The Leas parkrun, Minster-on-Sea (Isle of Sheppey)

The Isle of Sheppey is an island just off the north coast of Kent and separated from the mainland by the water channel called The Swale. Its name comes from the Old English word 'Sceapig' which means Sheep Island. It was at one time known as the Isles of Sheppey owing to the fact that it used to be three separate islands - the water channels have since silted up leaving the land as just one island.

It has always been an important strategic point as it sits adjacent to the Thames Estuary. A fort was built in the town of Sheerness by King Henry VIII to protect the entrance to the River Medway as this lead to Chatham Dockyard which otherwise would have vulnerable to attack. In fact the Island has historically been a place susceptible to invasion; the first known Viking raid in southern England took place here in 835, this was followed by many more. Subsequently the Dutch army occupied the island for a few days in 1667 - this was the first time a foreign power had done so since 1066.

Isle of Sheppey, The Leas

The island also has aviation history. The Aero Club of Great Britain was set up here and the Wright Brothers are known to have visited. The founder of the club, Lord Brabazon, made what is thought to be the first live-animal cargo flight when he tied a basket to his plane and transported a pig. He subsequently became the first person to qualify as a pilot in the UK.

There are known to be around 200 shipwrecks off the coast of the island, but the most famous of these is the SS Richard Montgomery which ran aground and sank in 1944. The reason for it being so well known is that it was carrying approximately 1,400 tonnes of explosives at the time. It has always been considered too dangerous to attempt to salvage them, so they remain onboard about a mile off the coast. An exclusion zone is in place and its three masts are still visible above the sea. It is constantly monitored by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency.

Wet beginnings [right photo credit: Debbie Hodgson]

The island is home to three prisons which combined hold just under 3,000 prisoners. On the east of the island, Leysdown-on-Sea is home to the highest concentration of chalets and caravan parks in Kent. Modern-day Sheppey includes the Port of Sheerness which is one of the major ports in the UK. It is thought to be the largest point of entry for foreign car imports, but also handles large quantities of fruits, vegetables and meats.

The existence of the port has been responsible for the introduction of one of the islands most unexpected residents - Scorpions! It is thought that they arrived on cargo ships in the 1860s, and it is estimated that there are in the region of 10-15,000 of them residing in the colony which is centred around the port. The London Clay which forms the island makes it a prime spot for fossil hunting and is known for providing paleontologists with almost all the known examples of 'Dasornis', a 50 million year old prehistoric seabird with a wingspan of at least 5 metres. 

mid-run / turn-around points [bottom left photo credit: Debbie Hodgson]

The town of Minster-on-Sea is named after the monastery that used to be here, and now it is home to Kent's 22nd 5k parkrun, which goes by the name of The Leas parkrun, Minster. Interestingly a Sheppey is also an obscure, humorous unit of measurement. A Sheppey is equal to 7/8 Mile (1.4km) and is said to be the optimum distance that you should be from a sheep for it to look picturesque. So I think it only fitting that this parkrun's distance should be referred to as being 3.57 Sheppeys.

The Leas is the name of the road and promenade which runs alongside Minster Leas Beach. We visited the venue on 24th July 2021, then revisited 22 April 2023, and on both occasions parked for free alongside the seafront. If travelling by train, the nearest station is over in Sheerness which is three miles down the road, but I am reliably informed that there is a bus that runs between the two towns. There is also a traffic-free cycle route along the sea from Sheerness to Minster Leas, so cycling would be another reasonable option for navigating that final stretch.

The Leas [left photo credit: Debbie Hodgson]

The parkrun starts right outside the Sweet Hut which is at a lower level than the road, so that's the spot to head for. Toilet facilities are present. Firstly, there's a toilet block a few minutes away at the junction with The Broadway - this is fairly dated and had no toilet paper when we first visited in 2021. This toilet was closed on our second visit in April 2023. This was due to a fire in January 2023. Alternatively, if you head east along The Leas, there is another toilet block just outside a car park which is a newer and much nicer option.

The course is effectively a double out-and-back starting from the Sweet Hut and heading east to the end of the footpath. However, the first 'back' does not return all the way to the original start point. You could say that it's an out-and partial-back, followed by a partial-out and-back. The finish is back at the Sweet Hut. My GPS data on Strava and the Relive video are probably both better resources to show the course properly.

The finish

Underfoot is beautifully smooth tarmac and the profile is flat apart from a small bump as you pass the aforementioned toilets next to the car park. Being a seafront event, there is always the threat of wind, and the day we visited in 2021 had a strong headwind blowing from the east. To make it worse, it was also raining at first. Thankfully the rain eased off about 10 minutes into the event. The plus side was that we had a tailwind when heading back along the seafront, so that was nice. During our second visit, in April 2023, there was no wind at all.

The eastern section (after the bump) goes through the dog-friendly zone, so you may find a number of loose dogs running around at this end. You also get to run past the 35 colourful beach huts which add a bit of variation to the scenery around the route. Another thing worth bearing in mind is that the course is on a shared-use path with bicycles, so keep an eye out for those.

Post event

The official average number of participants stands at 124 at the time of writing in 2021, so it's quite a nice-sized event to attend. We took part in event number 25, which was the very first post-covid-shutdown event and the number of finishers was slightly lower than the average at 81, which was to be expected. The official average was 89.6 when we revisited in 2023. Everything seemed to run smoothly, the volunteers were fab and we received our results text messages while still hanging out on the stony beach.

