Swanley parkrun

Swanley is a town in the county of Kent. It sits within the M25 but just outside the current-day border of Greater London. The town has existed at least as far back to the Domesday book, but was not recorded in it due to it being largely woodland and home to just a handful of households. The name is thought to have come from the words 'swine' as in pig and 'ley' as in 'a clearing in the woods', suggesting a link to pigs, but the exact detail seems to have been lost to time.

Swanley remained a tiny hamlet/village until, in 1861, the railway arrived. In the years following, it became home to a number of hospitals of which some were used by inner London patients who required some time in the countryside to aid recovery. The town also became home to the Swanley Horticultural College, and due to its new connection to the city, market gardens and orchards become popular. The modern day town is now home to around 17,000 people.

Over a period of around 15 years between the late 1960s and early 1980s, Swanley Town Council acquired various parcels of land to the north of the town centre. This included the grounds of the now-closed horticultural college, a former orchard and New Barn Farm. After some landscaping work, which included the construction of a lake, the area formally opened as Swanley Park in 1983.

The local council describe it as 'a green lung' which is 'the envy of many other local authorities'. As we live quite close to Swanley, we've been to the park many times and it's hard to disagree with them. The park's main features are all grouped together to create a central hub of the park. This central area includes a children's play area, children's splash pool, and the cafe and toilets.

However the headline attractions are the lake and the 7 1/4 inch gauge railway. The railway was opened in 1986 and runs along an 800 metre-long track around the western half of the park. It is usually open from Easter until the October half-term week, and when we visit during the summer, we always have at least one ride on it. It has a proper olde-worlde station building and also a turntable for the trains. The lake has pedalos and row boats available for hire, and we have taken these out on many occasions. If you look carefully you may even see the lake's resident terrapins.

There has been on-off talk in the local running community of setting up a parkrun here for as far back as I can remember, and I am delighted to say that in October 2021 the park finally became home to its very own free, weekly, 5km event called Swanley parkrun. It takes place over a two-lap course on a combination of grass and paths. It's largely flat but it is an undulating course overall.

It's not the only running event that uses the park. During the summer there is an annual midweek series of 1 mile relay races, called Swanley Relays, which I've entered a few times. My all-time 1 mile PB was set at the 2014 event. The park also has cross-country races during the autumn/winter. One is the Kent Fitness League and the other is the Kent Cross Country League. Bear in mind that the Kent League races take place on Saturdays so there's a possibility that the parkrun may have to cancel to make way for this.

The park has two car parks and parking fees are £3 for the whole day or £1 for up to an hour. The one closest to the parkrun start area can be accessed via the town centre, but is the smaller of the two. Please note: I have seen some information elsewhere that says the small car park no longer has a payment machine, so if you park here you will apparently need to pay via the Phone and Pay app. I didn't use this method, so can't give any more information.

A better option is to use the larger car park at the north-west end of the park. It is accessed via a narrow country lane to the north of the park. Payment can be made with cash or by contactless payment at the machine. I understand the app can also be used if you park here. I used my debit card and paid £3 at the machine.

Travelling by public transport is easy as Swanley train station is just on the south side of the town centre. There are also busses that stop in the town centre. Cyclists will find cycle racks located at both car parks. Once inside the park you will need to head to the meeting point which is just in between the small car park and the central hub area. If you need the toilets, they can be found just past the cafe, next to the children's splash pool. As a note, the toilets were not open when we initially tried to use them at 8.30am, but were subsequently opened following a request by some fellow parkrunners.

Just before 9am the first-timers briefing is held and this is followed by the main briefing. I missed these as I got caught at the toilets with my son and had a bit of a panic getting up the hill in time for the start (this also meant I didn't get my usual start line photos for this blog). The course here is a clockwise two-lapper but it has a really interesting configuration. It starts with an opening tail, then has an out-and-back, then a loop around the western grass area, then a loop around the eastern grass area. Looking at the GPS trace of the course, I can best describe the shape as a tied shoelace - have a look at my GPS data and the Relive course fly-by video to see what I mean.

