Harrow parkrun

Harrow is a town that sits within the London Borough of Harrow, in the north west of London and has a population of around 150,000 people.

Historically, the town was centred on the Harrow-on-the-Hill area, which is the oldest and most ancient part of Harrow, and features a number of conservation areas. The earliest recorded version of the name is 'Harrowe atte Hille'. The name is said to come from the Old English word 'Hearg' which would indicate a heathen temple, probably on the site of the Grade I Listed St Mary's Church which stands at the top of the aforementioned hill. The summit of the hill is at 124m (408 feet) which is the thirteenth highest point (of land) in the whole of London. It is notable that within the list of 'highest points in London that are over 100 metres', it is the only isolated hill. The others are all part of escarpments/ridges. The church is noted as being the highest building in Middlesex.

The hilltop is also the location of the prestigious public school 'Harrow School'. It was founded in 1572 and is one of the leading independent schools in the country. It can count seven former British prime ministers amongst its former students, the most-famous of them being Sir Winston Churchill. It also has three nobel prize winners and members of various royal families amongst its alumni.

The areas around the hill were traditionally used largely for farming, but the arrival of the railways in the 19th century provided the catalyst for the town's expansion. Like many outer-London areas the farmland was bought and houses built. The expansion of north-west London (and beyond) along the Metropolitan railway was known as Metroland and Harrow was unofficially thought of as its capital.

In 1890, Harrow became home to the first Kodak photographic manufacturing plant to be built outside the United States, and it also had a research and development department. It was the largest Kodak factory in the UK and in its heyday employed around 6,00 people. Owing to the falling demand for traditional photography equipment including the film and photographic paper produced here, the factory was slowly wound down. In 2016 it closed completely, and the site has now been developed into a residential development called Eastman Village - named after George Eastman who was one of Kodak's founders. If you look around there are many other nods to the world of photography in the names of the roads.

With the expansion of the town rapidly taking place, it was deemed necessary to ensure some land was reserved for recreation and sports, so one of the assistant headmasters from Harrow School started a campaign to raise the funds required to purchase some land for that purpose. In 1885 Harrow Recreation Ground was opened to the public. The original park consisted of only the south field, but extra plots were acquired later which increased the park to its current size. During its early history it was home to many local sports clubs including 4 cricket clubs, 5 football clubs, 29 tennis clubs and a bowling club that largely carries through to this day.

The facilities in the park have evolved with the sports & recreation fashions and trends throughout the past 140-or-so years. Part of the park that is now football pitches once housed grass tennis courts, then became used for croquet. There is now a children's play area where there was once a putting green, and back in the 1960s a golf course was created but this has since been removed. On 9 May 2015, the park became home to a free, weekly, timed 5 kilometre event (open to all abilities including those who wish to walk) called Harrow parkrun and this of course is continuing the strong tradition of the park being home to sports, recreation and most importantly, community.

We first visited this venue on 12 December 2015 and took part in event number 32 where there were 91 finishers. On 30 December 2023 we revisited and took part in event number 380. We travelled to the venue in 2015 by taking the London Underground's Metropolitan Line to Harrow-on-the-Hill station, which is just a short walk from the park (check out the cool cycle lane which runs through the underpass underneath the main road). The station is also served by Chiltern Railways national rail trains running on the London to Aylesbury line. Harrow is also well served by buses and these include the numbers 114, 140, 183, 223, H19 and a few others that I have most-likely missed.

If travelling by car (as we did in 2023), there are two main options for parking. The first is to use the free-of-charge car park within Harrow Recreation Ground, which is accessed from Roxborough Road on the eastern side of the park. This car park has space for approximately 40 vehicles, so you'd need to arrive reasonably early to be guaranteed a space. Roxborough Road itself has parking restricted to permit holders only. The other option for parking in the vicinity of the park is to head over to the residential roads to the west of the park. The best spots are going to be in the Beresford Road area where the side streets are restriction free. Finally, there are a few bicycle racks within the car park.

The participants and volunteers gather in the south east corner of the park at the Harrow St Mary's pavilion, which is next to the entrance closest to the town centre. Changing rooms and toilets are available for use inside the pavilion building where you can also leave any personal belongings. The park also has some regular public toilets and these are located next to the Hindes Road entrance (not far from the playground), however these were not open before or after parkrun when we visited in December 2023. Both the first timers' and main briefings take place directly outside the pavilion, after which everybody moves around to the start line.