Still living in this strange covid world, we decided to avoid any post-event mingling so didn't visit the post-event social venues (The Playa and The Beach Bar are mentioned on the official page). We didn't actually have any post-parkrun plans so once we had exhausted everything the beach had to offer, we headed back on the short drive home for lunch, grateful that the opportunity to have these experiences had finally come around again.

When we revisited on 22 April 2023 for event number 114 exactly 100 people took part. The only difference I spotted was that one set of toilets were closed (as noted above). Everything else was identical. Again the volunteers were wonderful so a big thank you to all involved.

Related links:

The Kent parkrun venues

GPS data of the course (2021)

Relive Video (2021)

Crystal Palace parkrun

Crystal Palace is an area in South East London sitting atop one of the highest points in the capital, Sydenham Hill. Until the 1850s the area was simply called Sydenham Hill, but then something happened to change that...

the crystal palace in 1854 [photo: philip henry delamotte] (photo in public domain)

In 1851 'The Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations' took place in London's Hyde Park. It was a celebration of industry and design, and the building which housed it was the magnificent cast-iron and plate-glass structure dubbed The Crystal Palace. It was designed by Sir Joseph Paxton and in total approximately 293,000 panes of glass were produced for the building. The exhibition lasted six months and attracted over 6 million admissions - this was a third of Britain's population at the time. The profits generated by the exhibition were vast enough to fund the building of the National History Museum, The Science Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum in South Kensington.

The Crystal Palace building was modular by design which made it relatively simple to take apart. So when the exhibition closed, it was disassembled and, following some major changes to the design, reassembled on the land atop Sydenham Hill (part of the Norwood ridge) on what was formerly the grounds of Penge Place. The grounds were transformed into a Victorian Pleasure Garden with vast terraces in front of the palace and numerous water features and gardens spread across the 200 acres of land. The rebuilt Crystal Palace and its grounds, now called Crystal Palace Park, were opened in 1854 by Queen Victoria.

crystal palace park - sir joseph paxton bust

One of the main features of the park was its collection of 33 life-sized models of extinct animals, known as the Crystal Palace Dinosaurs. They were designed by Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins under direction from palaeontologist Richard Owen who is famous for coining the word Dinosaur (Dinosauria). Although they may look slightly odd to our modern-day eyes, at the time they caused a sensation as they were the first dinosaur sculptures in the world. Also bear in mind they were made almost 50 years before T-Rex was even discovered.

As time went on, some of the original Pleasure Garden features were removed. For example, the two large central water features were grassed over, the southern one becoming the site of a football stadium which was used to host the F.A Cup Final between 1895-1914. It was also home to Crystal Palace Football Club for the latter part of this period. The entire central area of the park is now home to the Crystal Palace National Sports Centre which consists of the athletics stadium on the same site as the former football stadium and the indoor arena occupying the site of the northern water basin. It was the venue for the London Athletics Grand Prix (now the IAAF Diamond League) from 1953 until 2012.

sports centre - racing track / radio control car track

The Crystal Palace itself suffered a few fires - One in 1866 destroyed part of the northern end and this was later replaced by a 400ft long aquarium which held 120,000 gallons of sea water - it was for a while the largest in the world and contained many ground-breaking elements. The final fire in 1936 was the one that saw this great building totally destroyed - it is said that its glow could be seen for miles around. The former site has now largely been reclaimed by nature.

From 1927-1972 the park was home to a motor racing track. It had a few configurations throughout the years, and it has a claim-to-fame for being the venue of the first-ever televised motor race. Various levels of motorcycle and car race meets were held including Formula 2 and even non-championship F1 races. If you search YouTube you can find plenty of videos, most with commentary by Murray Walker. Shortly after this in 1976, a small Remote Control Car racing track was built adjacent to the old circuit, ensuring that at least some form motor racing continues in the park to this day.

the grand walk

In the late 1960s the track was used for a scene in the movie The Italian Job (the minis being tested) and the adjacent grass used for the famous 'You're only supposed to blow the bloody doors off' scene. In 2013 it was again used, this time for the movie Rush. Ultimately the noise generated by motor racing became its downfall - the area had become just too residential for such a noisy activity to take place and the track closed down. However, you can still trace most of the route as paths and access roads through the park.

As you can see from the above, there is a huge amount of history here, and what I've written doesn't even come close to covering it all... Anyway, the modern-day park has pretty much all the features that you would expect - café, toilets, playground, but also so much more - I'll try to pick out a few of its key features as I continue.

off we go around the park

On the 29th of May 2010 the park became home to Crystal Palace parkrun with a respectable 49 participants. This has steadily grown over the years and as of late 2019 you should expect to find somewhere in the region of 350 attendees each week. We first visited this venue in January 2013 where there were 114 attendees, so I thought it was time for a re-visit, and to write a proper blog on the venue. So on the 26th of October 2019 (event 458) we re-visited.

The park contains a few car parks, but the most convenient one for the parkrun is at the southern end just off Thicket Road - it's not very big so bear in mind that you may need to use one of the others. Thicket Road itself seems to be free of restrictions, but is popular with local residents. The majority of the on-site parking spaces are around the central part of the park next to the sports centre. The other option is the car park at the Sydenham Gate entrance, just off Crystal Palace Park Road. Please note that as of July 2024 the on-site car parks are no longer free-of-charge. The RingGo and Sippi apps are used for payment.

terraces at the top

If using public transport, there are numerous bus services which pass through the local area. As for trains, Crystal Palace Station is the obvious option but Penge West is actually a little closer to the start area. It's also worth mentioning Penge East, which is on a different line, but also not too far away. Once in the park you need to make your way to the south-east tip which is also the lowest point of the park. Here you will find the surviving part of the original Grand Central Walk - this is where the parkrun starts. It is also where you will find the toilets which has some bicycle racks right outside.

