Posts tagged parkrun
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
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
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
The parkrun Collection

If something is outdoors, has variety, can be tracked and has challenges, it’s a fair bet that I’ll get obsessed with it. parkun ticks all of those boxes and it’s been an obsession of mine since 2012. A friend who had got the parkrun bug a few years before took me to a Boxing Day Freedom Run in December 2012. I was hooked straight away and returned to Black Park to do my first official one the following week. I started touring early, heading over to Wycombe Rye only a few weeks later. As it happened the event was called off due to ice but we did a Freedom Run anyway and returned the following week to do it properly.

Since then I’ve been touring as much as possible, collecting challenges and counties along the way. Here’s a selection of my blog posts on parkrun. Comment below or contact me if you spot any errors and I’ll donate £1 to the parkrun Forever fund for each correction made.

parkrun Challenges & general geekery

parkrun Regions and Counties: London & The South East

Other parkrun Regions and Counties

parkrun Timeline

My completion year for the various parkrun clubs, challenges, countries and counties. There’s a few other smaller challenges that I’ve not shown here.

Green achievement badges sourced from the Running Challenges extension

Richard gowerRun, parkrunComment
Completing all Gloucestershire parkruns
Gloucestershire Flag.jpg

There are 22 parkrun events in the Historic County of Gloucestershire, of which I have completed 4. Two of these events: Blaise Castle and Eastville are now in the Ceremonial County and Unitary Authority of Bristol. Three events: Thornbury, Chipping Sodbury and Pomphrey Hill are in the Unitary Authority of South Gloucestershire.

Severn Bridge gets a special mention as most of the course is in Gloucestershire but the start and end are in Monmouthshire, Wales.

The county’s first parkrun event was Forest of Dean, whose inaugural was on April 24th 2010. The newest event is Blaise Castle which started on May 6th 2023.

The interactive maps below take you to the approximate location for the course, typically the centre of the park. See the course instructions in the parkrun page for each event for specific directions to the start. Course maps show the route at the time that I ran it and may have changed since then.

Berkeley Green

 

Blaise Castle

  • not yet completed

  • Time: to follow once I’ve completed this event

  • Other routes touched: to follow once I’ve completed this event

  • https://www.parkrun.org.uk/blaisecastle/

  • In the Ceremonial County & Unitary Authority of: Bristol

  • Inaugural: May 6th 2023

 

Cheltenham

 
elevation_profile - Cheltenham.jpg
route-37413046-map-full - Cheltenham.png

Chipping Sodbury

 

Cirencester

 

Eastville

  • not yet completed

  • Time: to follow once I’ve completed this event

  • Other routes touched: to follow once I’ve completed this event

  • http://www.parkrun.org.uk/Eastville/

  • In the Ceremonial County & Unitary Authority of: Bristol

  • Inaugural: November 18th 2017

 

Forest of Dean

 

Gloucester City

 

Gloucester North

 

King George V Playing Field

 

Kingsway, Gloucester

  • not yet completed

  • Time: to follow once I’ve completed this event

  • Other routes touched: to follow once I’ve completed this event

  • http://www.parkrun.org.uk/Kingsway/

  • Inaugural: June 6th 2015

 

Lydney

  • not yet completed

  • Time: to follow once I’ve completed this event

  • Other routes touched: to follow once I’ve completed this event

  • http://www.parkrun.org.uk/Lydney/

  • Inaugural: January 2nd 2016

 

Mallards Pike

  • not yet completed

  • Time: to follow once I’ve completed this event

  • Other routes touched: to follow once I’ve completed this event

  • http://www.parkrun.org.uk/MallardsPike/

  • Inaugural: August 31st 2019

 

Newent

  • not yet completed

  • Time: to follow once I’ve completed this event

  • Other routes touched: to follow once I’ve completed this event

  • http://www.parkrun.org.uk/Newent/

  • Inaugural: March 9th 2013

 

Pomphrey Hill

 

Severn Bridge

Most of the course is in Gloucestershire but the start and end are in Monmouthshire, Wales.

 
elevation_profile - Severn Bridge.jpg
route-37413027-map-full - Severn Bridge.png

Stonehouse

  • not yet completed

  • Time: to follow once I’ve completed this event

  • Other routes touched: to follow once I’ve completed this event

  • http://www.parkrun.org.uk/Stonehouse/

  • Inaugural: July 23rd 2016

 