The split of surfaces is approximately 2km on grass and 3km on a combination of stony and dirt/mud paths (with just a tiny fraction of that on tarmac/brick paths). If you're wondering what to wear on your feet, you really should go for trail shoes in the winter or if it is, or has been, raining, like it did during event 2. My wife took part with the running buggy and it was fine - the grassy and uphill sections were of course harder work but nothing to be overly concerned about.

To set the scene, the heavens opened at just after 8.30am and the rain fell until around 9.15am. This turned the course into much more of a cross-country-style event. Unusually for a parkrun, the event starts with a (short) downhill section - this is within a pleasant avenue of trees. On the first lap, the opening out and back can be a little congested as the path is not overly wide (it wasn't too bad at event 2 which had 105 participants). It is very important to keep left along here as once people hit the turnaround point, the two-way traffic increases the flow. Towards the end of the out section things can get a little muddier so watch out. You may notice the slightest of inclines as you head back along the back section.

The course crosses the level-crossing a number of times throughout the event, so watch your footing. However you don't have to worry about the trains because even when the railway is in operation, they don't start running them until 11am. This central area is a hive of activity throughout the entire event as there are participants approaching from all angles as they progress around the course. It's very much like the knot of the shoelace (except the participants don't cross over, of course).

The western loop starts on grass and loosely follows the line of the railway track, it then transfers to a hard-packed stony path with occasional loose stones on top. This path naturally meanders back to the level-crossing where you pass through the central area (the knot) again and transfer to the eastern loop. I should mention that the marshals were very good, I was especially impressed with their clear instructions around the potentially slippery sections that had been made worse by the rain.

The eastern loop is largely on grass, and starts off by passing the playground and then the lake. It transfers to quite a loose, broken gravelly path (which could probably do with a bit of maintenance) as you head uphill for a stretch at the far end. When you reach the small car park you are at the highest point in the park and can take in the view towards the lake. You then drop back down towards the centre of the park and the full lap is complete.

At the end of the second lap, the route takes a sharp turn back onto the opening tail (now heading uphill) where the finish can be found. Barcodes and finishing tokens are scanned here. Strangely, the finish line wasn't connected to the finish funnel and there was this odd no-man's-land between the two. (you should be able to see what I mean in the centre-top photo in the collage below).

This may have caused some confusion, especially to newer parkrunners unfamiliar with the process. I had to direct the lady in front of me into the funnel afterwards to collect her finishing token. EDIT: This has now been resolved.

And with that, event two was over. After parkrun, we would usually hang out, get a drink, and go to the playground. However we were soaked to the bone and just wanted to get showered and into some dry clothes, so we headed straight back across to the big car park and started our short journey home.

We were already at home when our results arrived. Event 2 had a total of 105 finishers which is fewer than I would have expected, however I imagine the weather forecast played a part in the fairly low turnout on that occasion. Skipping forward two years to the end of 2023, and the event generally attracts around 70 participants each week. I'd like to finish off this post with a huge thank you to the volunteers.

Related information and blogs:

My GPS data

The Relive course fly-by video

The Kent parkrun venues

The London parkrun venues

Swanley Relays 2014

Swanley Relays 2017

Kent Fitness League 2016

Kent Fitness League 2017

Broadwater parkrun

Please note: As of 12 August 2023, the meeting point and the course will be different. Please check the official Broadwater parkrun webpage and/or social media channels for the latest information.

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In the county of Surrey is the picturesque, historic market town of Godalming. It is thought to have been inhabited since saxon times and subsequently appeared in the Domesday book as Godelminge. It is positioned on the main route between London and Portsmouth where it became a popular stop for stagecoaches, and this lead, in part, to its prosperity. The town's major industries have changed over the years, woolen cloth was an early one, but as the times changed, leatherwork and then papermaking become popular.

