Burnham & Highbridge parkrun starts and finishes Apex Park on Marine Drive in Burnham-on-Sea, with an added out and back section along the River Brue and the Esplanade. We’ve run it twice; once in summer and once in winter. Very different experiences…

Getting There

Apex Park, on the outskirts of Burnham-on-Sea, is just a couple of miles off the M5 (exit Junction 22 onto the A38).

By bus, Firstbus route 21 and Webber route 15/75 between Burnham-on-Sea and Highbridge pass Apex Park. Highbridge and Burnham-On-Sea Station is around a mile from the start.

Parking

The park has its own (free) car park. However, it does fill up, so arrive early if you want to ensure you can find a parking space.

Toilets

There is a toilet block adjacent to the car park. It’s not huge, so factor in a bit of spare time if you think you’re likely to need to avail yourself of the facilities.

Course

Burnham & Highbridge parkrun has three distinctly different sections; round the park, along the riverside then along the Esplanade overlooking the Bristol Channel. Then you turn round, run back along the esplanade and river into the park to finish.

Terrain

The parkrun takes place mainly on tarmac paths, but there are sections of gravel paths. When we ran the course in January, the section between the park and river were particularly muddy and involved an element of puddle hopping.

Shoes

Trainers as it’s mainly paved but there is a short section which can get muddy in winter.

Difficulty

Run Britain rankings for UK parkruns places Burnham & Highbridge as 94th fastest out of 706. It has a total elevation of 9 metres. It’s very flat, the only things to slow you down are the tight turn on the esplanade and a bottleneck at aforementioned section leading onto the river.

Fun Factor

As mentioned above, we ran here once in winter and once in summer. The winter run was a bit muddy in the park and the run along the seafront was bitterly cold. In summer the run was much more fun. And much more scenic with the wildflower meadows in full bloom.

Nearby Attractions

There is a mobile café (Lizzie’s Kitchen) close to the start. Apex Leisure Park is a lovely place to spend some time, particularly in summer when it has some really beautiful wildflower meadows. It is formed around former clay pits, which have now been flooded and turned into lakes teeming with ducks, geese and swans. Grab yourself some refreshments and spend some time enjoying the park at a more leisurely pace. Or take a walk along the sea front towards the seaside town of Burnham-on-Sea.