Posts tagged Run
parkrun LonDone+ and LonDone ++

“LonDone” is the name for completing the full set of 64 parkrun events in Greater London. There’s 2 other terms: “LonDone +” and “LonDone ++” that have been widely debated in the various parkrun social media forums.

  • LonDone + is generally seen as being all parkrun events within the M25. There are currently 14 parkrun events that are within the M25 but outside of Greater London or a total of 78 events within the M25.

  • Up to now I’ve ignored LonDone ++ as a lot of the definitions have felt a bit arbitrary. However, one definition that I like is that it includes events that are outside of the M25 but have a Voronoi area that crosses inside the M25. This includes a further 10 parkrun events making a total of 88 events that have part of their Voronoi area within the M25. Note that different parkrun apps have slightly different calculations for their Voronoi apps. For this page I’ve used the Voronoi map from the Running Challenges Chrome Extension. The 5k app shows the Voronoi area for Thurrock as being completely outside of the M25, so would only count 9 rather than 10 LonDone ++ events.

See the main LonDone page for details of all parkrun events within Greater London.

LonDone +: parkrun events within the M25

LonDone ++: parkrun events with a Voronoi area crossing the M25

Event (County, Region)

*The 5k app shows the Voronoi area for Thurrock as being completely outside of the M25, so would only count 9 rather than 10 LonDone ++ events.

Maps below: red line shows the M25, blue polygon shows the Voronoi area of the parkrun.

More parkrun posts

parkruns are free, weekly, community 5k events all around the world. I started in December 2012 and have been obsessive about it ever since. See my parkrun Collection page for details.

Featured and popular parkrun posts:

Richard gowerRun, parkrun, London, Hertfordshire, Surrey, Kent, Essex, Middlesex, Buckinghamshire, EnglandComment
Hangers Way 50k Ultra Marathon

When: June 23rd 2024
Start: Alice Holt Forest, Farnham, GU10 4LS
Finish: Queen Elizabeth Country Park, Gravel Hill, Horndean, PO8 0QE
Distance: 50.4 km (31 miles)
Elevation change: +965m / -951m. Net -14m
GPX File: get via Buy Me a Coffee
Other routes touched (walk): Hangers Way, The Shipwrights Way, South Downs Way
Other routes touched (cycle): NCN 22, 224, East Hampshire Circular Cycle Route
Maps:
- Basingstoke, Alton and Whitchurch: Sheet 144 (OS Explorer Map)
- Haslemere & Petersfield Map | Midhurst & Selborne | Ordnance Survey | OS Explorer Map OL33
- Chichester Map | South Harting & Selsey | Ordnance Survey | OS Explorer Map OL08
Finish time: 7 hours 57 minutes
Links: Hangers Way (LDWA), Alice Holt Country Park, Selborne, Selbourne Common National Trust, Butser Hill, Queen Elizabeth Country Park

This was my 13th Ultra, my 4th with my friend Mark and my 1st with my sister Lisa. After doing last year’s Race The Sun on my own it was nice to be with a group on the same event, even if we all did it at our own pace.

The Hangers Way gets its name from the series of steep, wooded hills known as the Hampshire Hangers. The route itself winds its way from Alton railway station to Queen Elizabeth Country Park, through a diverse landscape of ancient woodlands, rolling hills, and charming villages. The Hangers Way walking route is ~33km so the 50km Ultra route adds in and extra 16km from the start at Alice Holt Country Park plus a bit of extra meandering along the way.

Although I’d been to the country parks at the start and finish before I’d not experienced any of the route in between. It was a beautiful, warm mid-summer day and the countryside was stunning. A pleasant mix of woodland, open farmland and old English villages.

The warm day also meant that it was a bit too hot for my liking. I’ve completed a 50K in just over 7 hours before and I’d love to get in just under 7 one day. Based on the temperature and a glance at the elevation profile I estimated an 8 hour finish time for this one.

Mark and I kept together until the 2nd Aid Station at Selborne before he gradually edged ahead. Lisa was looking after a friend who was on her first Ultra so was taking a slower pace. On her own Lisa would likely have been a similar pace to, or faster than, Mark.

