In the Western Lakes and overlooking the Esk Valley, Muncaster Castle has been home to the Pennington family for almost 800 years.
The castle is a magnificent Grade I listed building set in around 70 acres of woodland, and with parts of the building dating back to medieval times it comes as no surprise to discover it is reputedly haunted.
On Saturday morning the castle opened its gates for the very first time to the parkrun community.
Most parkruns choose to keep their start date a closely guarded secret, but Muncaster chose to release their start date in advance. This was done to get word out to as many people as possible in what is quite a sparsely populated area.
The castle is well signposted with parking conveniently situated directly opposite the main entrance. The nearest train station is Ravenglass from which it is a one mile (mostly uphill) walk to the startline, at this point consider your warm up done!
There is talk of the potential to run a shuttle bus to and from the train station, but this is dependent on whether there is sufficient demand for this service. If you are fortunate enough to live locally please consider walking, cycling or using public transport to reach the castle, car-sharing is another option.
At 8.45am run director Dave Allery gave the first ever run brief to all 131 of us as we excitedly toed the startline waiting to discover the delights of this new parkrun. For 35 participants it was their very first parkrun, and what a spectacular setting for your baptism into the parkrun family.
The route starts and ends just inside the castle gateway. After a 3-2-1 we were off swooping down the driveway between the towering fir trees and past the sprawling rhododendrons and azaleas which the castle is famous for.
Then a right turn off the drive takes you onto an undulating gravel track with woodland either side before the castle comes into view on your left. As you loop round the castle the Esk Valley reveals itself with Scafell dominating the skyline, (so spectacular is the view that I passed more than one runner who had stopped to take a photograph).
Then it’s on past the Hawk and Owl Centre and back up the drive to complete lap one of three. Underfoot is a mixture of terrain, switching from tarmac to gravel path and back again. Dogs are permitted on a short lead and the course is suitable for pushchairs.
parkrun is open to all ages and abilities and although not a race John Heneghan and Karen Smith were first gent and lady to cross the finish line, setting the very first course records of 16.32 and 20.16 respectively, with an age graded record of 84.82 per cent set by Andy McQue.
It was lovely to see this new parkrun so well supported by runners and walkers from the surrounding parkruns and running clubs.
Eileen Jones, who has written two books about parkrun (and is somewhat an enthusiast having completed a staggering 354 parkruns) donated one of her titles to be given as a spot prize at the finish.
I am sure you will join me in expressing an enormous thank you to the core team and volunteers who have worked tirelessly to bring this new parkrun to fruition: Ann Wallen, Ava Grossman, Ceara Hayden, Daniel Wilson, Dave Allery, Dave Findley, David Kenwright, Deborah Findley, Ewan Frost-Pennington, Joanne Beardsley, Lauren Kenwright, Stuart John Wallace, Tim Miles, Tracy Smalley and Zoe Allery
A special thank you to our two course photographers today Carlos Reina and Mike Andrew.
Muncaster Castle parkrun is organised entirely by volunteers, if you would like to become part of this exceptionally welcoming and friendly team please email muncastercastle@parkrun.com.
There were seven unknown finishers. Please register at parkrun.org.uk and print off your own unique barcode, you will need to bring this with you to each event.
There is discounted group rate access to the grounds for all parkrunners which is available immediately after parkrun each Saturday morning. Please ask in the Gateway Café located at the start.
This is the only parkrun in Cumbria to be held in the grounds of a castle, and brings the total number of parkruns in the county to 16. Today was my 124th parkrun and the first time I have taken part in an inaugural run. What a privilege it is to be part of a little piece of parkrun history.
A heartfelt thank you to everyone who has been instrumental in bringing this parkrun to life and of course thank you to our parkrun hosts, the Frost-Pennington family for opening up their private land in order that parkrunners from near and far can enjoy all that Muncaster Castle parkrun has to offer.