In 1881 it became the first town in the world to install a public electricity supply and this powered the street lighting. However due to various issues, the lighting reverted to gas after a few years. There is also a bizarre story from 1723 where a lady called Mary Toft fooled the town and doctors into believing she had given birth to rabbits. Her Wikipedia page contains a detailed account of it. I think I'll leave it at that.

Just over a kilometre from the town centre is the settlement of Farncombe. It has a link to the Titanic in that one of the senior wireless operators was born here. He died on-board the ship in 1912, and he is remembered in a number of memorials around the town. After the ship struck the iceberg, he is credited with raising the alarm which lead to many lives being saved. However his Wikipedia page suggests that he was actually partly to blame for the collision by not passing crucial information to the captain. Worth having a read.

In Farncombe you will find the former grounds of Broadwater House, which was comprised of the house, parkland, a lake, stables and farm buildings. The house existed from the 1840s until the 1960s and was initially home to the Marshall family and subsequently the Price family. It has a strong historical link to cricket and part of the estate has been used for matches for centuries.

In 1936 the cricket playing field was purchased and gifted to the town. Putting two and two together, it appears that this has some connection with the King George's Field Foundation. Hundreds of open spaces across the country were renamed 'King George's Field' as a memorial to King George V following his death that same year. The 471 playing  fields in the scheme are legally protected and now fall under the guardianship of the charity 'Fields in Trust' (formerly known as the National Playing Fields Association [NPFA]). You can still see the original bronze plaque (or plaques, there should be two, but I only noticed one) on a wooden post at the entrance to the cricket field.

The modern-day park features the usual amenities such as a children's playground, tennis courts, basketball courts and toilets. Also within the park, you will find Godalming Leisure Centre which contains a gym, fitness studio and the town's swimming pool. There are two listed buildings within the park. The first is a 'crinkle crankle' wall which now surrounds Godalming Community Centre (see photo in collage 1). This type of wall features alternating convex and concave curves and is also known as a Serpentine Wall or Wavy Wall. They are typically designed to capture heat from the sun to assist in growing fruit. The second is the former dairy building.

The park is a central point for many of the town's sports activities and teams. Farncombe Cricket Club is based here, as are Guildford Rugby Club and Godalming Lawn Tennis Club. Godalming Town Football Club have a ground at the southern tip of the park. You will also find a building used as a rehearsal room for the local brass band 'Godalming Band'.

In 2021 the park became home to Broadwater parkrun. It is a free, timed, 5km event which takes place on Saturday mornings at 9am. Although the initiative originated through the running community, the parkrun events themselves are community events and open to all abilities so there is no need to even consider running if that's not your cup of tea.

If you drive to the venue, the parkrun parking arrangements are that Guildford Rugby Club (entry off of the A3100 roughly opposite the Citroen dealership) have agreed to let parkrunners use their car park for the duration of the event, but please bear in mind that the car park has a gate which will eventually be locked (it was still open at 11.15am when we were there), so if you are planning to hang around for significant amount of time post event, you may prefer to seek alternative parking, such as the Meadrow pay and display car park. The local side streets are free of parking restrictions, however it is requested that parkrunners do not use this option.

For cyclists, there is a large bank of covered cycle racks outside the leisure centre within the park. The town is on the main train line between London Waterloo and Portsmouth and the closest train station is Farncombe which is only a short (5-10 mins) walk away. However not all trains stop at Farncombe, so if you happen to alight at Godalming Station you'll have a longer walk of around 25 minutes.

There are public toilets within the park and these are positioned right next to the parkrun meeting area adjacent to the playground, however the sign on the outside says they officially open at 9am. Saying that, they were already open when we arrived at 8.30am, but it may be worth exploring the possibility of a toilet stop en-route if you need a guarantee.

