Eltham junior parkrun 5

Eltham junior parkrun event 5 fell on Easter Sunday and was special for a few reasons. Firstly, Matilda had just received a surprise visit from her Oma (German Grandmother) and secondly, after having completed her 21st junior parkrun at event 3, she was due to be presented with her junior parkrun marathon milestone wristband.

collecting her marathon wristband [photo:7t]

With wind and rain, the weather wasn't exactly ideal, but we had made a plan and we were sticking to it. Upon arrival we spotted that the volunteers were all wearing bunny ears, the were some post-run treats waiting on the registration table and the Easter Bunny had showed up to do what easter bunnies do. Except Matilda wasn't really that keen on the costumed figure standing before her, so she declined a high-five and refused to have her photo taken with him.

out on the course [photo:7t]

We listened to the pre-run briefing and then it was time for the presentations with the Easter Bunny handing out the wristbands. Eeek.. 'will she go up to collect it from him?' I thought. Anyway, she did and all was fine, but she still wasn't that keen and kept a reasonable distance.

a surprise visit from germany [photo:7t]

Onto the run itself, and I really do slow Matilda down when I run with her. Instead of putting in a concentrated effort we always play games as we go around. This week we spent the entire two-lap run playing Lord of the Rings. Matilda was mostly Galadriel (riding Gandalf's horse Shadowfax) and I flittered between pretty much every other character including Smaug the Dragon from The Hobbit.

a lovely morning [photo:7t]

After the run, Matilda got to work on consuming the easter goodies that she had picked up from the registration table. Then somehow she agreed to have her photo taken with the Easter Bunny, but she was still a little freaked out by him!

She also had a mention in the run report: Eltham junior parkrun event 5 run report

Thurrock parkrun

Please note: There is a newer write-up for this event - Thurrock parkrun 2025 write-up

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Thurrock is a unitary authority area with borough status within the ceremonial county of Essex. The name 'Thurrock' is of Saxon origin and means 'the bottom of a ship'. To most people it is probably best known for its shopping centre and retail park which cover a combined area of 200 acres and is one of the largest shopping areas in a single location in Europe.

chadwell recreation ground [photo:7t]

The area is home to a vast amount of industrial plants and distribution centres. In fact there are two oil processing plants here. It's proximity to the River Thames and the M25 means the chemicals and products produced here can be easily transported around the country or indeed the world. It does however mean that the area is one of the most polluted in the country and Thurrock recently came bottom in the government's 2012 wellbeing survey.

welcome... [photo:7t]

I was quite surprised to read that Thurrock has quite a connection to the film industry with 'Four Weddings and a Funeral', '28 Days Later', 'Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade', 'Batman Begins', and 'Who Framed Roger Rabbit' to name a few all having scenes filmed at various locations within the area. Purfleet, which is in Thurrock, is where Bram Stoker's Dracula had an estate and was supposedly shipped there in 50 boxes of earth from his Transylvanian castle.

playground etc... [photos:7t]

Moving the attention onto the hamlet of Orsett Heath which sits just to the north of Chadwell-St-Mary. The land here was originally part of a large area of heathland interspaced with woodland. The land that hasn't been used for housing is now mostly farmland, but there are also some small patches of woodland remaining in the local area such as Hangmans Wood and Terrel's Heath (which despite its name is also woodland).

runners preparing to be briefed [photo:7t]

There is also an open area of scrub and grassland called Chadwell Recreation Ground which sits in the north-west corner of Chadwell-St-Mary and is adjacent to various housing developments. The open space is flat, exposed and to be completely honest feels a little bit rough around the edges. There is a small play area which is a little run down and there is one rusty football goal, a broken zip line and a tarmaced area for basketball. On all of the entrances are warning notices against nuisance motorcycle riders. There was also a news report that a parkrunner had been shot on his way home from the event in February 2016.

around the pyramid building [photo:7t]

So on the surface, it all looks, sounds and feels a little grim...... But then something happens on a Saturday morning - the Thurrock parkrun event team turn up and get to work on bringing a little bit of parkrun magic to this small patch of green space in Essex. All of a sudden the rough edges around the park become less obvious and all that's left is the wonderful atmosphere that the fantastic team of volunteers lead by event director Trevor and the eager bunch of runners whip up between them.