Stratford Park, Stroud

 

Tetbury Goods Shed

  • Completed: August 17th 2019

  • Time: 28:54

  • Other routes touched (cycle): NCN 48

  • http://www.parkrun.org.uk/TetburyGoodsShed/

  • Inaugural: May 18th 2019

 
elevation_profile - Tetbury Goods Shed.jpg
trip-38807540-map-full - Tetbury Goods Shed.png

Tewkesbury

  • not yet completed

  • Time: to follow once I’ve completed this event

  • Other routes touched: to follow once I’ve completed this event

  • http://www.parkrun.org.uk/Tewkesbury/

  • Inaugural: July 4th 2015

 

Thornbury

 

Wotton

  • not yet completed

  • Time: to follow once I’ve completed this event

  • Other routes touched: to follow once I’ve completed this event

  • http://www.parkrun.org.uk/Wotton/

  • Inaugural: October 22nd 2016

 

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, Gloucestershire, England Comments
Zwift Watopia & (not)parkrun Mash-up

It took me nearly a year of cycling on Zwift before starting to do Zwift running too. I was hesitant to buy a treadmill so I considered buying the £38 RunPod to see if I could run both in Zwift and in real life (IRL) at the same time.

Winter 2020 approached and, with the prospect of being locked down for a long time, I bit the bullet and bought a treadmill. Predictably, I got hooked on Zwift running and was soon collecting the Run Achievement badges.

My friend Brian reminded me about the question of whether you can run both IRL and in Zwift at the same time. Having now had a better understanding of how Zwift Running works I thought that it would be weird but possible. As it turned out, that was true.

So, on a chilly Saturday afternoon in January I got to the start line of the Black Park parkrun course ready for the experiment. I had my Garmin watch ready to record the IRL run, my RunPod on my trainer and the Zwift App open on my iPhone. I selected the Watopia 5k Loop course, pressed start on the Garmin and I was off.

I normally run IRL with my iPhone in an arm strap. I kept it in my hand for this run as I wanted to keep track of my Zwift progress on screen and didn’t want to end the run by accidentally clicking on something. Keeping an eye on the IRL course and on the screen was a bit distracting but I wasn’t going for a PB so it was doable. I loved the contrast between the grey, drizzly Black Park and the bright, clear beach scene in Watopia.

When I’m running indoors there’s normally a noticeable difference between the treadmill speed and what shows in Zwift via the RunPod. The variance between Zwift and my Garmin for this run was only very slight. By the end of the run my Garmin showed 5.01 km to 4.77 km in Zwift.

5k is probably as far as I would do as a dual run. Apart from the distraction it was a quite a drain on the phone’s battery so it won’t have lasted for a 10k. It was a fun experiment to prove that it could be done but I don’t think I’ll be doing any more dual runs.

Zwift stats after sync with Garmin Connect

Zwift stats after sync with Garmin Connect

Zwift print screen at end of run

Zwift print screen at end of run

IRL stats directly recorded via Garmin watch

IRL stats directly recorded via Garmin watch

Start of Black Park parkrun course

Start of Black Park parkrun course

Black Park parkrun elevation profile

Black Park parkrun elevation profile

Richard gowerRun, Zwift, parkrun, Buckinghamshire, EnglandComment
Completing all Wiltshire parkruns
Wiltshire banner.JPG

There are currently 9 parkrun events in present-day Wiltshire of which I have completed 4. The first was Lydiard (formerly Swindon) which started on March 6th 2010 and the newest is Quakers Walk which started on September 9th 2023.

The interactive maps below take you to the approximate location for the course, typically the centre of the park. See the course instructions in the parkrun page for each event for specific directions to the start. Course maps show the route at the time that I ran it and may have changed since then.

Chippenham

 

Lydiard (formerly Swindon)

 
elevation_profile - Lydiard.jpg

Marlborough Common

 

Melksham

 

Quakers Walk

 

Salisbury

 

Seven Fields

 
elevation_profile - Seven Fields.jpg
route-32083407-map-full - Seven Fields.png

Southwick Country

 

Tidworth

 

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, Wiltshire, England Comments
parkrun Stopwatch Bingo Challenge

I found this using the Running Challenges Chrome extension. Its a challenge to get a parkrun finish time for each second of a stopwatch. Given that its practically impossible to plan a finish to the second, its really a matter of luck over a period of many runs. I completed mine with :59 at Lyme Park in the Peak District in September 2017. Well, kind of ..... there was something wrong with their timing that day and I (and I assume others) was recorded at 59:59 rather than 29:39 as my Garmin had it. It took another 2 and a half years before I finally got a genuine :59 at Seven Fields parkrun in Swindon.