The route became hillier after Selbourne and my slow running became a power-walk. Keeping an eye on my pace via my Garmin, I was doing roughly 5km per hour which would bring me in more or less on 8 hours. I could probably have done a few bursts of running on the downhills but realistically it wouldn’t have got me there much faster so I kept the pace and saved my energy for the hills.

The final 15k was brutal with steep climbs at 35k, 45k and then Butser Hill right at the end. By the summit of Butser I was 15 minutes off the 8-hour mark and could see the finish line in the distance. I found a final spike of energy to get me down Butser to cross the line at 7:57. Very happy with that. Mark had finished 30 minutes earlier and Lisa and her friend came in shortly after.

As with most Ultras the pain soon fades once you have the medal on and talk turns to the next one. Next one for me is The Lap around Lake Windermere next year. It’s 75km on a mountain route so I’ll probably need to do more training than my usual parkrun and a 10k a week before.

Richard gowerRun, Ultramarathon, National Trust, South Downs, Hampshire, EnglandComment
parkrun LonDone Tracker

If you would like a PDF version of my manual LonDone tracker, please BuyMeACoffee and let me know on the Contact Page. It’s a table of all current Greater London parkrun events, plus all events inside the M25, with space for future new events. You can track your date completed and finish time. It’s simple and you could easily make one yourself, but let me know if you want a copy of mine. 20% of each virtual coffee goes to parkrun Forever and the rest goes toward the running of this website.

Excerpt from the full PDF

Richard gowerRun, parkrun, London, EnglandComment
2023 in numbers

My stats for the year:

TOTAL DISTANCE IN 2023

  • Run (outdoor): 287 miles / 459 km

  • Cycle (Outdoor): 595 miles / 951 km

  • Cycle (Zwift): 1,519 miles / 2,426 km

  • Walk/Hike: 759 miles / 1,215 km

  • Total = 3,160 miles / 5,052 km (target was > 5,000 km)

Walk / Hike = recorded hiking & walking events, not general steps.
Total includes “other” activities such as SUP.

KEY EVENTS IN 2023

  • 2 x Ultra Marathons: Goring Gap 50 and Race The Sun 50

  • 1 x Marathon: Brighton

  • 3 x 10k running events: Mortimer Trail, Bradenham Blast and Compton Verney

  • 49 parkruns, including 12 new locations

  • 23 parkrun volunteering occasions

  • 4 new Historic County Tops: Ben Lawers, Ben Vorlich, Ben Lomond, Hill of Stake

  • 28 new Present-Day, alternative or previous County Tops:
    - England: Whitehorse Hill, Haddenham Village, Racecourse Road, Nether Hall, Mill Hill, Staverton Clump, The Slipe, Bow Brickhill, Corley Moor, Meigh’s Wood, Rednall Hill North Top, Bassett Avenue, Fort Southwick, Holly Hill, Liddington Hill, London Road, Heath Mount, Langdon Hill Southwest Slope, Blagdon Hill Farm, Niver Hill, Hanging Hill
    - Wales: Garth Hill, Tair Onnen, Mynydd y Betws, Merthyr Common, Pen March, Coety Mountain, Wentwood

  • 33 new OS Trig Pillars bagged

  • 3 international / island High Points: Pico de las Nieves* (Gran Canaria), El Toro (Menorca), Mt Etna* (Sicily) … *=highest accessible point

  • Completing the Surrey sections of the Greensand Way and North Downs Way

  • The Portsmouth Semaphore Line cycle route

Richard gowerRun, Cycle, Trek, Zwift, SUPComment
Race The Sun 50k Ultra Marathon

View North to the Chilterns from the top of the descent to Checkpoint 4 at Wooburn Town

When: June 3rd 2023
Start and Finish: North Maidenhead Cricket Club, SL6 8SP
Distance: 51 km (32 miles)
Elevation change: +/- 207m
GPX File: get via Buy Me a Coffee
Other routes touched (walk): The Green Way, Maidenhead Boundary Walk, Thames Path, Jubilee River Path, Beeches Way, Shakespeare’s Way, Chiltern Way Berkshire Loop, Wycombe to Bourne End Disused Railway
Other routes touched (cycle): NCN 4, 50, 61, Round Berkshire Cycle Route, Beeches Cycleway
Maps:
- Chiltern Hills East Map | High Wycombe, Maidenshead & Rickmansworth | Ordnance Survey | OS Explorer Map 172
- Windsor, Weybridge & Bracknell Map | Thames Path | Ordnance Survey | OS Explorer Map 160
Finish time: 7 hours 52 minutes 28 seconds
Links: Maidenhead, Cookham, River Thames, Bray, Jubilee River, Taplow, Burnham, Burnham Beeches, Wooburn, Bourne End