The parkrun takes place over three anti-clockwise laps, but note that lap 1 is slightly different to laps 2 and 3. It is almost flat, but does feature some relatively long and gentle changes in elevation which according to Strava adds up to 46 metres of elevation change over the full 5 kilometres. Underfoot is 100% tarmac paths, so road shoes are always the best footwear option. The course is absolutely fine for buggies and for wheelchair users. My GPS course data and the Relive course fly-by video can both be viewed if you require a more visual representation of the course. It seems to be quite a resilient course and I understand the event has only ever had to be cancelled once, which was due to ice on the paths.

The parkrun starts in the south east corner of the park and heads to the north through an avenue of lime trees which is unsurprisingly called Lime Avenue. The end of the avenue is where the course passes the car park and playground. On lap one only, once past the playground, the course takes a little detour where it breaks off from the perimeter path and does a loop around the central grass area which is home to the park's cafe and Harrow Bowls Club. It then rejoins the perimeter path outside the playground. If you happen to be towards the front or the back of the pack, there is a short stretch where you will mingle and have to cross each other's paths.

Once that section is out of the way, the rest of the parkrun course sticks to the park's perimeter paths. The lap continues by passing the toilet block and this is where the long, gentle incline starts. The steepest gradient my Garmin picked up was around 3% incline. This continues as you pass the sports fields to the left. There is a path which cuts across the park, which is lined with oaks; these are the Mayoral Oaks and since 1990 a new one has been planted by each successive Mayor. The parkrun goes straight past and onwards until reaching the park's north east corner. This is the highest point of the course and with a quick glance to the left you can see across to Harrow-on-the-Hill and St. Mary's Church spire. 

Following the perimeter path along the park's northern path, the course starts to ever-so-gently drop downhill, and this continues as the course turns onto the western perimeter path. It passes the tennis courts and the sensory garden, and then to the right is Harrow Cemetery. At this point the course starts to rise again, but it is so slight you may not even notice it. The final part of the lap goes past the Pinner Road entrance with its grand cast iron gates which were installed to commemorate the coronation of King George V.

[credit top right photo: harrow parkrun official photographer]

When reaching the end of this path, the course goes around the back of the pavilion building and rejoins Lime Avenue where the next lap begins. Remember the second and third laps do not do the detour section, instead once reaching the playground they head straight on past the toilets to continue the lap as before. A small mention here for the marshals - you can expect to find about five dotted at strategic positions around the course, mostly where the entrance paths meet the main path.

At the end of lap three, just before reaching the pavilion, the 5 kilometre point is reached and the finish funnel can be found straddling the adjacent grass. The scanning team will most likely be positioned directly in front of the pavilion. Light post-event refreshments are available at the pavilion, but should you fancy something else, the park's cafe and the local branch of Morrison both have further options. When we visited in 2015, we popped into a local branch of Costa Coffee.

The results for event 380 were published a short while later and there were 221 finishers. This number is in line with the expected number of attendees as of 2023. Most weeks generally have over 200, but the event sometimes drops into the high 100's, usually during unfavourable conditions or during the summer holidays. As always I recorded the course using my Garmin and the GPS data can be found on Strava, along with the Relive video which can be found on YouTube. For the record, the course is exactly the same as it was when we last visited in 2015.

So our second visit to Harrow was great, and I was very pleased to be able to introduce one of my friends from work to parkrun on this visit. The volunteers and locals were just as friendly as I remembered from the 2015 visit, so a huge thank you to you all for the very warm welcome and for the support on the day.

Related Links:

My GPS data of the course (30 December 2023)

The Relive Course Fly-by Video (30 December 2023)

The London parkrun venues (blog7t page)

My original 2015 Harrow parkrun write-up (blog7t 2015)

Hilly Fields parkrun

In the London Borough of Lewisham, is the open green space called Hilly Fields. It sits within the electoral ward of Ladywell, but has also been recorded as being part of the adjacent locality of Brockley. In fact, Hilly Fields is part of the Brockley Conservation Area. As with a lot of areas within London, the borders between localities can shift and become blurred over time, but as it is mostly noted as being within Ladywell, that's where I'll focus this write-up.