59.JPG

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, England, WalesComment
South-East England parkruns

The parkrun Regionnaire status used to be a major part of parkrun tourism, with South-East England being the largest region. Changes in the parkrun website in 2019 removed the regions making it harder to track completion status. All is not lost though as here’s the complete parkrun guide to what’s in and what’s out of the counties of South-East England.

Completed counties may include those I have previously completed but have not yet been able to visit a new event yet.

As of June 2022, the total parkrun event numbers for each county are:

  • Berkshire: 10 parkrun events in the Present-Day county, 11 in the Historic County

  • Buckinghamshire, 11 parkrun events in the Present-Day county, 12 in the Historic County

  • Hampshire, 24 parkrun events in the Present-Day county (inc I.o.W), 26 in the Historic County

  • Kent, 25 parkrun events in the Present-Day county, 38 in the Historic County

  • Oxfordshire, 12 parkrun events in the Present-Day county, 7 in the Historic County

  • Surrey, 12 parkrun events in the Present-Day county, 26 in the Historic County

  • Sussex, 11 parkrun events in the Present-Day county of West Sussex, 6 in East Sussex and 5 in Brighton and Hove. 22 in the Historic County of Sussex

…giving a grand total of 116 parkrun events in the present-day counties of the South of England.

click on the link on each county name to go to the blog post for that county

Notes and exceptions.

  • Numbers of event above exclude prison parkruns and permanently cancelled events.

  • Bournemouth and Moors Valley parkruns were part of Historic Hampshire and would have been in Historic South-East England, but are now part of Present-day Dorset, so would be in the South West England region.

  • Hazelwood was part of Historic Middlesex and is now part of Present-day Surrey.

  • Parts of Historic Surrey and Kent are now part of Greater London. See the individual pages for those counties for the list of which events are now part of Greater London.

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, Oxfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Hampshire, Surrey, Sussex, Kent, EnglandComment
Completing all Northamptonshire parkruns
Northamptonshire Banner.JPG

There are 11 parkrun events in the Historic County of Northamptonshire, of which I have completed 5. One of these events, Market Harborough, is now in the Present-Day County of Leicestershire.

The county’s first parkrun event was Northampton, whose inaugural was on May 5th 2012. The newest event is University of Northampton which started on July 8th 2023.

The interactive maps below take you to the approximate location for the course, typically the centre of the park. See the course instructions in the parkrun page for each event for specific directions to the start. Course maps show the route at the time that I ran it and may have changed since then.

Brixworth Country

 

Corby

  • not yet completed

  • Time: to follow once I’ve completed this event

  • Other routes touched: to follow once I’ve completed this event

  • http://www.parkrun.org.uk/Corby/

  • Inaugural: September 21st 2013

 

Daventry

  • not yet completed

  • Time: to follow once I’ve completed this event

  • Other routes touched: to follow once I’ve completed this event

  • http://www.parkrun.org.uk/Daventry/

  • Inaugural: November 8th 2014

 

Irchester Country

 

Kettering

  • not yet completed

  • Time: to follow once I’ve completed this event

  • Other routes touched: to follow once I’ve completed this event

  • http://www.parkrun.org.uk/Kettering/

  • Inaugural: September 24th 2016

 

Market Harborough

 

Northampton

 

Salcey Forest

 
elevation_profile - Salcey Forest.jpg

Sixfields Upton

 
elevation_profile - Sixfields Upton.jpg

University of Northampton

 

Watermeadows

 
elevation_profile - Watermeadows.jpg
route-36984491-map-full - Watermeadows.png

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, Northamptonshire, EnglandComment
Euro parkrun

The first parkruns events in each country in the continent of Europe. Updated August 2024 to show Lithuania. See the footnotes regarding Cyprus.

Footnotes

  • * shows where there were multiple events started on the first day for that country.

  • Iceland briefly had a parkrun but it has been permanently cancelled. Iceland is generally considered part of Europe but actually straddles the European and American continental plates. The parkrun event at Elliðaárdalur was on the American side of the continental divide.