This was my 12th Ultra and the second of a 2-part series of local ~50 km Ultras with 3 weeks between them. My legs were back to normal after the recent Goring Gap Run and I was hoping to crack my sub-7 hour target for a 50 km. With a relatively flat course and dry conditions it should have been fine. However, my running nemesis: the sun was also out and it was a very hot one.

Signing up for this race was a no-brainer as it started and ended in Maidenhead where I grew up and took in trails that I’m very familiar with. The original route also went within 100 metres of my house. The final published course took a different route on the second half but still on home ground. My friend Mark wanted to join too as he grew up within half a mile of the start but other friends’ wedding plans took him away for the weekend.

The concept for this race was to start at midday on a Saturday and to finish before sunset at 21:24. This also meant that I could fit-in a parkun in the morning and get to the start line with time to spare to get showered and changed. Timea though this was a crazy idea but I did my best to explain that it was “perfectly normal”. I had done much longer Ultras in the past so the best way to think about it was that it was a 55 km Ultra with a long break between the first 5 km and the rest of it .

The first third of the race was pretty straightforward with a pleasant cross-country run to Cookham and a section of the Thames Path to Windsor. I kept a steady running pace and the heat wasn’t too bad. At 19 km, between the Thames and the Jubilee River, there was a flooded stream crossing the path with no means to keep dry. The only way through it was to get our feet wet. With very dry conditions for the few weeks before I didn’t think of bringing spare socks so I knew this would be trouble. My shoes and feet dried quickly but I knew that there would be trouble ahead.

From 20 km the heat kicked in and my running was over for the day, replaced by a power-march. Somewhere around 40 km I could feel the impact of getting my feet wet earlier with blisters forming on both feet. I knew that my sub-7 hour target wasn’t going to happen so it was now about finishing. It was a tough final 10 km but the finish line eventually came and I completed in 7 hours 52 minutes. I can never be disappointed with a finish time. Just completing is always enough and I was well within the sunset cut-off time.

Richard gowerRun, Ultramarathon, National Trust, National Trails, Chilterns, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, EnglandComment
Goring Gap 52k Ultra Marathon

When: May 14th 2023
Start and Finish: Mapledurham House, Mapledurham, Reading, RG4 7TR
Distance: 52 km (32 miles)
Elevation change: +/- 313m
GPX File: get via Buy Me a Coffee
Other routes touched (walk): Chiltern Way, Thames Path, The Ridgeway
Map: Chiltern Hills West Map | Henley-on-Thames & Wallingford | Ordnance Survey | OS Explorer Map 171
Finish time: 7 hours 32 minutes 51 seconds
Links: River Thames, Mapledurham House, Caversham, Reading, Purley on Thames, Pangbourne, Whitchurch on Thames, Goring on Thames, South Stoke, North Stoke, Moulsford, Streatley

This was my 11th Ultra and my third with my friend Mark. It was also the first of a 2-part series of local ~50km Ultras with 3 weeks between them.

It was a beautiful course starting at Mapledurham House on the north bank of the Thames near Reading. From there we headed east to cross the Thames at Caversham to follow the Thames Path north towards Wallingford. I had covered most of the route before either on short Thames Path or Chilterns trips or on the Race To The Stones Ultra back in 2016.

It was a very nice early summer day which made the views over the Thames, and the villages on the way, stunning to run through. It was also hot though and, not being a fan of warm weather running, the heat slowed me down significantly. Mark and I kept together until around 12km then I started to lose sight of him. My slow run became a fast walk around the half-way point and I could feel that my sub-7 hour target would be challenging. I might have made it but 50km turned out to be actually 52km with a hill at the end so I missed by target by half an hour. Mark, on the other hand, had an excellent run and finished a full 50 minutes ahead of me.