The name Ladywell has been in use since the 1400's and comes from 'Our Lady's Well' that is thought to have been dedicated to the Virgin Mary. It was not the only well in the area, another nearby well was used for medicinal purposes as it was thought to have healing properties. The site of the Our Lady's Well is now under a road, but it is marked by a plaque on a nearby building. The town centre is also home to a distinctive Grade II Listed Victorian Bath House, the Ladywell Playtower, which is currently in a semi-derelict state, however there are plans to redevelop it into flats and a cinema. The Ravensbourne River runs through the area and Ladywell Fields is an open green space that extends along its banks, past Lewisham Hospital (birthplace of Bill Wyman from the Rolling Stones) all the way down to Catford.

The area was largely fields and farms until the arrival of the railway in 1857, which was the catalyst for its growth into the residential area it is today. The areas of Ladywell, Brockley and the adjacent Crofton Park were expanding rapidly with most of the housing being quite respectable houses. To the north of the centre of Ladywell, building permission had been granted for houses on what is now Hilly Fields. Fortunately, a lady called Octavia Hill, who was a social reformer and one of the founding members of the National Trust, had a keen interest in preserving green spaces. She was instrumental in helping local people set up a campaign, which ultimately raised enough funds for London County Council to purchase the land. Hilly Fields was opened as a public park in 1896.

As its name suggests, the park comprises grass fields (each with its own name) and sits on a hill, which rises to a height of around 53 metres (175 ft.) above sea level. It covers an area of 39 acres and is bordered on all sides by detached and semi-detached houses. Within the park is the Prendegast 6th Form College, whose building dates back to the 1880's. The park is also home to a playground, cafe, a stone circle, tennis courts, football and cricket pitches, a basketball court, and a bowls club. The area that is now the cricket pitch was once the site of a brick field. There was once a bandstand on the grass opposite the tennis courts, but it sadly no longer exisits. On Saturday mornings it is the location of a free, weekly, timed 5km community event called Hilly Fields parkrun. Like all parkruns, it is open to all abilities including those who wish to walk.

I had been to Hilly Fields years before the parkrun existed, but visited to take part at the parkrun's inaugural event on 8 September 2012. I then visited again a couple of months later and took part in their 2012 Christmas Day event. Somehow, almost 11 years passed by before I turned up for my third parkrun visit, which was on 23 December 2023 (which also happened to be my 500th parkrun and my brother's 50th). I should note, that I have been back to Hilly Fields a few times in the interim, but for Hilly Fields junior parkrun, which takes place on Sundays. The thing I have always loved about this venue is its bohemian, arty, chilled out, family-focused, vibe. 

Being a London venue, public transport links are pretty good. There are numerous buses that pass close to the venue. The bus stops along the park's southern border are served by the 122, while the north and east borders are served by the 484. Additional bus services stop at various locations nearby. Travelling by mainline train also comes with a number of options. The closest train station is Ladywell, but Crofton Park and Brockley stations are also close by. All three of the stations are served by different train companies, and are not interconnected. Brockley is also on the London Overground line. Lewisham station is also not too far away; this is served by mainline trains and the Docklands Light Railway (DLR). For those who wish to drive, the roads around the perimeter of the park allow restriction-free parking at all times. Cyclists can secure their bikes to the racks opposite the cafe. 

The parkrun meeting point is next to the playground and this is where the first timers' briefing takes place. Most participants tend to hang their jackets on the playground fence. The start area is at the highest point in the park, next to the cafe and the flagpole. There are toilet facilities at the rear of the cafe building. The parkrun has summer and winter courses which are both made up of three clockwise laps plus a central tail that is used for the start and finish sections. Underfoot is a combination of approximately 3.5km on tarmac paths and 1.5km on grass. If conditions are dry, regular road shoes will be fine, but in wet conditions, trail shoes are the way to go (see my Christmas Day 2012 blog). Buggy running is fine here, but the course doesn't seem to be overly suitable for wheelchair users. I've always loved how the park's name is totally honest about what to expect here; grass fields on a hill!

The start line is formed at the flag pole and this is where the main briefing takes place. At 9am the event gets underway. The initial start section heads to the west along the flat, tarmac, central path past the tennis courts and the playground. Some parts of the path have become damaged, so watch your footing along here. This path naturally leads around to the right and this marks the start of the three clockwise roller-coaster-style laps. Essentially the course drops downhill when heading away from the central path and rises when heading back towards the centre. The summer course has three down-then-up sections, so nine uphill sections to negotiate in total. The winter course has two down-then-up sections making six uphill sections in total. To be honest, there isn't that much difference between the two. The course is very well marshalled and there are cones in various places to help guide parkrunners around. 