  • Both of the original Russian parkruns are on the European, rather than Asian, part of Russia. parkrun is currently not operating in Russia

  • Although there is no parkrun in the Czech Republic yet, the Cieszyn parkrun course in Poland crosses the Poland/Czech border.

  • Akrotiri parkrun on the island of Cyprus is part of the British Overseas Territory of the Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia. This makes it fall within the same box on the graphic as Cape Pembroke Lighthouse, Falkland Islands. It is also on a closed facility and is therefore open to authorised people only.

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, parkrunComment
Completing all Essex parkruns
Essex parkrun banner.JPG

There are currently 24 parkrun events in present-day Essex of which I have done 6. The first was Gunpowder which started on October 22nd 2011 and the newest is Markshall Estate which started on November 13th 2021. Hatfield Forest was also an Essex event but has now closed.

The Historic County of Essex has a further 8 events, totaling 32. These 8 are now part of Greater London.

The interactive maps below take you to the approximate location for the course, typically the centre of the park. See the course instructions in the parkrun page for each event for specific directions to the start. Course maps show the route at the time that I ran it and may have changed since then.

PARKRUNS IN PRESENT-DAY COUNTY OF ESSEX

Basildon

 

Billericay

 

Brentwood

 

Burnham-on-Crouch

 

Chalkwell Beach

  • https://www.parkrun.org.uk/chalkwellbeach/

  • Inaugural: February 29th 2020

 

Chelmsford Central

 

Clacton Seafront

 

Colchester Castle

 

Great Dunmow

 

Great Notley

 

Gunpowder

 
elevation_profile - Gunpowder.jpg

Hadleigh

 

Harlow

  • I completed this event on: Christmas Day 2019 with a finish time of: 26:54

  • Other routes touched (cycle): NCN 1

  • http://www.parkrun.org.uk/Harlow

  • Inaugural: November 8th 2014

 

Harwich

 

Hatfield Forest

***Hatfield Forest parkrun is now permanently cancelled ***

 

Highwoods

 

Hockley Woods

 

Maldon Prom

 

Markshall Estate

  • https://www.parkrun.org.uk/markshallestate/

  • Inaugural: November 13th 2021

 

Mersea Island

 

Roding Valley

 
elevation_profile - Roding Valley.jpg

South Woodham Ferrers

 

Southend

 

Thurrock

 

Wickford Memorial

 

PARKRUNS IN HISTORIC COUNTY OF ESSEX BUT NOW IN GREATER LONDON

See the LonDone blog post for maps and stats for these:

*Hackney Marshes starts and ends in Historic Essex but most of the course is in Historic Middlesex

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, Essex, England Comments
Completing all Hampshire parkruns
Hampshire parkrun banner.JPG

There are currently 23 parkrun events in present-day Hampshire of which I have done 15. The first was Basingstoke which started on July 5th 2008 and the newest is Ganger Farm which started on November 19th 2022.

The Historic County of Hampshire has a further 3 events, totaling 26. Bournemouth and Moors Valley were in historic Hampshire but are now part of present-day Dorset and are in the South-West region. Medina IOW was in Historic Hampshire but is now in the present-day county of the Isle of Wight.

Mountbatten School parkrun was active until the Covid-19 parkrun pause and is now permanently closed.

Sandhurst Memorial deserves an honorable mention as parts of the course are in Hampshire although the start and finish are in Berkshire.

The interactive maps below take you to the approximate location for the course, typically the centre of the park. See the course instructions in the parkrun page for each event for specific directions to the start. Course maps show the route at the time that I ran it and may have changed since then.

Alice Holt

  • Completed: New Year’s Day 2020

  • Time: 28:09

  • Other routes touched (walk): The Shipwrights Way

  • Other routes touched (cycle): NCN 22, 224

  • http://www.parkrun.org.uk/AliceHolt

  • Inaugural: November 17th 2012

 

Andover

  • Completed: December 7th 2019

  • Time: 26.54

  • Other routes touched (walk): The Brenda Parker Way

  • Other routes touched (cycle): Charlton Lakes Cycle Path

  • http://www.parkrun.org.uk/Andover

  • Inaugural: July 16th 2011

 
elevation_profile - Andover.jpg

Bartley Park

 

Basingstoke

 
elevation_profile - Basingstoke.jpg

Bournemouth

  • not yet completed

  • Time: TBC

  • Other routes touched: [to be added once I’ve completed it]

  • http://www.parkrun.org.uk/Bournemouth

  • This event is now part of present-day Dorset and in the South-West Region.