The route the parkrun uses varies based on time of year and if any there are other events taking place on-the-day, so bear in mind that you may end up running a different variation based on what's available to the organisers. The summer route is the main, multi-terrain, one-lap course, and this is the one that takes you through the entire park where you get to see all its features. I ran the original winter course in 2013 - this sticks to the eastern half of the park only and is two-and-a-bit laps all on tarmac and light gravel. There is also a third version of the course. We revisited in 2023 and this one was in use. This one uses the southern section of the park and is also two-and-a-bit laps (or two large laps followed by a final small lap), but you get to go around the dinosaur lake twice. In three visits, I've managed to run/walk on a different course every time.

All routes are fine for buggy runners. The GPS data and Relive course fly-by videos for all three versions I've taken part on can be found via the links at the bottom of this page.

parts of the terraces / rusty laptop stage

The single-lap summer route was in use on this occasion. This takes participants on a meandering journey around the entire park. The Grand Central Walk is nice and wide and lets individuals start and filter into where they feel most comfortable before the paths narrow down to the standard kind of width you'd expect. With the start being at the lowest point of the park, the early sections are where you will find most of the uphill work, in fact all of the inclines are taken care of within the first mile. Although the elevation rises by about 30 metres it is done in quite a gradual way with the exception of a couple of steeper slopes.

As you ascend, you'll no doubt be fully aware that you are in the shadow of the Crystal Palace Transmitting Station - visible for miles around. It was constructed in the mid-1950s and stands at a height of 219 metres. At the time of completion it was the tallest structure in London. It kept that status until 1991 when One Canada Square at Canary Wharf stole its crown, and as of 2019 is still the 8th tallest structure in London. The tower is used to broadcast a multitude of TV and radio signals across the whole of London.

the maze entrance / off-road bit / concrete section

Once at the top, the course heads along the original Crystal Palace terraces where you can try to imagine what it must have been like standing in the shadow of that magnificent structure. Some, but not all, of the original staircases have survived, and most of the statues have sadly been removed. There are three pairs of sphinxes on the top terrace which have been restored to their original condition and colour. If you are lucky, you may be able to spot the bust of Joseph Paxton over near the sports arena - not only did he design the palace, he was the head gardener at Chatsworth House and is responsible for cultivating the Cavendish banana which now accounts for about 50% of all bananas produced.

As the course heads back downhill you'll see the open-air concert area which has staged all kinds of musical performances since 1961. Between 1971 and 1980 the Crystal Palace Garden Parties featured the likes of Bob Marley, Pink Floyd, Beach Boys, Eric Clapton, and Elton John. The original stage was replaced c.1997 with a new one, known locally as the rusty laptop. Sadly it hasn't been used for a few years and the stage has fallen into disrepair - the council are still deciding on what its future should be.

around the dinosaur lake

Up to this point, the course has been on a mixture of tarmac and other firm or gravelly surfaces (sometimes a little bumpy), but now it changes to an off-road section as it circled around the back of The Maze which dates back to 1866. As we visited at the end of summer, it had already started to hold onto some water and was quite muddy in places. The grassy path continues alongside the old racing circuit and at the end, it passes through part of the 1960s concrete walkway that was erected when the sports centre was built.

The final part of the course is a wonderful loop of the Dinosaur Lake, past the brand new cafe and the 1961 David Wynne sculpture of London Zoo's most famous former resident Guy the Gorilla (named Guy because he arrived at the zoo on 5 November 1947). Then it's a case of heading back along the Grand Central Walk where the finish line will be ready and waiting. The new cafe is adjacent to the finish line and this is where you'll be able to mingle post-event. The food looks fantastic but comes at a price. So as I had a family of four to feed, we took the cheaper option of using the cafe in the sports centre. (please note that as of 2023 the sports centre cafe appears to have closed down).

guy the gorilla and the finish

We had already decided that we were going to have a post-run day out in the park, so once we had refreshed ourselves, we got on with that. We found the centre of the maze, explored a little more, watched some people playing beach volleyball, and then visited the farm - I didn't mention that before, did I? It's a City Farm, quite small, but free-of-charge and open from midday. As well as the usual farmyard animals they also have some meerkats, snakes, lizards, turtles and frogs.

Another thing I haven't mentioned so far is a hidden gem called Crystal Palace Subway - this is only accessible a few times each year and looks incredible - I'd love to come back to see it. Anyway, with a final walk past the dinosaurs we wrapped up our visit to this incredible place and hit the road back home.

cafe / farm / beach volleyball / centre of the maze / dino photobomb 2

The results for event 458 were published shortly after and attendance numbers were a little lower than usual, most likely due to an England rugby match being played at the same time as parkrun. As always, my full GPS data of the route can be found on Strava and the Relive fly-by video on YouTube. See below for further links to the winter route files from 2013.

