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Kesgrave parkrun

This week I was back on the trail of my East of England alphabet. Unfortunately, the only "J" event in the East of England is Jersey Farm, which I have already run at, and so with the next nearest options being Jesmond Dean or Jersey which are both a considerable distance away, I decided to skip ahead to "K".

The area

Kesgrave is a relatively new residential area located to the east of Ipswich. The area officially became a town on 1 January 2000 as part of the millennium celebrations.

The town has grown in size dramatically, from around 20 dwellings in 1921, to 2,000 dwellings in 1988, and is planned to exceed 5,000 dwellings when planned development is complete.

The course

The route starts with a loop of the main field, followed by an out-and-back. On the return of the out-and-back, runners follow paths through the woods before finishing at the starting area. The course is run entirely on grass and woodland trails.

Free parking is available at the nearby car park, and toilets and a cafe are available at the community centre.

The out and back section of the course

The run

I don't know whether I'm starting to get used to running on grass, or whether the slightly drier week had something to do with it, but this run seemed to be slightly easier than the past few. The run itself was quite uneventful, and ran very smoothly.

The woodland trail towards the end of the course

Thanks to the volunteers for such a well-oiled event!

After the run

When we were done with the run, I explored the local area. I first headed in the direction of Brookhill Woods, but on arrival, found that this is actually a private woods, and so decided against exploring.

Brookhill Woods from the road

On returning to the woods we ran through towards the end of the event, I discovered Dodds Grave - thought to be the grave of a shepherd who was found hanged around 1750, and was subsequently buried at the cross roads between 4 parishes, as was common practice for suicides.

Dobbs grave amongst the woodland

I then explored the town, and the computer monument, which pays homage to some of the pioneers in the world of computer science, from Charles Babbage on. Many of the roads in the area are named after the same pioneers too.

Computer monument in Kesgrave

Links: Results | Strava

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Location: 3 Evans Drift, Kesgrave, Ipswich IP5 2BD, UK

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