In bad weather, the section along the northern border, which is on grass, can become very wet and maybe even waterlogged. Even if not waterlogged, it can at least get fairly muddy here. At certain times of the year you may also find a few bits of tree debris (twigs etc) scattered along the dirt path. The first uphill is on tarmac and is reasonably gentle - the course stays to the left when the path splits outside the bowling club.

If taking part on the winter course, the route continues to follow the tarmac path which joins directly onto the main central path. If using the summer course there is an additional hill section on grass in the south-east corner of the park, the subsequent climb is the longest on the summer course with an average of 7% incline over 200 metres. The top of this incline rejoins the main central path at the cafe.

What can be described as the course's main hill section (The Big Hill), can be found at the end of each lap. The course passes between the tennis courts and playground where it leads onto a steep downhill tarmac path which heads down towards the junction of Montague Avenue and Adelaide Avenue at the southwest tip of the park.

The summer course turns off of this path about half-way down and onto the grass for a shorter uphill climb (approx 150 metres) which completes the loop. However, the winter course actually heads all the way down to the lowest point of the park where it goes around the big tree (you'll know it when you see it) before heading back uphill on grass. The uphill section is largely around a 10% incline and on the winter course, is about 250 metres in length. The top of this hill marks the end of the full lap.

I couldn't write about Hilly Fields without mentioning the 360 degree views. To the south is the view of the residential areas stretching across this part of London where you can also see the Crystal Palace Transmitting Tower in the distance. Shooters Hill lies to the east, although the new tower blocks in the centre of Lewisham now fill the view. To the north, are views into London including a great view of Canary Wharf and to the north-west The Shard, Guys Hospital and the City of London can be seen. If you don't get the chance to take them in during the parkrun, it's worth spending some time wandering around to find the best viewpoints afterwards.

At the end of the third roller-coaster lap, when reaching the top of the big hill, the route breaks off of the loop and heads back in the opposite direction along the central path where the finish is found on the grass opposite the playground. I have GPS data from both courses. The summer course data is from my 2012 Christmas Day visit (back then there was only one course in use), while the winter course data is from my December 2023 visit. I have also taken both sets of GPS data and created course fly-by videos which can be viewed on YouTube (links below). The total elevation change (according to Strava) seems to be roughly the same for both courses at around 90-92 metres. The summer course achieves this in three shorter inclines per lap while the winter course uses two longer inclines.

Personal barcodes and finish tokens are scanned next to the finish line and once all of the participants and the tail walkers have crossed the line, the team relocate to the Pistachios in the Park cafe, which is pretty cool and quirky. It has indoor and outdoor seating, serves amazing coffee and has a selection of children's books to keep the younger visitors occupied. The breakfast food options are largely based around pastries and cakes, but they do have some hot food and baguettes available for anyone that requires something a little more substantial.

As of 2023 the average number of participants seems to be around 200-230 per week, but this tends to drop down into the high 100's when the conditions are not so good. Being high up, it can also get a bit windy up here. The results for my most recent visit in December 2023 were processed and published online shortly after and there were 235 participants at event 528. The event usually has a pre-planned cancellation each June (usually the last Saturday of the month) when the Hilly Fields Midsummer Fayre is held, so keep an eye out for that if planning a visit during that time. They also have a 100% record of holding extra events on both Christmas Day and New Year's Day.

So that concluded my third visit to a parkrun event that I really feel I should have visited more often by now. It is a really lovely spot to have a parkrun, and of course to simply hang out for a while. Just don't forget to take in the views! All that is left for me to say is a huge thank you to the volunteers and the rest of the Hilly Fields parkrun community for always making me feel welcome. I will endeavour to visit more often as I really do love it here.

Related links:

• My GPS winter course data (23 December 2023)
• The Relive course fly-by video (23 December 2023)

• My GPS summer course data (25 December 2012)
• The Relive summer course fly-by video (25 December 2012)

• The London parkrun venues (blog7t page)

• Hilly Fields event 1 blog (blog7t)
• Christmas Day 2023 blog (blog7t)

Great Lines parkrun

Gillingham is a town in the county of Kent with a population of around 110.000 people. It sits within the unitary authority of Medway, which is also home to the towns of Strood, Rochester, Chatham, and Rainham. It was recorded in the Domesday Book where it had a population of 69 households. The name is thought to come from the name of a warlord called Gyllingas who was famed for leading his men into battle while shouting. This links in with the Old English word 'Gyllan' which means 'to make a loud cry or screech'.