Related Links:

• GPS data (Single lap Summer Course - data from 2019)
• Relive course fly-by video (Summer Course - data from 2019)

• GPS data (Two-and-a-bit lap Course - data from 2013)
• Relive course fly-by video (Two-and-a-bit lap Course 2- data from 2013)

• GPS data (Alternative course - data from 2023)
• Relive course fly-by video (Alternative course - data from 2023)

• My original Crystal Palace parkrun blog
• The London parkrun venues

London Borough of Bromley parkrun write-ups:

• Bethlem Royal Hospital parkrun (2019)
• Bromley parkrun (2023)
• Crystal Palace parkrun (2019)
• Hoblingwell parkrun (2017 with 2024 update)
• Orpington parkrun (2018 with 2021 update)

Newbury parkrun

Newbury is a market town in Berkshire with a population of around 40,000 people. Originally named New Burgh, it prospered through various industries such as paper making, brewing, and brick making. The cloth trade was also big in the town. Subsequently it became a convenient and popular stop-over point for the wealthy travelling from London to Bath and many inns were present in the town.

The Inn trade dwindled when the Great Western Railway opened and it wasn't until the 1980s, when Vodafone decided to base their HQ here, that the prosperity truly started again. The town is now a hub for high-tech industries. It is also known for its connection to the world of horse racing with many training facilities being based in the surrounding area, and Newbury Racecourse is situated on south-east side of the town.

greenham and crookham commons

Moving our attention a little further to the south, we find Greenham and Crookham Commons which together cover an area of around 1,000 acres. Together they form the largest continuous open tract of heathland in Berkshire and are a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). It is this area which is home to Newbury parkrun, however before moving onto that, there is still a little more history to go over.

Before the Second World War Greenham Common had been common land, but in 1941 it was requisitioned by the Government for military purposes. The land of the common is open and flat which made it ideal for use as an airbase - so despite a brief period of around four years after the war where the site was de-requisitioned, the land became part of RAF Greenham Common.

The base was used by the United States Air Force throughout WW2 and continued through the period of the Cold War. In 1951 the original runway was replaced with a 3km long runway which would have made it one of the longest military runways in the world at the time.

extra spacious start area

There are reports of an accident where a B-47 loaded with a nuclear warhead caught on fire in 1958 when another flying B-47 accidentally dropped a fuel tank containing over 1,500 gallons of fuel next to it - engulfing it in flames (denied by the military at the time). Subsequent studies have taken place that suggest the area was (or still is) contaminated with low level uranium.

In the early 1980s ninety-six 'BGM-109G Ground Launched Cruise Missiles' (GLCM) were based at the site. The missiles carried a W84 thermonuclear warhead which had a potential yield of 150 kilotons (for reference the nuclear bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki had blast yields of 15 and 21 kilotons).

The operational missiles were housed within the GLCM Alert and Maintenance Area (GAMA) which can still be easily identified by the 6 large grass-covered shelters. They were designed to withstand an air-detonated nuclear strike, having a 2 metre thick concrete ceiling plus additional layers of titanium, sand, more concrete and clay. More about the shelters later...

through the first kilometre

Naturally, the presence of these nuclear weapons caused an outcry and they lead to a peace camp being set-up around the perimeter of the site. This was known as 'Greenham Common Women's Peace Camp'. It was decided early on that this would be a women-only protest and using their identities as women/mothers legitimised the protests in the name of their children and future generations. Even though the nuclear weapons were completely removed by 1991 and the base closed by 1993, the peace camp stayed in place until 2000.

On 8 April 2000 the commons were reopened to the public. The majority of the concrete from the runway had already been removed for use as aggregate in the recently-opened Newbury Bypass, but you can still see the imprint of the runway through the natural vegetation which is slowly being restored. Some other parts of the base have survived, for example the Control Tower which is a Grade 2 listed building. Its design is one of only six remaining in the UK and is unique in the fact that it has not been significantly modernised internally.

the northern/eastern side of the course

We visited the common on 4th May 2019 and after spending two hours on-the-road we finally pulled into the main car park, which incidentally is right next to the control tower. We had initially tried to park in another car park on the opposite side of the common (Greenham Business Park) so we could be closer to the nuclear shelters for our post-run visit, but we just couldn't locate it despite using the postcode from the parkrun course page. We also couldn't find the toilets which are supposed to be somewhere within the business park...

So, as we had left ourselves a little bit of buffer time, we used the facilities in the McDonalds in the retail park at the western end of the common. With that sorted we headed towards the control tower car park as described above (for info, there was a queue of cars waiting to get in). The buffer time we had left ourselves had truly run out and by the time we had found a space, assembled the running buggy and changed into our running shoes it was just a couple of minutes away from 9am.

the eastern section of the course

The start of the parkrun is on the last remaining patch of tarmac right in the centre of the old runway. It is 600 metres from the car park which at a regular walking pace takes around 5-7 minutes. Fortunately the run director hadn't started the event by the time we reached the start point, so we composed ourselves and slotted into a nice place towards the back of the field. So the main points to take away from this would be, if you think you will need to use toilets plan this into your journey and leave yourself plenty of time to park and get to the start line.

If travelling by train the closest stations are Newbury Racecourse and Thatcham - they are both over 4km from the start line with no obvious sign of a connection. I've read that if you happen to alight the train at Newbury main train station you may be able to catch a bus to one of the entrances to the common - however you'll still be 2km from the start area.

the common and crookham athletics track etc...

For cyclists there are some bicycle racks right next to the control tower. At present there are no pre-run toilet facilities available onsite for parkrunners and there is a note on the main Newbury parkrun page reminding attendees to not relieve themselves on the common, as aside from being unpleasant for other users, doing so will put the future of the event in jeopardy.

Newbury parkrun is a very well established event which has been held on the common since February 2012. Our visit fell on the 390th event. Even from the early days this has been a very well attended parkrun which has always had the number of finishers in three-figures. At time of writing the official average is 361 but this doesn't reflect current day numbers very well. As of mid-2019 I would expect to find around 600 participants (it was the 26th busiest parkrun in the country on the day we visited - out of the 606 UK events that took place)...