  • Inaugural: August 24th 2013

 

Brockenhurst

 

Eastleigh

 
elevation_profile - Eastleigh.jpg

Edenbrook Country

 

Fareham

 

Ganger Farm

  • Completed: December 2nd 2023

  • Time: 27:37

  • Other routes touched: None

  • https://www.parkrun.org.uk/gangerfarm/

  • Inaugural: November 19th 2022

 

Great Salterns

 

Havant

 

Hogmoor Inclosure

 

Itchen Valley Country

 

Lee-on-the-Solent

 

Lymington Woodside

  • not yet completed

  • Time: TBC

  • Other routes touched: [to be added once I’ve completed it]

  • http://www.parkrun.org.uk/LymingtonWoodside

  • Inaugural: July 9th 2016

 

Medina I.o.W.

 

Moors Valley

  • not yet completed

  • Time: TBC

  • Other routes touched: [to be added once I’ve completed it]

  • http://www.parkrun.org.uk/MoorsValley

  • This event is now part of present-day Dorset and in the South-West Region.

  • Inaugural: November 7th 2015

 

Mountbatten School

***Mountbatten School parkrun is now permanently cancelled ***

 

Netley Abbey

  • Completed: July 22nd 2023 on their alternative course as there was an event on the main course

  • Time: 26:58

  • Other routes touched (walk): N/A, although the Solent Way runs very close by.

  • http://www.parkrun.org.uk/NetleyAbbey

  • Inaugural: March 17th 2012

 

Netley Abbey alternative course (5.5 laps)

Portsmouth Lakeside

 

Queen Elizabeth

 

Rushmoor

 
elevation_profile - Rushmoor.jpg

Southampton

 

Southsea

 

Whiteley

 

Winchester

 

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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.

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Richard gowerRun, parkrun, Hampshire, EnglandComment
Completing all Sussex parkruns
Sussex parkrun banner.JPG

There are currently 22 parkrun events in present-day Historic County of Sussex. The Historic County is now made up of 3 present-day counties:

  • East Sussex with 6 parkrun events, the oldest of which is Eastbourne which started on January 28th 2012 and the newest is Malling Rec which started on July 6th 2024. I have completed 2 of these events.

  • West Sussex with 11 parkrun events, the oldest of which is Tilgate which started on June 9th 2012 and the newest is Wakehurst which started on April 20th 2024. I have completed 6 of these events.

  • Brighton and Hove with 5 parkrun events, the oldest of which is Brighton and Hove which started on November 3rd 2007 and the newest is East Brighton which started on December 8th 2018. I have only completed Bevendean Down

The interactive maps below take you to the approximate location for the course, typically the centre of the park. See the course instructions in the parkrun page for each event for specific directions to the start. Course maps show the route at the time that I ran it and may have changed since then.

Bevendean Down

 

Bognor Regis

 

Brighton & Hove

 

Chichester

 

Clair

 
elevation_profile - Clair.jpg

East Brighton

 

East Grinstead

 

Eastbourne

 

Hastings

 

Horsham

  • I completed this event on: August 31st 2019 with a finish time of: 24:48

  • Other routes touched (Walk): West Sussex Literary Trail

  • http://www.parkrun.org.uk/Horsham

  • Present Day County: West Sussex

  • Inaugural: September 6th 2014

Horsham has an alternative location for winter parkruns at Southwater Country Park, a few miles away.

 

Hove Promenade

 

Ifield Mill Pond

 
elevation_profile - Ilfield Mill Pond.jpg

Lancing Beach Green

 

Littlehampton Prom

 

Malling Rec

  • I completed this event on: July 20th 2024 with a finish time of: 27:19

  • Other routes touched (Walk): None, but the Sussex Ouse Valley Walk runs close to the start and end of the course.

  • http://www.parkrun.org.uk/mallingrec

  • Present Day County: East Sussex

  • Inaugural: July 6th 2024

 

Peacehaven

 

Preston Park

 

Seaford Beach

 

Tilgate

 

Uckfield

 

Wakehurst

 

Worthing

 

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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.

