Chepstow Park Woods Handicap 2025

What is the handicap?

It's a five mile run in Chepstow Park Woods - one circuit. There are 4 events - all on Thursdays in May, June, July and August.
It'll be fully marked with flour arrows on the track.
The route is all off-road on forest fire roads (gravel). It's quite hilly. Road shoes are mostly fine but it depends on recent rain etc.
It starts between 6:30pm and 7:00pm. The start line is about 5 minutes from the free car park (car parking is tight so share where you can).
The event suits all as the the winner can be anyone of any speed.
Depending on your current form (taken from recent parkruns etc), Dave the organiser will approximate what time you can run the 5 mile course in. He will endeavour to get everyone finishing at the same time, so will start everyone off at different times to achieve this. People will complain that their start ime is not fair as they are not as fast as Dave thinks. It's traditional! Some runners will start at 6:30pm - others as late as 7:00pm.
Youi need to arrive in time to pick up your number(and chip attached).
At the start line a clock will be visible and you will be sent off by Dave and his volunteers at the allocated time. You run over timing mats near the start and then at the finish - this is how we time you.
You might start by yourself or with one or two of similar speed to you, but as you get further round the route you will see far more members and may finish in a bunch with 10 or so others. If Dave got the handicap times 100% correct you would all finish together but of course this never happens as some run faster than expected and others slower.
The first person past the finish line gets 100 points, the second 99 and so on. Your three best scores over the 4 races determine your overall position for the series of 4 events.
Dave will adjust your start time after each run - so if you win the first time don't expect to win the second!
After the August run we usually have a social (food and drinks) in the local pub after.

How does the handicap work?

The runner with the slowest handicap time will set off first at about 6:30, followed by the next slowest and so on. The fastest runner will start about 7pm. The start times are allocated so that everyone finishes at 7:30 if they run their expected time. The person who completes the course first is the race winner, and will win a prize immediately after the race.

Dates for Handicap 2025 are all on the last Thursday of each month (May-Aug):

May 29th, June 26th, July 31st , August 28th

2025 Results

Archive of Handicap results from previous years

Link to fastest times by Harriers in each age group.

Link to Garminconnect with map of course

Where is the Handicap Course?

Map of Course

The course is just under 5 miles long and runs on forest fire tracks around Chepstow Park Woods. The surface is 'hard-pack' gravel which can vary depending on forest operations within the wood.

The elevation change is roughly 180m.