The good news is that the start area is vast and there is plenty of room to position yourself where you think you should be within the field of participants. However bear in mind that you have just under 200 metres before the course narrows down to the width of the common's paths. The course here is one single clockwise lap which, with the exception of the tarmac at the start and finish, takes place entirely on gravelly paths. I would imagine that road shoes would generally be ok all year round, but some people may prefer a light trail shoe in bad conditions.

the final kilometre

Once past the first corner I don't remember encountering any marshals or arrows around the course, but there were some cones placed where required that did the job nicely. The first kilometre or so is on a perfectly straight path that heads east along the northern border of the runway. It then turns and the path meanders gently around the Crookham Common end of the route where you'll catch a glimpse of Crookham Athletics track. You may remember I mentioned above that we had the running buggy with us - the gravelly/stony surface underfoot makes for a gentle but bumpy ride for the occupant.

The views are pretty nice all around - expect to see plenty of gorse, heather and bracken. There are also a few ponds and occasionally you'll get a picturesque view over the adjacent countryside. Humans are not the only creatures you will find here - expect to see some cows and horses milling around. Also look out for the small wooden posts with red tops - these signify areas that are out-of-bounds due to ground-nesting birds such as the Nightjar, Lapwing, and the Skylark. Plus the Gorse bushes provide nesting opportunities for the Dartford Warbler.

At the end of the meandering section the course ends up on the southern side of the former runway where a long but extremely gentle incline leads back to the tarmac area and ultimately the finish line. As this is a very well attended event expect there to be some queues for the barcode scanners. Also being a wide open space means it can suffer from windy conditions - while we didn't really notice any on the way around, we did find we got very cold while waiting in the queue.

the finish area etc..

Earlier on I promised that I would come back to the nuclear shelters, well here we are! Once we had had our barcodes scanned we embarked on what would turn out to be a 45 minute round trip over to the south-west corner to see the shelters. This brings me to the reason why we attended this particular parkrun on this particular day - It was May the Fourth (aka Star Wars Day)...

The shelters were used as a filming location in Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015), and again in The Last Jedi (2017). For these movies they became the Resistance base on the planet D'Qar and it was great to finally see them in real life - sadly you can't get amongst them as the area is still subject to very strict security arrangements. They are also regularly inspected by the Russians as part of the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty. Incidentally they were also used in Top Gear as a backdrop for a segment on communist cars, and apparently Beyonce filmed a music video here too.

control tower / nuclear shelter

The Control Tower has a cafe and is open for visits where you can have an elevated view over the former airfield, but I hadn't read up on this before our visit and totally missed the opportunity (noted for when we are next in the area)! Instead we headed back to the car and off to another cafe we had spotted earlier in the day while trying to find the other car park. We had a lovely lunch in the Honesty Cafe which is located in an art gallery at The Base within the Greenham Business Park.

Our results came through a little while later and despite periods of walking and even coming to a complete standstill at points, my daughter (dressed as Rey from Star Wars) ended up with a new 5k personal best which was of course the cherry on top of the very delicious cake which is Newbury parkrun!

Related links:

• My GPS data of the course
• The relive fly-by video of the course
• The Berkshire parkrun venues
• parkrun at the movies

Worthing parkrun

Worthing is a large seaside town in West Sussex. Its name means "(place of) Worth/Weorð/Worō's people" and over the years has been recorded as Weoroingas, Ordinges (1086), Wuroininege (1183), Wurdingg (1218), Wording or Wurthing (1240), Worthinges (1288) and Wyrthyng (1397). Worthen was used as late as 1720.

It was a small fishing hamlet for many centuries until it developed into a fashionable Georgian seaside resort during the 18th century and was popular with the well-known and wealthy people of the time. The growth continued and Worthing is now also a borough with 9 districts.

Its coat of arms contains three silver mackerel, a horn of plenty overflowing with corn and fruit on a cloth of gold, and the figure of a woman (most likely Hygieia, the Greek God of Health) holding a snake. The town's motto is 'Ex terra copiam e mari salutem' (Latin), which translates into 'From the land plenty and from the sea health'.

We travelled to 'Sunny Worthing' (as the town is known) to take part in Worthing parkrun, which had its inaugural run on 11 June 2016 and since then has consistently attracted over 200 runners - the official average number of runners per week at the time of our visit was 245.3. The course is an all-tarmac (finish line on grass) out-and-back and is totally flat. Please note that the promenade is a shared-use space with cyclists, so try to stay aware of any bikes approaching and don't make any sudden sideways maneuvers without having a quick look over your shoulder.

There is a note on the venue's page that there is the risk of cancellation if the stones from the beach are washed onto the path during inclement weather, so keep this in mind. It's also worth mentioning that the Worthing Festival takes place during the last two weeks of July and this could lead to cancellations, so be sure to check before making plans to visit.

We drove into the town using the A259 Brighton Road and had to find somewhere to park. There were a few options - the closest are the Beach House East and Beach House West car parks which can be accessed from the main road just next to the Splashpoint Leisure Centre. In the end we found a spot on the seafront right next to the parkrun start area and fed the machine with enough change to cover us for three hours which cost 20p per 12 minutes (£1 per hour).