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Richard gowerparkrun, Sussex, England, Run Comments
parkrun Alphabet Challenge

After 291 parkruns, including 154 different locations, I finally cracked the Alphabet challenge. This is the Holy Grail for many parkrun obsessives, especially those in the parkrun Tourist community. I’d heard about it since I started parkrun 6 years ago, but with a lot fewer events at the time it was really hard. By the time I’d done 100 different events, I’d ticked off 21 letters without any targeted Alphabet bagging. All that remained were I, J, Y and Z. As there’s no X anywhere in the world, it doesn’t count (yet).

With 4 left to go I was now on a mission. At the time there were only 2 "I" parkruns in the country: Inverness and Ipswich. I very nearly did Inverness on our LEJOG adventure but decided against a run that day as we had 105 miles to cycle. A parkrun would have added an extra 5 miles and have delayed our cycle for 2 hours. It wasn’t going to happen. By the time I was planning my trip to Ipswich, a new event called Isabel Trail popped up in Stafford and I pounced on that one.

A weekend trip to Jersey bagged me the J and I got the island’s Half Marathon in on the same weekend. If I’d waited a year I could have used the new Jersey Farm event for my J and avoided a flight. I’m glad I did it though. It gave us a great weekend away and also contributed to my Channel Islands Regionnaire. Y was a relatively easy one. I had the choice of York and Yeovil Montacute. I chose the latter as we were visiting friends in Somerset so Yeovil was a short drive from there.

Then there was Z. Scroll down for the end of the story ……

Alphabeteer Bar Chart.JPG

Events by Letter

… that i had completed by the time I achieved my first alphabet.

Note that Yeovil Montacute has been permanently cancelled. It was one of the events that didn’t come out of the other side of the Covid pause. York, Yarborough Leisure Centre, Y Promenâd parkrun, Aberhonddu, and Y Promenâd, Abermaw are now the UK’s 4 Ys

Zamek w Malborku

This was my second attempt at completing my Alphabet at Malbork. The first try was at the end of August. My parkrun mates and I had been trying to find a mutually convenient date all year. It looked like it wasn’t going to happen but then we found a date that would work as long as we were back by Saturday night before the wives had noticed we were missing.

This would be an especially important trip for Mark. He had come to parkun a bit later and had set himself the challenge of achieving the alphabet in his first 25 events. He claims that he was the first man and second human to have done this.

Shortly before the weekend came I had to make a last minute work trip to New Jersey. I had booked an overnight flight back to London to land at 10:00 on Friday morning. This would give me 3 hours before Neil would need to pick me up for our drive to Luton for the Wizz Air flight to Gdańsk.

After a nightmare trip out to New Jersey I decided that I needed a bit of extra contingency. I paid an extra £300 to get the earlier flight back which would give me another 3 hours. That was plenty of time to make the afternoon flight. What could go wrong?

Lots as it turned out. The combination of a broken plane, a storm and general ineptitude by United meant I was trapped in Newark Airport for 27 hours. I finally landed at Heathrow 23 hours late at 06:30 on Saturday morning. I’d long since missed my opportunity to get to Poland. The faint silver lining was that I didn’t have to miss parkrun altogether. I was still able to get home, get changed and get to Bedford to complete my Bedfordshire County collection.

Seeing how annoyed I was about missing my Malbork trip, Timea (wife) offered to come with me on my second attempt. This was a big deal as she has a general disinterest in running except that it gives her an extra few hours sleep on a Saturday. The following few weeks were a mixture of fighting with United for compensation and planning the return trip.

I’d lost faith in things going to plan after a Summer of flight delays and cancellations. I was checking the parkrun website every day for the 2 weeks leading up to it to make sure it wasn’t cancelled. As it happened all went to plan. The flight was on time, none of the usual nonsense from the rental car company and the hotel was just what we needed.

There were 43 parkrunners there that morning. 11 were locals and 32 were Brits like me who had flown over for the event. Any town with a park that begins with a Z (and definitely those with an X) will do very well from tourist income.

The run itself was great: a simple out and back course along the River Nogat next to the Castle. Once I was finished I popped back to the hotel to wake up the wife, have a quick shower then back to the castle for breakfast. The castle is also a UNESCO World Heritage site so it also gave me a tick on that list too.

There's a few options for a Z in Poland, and several in other countries too. Zamek w Malborku is a really great option for a relatively easy trip from the UK and plenty of other things to do for a weekend away.

