadistic maybe but splashing around that muddy but gorgeous looking course among that lovely sounding community is my idea of an excellent Saturday morning. I don't care if it takes me 2 hours 🙂
Thanks for another great video!
Yh I'm definitely waiting a few months, esp I fancy making a day of it by going on the East Lancs railway
What an amazing video and what a brilliant course and poppy did so well and you are so inspiring and what conditions do you like best
Fair play they put it on….. looks “fun”! Other Parkruns would usually cancel if mud is that bad! Health and safety all that!! 🫢
Newbies Clarence & Worden are now my NENDYs but definitely waiting until summer. I learnt my lesson with Cheadle Hulme!
I did this a few weeks ago. After the first lap of the field I was thinking how did this ever get approved, by the end of the second lap I was smiling from ear to ear and planning plenty more visits. It’s up there with Cheadle Hulme and Watergrove as the toughest I’ve done, and also the best I’ve done. Not sure what that says about me. I fear it will get called off for large chunks of the winter which will be a real shame 😢
Hi Nicola, great video as always. You weren't kidding wuth the title, were you? See what happens when you head into the devils county? 'Does somebody wash the cones each week?' is the kind of searing, insightful journalism I expect of this channel
What do think about Park Run deleting the age-related and local course records from the website? (I am unhappy that this has been done since it affects all the runners who were inspired to run fast. All because Park Run refused to stand up for women’s sport)
Ah, this puts the podcast into perspective with all the muddy references!
Hiya 😊
That's my local Park run and I only just watched one of your videos for the first time last week. Nice surprise. The ladies & gents who run it are indeed great! Glad you enjoyed the mud!
That looks like great fun! Definitely need the mud claws for that one !
What a cool run Nicola. Glad it wasn't knee deep mud and it looked like no one slipped at all. Brought back memories of a 5 mile cross country race I did almost 2 decades ago. It was entirely on a hilly farm and we had had a wet winter and overnight it had snowed about 3-4 inches. The morning temperature was about 10F. The winner of the race wound up running with just one shoe and when I finished I had blocks of ice frozen on my legs between my sweats. New British word of the day for me was "Tuck Shop". Had absolutely no idea what one was. Got the Las Vegas Half Marathon done this weekend… what an experience.
As always, love your channel and I look forward to seeing all of your running adventures.
yeesh we did Armley parkrun on Saturday and that was very muddy – but not on this level! Well done to you & Poppy for getting round. Might visit if we have a long, dry summer!