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<\/figure>\n\n\n\nI've run this route a few times before as part of longer easy runs, so I knew roughly what I was letting myself in for. This is not one of those lovely, flat parkruns where you can settle into a comfortable rhythm and cruise around for 5km. The main feature is a climb of around 130 metres up to Chanctonbury Ring<\/strong>, followed by a descent back down. In other words, today's easy 7km from the Runna plan was somewhat shelved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The early stages were a little congested, with the narrow path making overtaking difficult. It was very much a case of being patient, finding a gap when one appeared and settling into the climb. My plan was simple: take the uphill section at a steady, sustainable effort, then make the most of the descent on the way back - as fast as was safely possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The climb was slow progress, as expected. There isn't much opportunity to make up time when you're heading steadily uphill, and I reached the turnaround point at Chanctonbury Ring in around 17 minutes<\/strong>. That was the hard part out of the way. The descent was very welcome after all that climbing. It was a chance to open the stride a little, let gravity do some of the work, while still keeping things under control on the uneven path. Around 12 minutes later, I crossed the finish line in just a few seconds over 29 minutes<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Given the nature of the course, I was pretty pleased with that. It felt like a decent effort, and the final result put me 122nd out of 328 parkrunners<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n North Farm is a great course, I'll certainly be happy to return.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/dankew.me\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/20261017_084637-1024x577.jpg\")
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