 

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, Poland, England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, USA Comments
Completing all Kent parkruns
Kent parkrun banner.JPG

There are currently 25 parkrun events in present-day Kent of which I have done 17. The first was Whitstable which started on November 6th 2010 and the newest is Dover Waterfront which started on September 9th 2023.

The Historic County of Kent has a further 14 events, totaling 39. These 14 are now part of Greater London. Both Bethlem Royal Hospital and Crystal Palace cross the Surrey/Kent border but are mostly in Historic Kent.

Completing all of the parkruns events in Kent is often called being “A Complete Kent”. A “Complete Kent +” would be completing all events in the Historic County of Kent, including those now in Greater London. For the absolute completists there’s also the “Complete Kent ++” which includes the 4 parkrun events in Essex and 2 in East Sussex whose Voronoi area extends into Kent. Scroll down for more on this.

The interactive maps below take you to the approximate location for the course, typically the centre of the park. See the course instructions in the parkrun page for each event for specific directions to the start. Course maps show the route at the time that I ran it and may have changed since then.

PARKRUNS IN PRESENT-DAY COUNTY OF KENT

Ashford

 

Bedgebury Pinetum

 

Canterbury

 

Cyclopark

 

Dartford

  • I completed this event on: December 22nd 2018 with a finish time of: 29:06

  • Other routes touched (walk): Darent Valley Path

  • Other routes touched (cycle): NCN 125

  • http://www.parkrun.org.uk/dartford

  • This event is also part of LonDone +

  • Inaugural: June 26th 2014

 

Dartford Heath

 
route-31325370-map-full - Dartford Heath.png

Dover Waterfront

  • https://www.parkrun.org.uk/doverwaterfront/

  • Inaugural: September 9th 2023

 

Folkestone

 

Great Lines, Medway

 

Kingdom

 

Leybourne Lakes

  • Formerly Malling parkun, but changed its name in October 2024 to avoid confusion with Malling Rec in Sussex.

  • I completed this event on: April 2nd 2022 with a finish time of: 25:29

  • Other routes touched: None

  • http://www.parkrun.org.uk/malling

  • Inaugural: October 3rd 2015

 

Lullingstone

  • I completed this event on: November 2nd 2019 with a finish time of: 31:17

  • Other routes touched: N/A

  • This event is also part of LonDone ++

  • Inaugural: April 11th 2015

 

Maidstone River Park

  • Formerly just called Maidstone parkrun

  • I completed this event on: April 9th 2022 with a finish time of: 25:46

  • Other routes touched (walk): KCC Centenary Walk

  • http://www.parkrun.org.uk/maidstone

  • Inaugural: April 13th 2013

 

Margate

  • I completed this event on: January 4th 2020 with a finish time of: 27:02

  • Other routes touched (cycle): NCN 15, Viking Coastal Trail

  • http://www.parkrun.org.uk/margate

  • Inaugural: April 27th 2013

 

Mote Park

 

Pegwell Bay

 

Royal Tunbridge Wells

 

Shorne Woods

  • I completed this event on: March 26th 2022 with a finish time of: 26:14

  • Other routes touched: Several trails inside the country park

  • http://www.parkrun.org.uk/shornewoods

  • Inaugural: March 30th 2013

 

Sittingbourne

 

Squerryes Winery

 
elevation_profile - Squerreys Winery.jpg

Swanley

 

The Leas, Minster

  • I completed this event on: August 12th 2023 with a finish time of: 28:06

  • Other routes touched: England Coast Path

  • http://www.parkrun.org.uk/theleas

  • Inaugural: September 28th 2019

 

Tonbridge

  • I completed this event on: 15th January 2022 with a finish time of: 26:13

  • Other routes touched (walk): Weald Way, Eden Valley Walk, The Tudor Trail

  • Other routes touched (cycle): NCN 12

  • http://www.parkrun.org.uk/tonbridge

  • Inaugural: November 9th 2013

 

Walmer and Deal Seafront

 

Whitstable

  • I completed this event on: 3rd August 2024 with a finish time of: 28:35

  • Other routes touched (Walk): Saxon Shore Way

  • Other routes touched (Cycle): NCN 15: Viking Way

  • http://www.parkrun.org.uk/whitstable

  • Inaugural: November 6th 2010

 

PARKRUNS IN HISTORIC COUNTY OF KENT BUT NOW IN GREATER LONDON (“Complete Kent +)

See the LonDone blog post for maps and stats for these:

* The Bethlem Royal Hospital Crystal Palace courses are partly in Historic Surrey and mostly in Historic Kent

Complete Kent ++: The Voronoi overlappers.

