- Location: Northala Fields, Northolt – UB5 6AH
- Terrain: Mostly tarmac with about 30% hard path. Very wet when I went after 10 days of non-stop rain
- Elevation: 15m. Flat
- Parking: Available for a small charge
- Facilities: Cafe and toilets near the start (differently from what is said on the official course page)
- Attendance: Average, around 250 runners
- Last visited on: 01 Apr 2023
- Number of visits: 1
- PB: 29:38
Unexpected first visit to Northala Fields parkrun. My original plan for this Saturday was to go visit Tunbridge Wells for the first time: it looks like a cool course and I also planned to spend some time around town after my run… dirty and sweaty, but who cares. Unfortunately, we have just had 10 days of non-stop rain, so driving 1h to dig myself out of muddy quicksands on grass for 5K was not really an appealing option. I thought about Bedfront Lakes, but a quick look at the course told me it would be another mudfest. Northala had been intriguing me for a while, so here we go. The website says it is a one-lapper and I love those!
I woke up early to a grey but dry morning, new experience these days. The drive from home to Northala Fields parkrun was easy and I managed to avoid most of central London on the way, so I got there sooner than expected. The entrance to the park is straight on a major motorway (M or A? Dunno and can’t be bothered to check), so you have to negotiate a few roundabouts and slip roads to get to it. And a sudden turn onto a very tiny road that I nearly missed.
The parking is small, but I’ve seen at least 2 more of a similar side on other corner of the park. Weird spikes before you get in that weirded me out, but I did got through without slashing my tyres 🙂 You have to pay for the parking lots inside the park itself, but it is cheap for 2/3 hours and when I got there there at 8.40 there was still plenty of space available. They use the app PayByPhone here, so no need to bring loose coins.
The parking is probably 200 metres walk away from the start of Northala Fields parkrun. You get out of the car park and walk on a path around one and between two of the mounds and then immediately see the start area next to the fishing lakes and the cafe. It felt like a small field with mostly regulars on the day, which is nice but fairly unusual for a relatively central London location. Maybe it was because of the weather and the many cancellations to other venues? That said, they did something i had not seen before, giving milestone runners the opportunity to take a picture together on a bench with milestone number tags. Nice original touch by the lovely local team.
The cafe is small and not particularly well stocked if after the run you want some fresh sweet pastries, but I saw appetising cooked options if that’s your brunchy post run thing. It also has a nice outdoor sitting area: kind of miserable on the day, but it should be very pleasant during spring and summer.
Differently from what the official course page says, there are toilets in the same building. Did not check if they were open pre-run, but they definitely were available afterwards. Good, I had another long drive ahead of me afterwards.
Location
Parking
Facilities
Hills (lower is easier)
Terrain (lower is easier)
The first timers/tourists briefing is by the cafe, then you walk a couple of minutes south to reach the start point. The course is described as a one-lapper, but that’s a bit cheeky, since it involves a couple of loops and an out and back section along the same tarmac path where the start is. No biggie, still much better than 3 lap venues, but don’t expect a Bushy level size and variety.
After the start you run north-east again towards the the cafe, then go between the two mounds towards the parking lot and run around the mounds and back to the start, where you turn left and go again south towards the starting spot. But now you keep going!
At the end of this straight there is a nice canopied tree area with a little bridge over a stream before exiting on the playing fields open area. Not the most visually appealing part here – about 1K to complete the playing fields loop. To finish up, you cross again the mini-forest and come back up to the cafe, loop all 3 mounds now and come back for the long awaited breathing funnel. Good final section for a sprint!
On a good, dry day, I think at Northala Fields parkrun you can get a good time here and road shoes are perfectly fine. When I was there, there were a lot of big puddles that tempted you to veer off on the grass where you would be welcomed by friendly muddy quicksands 🙂
After the end, you can have a walk up one of the mounds for nice panoramic views and photos. A bit of it is captured on my video below. Half way up, you actually get a pretty nice vantage point on the arrival area, the lakes and the parkrunners coming through to their moment of glory.
5K is not enough, climb the Mound!
As usual, I’ve taken a few video snippets during the run to give an idea of the course. If you like it, please subscribe, it’s a fun past time for me :). You can find an index of my other videos and reviews here. https://ingoruns.com/2023/03/05/parkrun-course-reviews/
No funny crowd-pleasing event number, just a run of the mill, honest parkrun event. Few tourists, but at least one coming all the way from Italy to run his first parkrun. Well done mum, I guess 🙂
Finish time just below 30, so kind of crap. I’m starting to get a bit frustrated with my performance, but I guess I cannot expect much if I barely train at all during the week. I need to get back into my routine, work or not.
I ticked quite a few boxes in my fun chase of useless challenges here:
- 1 more new location, getting me to 46/96
- The second N for Namely, now at 50%
- The N for Parkrun, now at 86% (U, I will get U)
- One more tick for Date Bingo (26%)
- One more tick for Position Bingo (66%)
- 33/61 for Lon-Done
I really like the park and I want to come back in summer to see it in all its glory… the list of venues I want to come back to is starting to be pretty long… busy Saturday schedule
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