I have a parking tip for you! If you arrive early enough and fancy a warm-up jog before the run - drive along the seafront for about 1 mile (to the west) and park for free in one of the roadside spaces next to the seafront - we considered this option, but as my daughter had decided that this would be a buggy running day coupled with the nasty rain clouds that were rapidly approaching, I decided that we needed to park closer to the finish so we could easily grab a change of clothes and towel post-run (my best decision of the day, I think). No 'Sunny Worthing' for us today!

If you travel to Worthing by train, you have the choice of alighting at Worthing Station or East Worthing Station. The main Worthing Station is a little closer but there's not much in it. There is also a West Worthing Station but this is further away from the start/finish areas. If you travel by train watch out that you don't run into a knucker (a kind of water dragon) during your walk to the beach - folklore says that a Knuckerhole (a very deep or bottomless pond) exists (or existed) not far from East Worthing railway station.

Cyclists in the town are catered for by the dedicated cycle lanes which run along the seafront, so travelling by bicycle is a real option for many. There are a few different options for securing a bike - there are loads of racks outside the main entrance to the Splashpoint Leisure Centre, there are also more cycle racks on the promenade at the Splash Point (see below for more info) and finally there are some outside the post-run coffee venue 'Coast Cafe des Artistes'.

Toilets can be found along the promenade and the official course page suggests the Pavilion (next to the pier) or the Lido (a bit further along) as the closest toilets to the start of the run. I couldn't find the ones at the Pavillion but did find some at the Lido which worked out fine, but note that they are about 700 metres from the pre-run meeting point so leave enough time to get there and back. I read something on the promenade that suggested that the leisure centre may have some, but didn't pop in to verify this - also as these are not suggested on the main Worthing parkrun page, it may worth avoiding them.

The pre-run meeting point is on the promenade in front of the listed Beach House Mansion (the large bright white building) and the run starts just to the west of the Splash Point - This fairly recent addition to Worthing's promenade features a grove of Tamarisk trees, engraved slate boulders and a water feature. From this point, the runners head to the west along Marine Parade for the 'out' part of their five kilometre Saturday morning run. On the day we visited, the dark clouds had now reached Worthing and the day's 182 runners headed off into a delightfully miserable, rainy headwind.

After 300 metres the runners pass the grade II listed Worthing Pier which was originally built in 1862 and remodelled in 1935 after being partly destroyed by a fire in 1933. It was used on the album cover of Indie band Gene's compilation album 'To See The Lights'. In 2006 it won The National Piers Society's 'Pier of the Year' award. It has also been used since 2008 for the Worthing Birdman competition, however the 2016 event was cancelled and it looks like it may not return.

Further on, the runners pass the Lido - this started out as a bandstand and as the popularity of band music declined, it was turned into an unheated, open air swimming pool. The swimming pool was eventually built over in 1989/90 but retained its name when it became a Family Entertainment Centre. By this point of the run I couldn't actually see anything as my glasses were covered in rainwater so I spent the rest of the run peering over the top of them.

We continued along the promenade, past the Canadian Memorial Stone and flag which honours the Canadian men and women that were stationed in West Sussex and Worthing during WW1 and WW2. There are all sorts of exotic looking palm trees towards the western end of promenade and before I knew it, we had reached the turnaround point which was marshalled and marked with a cone.

Heading back with the wind giving us a nice little push was much more pleasant than the outgoing section had been, but we were already soaked from head to toe and were both looking forward to drying off. During our return journey I managed to spot the Dome Cinema (another listed building) which is one of the oldest working cinemas in the UK. It was constructed by Carl Adolf Seebold (Swiss) in 1910 and opened in 1911. It was originally called 'Kursaal' (in German it's a public building in a health resort, where entertainment is provided) but with the start of WW1, the locals became increasingly anti-German, so a competition was held in 1915 to find a new name.

I've mentioned that this course is an out-and-back, but the finish is not in the same place as the start. So when returning we ran straight past the start line, across the Splash Point, past the post-run cafe and the artist's huts, and were then directed into the grounds of the Beach House where we followed a curved path around to the finish line on the grass.

We were given our finishing token and headed straight over to get it scanned. By this point, the rain had eased off a little, however the dry period didn't last for long so we hurried back over to the car to dry-off and change clothes. We returned about half-and-hour later to have some coffee and breakfast in 'Coast Cafe des Artistes' which was delightful. Behind the cafe, there is a children's playground and the Worthing Sand Courts which can be booked for beach volleyball, beach soccer (football?) or beach tennis (and more).

The results for event 16 were processed a few hours later and despite a very slow start from the back of the field we were pleased with our efforts for the morning. If you'd like to see the course in more detail please head over to Strava and have a look at my GPS data from the run, here: Strava: Worthing parkrun 16. It's a very fast course and could be one for a pb attempt providing you can avoid the wind which seafront venues tend to suffer from. We left feeling happy that we had visited Worthing and the wife says that we should go back, but just maybe when the weather is a little better.

Riddlesdown parkrun 256

With my home parkrun venue, Dartford, cancelled to make way for the Dartford Steam Fair, I arranged to take a few friends over to my former parkrun home, Riddlesdown [full venue description blog]. The slightly embarrassing thing for me was that I hadn't visited in almost two years.

It was a scorcher of a day and we arrived in good time. In total there were ten of us from Dartford parkrun running here and we managed to get a quick snap of us all just before the run started (with the weather being so hot, I thought this would make a better photo than one after the run).

dartford ten

My wife wanted to run, but my daughter didn't, so we took the running buggy with us. This was to be my 72nd run at Riddlesdown and as I had run two races (Dartford Heath 5k and Silverstone 10k) plus a hard Bedgebury Pinetum parkrun in the last week, decided to take it fairly easy.