ready to go... [photo: official photographer]

I arrived pretty early on a blustery morning in March and parked for free in the car park next to the Pyramid Centre - the building looks a little tired from the outside, but as they say 'you can't judge a book by its cover'. The centre is home to the Thurrock Play Network who provide advice and support for play and recreation in the community and to the Pyramid Resource Centre's Scrapstore, which encourages the re-use of everyday items rather than having them end up in landfill. Good to see some great initiatives taking place here.

general views and arrows [photos:7t]

It's worth noting that there are no toilets or cafe here at present, but I understand that there are plans for these kind of facilities in the future. There are signs in place that ask parkrunners to refrain from urinating in the doorways of the children's centre (aka Pyramid Centre). Car parking is free, as mentioned above, and cyclists would probably use the metal fencing around the car park to secure their bicycles. Anyone travelling here by train would be looking to alight at Grays mainline train station, but this is a fair way from the venue so it looks like an 83 bus might be the best way to complete the journey.

me. before i was destroyed by a nasty head-wind! [photo: official photographer]

The start and finish points of the run are right next to the car park and this is also where the run brief is conducted. The run itself takes place over two laps of the park which are run in a clockwise direction. The surface underfoot is 100% grass and despite being a little bumpy in places, is completely flat. Buggy runners will be fine here as long as they can cope with the extra resistance the grass gives. The area is very open to the elements so there is no shelter from the wind when it blows... which it did a lot when I visited!

poo(h) corner [photo:7t]

Quite a nice addition to this venue are that all of the sections and corners have been named - my favourites being 'Pooh Corner', '3-tree u-ey', and 'Stag Horn Split' which refers to the Staghorn tree which used to stand in this section. It was special because this type of tree is not native to the UK and was notable as it turned orange, green and purple in the autumn.

very clear signage [photo:7t]

It's a nice, simple course to run and there are no possible places where a wrong turn could be taken. The course was very well marked out with arrows, usually in pairs which the runners could run in between, but the course was also fully marshaled with a lovely volunteer posted at almost every turning point. It also has the potential for being a fast course while at the same time being a little kinder on the runners' joints than a tarmac course. During the winter months there is the possibility of it being a little wet and/or muddy underfoot but it seems to drain pretty well. I wore my trail shoes when I visited just to be sure and they worked well for me

battling through the last few seconds of a nasty head-wind [photo:7t]

The main thing preventing any groundbreaking times when I visited was the wind. There were a few sections where there was a very stiff head-wind and this really knocked the stuffing out of me - just check out my splits on Strava and you'll see that I suffered pretty badly during the third kilometre. That Strava link will also show you elevation and the course in detail should you wish to know about these things.

the fence provides a really handy resting spot post-run [photo:7t]

The average attendance figure at the time of my visit was 54.5 and I visited on 26 March 2016 at event 24 where there were 53 participants. Before visiting, I must admit that my expectations were not really that high for this venue, but I'm really happy to say that I came away feeling like I'd had a brilliant parkrunday and it certainly reminded me how much of a difference the spirit of the parkrun community can make to any venue. I was made to feel really welcome and I'm very grateful to Trevor and the team for making my experience one to remember.

Eltham junior parkrun 3

Our visit to Eltham parkrun for event 3 followed a similar theme to the previous week. Run, then back to the car to head over to the cinema for a Sunday morning movie.

The notable thing about this run was that it was Matilda's 21st junior parkrun which means that she earned her entry into the junior parkrun marathon club.

ejp3 [photo:dani]

However, she almost pulled out half-way around as she didn't fancy completing the course, but after a quick fatherly motivational speech, she got stuck in to the second lap.

That second lap involved a father-daughter competition to reach the finish line with the first to cross the finish line earning the right to hold the popcorn at the cinema.

ejp3 briefing/warm-up [photo: dani]

It was only as we entered the last 100 metres that Matilda pointed out to me that it didn't matter how fast I ran, I wasn't allowed to cross the finish line and by default she would be the first to cross the line and thus earn the right to be controller of the popcorn.