Once you’ve completed all of the parkrun events in Historic Kent the icing on the cake is to complete the 4 parkrun events in Essex and 2 in East Sussex whose Voronoi area extends into Kent. Note that different parkrun apps have slightly different calculations for their Voronoi maps. For this page I’ve used the Voronoi map from the Running Challenges Chrome Extension.

In the images below the light blue polygon is the non-Kent parkrun event whose Voronoi area extends into Kent. The red line is the county border.

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.

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Richard gowerRun, parkrun, Kent, England Comments
Completing all Bedfordshire parkruns
Bedfordshire parkrun banner.JPG

There are currently 7 parkrun events in present-day Bedfordshire. The first was Bedford which started on June 11th 2011 and the newest is Henlow Bridge Lakes which started on September 25th 2021.

I first completed the county on August 24th 2019 at Bedford.

Note that the address for Rushmere parkrun is in Bedfordshire but the whole of the parkrun course is in Buckinghamshire so I have listed it there.

Bedfordshire parkrun Venn.JPG

The interactive maps below take you to the approximate location for the course, typically the centre of the park. See the course instructions in the parkrun page for each event for specific directions to the start. Course maps show the route at the time that I ran it and may have changed since then.

Bedford

 

Dunstable Downs

 
elevation_profile - Dunstable Downs.jpg

Great Denham

 

Henlow Bridge Lakes

  • Completed: November 6th 2021

  • Time: 26:47

  • Other routes touched (walk): Hicca Way, Kingfisher Way

  • Other routes touched (cycle): none but NCN 12 runs past the entrance.

  • http://www.parkrun.org.uk/henlowbridgelakes

  • Inaugural: September 18th 2021

 

Houghton Hall

 
elevation_profile - Houghton Hall.jpg

Luton Wardown

 
elevation_profile - Luton Wardown.jpg

Millennium Country

 
elevation_profile - Millennium Country.jpg

Actual course outlines for the parkrun events in present-day Bedfordshire.

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, Bedfordshire, England Comments
Completing all Oxfordshire parkruns
Oxforshire parkrun banner.JPG

There are currently 12 parkrun events in present-day Oxfordshire. The first was Abingdon which started on May 7th 2011 and the newest is University Parks which started on February 5th 2022.

Three events in present-day Oxfordshire: Harcourt Hill, Didcot and Grove Fields, were part of Historic Berkshire. Abingdon gets an honorable mention as, although it was in Historic Oxfordshire, there’s a small section by Abingdon Lock that was in Historic Berkshire.

I first completed the county on July 6th 2019 at Linford Wood.

The interactive maps below take you to the approximate location for the course, typically the centre of the park. See the course instructions in the parkrun page for each event for specific directions to the start. Course maps show the route at the time that I ran it and may have changed since then.

Abingdon

 

Banbury

  • I completed this event on: July 6th 2019 with a finish time of: 26:08

  • Other routes touched (walk): N/A, although the Western edge goes very to close, and parallel with, the Oxford Canal Walk

  • http://www.parkrun.org.uk/banbury

  • Historic County: Oxfordshire

  • Inaugural: September 27th 2014

 
elevation_profile - Banbury.jpg

Bicester

 
route-29335678-map-full - Bicester.png

Chipping Norton School

 

Didcot

 

Grove Fields

 
elevation_profile - Grove Fields.jpg
route-37479660-map-full - Grove Fields.png

Harcourt Hill

 
elevation_profile - Harcourt Hill.jpg

Henley-on-Thames

 

Horspath

  • I completed this event on: September 18th 2021 with a finish time of: 24:44

  • Other routes touched (cycle): None, however NCN 57 runs past the entrance and parallel to the southern edge of the course.

  • http://www.parkrun.org.uk/horspath

  • Historic County: Oxfordshire

  • Inaugural: August 14st 2021

 
elevation_profile - Horspath.jpg
route-37541506-map-full - Horspath.png

Oxford

 

University Parks

 

Witney

 
elevation_profile - Witney.jpg

Actual course outlines for the parkrun events in present-day Oxfordshire. Shows events that I have already completed.

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, Oxfordshire, EnglandComment