So I started right at the back and plodded through the first kilometre in 6.16. As the field of runners thinned out I slowly filtered through, increasing the pace for each kilometre until completing the final kilometre in 5.13. Overall a nice easy run, but made a little tougher by having to push the buggy over the rough, bumpy terrain.

tokens sorted into lovely little piles of ten [photo:7t]

The run was secondary to the real reasons for visiting and once it was complete I caught up with a few Riddlesdown regulars that I hadn't seen for ages. We also went to the pub for the post-run social where we did a spot of token sorting volunteering and stayed until 1pm (early by our own standards!).

With parkrun over with for another week, we headed back to Dartford where I headed over to the Dartford Steam Fair with my daughter to check out all the fab steam machines, vintage cars, buses etc etc..

Harlow parkrun

Please note: There is a newer write-up for this parkrun - Harlow parkrun write-up 2024

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Harlow is a town that sits just inside the Essex side of the Essex-Hertfordshire boundary. It exists in its modern day form as a 'new town' which was built to ease the overcrowding in London due to the devastation caused by severe bombing during World War 2.

harlow town park welcome and map at the car park entrance (school lane) [photo:7t]

The original village of Harlow was mentioned in the Domesday book, but since the formation of the 'new town' this area has been renamed Old Harlow and is now one of the eleven wards of Harlow. Near the northern border of the 'new town' lies the 164 acre Harlow Town Park; an area that was envisioned as a 'large village green' and area of open space within walking distance from local homes and transport.

run briefing [photo: official photographer]

Harlow Council received a grant of £1.83m from the Heritage Lottery Fund and the Big Lottery Fund as part of a £2.8m restoration plan for the park. Much of the restoration work is either under way or has been completed.

pre-run selfie [photo:7t]

The money has gone towards many improvements including the refurbishment of 'Pet's Corner' which is a small farm that is open to the public (free), restoration of the park's water gardens, improvements and upgrades to the bandstand, restoration of the gardens and wooded areas, and conversion of Spurriers House (a historic house dating back to the 1860s) into a cafe.

start [photo:7t]

Of course, we were here for the parkrun. Harlow parkrun sprang into life on 8 November 2014 and, at the time of writing, attracts around 100 runners per week (104.9 to be precise). It takes place on a mix of tarmac paths and grass over two large laps plus one shorter lap. The course feels largely flat but there are some undulations in the mix. In the summer, road shoes would be fine, but we visited on Christmas Day 2015 and the grass was a little muddy, so in the winter you might find a very light trail shoe handy for this course.

the dip down to the underpass [photo:7t]

Travelling to the venue was fairly simple, although if you drive and are not familiar with the town you might want to flick the sat-nav on as the main roads all look very similar and seem to feature a gazillion roundabouts. The car park is is next to the Greyhound pub and the 1914-18 War Memorial just off School Lane. On the official parkrun page they refer to it as the Greyhound car park, but the Harlow Council page refers to it as the 'School Lane car park' and the sign at the car park advertises it as the 'Town Park Pay and Display Car Park'.

run around the u-turn sign at the far end of the course [photo:7t]

On a Saturday, car parking is free for up to two hours. Christmas Day fell on a Friday so the mid-week parking charges were in operation when I was there which means the free parking was only for a maximum of one hour. With this in mind I paid the £1.10 fee which covered me for up to 5 hours of parking. There are some toilets adjacent to the car park but they were closed and I think this is permanent. The closest toilets are situated at Pet's Corner which is approximately 3 minutes walk away from the car park.

heading back towards the park [photo:7t]

Cyclists seem to have a fairly comprehensive network on segregated and shared use paths throughout the town so cycling should be a decent option for anyone local. I didn't spot any cycle racks around the car park or start area, but I'm sure there are some options for securing a bike if need by; there's always somewhere. If travelling by train then Harlow Town Train station is the place to head for. It is located just to the north of the park and is around 10 minutes walk from the start line.

runners leave the path and follow the dirt path [photo:7t]

The new runner briefing was incredibly detailed and included a complete breakdown of the course with all of the important points covered clearly - very impressed. The run itself starts on the main, shared-use path that runs along the eastern side of the car park. From the start, the course heads uphill as it curves around to the right and the runners continue to follow this path right the way along until it reaches the main road (Howard Way) where the course dips down to take the runners underneath the road and, from what I can make out, out of the park.

the grass, slightly uphill section [photo:7t]

A zig-zag incline takes the runners back up to road level where there the course now takes the form of a private road. At the end, the runners reach a cone where a 180 degree turn sees them heading back in the direction they came from. The runners fork off to the right to take a more direct downhill route back to the underpass where they return to the park.

the final part of each lap [photo:official photographer]

This part of the lap takes place largely (but not exclusively) on grass and takes runners over to the northern side of the park where the more challenging of the undulations are found. For info, there is currently a minor discrepancy between the course we ran and the route shown on the official course page but as it is all well sign-posted I wouldn't worry about this.

the point where the 3rd lap splits from the main loop [photo:7t]

The first is a drop on a tarmac path just before reaching the longest section of grass which goes through the former pitch and putt area (which may be reinstated at some point in the future). In the winter this is where it could be a little soft underfoot and is the most challenging part of the lap. Not only because of the grass and mud, but because it heads gently uphill. The reason it felt so tough for me is that I had chosen to buggy run with my daughter and it was like pushing the buggy through treacle at points.