So with that done we headed straight over to the cinema and watched the Snoopy and Charlie Brown: The Peanuts Movie movie, which was being shown as part of the 'movies for juniors' range and that means the entry fee is a very reasonable £1.75 per person!

ejp3 half-way around [photo: dani]

She's looking forward to her next junior parkrun visit where she's going to be presented with her marathon club wristband.

Sittingbourne parkrun

Please note that this is an old write-up and the course has changed since it was published. There is a newer write-up available which was published in 2024: Sittingbourne parkrun 2024 write-up

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In Kent, just to the north of the town of Sittingbourne you will find the town's newest open green space on the site of a former brick and gravel pit which then became a landfill site until it closed in 1973. The landfill site was capped back in 2003 - this process involved creating a barrier between the material buried here and the surface.

milton creek country park [photo:7t]

Part of the new country park was formerly known as Church Marshes Country Park, but the area has now been regenerated and extended to include the Saxon Shore Way which runs along the creek. The new, larger park has been named Milton Creek Country Park. Depending on Government funding, there is also the possibility of it being extended towards Sheppey in the future.

The new park officially opened on 4 June 2012 and covers an area of 128 acres. It features a network of paths which take visitors through all of the various ecological areas such as meadow, scrub and aquatic. Animals that have found home at the park include rabbits, foxes, slow worm, common lizard and grass snake. It's also worth mentioning the glow worms which apparently are quite a sight on warm August evenings.

you can just about make out the church through the fog [photo:7t]

On the 27th of February 2016 the park became home to Kent's 15th parkrun when the inaugural Sittingbourne parkrun took place. Since that first event the attendance figures have remained fairly high with the venue attracting around 150 runners on each subsequent occasion. It is worth noting that I visited during event number 3 so it's still early days.

Upon arrival, car parking can be found in a few places. Firstly, the official on-site car park. This is actually within the park and also within the loop of the course. The current arrangement is that the car park gate is locked just before the start of the run and not re-opened until the last runner has finished, which is very sensible. However, if you need the freedom to get away before this you could park a few minutes down the road in the local Asda or you could park on a side road.

run briefing [photo:7t]

Other travel options would be to cycle - National Cycle Route 1 passes by the park and there are some bicycle racks within the car park area. For those travelling by train there are two rail stations nearby, Sittingbourne or Kemsley. For those requiring toilet facilities there are some in the Asda (up on the first floor, but they were closed at 8am on the day I visited) or there are some in the Holy Trinity Church Hall which also doubles up as the venue for post-run refreshments.

The run itself takes place over two-and-a-bit almost completely flat clockwise laps around the park. Underfoot you'll mostly find gravelly paths plus there's a bit of grass every now and then. As far as footwear is concerned, road shoes would do the job in the dryer months but trail shoes will be the way to go when the ground is wetter. I wore my light trail shoes and was glad I did.

around the course [photo:7t]

The meeting point and the start area are located at the front of the park, almost in the shadow of the adjacent Holy Trinity Milton Regis Church, which is apparently one of the oldest churches in Kent. The majority of the run takes place on comfortably wide gravelly paths and the course weaves all over the place resulting in plenty of turns to keep things interesting.

In fact the course has so many turns and there are so many paths criss-crossing each other that the directional arrows and marshals are crucial to assisting the runners around the course. Quite simply without the wonderful marshals in place it is very difficult to work out which way to go - you can't really just wing it here. Even after completing my first full lap I was a little hesitant at junctions second time around as the field had thinned out and I didn't have any other runners in sight to follow. Thankfully the marshals were all in place to keep me on track.

marshal at the most northerly point of the course [photo:7t]

This really is a fun course to run. The only thing that took away a bit of my enjoyment was that the area is pretty popular with dog walkers and I got a bit nervous around some of the large dogs I encountered which meant that I slowed down to a gentle jog at some points. Keep your eyes peeled as you go around the course because you might just catch a glimpse of some of the wooden carvings - I spotted a train and also a dragon called 'Gladys'.

