It is always exciting when a new parkrun venue is announced, especially one that is within easy travelling distance from home. Thoulstone Park is a privately owned community hub near the Wiltshire town of Westbury that was originally built as a golf course. This was abandoned in 2002 and lay derelict for a decade before being acquired by new owners. Opening to all in the spring of 2024, its aims now include regenerating existing ecology to sustain wildlife and promote ecosystems in natural habitats. Alongside this it wishes to promote a range of activities of benefit to people who may enjoy the revitalised setting. With this in mind it makes sense that it should welcome the parkrun community.
We ran event #3 on a beautiful winter morning after a hard frost. There is a large, surfaced, free car park near the start/finish and it’s just off the A36 so easy to find if a little discretely signed. There are toilets on site but currently these don’t open until 9am so we used the Warminster services about 5 minutes away, down the A36. There are lots of picnic tables near the start point on which to leave bags and jackets.
A friendly young lady welcomed us at the First Timers briefing, showing us a map of the course and explaining the route to be followed. Soon after this the Run Director gave her briefing, thanking the volunteers and calling out milestones. She then counted down to Go! at exactly 9am – always impressive.
The course starts on a hard packed stone path which rises gently for 0.5km before passing through a gate to start the first of two loops, all on grass. The course here is mostly flat with some occasional small mounds. The grass varied from frozen to firm to decidedly squishy in places. It is uneven in parts and a short section features lots of mole hills. Sometimes there may be sheep grazing but not today. It is for this reason that dogs are not allowed.
The route is well marked by posts with marshals at key points. At this time of year trail shoes are recommended. In wet winter weather parts of the course will be very muddy.
The venue looked lovely in the bright sunshine and the frozen sections were noticeably softer on the second lap. Given the terrain this is not a course for a PB but still one we enjoyed.
165 participants passed through the finish funnel today. The pack was led by Tobi Loughlin in a time of 18:07. Elizabeth Potter earned the right to wear a new milestone t-shirt, completing her 50th event – well done to her.
Biggest thanks go to the 25 volunteers who enabled the event to happen. Do please consider stepping up from time to time into one of the many and varied roles available.
There is a café on site which does a full breakfast that we are told was delicious. On this occasion we had other plans but maybe next time as we will definitely return.
This is an interesting addition to the Wiltshire parkrun pantheon as it’s very different in character to the others in the locality. With no significant hills the main challenge is running on what feels like a true cross country course.