Richard gowerRun, Ultramarathon, National Trust, National Trails, Chilterns, Berkshire, Oxfordshire, EnglandComment
Brighton Marathon

When: April 2nd 2023
Where: Brighton and Hove
Course: Road route from Preston Park to Hove Lawns, along the sea-front and some residential areas.
Start: Preston Park, Preston Road, Brighton and Hove, Brighton, BN1 6SD
Finish: Hove beach, Adelaide Crescent, Brighton and Hove, BN3 2JJ
Distance: 42.2 km (26.2 miles)
Elevation change: +285m / -385m. Net: -20m
Other routes touched (walk): Monarch’s Way, Mid Sussex Link, Newhaven-Brighton Clifftop Path
Other routes touched (cycle): NCN 2, 20
Finish time: 4:59
Links: Brighton Marathon, Brighton, Hove, Preston Park

This was my first Marathon distance in 7 years and the first road Marathon since for 12 years. I much prefer trail Ultras now but I still felt that I hadn’t had my fill of the Marathon distance. I was also weirdly not happy with having done 4 Marathons and wanted a rounder number. When my friend Mark messaged me a month before to say that Brighton had released some extra tickets, I didn’t have to think too much about it.

The only thing that I had to think a bit more about was my predicted finish time when was I completing the entry form. My previous road Marathons were 4:41, 4:27 and 4:51, with the tougher trail Beachy Head Marathon at 5:36. Given that several years had passed and not having enough time to train and rest, I knew that I would be slower. I wanted to get in within 5 hours so I put down 4:59 on the entry form. Mark did the same and we were entered into the Pink Wave.

During the race the first third felt good. The chilly start was just right for me and I kept just ahead of my planned pace all the way. For the second third Mark went off ahead but not too far and I could see him whenever there was a turnaround on an out-and-back section. I was still just ahead of the 4:30 pacers and feeling good that I might finish at around 4:40, averaging my previous road Marathon times.

By 16 miles I was starting to feel the heat. There were a lot of water stations and I poured a lot of water over my head to cool me down but I was definitely feeling it. At 17 miles the route took a small loop around Brunswick Square with a slight incline and I “hit the wall”. I wasn’t able to run up the hill so did a fast walk. This broke my pace and I found it difficult to getting running again. The next 6 miles were tough as the route went through residential sections of Hove away from the coast. I tried some run/walk sections but got cramp whenever I tried to run, so I stayed at a determined fast walk. In the meantime, the 4:40 and 4:45 have both overtaken me by the time the route returned to the sea-front.

With 2km to go I could see the 5 hour pacer getting closer and closer over my shoulder. I found some new energy and motivation and was able to get back up to a run. I crossed the finish line at 4:59:23, just 37 seconds within the 5 hour mark. My friend Mark had an amazing 1st Marathon, finishing over half an hour head of me and beating my Marathon PB by 2 minutes.

I loved the day despite the tough last 9 miles. It did confirm, though, that I trail Ultras are more my thing. Maybe I’ll do another Marathon in the future but it will need to be an epic one.

Richard gowerRun, Marathon, Coast, Sussex, EnglandComment
LonDone parkrun Transport Connections

LonDone is the term for completing all parkrun events in Greater London. There are currently 62 parkrun events in Greater London. The first was Bushy Park which started on October 2nd 2004 and there’s typically a couple of new events added to the region each year. London is blessed with great public transportation links with most parkrun events within walking distance of a train, tube, tram or DLR stop. Travelling by bus gives you even more options.

Driving to the events is generally discouraged, but it will be the preferred option for some parkrunners for some events. Key considerations for drivers are parking options and whether the event is in, or the trip is through, the ULEZ or Congestion Charge zone.

Content on this page is sourced from the individual event pages, desktop research and input from the parkrun community. There make be some errors in the early release of this page and things can change. When planning your trip use this as a guide but always check the Course page of the relevant parkrun event and check other travel sites for any issues on your route for the day. Let me know if you spot any errors or have new information and I’ll make a quick update.

Links to key sections:

See my main parkrun LonDone page for more geekery on the Greater London parkrun events.

Public Transport: Nearest Stations and Stops

Notes:

  • Nearest station, excluding bus stops, is shown with a white background. Nearest alternative type shown with a light blue background.