Just before the start of the event, first-timers and general briefings are held, and after that the participants line up next to the Walter Bailey chainsaw carving of a figure. It was carved from a dead Oak tree in 2000. From here the participants are sent on their 5km journey around the park. The course consists of a clockwise loop of the cricket field followed by two full anti-clockwise laps around the park. Underfoot you will find a mixture of grass, dirt paths, and tarmac.

We had the running buggy with us and it was fine, but there are a few bumpy sections and also some exposed tree roots in places. As far as footwear is concerned, its ok in road shoes in the summer, but I went for my trail shoes because it was autumn and some mud was starting to appear. It is largely flat, but there are a few short, sharp ups and downs as you go around the course. Please also note that at time of writing they do not allow dogs at this venue, although it was noted in the briefing that this policy is under review.

After the initial clockwise loop of the cricket pitch (King George's Field), you head back through the start line, but in the opposite direction and off around the park following an anti-clockwise course. You will soon find yourself alongside the lake (Broad Water) which provides home to various species of birds and fish.

The course switches back and forth between grass, tarmac and sections on dirt/mud - the overall split is roughly 2.4km on grass, 1.5km on tarmac, and 1.1km on dirt paths. I found the course to be very well marked and there were marshals in all the right places. Also, look out for the Giant Sequoia tree which is on the route - it seems quite unusual to see these, so it was a fantastic sight! (I hear there are three of them in the park).

Upon returning to the main meeting area towards the end of the first full lap, you complete the loop of the cricket field, but now in an anti-clockwise direction. This is followed by an identical second full lap. Once back at the end you continue on the grass right into the finish funnel which runs parallel to the playground fence and zip line. Finish tokens are handed out at the end of the finish funnel and barcodes are scanned straight after.

At time of writing, there wasn't an official post-event refreshments venue listed on the main Broadwater parkrun page, but I understand there is a cafe in the leisure centre. However, we, along with some other parkrunners, went over to the car park near the rugby club where you should find a vintage Citroen Type-H van (built in 1960) which is home to Waffles and Stuff. You can get some light refreshments here including a nice selection of hot drinks and, of course, waffles. They even have a vegan waffle option.

After that, we explored the rest of the park, found the crinkle crankle wall, went to the playground (again), and also popped over the road to check out the level crossing which is just to the west of the park. By that time, the results for event 6 had been processed and we had received our results text messages. 251 people had taken part which was a new attendance record.

Given that my course description may be a little confusing, I would recommend having a look at my GPS data and the course fly-by video for a better visual on the course. Lastly the event couldn't happen without its fantastic volunteers, so a massive thank you for looking after us and making us feel so welcome.

Related:

My GPS data on Strava

The Relive course fly-by video

The Surrey parkrun venues

Charlton parkrun

Charlton is a district in the Royal Borough of Greenwich, south east London. It was recorded in the Domesday Book as Cerletone and was also once known as Charlton next Woolwich. The majority of the area used to be woodland called Hanging Wood. It is purported to have been a hideout for local highwaymen, who would have targeted travellers passing through nearby Shooters Hill and Blackheath.

Nowadays the area is effectively split into two parts by the A206 Woolwich Road. The southern side is fairly hilly, mostly residential and contains Charlton Village. While the northern side (known as New Charlton or Charlton Riverside) contains a large out-of-town style shopping park, industrial buildings and auto repair garages. There's also a paintball centre and a go-kart track. You will also find the southern end of the Thames Barrier here.

The area is (probably) most famous for its football club Charlton Athletic, and their stadium The Valley is built on the site of an old chalk pit. In fact over the years, Charlton has had many mineral extraction sites, and just one of these still exists in its undeveloped form, this is Gilbert's Pit which nature has reclaimed and is now a Site of Special Scientific Interest.

Right next to the pit, on Charlton Lane, you will find one of London's few road level crossings. There is actually a second level crossing in Charlton, it is pedestrian-only and has been earmarked for closure. At the far south of Charlton, where it meets Kidbrooke, is Charlton Lido, which features a heated Olympic-sized swimming pool. It originally dates from 1939, but fell into disrepair in the early 2000s. It underwent a £2 million refurbishment and reopened in 2013.