Once the two-and-a-bit laps are complete, the runners peel off of the main path and head into the finish funnel which is located just outside the children's playground. During my visit the scanning took place right at the end of the finish funnel and I then decided to have a little cool-down jog around the park where I had planned to take a few more photos for the blog. However, my phone had other ideas and shut itself down before I could photograph all of the areas I wanted to capture - sorry.

gladys [photo:7t]

It's probably worth making a note about the official buggy running advice here. The official line is that this course is not suitable for buggy running - this is due to 'the ground being so uneven and narrow in places'. However, I have had confirmation from Sittingbourne parkrun that they have not banned buggy running - they just strongly advise against it.

However, I certainly would have no trouble buggy running here and the bumpy sections are something that my daughter loves and looks forward to when we buggy run. The slightly narrower sections are no narrower than what you would find on many other courses so, as always, the buggy runner themselves must stay extra aware of other runners' ankles. There is also a brief section that can be wet and soft underfoot in the winter. So essentially the buggy running policy here is exactly the same as almost every other parkrun - the parent and child(ren) should make their own decision about whether this course is right for them.

a nice friendly sprint for the finish line [photo:7t]

Anyway, this is a great location for a parkrun and I really enjoyed my visit. Just remember to pay very close attention to the signs and the marshals as it would be very easy to take a wrong turn here if you're not paying attention. In fact the whole field of runners missed a couple of turns at the inaugural event and only covered around 4.6 kilometres of the 5km course.

If you'd like to see the full 5k course, elevation profile and all that geeky stuff then please take a look at my Strava data trace which I had thankfully saved before my phone started to play up. If you're looking at my splits you'll see the fourth kilometre was slower than the rest - this was when I was spooked by some dogs and really eased off the pace until I was clear of them.

finish funnel [photo:7t]

Lastly, can I just add a huge, huge thank you to all of the volunteers that made the event possible.

Eltham junior parkrun 2

On the morning of Eltham junior parkrun's second event we had made plans to go to the cinema at Bexleyheath for a nice morning out. The film was scheduled to start at 10am so we had just enough time to squeeze in Matilda's 20th junior parkrun beforehand.

eltham park south [photo:7t]

Winter seemed to have turned up a little late this year and although it was March it was actually colder than January and February had been. So we wrapped up just enough to make sure we didn't freeze and headed over to Eltham Park South.

it's a sign [photo: dani]

I felt that last week's blog lacked a little detail about the park and while looking around I found a sign in the park that explained a little more about the park's history. It says that Eltham Park South was previously owned by Archibald Corbett who built the nearby Corbett Estate.

half-way around [photo: dani]

The park was purchased by Woolwich Council in 1903. In 1924 a Lido was opened. It remained open and in use until it was closed in 1988. It was demolished in 2006 and the area landscaped into what we see today.

someone seems to be enjoying it [photo: dani]

The plan for Matilda's parkrun was to get around, get scanned and then get straight back to the car so we had a fighting chance of getting back to the cinema on time. So we listened to the run briefing, had our warm-up and then got straight on with the two laps that make up this event.

to the batmobile... [photo: dani]

The grassy sections felt a little squishier in places than the previous week, but that didn't stop us playing the usual set of games as we went around the course. For Matilda, this week featured less snot-a-roos so we managed to get around almost three minutes faster than last week. This meant that she came away with a new personal best for the course, which was nice.

nice bespoke signs [photo:7t]

It was also great to see that the entry angle to the finish funnel had been adjusted making it much easier to run into (see my previous Eltham parkrun blog]. While we were running, my wife ordered us some toast from the cafe and was very impressed with how friendly they were. So we were able to have a quick snack as we headed back over to the car which worked out pretty well. We hit the road and made it to the cinema just in time to see The Good Dinosaur, which was pretty good.

Eltham junior parkrun 1

After a 6 month absence from junior parkrunning, my daughter, Matilda, was quite keen to get stuck in this weekend. She didn't fancy either of her most-visited venues (Lesnes Abbey / Gravesend) but she was up for trying out a brand new venue.