  • Nearest and nearest alternative stations are all within walking distance of the start line. “Walking distance” is subjective but for the purposes of this I’ve determined it as “half-a-parkrun” (2.5 km).

  • Stations with an orange background are longer walks of between 2.5 km and 5 km.

  • “N/A” indicates that there’s no station of this type within a 5 km walk for the start line.

  • The Bus column shows the nearest stop to the start line. There’s normally several other stops nearby and on different routes.

Ally Pally to Fulham Palace:

Gladstone to Orpington:

Osterley to Wormwood Scrubs:

Parking, ULEZ and Congestion Charges

Driving to London parkrun events is generally discouraged and it can often be expensive. I learned that the hard way when I running late for Victoria Dock had to pay £20 for a short stay in the nearest car park.

If you are driving the main three things to know are about parking, the ULEZ zone and Congestion Charge.

  • Most events have a car park either in the park or nearby. Some can be small so plan to arrive early to make sure you get a space and have time to pay (if needed) and walk to the start. If there’s a charge many car parks have pay-by-app options. This is great if you already have the app but takes time if you’re a first-time user and need to set it up. Northala Fields is an example of app-only parking with no options to pay by cash or card at a machine. I’ve made note of any specific details on parking, but let me know if you have additional local knowledge.

  • The Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) is a large area of London where you have to pay a charge if your car doesn’t meet certain emissions standards. You can find out if your car is exempt, see the area covered, and pay the fee on this TFL page. From August 29th 2023 the ULEZ zone was expanded to include most of Greater London, and all London parkruns are now in the zone. 2 events; Bedfont Lakes and Riddlesdown are right on the edge of the zone. It’s possible to reach these by car and park outside of the ULEZ zone, however be careful not to cross into it on the drive there.

  • There are currently no parkrun events inside the Congestion Charge zone. As with the ULEZ Zone, be careful when planning your drive as you may have to pass through the zone even if the parkrun event is outside of it.

Ally Pally to Fulham Palace:

Gladstone to Orpington:

Osterley to Wormwood Scrubs:

Cafés and Toilets

Knowing whether there’s a toilet at the event is often important when planning your trip. Most events have one near the start line but if they don’t it’s worth checking to see what’s on your route, especially for long trips. The original information here is from the Course pages from each event. Let me know if you have additional information (e.g. opening times, disabled access) on each that would help other parkrunners.

The cafés shown here are either ones noted on the Course pages or the closest one if not mentioned. These are not recommendations.

Ally Pally to Fulham Palace:

Gladstone to Orpington:

Osterley to Wormwood Scrubs:

The LonDone parkrun tube and train map

There’s often chat in the Facebook parkrun groups about having a transport map showing the nearest stations to the London parkrun events. I’m certainly not the first to have this idea or to give it a go. Here’s my attempt at putting one together. Things to know are:

  • It shows nearest stations to parkruns and key interchanges, not all stations and lines.

  • Other stations may be more convenient for each parkrun, depending on where you’re coming from. Check the tables above for alternatives.

  • It’s intended to be an “artistic impression”, not for navigation.

Nearest airports to London parkrun events

I’m guessing that parkrun’s encouragement of using public transport doesn’t include flying to events. This section is likely to be pretty niche, but I included it anyway. The map and table below shows the nearest major London airport to each parkrun event. “Nearest” is defined as the quickest route via public transport rather than as the crow flies.

The reality is that anyone flying to London for a parkrun is likely to choose whichever airport has the best cost and route options from wherever they are flying in from. Every parkrun event is accessibly from each of these airports within 90 minutes, so flying into any London airport on a Friday gives you lots of options to get to the event by parkrun o’clock on the Saturday.

A few notes on the exercise:

  • I included major commercial airports and excluded RAF or smaller airfields such as Northolt or Biggin Hill.

  • London Southend (SEN) was in-scope but there is no London parkrun that is closer to it by public transport than to a different airport. Harrow Lodge is the closest event to SEN but it’s quicker to get there by public transport from London City Airport (LCY).

  • Walthamstow is the only parkun event that is closer to London Stansted (STN) than any other London airport. This is mostly due to LCY being very well connected to many public transport routes with fewer options into London from STN.