Charlton has a few historically important buildings in Charlton Village. The first I'd like to mention is St Luke's Church. There has been a church on its site since 1077, but the current building dates from around 1630 (with some modification carried out in later years). For me the most interesting thing is that it is the burial site of Spencer Perceval - The only UK Prime Minister to have been assassinated. This happened inside the Houses of Parliament in 1812.

The second is Charlton House, which is a Jacobean building constructed between 1607 and 1612. It was originally built for Sir Adam Newton (also buried in St Luke's Church) who was a tutor to Prince Henry. In later years, while under the ownership of the Maryon-Wilson family (relations of the assassinated PM's wife), the building had an extra wing added and this was designed by Norman Shaw (which gives the area another parliamentary link as the two red-bricked Norman Shaw buildings opposite the London Eye are currently part of the parliamentary estate).

When the house was originally built Charlton would have been a rural hamlet outside of London, now of course it is part of the urban sprawl. The house and a portion of its original grounds still exist and can be found at the western end of what is now Charlton Park (opened in 1929). It is part formal gardens and part regular park and playing fields. The two sections are informally separated by a wrought iron fence and the remaining section of a 19th century ha-ha.

One of the oldest Mulberry Trees in the country grows here - it is thought that it dates back to around 1608 which would make it over 400 years old. It is one of 61 trees to have been given 'Great Tree of London' status. The story behind the tree is that it would originally have been planted as part of a project headed by King James I, who wanted to start a British silk industry. However, the seeds that were supplied were for black mulberry trees, and as silkworms prefer white mulberry trees, the project ultimately failed.

Over in the park's central and eastern sections you will find the usual municipal park features such as a children's playground, an AdiZone outdoor gym, skate park, space for 11 football fields, a cricket pitch, a cafe and toilets. The park features an avenue of Limes and is also part of London's Green Chain Walk and the Capital Ring Walk. The London Marathon blue start route uses the road along the north side of the park, while the red start passes to the south.

In October 2021 (incidentally on the same weekend as the London Marathon) the park became home to Charlton parkrun, a free, weekly, 5k event open to all. The parkrun takes place over a three-lap clockwise course largely around the perimeter of the park. Underfoot you will find about 4.2km on grass and 0.8km on tarmac paths, and the course is nice and flat (it sits on a plateau at the highest point of Charlton).

We visited the park to take part in event 2 and parked just off Canberra Road which runs along the south side - If you park as close as possible to the junction with Meridian Road, you'll be perfectly placed for the entrance that leads straight across the park to the start/briefing area. The majority of the residential roads on the south side of the park seem to be restriction free, but are quite narrow and space is at a premium. The roads to the immediate north are also generally restriction-free, but as they are close to Charlton Athletic FC, you may find restrictions are applied when they are playing at home (the exact timings may not affect parkrunners, but still worth checking the street-side notices).

Travelling by train is easy as Charlton Train Station is just a short distance to the north of the park where you can simply take a 10 minute walk up the hill to reach the park. There are also a number of local bus services which stop within a few minutes walk. Some bikes racks can be found next to the toilets/cafe, plus there's another set next to the playground. The toilets can be found at the north end of the park, just inside the park entrance opposite Charlton Lane. The parkrun meeting point is also close to this entrance.

The parkrun lap is roughly rectangular and starts next to the skate park and table tennis tables, where it first heads along the grass next to the avenue of lime trees heading east. Towards the end of this section you briefly join the tarmac path, but within a few seconds the course reaches the north-east corner of the park and the route moves back onto grass. The eastern leg of the course is on an ever-so-gentle incline, some may find it virtually unnoticeable, but I could feel it while pushing the running buggy.