The town is the birthplace of William Adams who served under Sir Francis Drake against the Spanish Armada in 1588. He subsequently sailed to Japan where he became the first Western Samurai. The north of Gillingham reaches the bank of the River Medway, where part of Gillingham (known as Grange) was a limb of the Cinque Port of Hastings. The link to the sea continued when Chatham's Royal Naval Dockyard was established in the 16th century. By the time the dockyard had expanded to its full size, two thirds of it were actually located within Gillingham. One of the dockyard's most famous ships is the HMS Victory, which was launched in 1765 and is currently the world's oldest naval vessel still in commission. The dockyard was once the workplace of Horatio Nelson.

The naval dockyard required protection from the landward threat from any potential invading forces, and it just so happens that the North Downs chalk escarpment runs through Gillingham, just south of the dockyard. The line of open spaces along the ridge provided a perfect strategic defensive position. At the beginning of the 18th century work began fortifying the area and a fort, Fort Amehurst was later constructed which overlooked the River Medway. There were various sections of the defences such as, Chatham Lines, the Lower Lines, the Inner Lines and the Field of Fire. The combined system of defences became known as The Great Lines.

Over the years, Great Lines has been used by the military for sport, training exercises and explosives testing. There are also some underground shelters and tunnels built about 30 metres below the surface. In 1924 Great Lines became home to the Chatham Naval Memorial obelisk. The initial memorial contained the names of 8,515 Royal Navy servicemen who lost their lives during the First World War, but had no known grave. The memorial was then enlarged following the end of the Second World War where a further 10,098 names were added. It is part of the story in the 1996 novel 'Last Orders' which was made into a film in 2001, and some scenes were filmed in the park around the memorial (it's on Disney+).

In 1989, the area was acquired by Gillingham Borough Council (the council was abolished in 1998 when Medway Council was created). In 2008 funding was granted for improvement works to be undertaken across the 70 acres of land, this included new pathways, signage and lighting. The park is now known as Great Lines Heritage Park and is largely open space with some areas of woodland, some football pitches and a section which is a Site of Nature Conservation Interest. On 28 September 2013 the park became home to Great Lines parkrun, which is a free, weekly, timed 5 kilometre event open to all abilities. I first visited the park to take part at the inaugural event in September 2013, and have now taken part in this parkrun on four occasions, with the latest being in December 2023.

On all of those occasions I used the car to reach the venue, and there are multiple parking options. Firstly it is possible to park for free for up to two hours, right next to the parkrun meeting point, on Marlborough Road, however the bays are also used by local residents so spaces can be hard to come by. There is further on-street parking on Brompton Road, but the bays here require payment to use. Then there is the car park at the Medway Park Sports Centre, which also requires a fee to be paid. This can be done via contactless payment at the machine in the car park or by using the RingGo app. If cycling there are some racks at the sports centre, or there is a short section of fencing that can be used alongside Marlborough Road.

Travel by public transport is also possible. There is a train station in the centre of Gillingham and this is less than 1 kilometre from Great Lines Heritage Park and the parkrun meeting area. It is primarily served by Southeastern trains from London Charing Cross and London Victoria. Plus there is also a Thameslink train from Luton via London St. Pancras although the direct service does not appear to run early enough to reach the parkrun in time. From the Kent side, there are direct services commencing at both Ramsgate and Dover Priory stations. As far as buses go, the following services are listed as stopping right outside the park, on Brompton Road; 101 Sapphire, 116, 121, 182, 326 and 327.

To find the parkrun meeting point, you need to go to the northern end of the park - this is the part closest to the town centre. As mentioned above it is adjacent to Marlborough Road, but also quite near to Brompton Road. Before you arrive at the park, it should be noted that there are no toilet facilities on-site. The Medway Park Sports Centre is just across the road and has toilets, but they are for members only so expect to be turned away if you ask to use those. There are some public toilets on the High Street, in-between the train station and the park - these are located on a pedestrianised street called Sappers Walk. The information I can find via Google Maps suggests they open at 8am on Saturdays.

Great Lines parkrun takes place over a two-lap anti-clockwise course which I would describe as being gently undulating with the total elevation change at around 50 metres. Underfoot contains a mixture of surfaces including granite resin, grass and gravel paths. My preference for footwear at this venue leans towards trail shoes, but they would only be essential when the conditions are particularly bad. It is fine for buggy running (I buggy ran there on my second visit to the venue), and in favourable conditions you could also get a wheelchair around the course. I will also note here that the course as of 2023 is not exactly the same as the original course.