Ally Pally to Fulham Palace:

Gladstone to Orpington:

Osterley to Wormwood Scrubs:

More parkrun posts

parkruns are free, weekly, community 5k events all around the world. I started in December 2012 and have been obsessive about it ever since. See my parkrun Collection page for details.

Featured and popular parkrun posts:

Richard gowerRun, parkrun, Railway, Underground, London, England Comments
2022 in numbers

My stats for the year:

TOTAL DISTANCE IN 2022

  • Run (outdoor): 519 miles (830 km)

  • Cycle (Outdoor): 651 miles (1,042 km)

  • Cycle (Zwift): 1,160 miles (1,857 km)

  • Trek: 642 miles (1,028 km)

  • Total = 2,976 miles (4,761 km)

Trek = recorded hiking & walking events, not general steps.

Richard gowerRun, Cycle, Trek, Zwift, SUPComment
Hurtwood 50k Ultra Marathon

In The Hurtwood between Checkpoints 2 and 3

When: December 4th 2022
Start and Finish: Dorking Sports Centre, Reigate Road, Dorking, RH4 1SN
Distance: 50 km (31 miles)
Elevation change: +/- 1,084m
GPX File: get via Buy Me a Coffee
Other routes touched (walk): Leith Hill Greenway
Other routes touched (cycle): NCN 22, Surrey Cycleway
OS Trig Pillar:
- TP6411 - The Nower (2 km from start)
- TP2379 - Coneyhurst Hill (19 km from start)
Maps:
- Dorking, Box Hill & Reigate Map | Leatherhead & Caterham | Ordnance Survey | OS Explorer Map 146
- Guildford & Farnham Map | Godalming & Farnborough | Ordnance Survey | OS Explorer Map 145
Finish time: 7 hours 13 minutes
Links:
- Dorking, Milton Heath and The Nower, Wescott, The Hurtwood, Holmbury Camp, Holmbury St Mary, Winterfold Forest
- Leith Hill: Wikipedia, Peakbagger, Hillbagging, National Trust

My 10th Ultra was on familiar ground. Timea and I had been walking the Greensand Way in the Surrey Hills in small sections this year. As the Autumn finished we made it as far as Dorking and decided to pause until the Spring. I had signed up the the Hurtwood 50k in the Summer but hadn’t realised that the start and finish would be in the exact place as we finished our walks.

The course starts at Dorking Sports Centre and follows the high street for ~1km before reaching the Greensand Way. From here it follows the Greensand Way for 20km then takes an 8km circle around Winterfold Woods. After the circle the route retraces the Greensand Way back to Dorking. Along the way there’s >1000m metres of elevation, Leith Hill (Surrey’s County Top), Holmbury Hill, Pitch Hill, the Nower and 2 OS Trig Pillars. It felt like a Greatest Hits of the Surrey Hills walks that we had done over the Summer.

It was also the first winter Ultra that I attempted since my DNF on the Thames Path back in 2016. Wind and mud meant a very slow pace on that one and I had to pull out half way. That was a flat course too and I wasn’t confident in the weather or ground conditions for the Hurtwood after a wet autumn. As it turned out the ground was mostly dry, the air was nice and chilly and there was very little wind. These were perfect Ultra conditions for me.

This was my first out-and-back Ultra route. I wasn’t too excited about that as I normally prefer point-to-points. However, I found it to be a huge motivational advantage on the return stretch. It was still a long way but just seemed much easier as I was heading home. I found that I could run for longer stretches later in the race and the hills didn’t seem so tough. On the long descent from the summit of Leith Hill there was a moment when I thought I might beat my 50K PB of 6 hours 59 minutes.

The PB didn’t happen but I wasn’t bothered. I had forgotten about the return to The Nower, a steep hill on the approach to Dorking. In the end I finished in 7 hours 13 minutes, not far off my PB and not bad at all considering the more the double elevation of previous 50ks.

I’ll be doing some more distance events at this time of year. My mood dips from mid-November to mid-December due to a combination of a busy time at work and winter gloom. The focus on rest and nutrition leading up to this event kept me on track and the win of completing a very hilly winter Ultra will see me through till Christmas.

Thanks to Freedom Racing for hosting a well-managed, very rewarding event.

Richard gowerRun, Ultramarathon, Trig Pillar, National Trust, UK County Tops, Surrey, England, Surrey HillsComment