The eastern and southern sections feature a worn dirt path - it's only wide enough for a single person so you'll most likely end up using the grass at points. and this leads all the way up to the formal end of the park. Here the course weaves through some trees and returns to a longer stretch of tarmac path which runs alongside the ha-ha. At this point a glance to the left will give you the great view of the mansion (not so great when we visited due to the fog). The lap is completed by heading along the northern border on grass before another short section on tarmac which leads back to the avenue of Limes.

At the end of the third lap, the finish funnel can be found on the grass back where the original briefing was held. Once I'd had my barcode and finish token scanned, I uploaded my GPS data to Strava, so if you want to view the course you can do so, here: Charlton parkrun GPS data. I also transferred the data to the Relive app where it generated a course fly-by video. That can be viewed on Youtube, here: Charlton parkrun Course Fly-by Video. Post-event the team grab some refreshments at the Old Cottage Coffee Shop. The results for event 2 were published shortly after and I see that 258 people participated. 

And with that, the day's parkrunning adventure in Charlton was almost complete, so we headed into to the playground for a while. I can recommend walking out of the western exit of the park (past the mansion, you should also see the mulberry tree), crossing the road and finding the gap between the blocks of flats where you will see a fantastic view into the centre of London. We also wandered around the local roads to check out some of the interesting things I mentioned above. Also, I see that another tourist spotted a white squirrel, so that's another interesting thing to look out for!

Lastly, many thanks to the volunteers that made the event possible.

Related blog posts:

The London parkrun venues

Sutcliffe parkrun

In the London Borough of Greenwich you will find Sutcliffe Park. It officially sits within Eltham, but its position on the western edge of the town sees it close to the centres of both Lee and Kidbrooke. I've had a look at some old maps and the area was previously known as Kidbrooke Green (1897), and Harrow Fields (1932) before the introduction of the Sutcliffe Park name in 1937. The name was taken from a Mr J Sutcliffe who was an engineer with the local authority at the time.

The River Quaggy flows through the park, but during development of the area in the 1930s, it was culverted where it remained underground for many years. At this time, the park was laid out as open playing fields. I played some football matches on these pitches in around 1987/88 when I played for a local team called Villacourt Rovers.

With the continued growth of housing along the course of the river during 19th and 20th centuries, the natural meadows which would have dealt with the flooding of the river had disappeared. The local town centres (most notably Lewisham) had become prone to flooding. It wasn't until the 1990s that the decision was made to restore the river and its flood plains within Sutcliffe Park to deal with the excess water. You can read a bit more about it here. With the work complete, the park was re-opened in 2004 and in 2006 was declared a Local Nature Reserve.

The park's most significant non-nature feature is its athletics stadium which is managed by a social enterprise called GLL under the brand name 'Better'. It has recently been renovated and features activities such as climbing, gymnastics, indoor BMX/skate park, soft play, as well as all the standard athletics club disciplines. Since 1954 the track has been home to the famous Cambridge Harriers Athletics Club who have consistently produced Olympic Games athletes over the years - a list of them is here. A former member of the club was Stephen Lawrence, who was murdered in a racially motivated attack not far from the park in 1993.

The rest of the park contains a selection of meandering paths and boardwalks which work their way around the meadows, river and water holding lake. There are also a couple of small play areas along with an outdoor gym and table tennis tables. At 9am on Saturday mornings there is now a free, timed, 5km event called Sutcliffe parkrun, and this was the primary reason for our visit to the park. The main meeting point for the start of the 5k is just outside the sports centre entrance in the south-western corner of the park (the area marked with 5, 6 and 7 on the map in the first photo collage).

As far as reaching the venue is concerned, if you drive you can park onsite at a cost of £1 per hour. The machine accepts cash or you can use the Ypay app or website. However there are only 32 standard spaces plus 5 disabled spaces. Alternatively there are some free on-street parking spaces on Eltham Road, which runs along the southern border of the park. If that is full, you'd be looking at the residential streets (which look restriction-free to me) to the south and south-west of the park for additional options.