The briefings take place at the meeting point and, following these, the participants shuffle along the path to the start line. It is worth bearing in mind that as the venue is at a decent elevation, certain parts of the course can be exposed to the weather. In terms of numbers, this parkrun generally attracts around 300-350 participants each week, but the numbers do bounce around quite a bit. The course is very well marshalled by Medway's finest volunteers so there's no chance of getting lost. 

The parkrun starts on the central granite resin path where the course initially heads towards the north before turning onto grass and circumnavigating the three marked football fields. Rejoining the resin path, the route now climbs ever-so-gently uphill across the Field of Fire as it heads to the south. Upon reaching the one kilometre point, the course reaches an X-shaped cross-roads, where the participants turn to the right and head directly towards the stunning Chatham Naval Memorial. Approaching and then passing around the side of the memorial, the surface underfoot takes on a gravelly nature. The course then drops down slighty before a sharp turn to the left takes the course along the southern border of the memorial. Be extra careful here as the sharp turn combined with the downhill and gravel raises the risk of loosing traction and falling.

[lower right photo: official photographer will]

Now at the southern end of the Great Lines Heritage Park, the high vantage point gives the most incredible view over the town of Chatham. The grassy areas in this area of the park are left to grow naturally rather than being mown, and form part of the park's conservation area. There is a point at this part of the course where the two laps differ. Lap one takes a slightly longer route than lap two, but they both end up on the main resin path now heading back towards the X-shaped cross-roads, where the right hand path is taken. At the end of the path the course transfers onto a second grass section, this one is slightly downhill. The end of the grass section links back onto the main central resin path and this completes the lap.

At the end of the second lap, the course leaves the main path and enters the finish funnel which is on the grass adjacent to the meeting area. Finishing tokens are given out at the end of the funnel and scanning takes place right after that. My understanding is that the team then head across the road to The Falcon Cafe for post event refreshments. The results were processed and available online shortly after and there were 293 participants at event 449. I recorded the course using my Garmin and the GPS data from 16 December 2023 can be found on Strava. That data was used to create a course fly-by video and that is available to view on YouTube.

[left photo: official photographer will]

I have previously visited Great Lines Heritage Park outside of the parkrun event, and that was in March 2015 when I, with assistance from my wife, created a video of the course as it was back then. You can view it on YouTube via the link on this page, but please note that the current course is not 100% identical to the one depicted in the video. I'd also give a mention to one of the unofficial parkrun challenges that incorporates this venue. It may have a few different names, including 'The Great parkruns' and 'They're Great!'. To complete the challenge you must take part in all of the UK 5k parkruns with the word 'Great' in their name. At the time of writing in December 2023 there are eight events in the challenge.

After thoroughly enjoying my fourth visit to this venue, we headed back across to the sports centre to collect the car and drove back home. I'd like to extend my thanks to everyone who was involved in putting on the event and who made us feel extremely welcome.

Related Links:

My GPS course data (16 December 2023)

The Relive course fly-by video (16 December 2023)

My original GPS course data (2013)

My 2015 Freedom run course video (Original course)

My original Great Lines parkrun blog (2013)

My Great Christmas Lines blog (2013)

The Great parkruns Challenge (list of venues)

The Great parkruns (They're Great!)

This challenge is to take part in all of the UK's 5k parkruns that contain the word 'Great' in their name. This challenge may be known under a number of different names including 'The Great parkruns' and 'They're Great!'. At present there are eight 5k parkruns in the UK that fall within the scope of the challenge. All eight are in the southern parts of England.

Great Cornard parkrun (Suffolk)

Great Denham parkrun (Bedfordshire)



Great Dunmow parkrun (Essex)



Great Lines parkrun (Kent)



Great Notley parkrun (Essex)



Great Yarmouth North Beach parkrun (Norfolk)



Great Salterns parkrun (Hampshire)



The Great Field parkrun (Dorset)

Wormwood Scrubs parkrun

Wormwood Scrubs (known locally as The Scrubs) is a 200 acre open green space which sits in the northmost part of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, in west London. The area was first known as Wormeholt or Wormholt Scrubs and this continued until the present-day version became commonplace during the 19th century. The Old English 'holt' part of the original name also means 'wood'. The most common theory of the name's origin is that the worm element comes from the Old English 'wurm' or 'wyrm' which means snake. When coupled with 'holt' it would have signified a wooded area infested with snakes. The area was once completely wooded, but this was cleared and subsequently used as pasture for livestock. 