The very last part of the large lap sees the runners running over a small bridge and then tackling a rollercoaster-esque down and up. At the end of lap one, the runners turn left and complete the large lap again. At the end of lap two the runners turn left and start the lap but will follow the signs for lap 3 that take them around the final smaller loop which re-joins the larger lap at the bridge. At the end of this smaller lap, the runners turn right and head downhill back to the start-finish area where the timers and barcode scanners will be waiting with a smile (and on the day I visited, a mince pie!).

We ran at event number 61 and thoroughly enjoyed our time there. It has a nice variation of areas to run through and there are plenty of twists and turns and ups and downs so it never gets boring. My GPS readings from the course can be found on Strava (Harlow parkrun on Strava). If we had visited on a regular day we would have probably grabbed a coffee from the independent coffee van that serves the event, and we would have definitely have stayed and visited Pet's Corner. But as it was Christmas Day we thanked the volunteers and headed back home to see if Santa had dropped off any goodies!

As a little personal note, this run marked the occasion of me having run at an official parkrun on all seven days of the week.

Malling parkrun (original 2015 blog)

There is now an updated version of this post - please see: Malling parkrun (January 2023) for the latest information.

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Most parkrun venues are named after an actual town, locality or the venue the run takes place at. Malling parkrun is a little different in that it is named after part of the district which it lies within (Tonbridge and Malling). As I understand it, as there is already a parkrun in Tonbridge there was a desire to use Malling in order to reflect and balance out the use of both names of the borough.

leybourne lakes country park [photo: 7t]

This is fine, but it can be a tad confusing for visiting parkrunners trying to work out where they are heading. There are towns to the south of this venue called West Malling and East Malling, but not one called Malling. West Malling was historically known as Town Malling, but that is as close as you get. In any case, the venue for this event is actually closer to New Hythe, Snodland, Larkfield and Leybourne than it is to either of the Mallings. 

i like this. it's has a touch of  'adam west batman' about it

The point is, if you are planning to visit Malling parkrun make sure you check out the map and directions on the venue's course page before leaving home so that you understand where you are actually heading. Also pay special attention to where your sat nav is directing you because it could take you far, far away from the actual venue. Ours started to take us off in a weird direction after we left the M2 and it didn't feel right so we pulled over and sorted it out. We also managed to tear a hole in the side of one of our tyres in the process of turning around. Whoops.

the run briefing [photo: 7t]

So. The venue for this run is Leybourne Lakes Country Park (Leybourne Lakes parkrun would have been a perfect name, don't you think?). The 230 acre (93 hectare) country park was formed from the remains of a former sand and gravel works. Extraction for these minerals took place between 1946 and 1977. Extensive planting and landscaping took place when the area underwent a restoration project in the late seventies.

the view from the start line [photo: 7t]

The country park itself was opened in 2004 and is now home to many forms of wildlife. Of course the big feature of this park are the lakes, and they are well used for watersports such as windsurfing, kayaking and scuba diving. The Leybourne Lakes Watersports Centre is the base for these activities. Triathlon is another sport with a strong connection to these lakes and many events are held throughout the year here.

some local residents [photo: 7t]

The venue has its own car park, but unfortunately it isn't very big so I would expect it to fill up every week. It costs 80p to park for up to four hours (update, it is now £1.80 for up to four hours, plus you can also use the RingGo app to pay, see new blog) and is easily accessible from the A228 dual carriageway. For anyone residing close enough to consider cycling, there are some bicycle racks in the car park and also plenty of other tethering options over at the run start/finish area. New Hythe looks to be the closest train station, but there is also one at Snodland.

no course marshals but these signs were displayed where required [photo:7t]

The toilets are situated next to the main car park and served their purpose nicely. It takes a couple of minutes to walk from the car park down to the start/finish area, which is on the north bank of the main lake. The event takes place at 9am every Saturday and features two clockwise laps of the main stony gravel footpath around the lake. We visited the venue on their sixth event and even at such a young age they were already attracting around 150 participants each week (231 on the week we visited due to other local cancellations).

you'll be treated to views like this if you visit leybourne lakes [photo:7t]

The start area is wide enough to accommodate a decent number of people and the paths are spacious enough to allow parkrunners/parkwalkers and other park users to co-exist. We decided to buggy run the course and it was a little bumpy going over the stony path, but it is still easily buggy-runnable. As the participants work their way around the lap they very rarely lose sight of the lake and there is an abundance of lush greenery to soak in. The course was signed at key points, but as the course is simple to follow, no marshals were actually positioned out on the course itself.

finish funnel [photo: dani]

There are plenty of twists and turns to keep things interesting and as you near the end of the lap you can look across the water to the start/finish area which I thought was quite cool. It's not always as calm and tranquil as you might imagine; the reason for this is that part of the course runs adjacent to the fairly busy Leybourne Way main road. This certainly doesn't spoil what is a really nice venue to visit, and as it is a flat course it is a good choice for going for a quick time or for those who prefer to avoid inclines.

dartford parkrun does malling parkrun [photo: a friendly volunteer]

Sadly, there is no cafe at Leybourne Lakes Country Park. I hear that a mobile coffee van is usually present but it wasn't there the week I visited. I think this may have been due to the heavy rain that was forecast. Somehow we managed to get around the course, have a chat with the event director, get back to the car, replace the punctured tyre (big thanks to Alec) and get back on the road before the torrential rain was unleashed upon us.

If you'd like to see my GPS data of the course you can view it on Strava - Malling parkrun 6

Also read the Malling parkrun updated blog from January 2023