If you cycle here you will find plenty of covered bicycle racks in between the car park and the sports centre. Lastly, if you use public transport there are a selection of busses that stop close-by. There are also two train lines that run close to the park. Both are served by Southeastern trains (SE Trains from mid-October 2021) running between London through to Dartford, and in some cases further into Kent.

The Bexleyheath Line runs past the north of the park and the Sidcup Line the south (I regularly use both of these lines during my commute to and from work). The closest station is Kidbrooke which is on the Bexleyheath Line, and about 1k away, or if you happen to be on the Sidcup Line, you can alight at Lee which will leave you an approx 1.5k walk to the park.

Once at the venue, you will find the toilets inside the sports centre, just next to the meeting point. The 5 kilometres are covered via a 3 lap clockwise route largely around the perimeter path and underfoot you will find a combination of tarmac and hard packed gravel. It's simple to follow and also nice and flat. It's perfectly fine for buggy running and wheelchairs. During this visit, the course was exceptionally well marked out with arrows in all the right places and cones marking exactly which paths not to follow. It's worth being aware that the north-west corner seems to contain some Horse Chestnut (Conker) trees and when we visited (early autumn) the path was covered in conkers.

As you head around the course, you may notice the new residential buildings to the north. This is known as Kidbrooke Village which is part of the regeneration of Kidbrooke. The land it sits on was formerly home to the Ferrier Estate, which was one of London's most deprived council estates until its demolition. The estate allegedly had terrorist links, the most high-profile of which was the failed shoe bomb attempt to blow up in US-bound plane in 2001. Before the estate was built, the land had been part of RAF Kidbrooke, which was an Royal Air Force training and storage facility.

Continuing around the parkrun route you'll see the pond which is home to many birds. If you're lucky you may see the resident swans or some of the other wildlife. The scenery is nice with wild meadows full of long grasses on either side of the path and there are plenty of clusters of trees dotted around.

It's hard to believe that this natural space was, just a few years ago, tightly packed football fields. The paths themselves vary in width with the narrowest being at the southern end of the park - this path is also quite noticeably cambered. After running along the southern border, the route heads north towards the centre of the park, before loosely following the curve of the running track round to complete the lap. This ensures that the vehicular entrance to the car park is avoided.

At the end of each lap, you head back down the original start straight and perform a loop around a tree to start the next lap. It's worth bearing in mind that by the time the faster runners are finishing, there will be parkrunners at three different stages of the event all on this same short section of path. So it's worth staying alert here. For the record, the three stages are; Those just finishing their second lap heading towards the turnaround tree, those that have just looped around the tree heading back, and those that are completing their third lap and heading into the finish funnel.

Finish tokens are handed out and then scanned here, and with that the event is done. The sports centre contains a cafe called Better Coffee Corner, so that's the place to head for some refreshments. They are a not-for-profit social enterprise with part of the cost of drinks going to the GLL Sports Foundation which provides support to talented athletes.

It's definitely worth going for a little wander around the park afterwards as there are areas in the centre that the parkrun route does not cover. There are a few wildlife installations that you may spot - these were created as a collaboration between IKEA and various UK artists. They are all made from recycled IKEA furniture and their intention is to provide homes for the local wildlife, such as birds, bugs and bees. Once we had done that the kids spent a bit of time in the playground, but then it started to rain so we headed off home.

At 10.30am our parkrun results came through. We had taken part in event number 4 which had a total of 174 participants. Being early in the event's history means it's still being visited by a fair number of full-time tourists and curious locals, so it's difficult to really know what the average number will look like long-term.

My GPS course data from my run can be found on Strava, here: Sutcliffe parkrun GPS trace. The Relive course fly-by can be found on youtube, here: Sutcliffe parkrun fly-by video.

Many thanks of course goes to the volunteers who worked hard to put on a seamless event.

Related:

The London parkrun venues