The story of the modern-day Wormwood Scrubs began in 1801 when the Paddington branch of the Grand Union Canal was built through the scrubs and the land to the north became lost to development. Shortly after that a railway line took another slice of the remaining northern section, this is now home to the Old Oak Common Depot and to the North Pole Depot. Another railway line was constructed along the eastern border and for many years Wormwood Scrubs had its own station here. This also resulted in a small area of the scrubs being isolated and it was renamed Little Wormwood Scrubs. 1812 saw the government take out a lease on the area and it became a military training ground. It was then bought outright by the Government in 1878.

The south west corner of the scrubs became home to a small prison in 1874. Work then began on the construction of a permanent brick prison building, which was completed in 1891. This building is the infamous HMP Wormwood Scrubs, one of the country's most well-known prisons. Over the years it has housed high-profile notorious prisoners such as Ian Brady, Charles Bronson, and Dennis Nilsen. It was also used to incarcerate celebrities such as Mark Morrison, Pete Doherty, Leslie Grantham and Keith Richards. It housed conscientious objectors during the First World War and was home to the Security Service (MI5) for a year at the start of the Second World War. The road outside it is named after its designer Sir Edmund Frederick Du Cane and the exterior at its main entrance was used in a scene from the classic 1969 film, The Italian Job.

The world-renowned Hammersmith Hospital, which was first established in 1902, is located next to the prison. The hospital campus is also home to Queen Charlotte's and Chelsea Hospital which is one of Europe's oldest maternity hospitals. It was based elsewhere in Hammersmith from 1739 until 2000 when it was moved to its present site.

The Wormwood Scrubs Act was passed in 1879, and this formalised the use of the area. The scrubs were now technically owned by the British Army, but the Act ensured that it was still accessible to the general public for exercise and recreation. The Act also contained conditions which prevented the Army from building any permanent structures on the land. In the early 20th century, the scrubs became home to airships and a hangar was constructed (presumably this was always intended to be temporary). This remained in use throughout the First World War. A few years later, during the Second World War, anti-aircraft guns were installed. The scrubs also apparently hosted football matches between the British and German prisoners of war.

In 1967 the West London Stadium was constructed near the south east corner of the scrubs, just north of the hospital. It is home to Thames Valley Harriers athletics club, whose most famous member is Linford Christie. The stadium was renamed The Linford Christie Stadium in 1993 after his victory in the men's 100 metre event at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. The parkland is also home to the Wormwood Scrubs Pony Centre and has an area reserved for model aircraft flying.

A large section of the park is marked out with sports pitches, mostly for football but other sports are also catered for such as baseball. Incidentally, the scrubs were home to Queen's Park Rangers Football Club between 1893-1896. It was also part of the route of the 1908 Olympics Marathon. The exact distance of this course, 26.219 miles (42.195 km), was later formally recognised as the official length of the modern marathon. There are also a couple of children's play areas. There are various patches of scrubland and woodland that remain and parts of the area have been designated as a Local Nature Reserve.

In June 2011 the scrubs became home to a free, weekly, timed 5 kilometre event called Wormwood Scrubs parkrun. It is open to all abilities including those who wish to walk. I first visited the event in June 2013, and revisited in December 2023. On my first visit I cycled to the venue and left my bike on the grass at the meeting point. As far as I could see, there were still no official cycle racks anywhere near the meeting point although there may be some over near the entrance to the pony centre. There are a few fences dotted around which could possibly be used as an alternative. The closest other racks I spotted were outside the community centre on Braybrook Street or outside the hospital main entrance on Du Cane Road.

If driving there are a couple of parking options. The closest to the parkrun meeting point is the main Wormwood Scrubs car park which can be accessed via the small road in-between the hospital and the prison. The fee to use it as of December 2023 was £2.20 per hour. There were payment machines present and they appeared to be card only. Payment by phone was an option (full details on the signs), and despite not seeing any signage, I gather RingGo can also be used. The other parking option is to park on a side street at the south west corner of the scrubs (the Braybrook Street area). A fee applies during the week, but as of December 2023 there was no charge at the weekend.

If using public transport, the natural station to head for is East Acton which is served by the Central Line on the London Undergound. There are other stations dotted around the local area, but they are significantly further away, so if the Central Line is out of action, you may need to alight at Wood Lane which is served by Circle Line and the Hammersmith & City Line. Alternatively Willesden Junction is served by the Bakerloo Line and the London Overground. The closest mainline rail station seems to be Shepherds Bush. There are of course London bus services that pass close by; The 7, 70, 72, 272, and 283 services all stop on Du Cane Road while the 220 stops on Scrubs Lane.