By mere coincidence a new local venue was having its inaugural event so we decided that this would be the place to go. So we got ourselves up and dressed nice and early and headed out on our 15 minutes journey down the road to Eltham.

pre-run [photo: bruce li]

Eltham lies within the Royal Borough of Greenwich in South East London. I hear that it has an unusually high quotient of green space, so it only makes sense that some of it be used to host parkruns or junior parkruns.

To date there is only one full 5k parkrun within the Royal Borough of Greenwich and that is Greenwich parkrun which takes place in Avery Hill Park [my blog entry], which is also in Eltham. That park is just a stone's throw away from Eltham Park South which is now home to Eltham junior parkrun.

warm-up [photo: 7t]

Eltham Park South is located just to the south of the A2 and is the larger of the two sections of the overall park which also includes the imaginatively named Eltham Park North. It is mostly open grass space but also has a few outcrops of trees and although the surrounding roads are hilly, the park itself remains fairly flat.

The park is included in two of London's major walking routes - The Capital Ring which is a route that completely encircles inner and central London and covers 75 miles in total. The park also forms part of the Green Chain Walk which covers 50 miles through various green spaces in South East London.

during the early part of the lap [photo: 7t]

Travelling to the venue: There is a free car park just off of Glenesk Road or you can simply just park on Glenesk Road itself which is completely free from restrictions. The closest train stations are Falconwood and Eltham and the buses 132, 162, 286 and the B15 all stop within a short walking distance of the park.

Facilities in the park consist of tennis courts, an outdoor gym, children's playground and a building which houses the toilets and cafe. This building is a good landmark to head for upon arrival as it is adjacent to the main start/finish areas.

about three quarters of the way around the lap [photo: bruce li]

Being an inaugural event, there was a bit of a buzz in the air and the start finish area was looking superb as we walked from Glenesk Road to the meeting point (via the playground of course). Matilda was particularly excited to see the finish funnel decorated with balloons.

After a few hellos, Matilda decided that we should have our own pre-official-warm-up warm-up so we loosened up our limbs until just before 9am, the day's run director called the crowd to attention. A few minutes later the official warm-up began - junior parkruns all loosely follow the same warm-up session which I always find is a nice fun way to get the kids (and parents) fired up.

2k done and time to cross the line [photo:7t]

The start line is just a few metres along the path just outside the tennis courts and once the 51 junior runners were in place, the inaugural Eltham Junior parkrun was underway. The course is made up of two laps and takes place on a mixture of tarmac paths and grass with the grass making up approximately three quarters of the run.

While on the grass there is no natural path or line to follow so the course is marked with small cones which if you have read some of my other junior parkrun blog entries tends to result in us playing a game of 'jump over the cones'. This certainly makes things more interesting for the younger runners. The main focal point whilst on the grass is a big tree at the far end which acts as a turnaround point.

finish token in hand. time to find some coats [photo: bruce li]

There was a lot of stopping and starting for us - mostly because the biting weather instigated a whole round of snot-a-roos and I had to stop every 100 metres or so to wipe Matilda's nose with the sleeve of my running top. At one point she took her gloves off and declared 'the cold never bothered me anyway' which was quite amusing to some of the other parents. A more organised parent would have had a tissue to hand but remembering to bring tissues was just a step too far for me first thing on a Sunday morning. I was, however, organised enough to fire up Strava and record the run so if you would like to see the GPS trace of the course you can find it via the following link: Eltham junior parkrun 1

Throughout the morning I noticed that the photographer, Bruce Li, was asking us and the rest of the attendees to do lots of things including star jumps and waving. It wasn't until later that evening that I realised that not only had he been taking some fabulous photos, but he had also produced an amazing video showcasing the event. It's brilliant and is definitely worth a watch.

barcode scanning [photo:7t]

At the end of the second lap, the runners (children only) turn into the finish funnel. At the inaugural event this involved quite a hard 90 degree turn from the main path. If there was any feedback I would give it would be to adjust the position of the finish funnel to make the turning angle a little easier to negotiate.

Barcode scanning took place over near the café building where there was some shelter from the cold wind. And with that all done we decided to order some toast for breakfast from the café which we sat and ate the wooden picnic tables. We also managed to obtain a slice of inaugural cake which is officially the most delicious type of cake known to human-kind.