team kerr

A run that involves 3 laps wouldn’t tend to be high on my ‘must do’ list so I approached Carrick Parkrun with a degree of reluctance but I'm happy to admit that I was pleasantly surprised.   The run starts at the end of the Amphitheatre carpark (great facilities inside for toilets, refreshments etc.) and follows a short road/path towards the mill ponds, which is where the 3 laps begin.  The path isn’t very wide but the surface was fine as we ran towards North road where we took a sharp left onto the pavement under the railway.  The stretch under the tunnel is narrow (and a bit dark for my sunglasses!) and is followed by another tight left turn to follow a path across the back of a carpark and bowling green into Shaftesbury Park.  We ran a lap of the small park, which involved us doubling back on ourselves very slightly before turning towards the mill pond park via a second underpass, up a short hill with a tight right turn and then around the outside of the games pitches before crossing a narrow wooden footbridge and repeating the lap two more times.  On the final lap, instead of going over the bridge again, you finish alongside the pitches.  The run involves lots of twists and turns and a few areas of pavement / path are narrow with the risk of the jogger slipping off a kerb or onto rough ground if too close to the edge so plenty of concentration required.  In addition, the final stretch involves a run alongside the fence at the pitches and there were a few posts to navigate at intervals so definitely no sprint finish with a jogger here.  The front wheel of our jogger is fixed so steering around lots of turns requires a bit of effort from me but Ben seemed to really enjoy these twists and turns and the fact there was lots more to see than if it was just a single lap of a larger circuit. He got to see a couple of trains, lots of ducks and he particularly enjoyed waving and saying hello to the runners coming towards us on each of the loops in Shaftesbury park, as well as waving at all the wonderful volunteers around the course.  An enjoyable run in a peaceful and pleasant location.

carrick