Once at Wormwood Scrubs you will need to head to the parkrun meeting point, which can be found close to the Linford Christie Stadium and the car park. Just head onto the open grass football pitch area where the parkrun flag and pop-up banner identify the exact spot. This area is also where the event's finish line is located. Should you require toilet facilities, you may need to address this before arriving. The official line is that there are no toilets, however if the Thames Valley Harriers club house, within the stadium complex, is open there are some in there. If you would prefer to avoid playing 'toilet roulette', I have heard that there are some toilets just inside the main entrance of the adjacent hospital (I didn't go in, so cannot verify this).

The first-timers briefing takes place at the meeting point and just before 9am, the parkrunners and volunteers walk over to the parkrun start line. At this point I would note that as of my December 2023 visit the official course page showed a slightly different course and start point to the one that was used. With that in mind I would recommend initially heading to the meeting point rather than going straight to the start point shown on the course map. The main briefing was then held at the start line, which was on the grass path that runs adjacent to the prison.

The course is made up of two-and-a-bit anti-clockwise laps which largely stick to the western section of the scrubs. It is generally flat, but you may notice a slight rise in elevation early on in the lap. This is a 100% off-road cross-country style course with the surface underfoot being grass and dirt, which in the winter turns into grass and mud. It is also quite uneven in places, so care must be taken to avoid twisting an ankle. Shoe choice, as you'd expect, leans heavily towards off-road footwear. In fact in unfavourable conditions, I wouldn't even consider trying to take part without trail shoes or spikes. In the dry months buggy running is fine, but when the mud emerges I would imagine only the hardiest of buggy runners will want to participate here. I would say that overall it is not naturally a wheelchair friendly course.

From the start, the course, with the prison walls looming to the right, heads to the east, before turning to the north and passing the meeting area. It continues towards and then passes the central woodland copse. The course then goes around the edges of what I believe was a baseball field, before turning to the west and heading through the scrub-land part of the park. The far west end of the course features a marshalled turn-around point where the participants are sent back using the tree-lined path which runs adjacent to Braybrook Road. This then passes the playground and the path feeds back into the central area. Here the course heads directly towards the prison where the path turns and with the prison walls to the right, joins up with the original start area to complete the first lap.

The course is marshalled in a few key places (I think there were 4 on this occasion) and there were cones in various locations to guide the way. Once the two laps (approx 2.35km each) are complete, the course simply retraces the opening part of the lap (approx 300 metres) and turns into the finish area and across the line. Barcode scanning takes place right here on the grass. I recorded the course with my Garmin and the December 2023 GPS data can be found on Strava. I used that data to create a course fly-by video using the Relive app on my phone. I should also mention that there have been a number of variations of the course over the years, and the current course is different from the one used when I visited in 2013.

Once the tail walker has crossed the line and the marshals and cones have returned, the team heads over to the Thames Valley Harriers club house for refreshments. I joined the extremely welcoming team on both of my visits and while the clubhouse does not have a huge selection of options, it does have its famous 'legendary flapjack'. The prices are extremely reasonable with a cup of tea costing 70p, the hot chocolate £1.20, and the legendary flapjack was 80p per slice. The other food options are in the form of sweets, chocolate and crisps. If you are in need of something more substantial, you'll need to head elsewhere.

In terms of attendance figures, this is one of the smallest London parkrun venues. As of 2023, the summer sees the highest weekly turnouts where the finishers usually number over one hundred, but not usually more than 150 (186 is currently the highest-ever attendance). When the conditions worsen the impact on attendance figures is noticeable, and it is quite normal for attendances to be in the 40-90 window when the really muddy conditions set in. Although we visited in the winter, we picked a frosty day and the mud was mostly frozen (that of course made the risk of twisting an ankle a bit higher). The results were published a little later that morning and there were 87 participants and 15 volunteers present at event 573, which was held on 2 December 2023.

We had a cold but very enjoyable morning on the scrubs, and I would like to end by thanking the whole Wormwood Scrubs parkrun community for the warm welcome we received during our visit.

Related Links:

• My GPS data from event 573 (December 2023)
• The Relive Course Fly-by Video (December 2023)

• My GPS data from event 104 (June 2013)

• The London parkrun Venues (blog7t page)
• My original 2013 Wormwood Scrubs write-up (blog7t page)