- Location: Dulwich Park, Southwark – SB21 7BH
- Terrain: Paved
- Elevation: 23m, flat
- Parking: Dulwich Park, payable
- Facilities: Colicci’s Dulwich Clock cafe, toilets near cafe
- Shoes: Road
- Laps: 3
- Attendance: large, 500+ runners normally
- Last visited on: 27 May 2023
- Number of visits: 6
- PB: 27:22
Once again, two reasons brought me to Dulwich parkrun this week, second time in a row not exploring a new parkrun location: I have visited 49 events and I want to reserve the big 50 for the next one and Miss IngoRuns decided to come along and she wanted to test her new supershoes on a good, fast surface. So here we are, back to Dulwich park for the third time.
Up to one year ago I was still in good enough shape to try my luck at an overall parkrun PB every 4/5 weeks and Dulwich and Burgess were my test courses. Burgess parkrun ended up taking the prize, but Dulwich parkrun holds a special place in my running heart for its past (and maybe future) role.
I haven’t been here for about one year: it was already a large event, but the numbers I’ve seen today and for recent weeks are significantly higher. I also think they are destined to keep growing from here, especially during summer months, because the location is blessed by a beautiful, large park with a great cafe offering plenty of seating outdoor.
A bit of a shame that the sun only came out around 10am and clouds dominated during parkrun time, but you cannot have everything. Last week in Richmond Park already allowed me to see that unusual yellow ball in the sky. It was a bit unsettling.
So here we go: once again I was able to leave home at a leisurely time and get to parkrun land with more than enough time to spare.
Trip to Dulwich parkrun and parking
Dulwich Park parkrun is 9km from my home, according to Waze, but this morning traffic was unusually annoying for 8am on Parkrunday – that said, you mostly go via secondary roads so I wasted more time negotiating my way on small streets with other drivers than waiting around.
Every time I came here, queues started appearing when getting within 1 mile of Dulwich Park. It seems there have been roadworks in the area forever, so don’t freak out if you spend 5 minutes waiting for a temporary traffic light to tell you it’s your turn to move again.
Parking is by the West entrance to the park, with plenty of space both in main carriageway and in a separate parking lot immediately to the left after you enter the park. It is not free and you will need to pay £2.5/hr using the PayByPhone app. I usually book 2 hours if I drive to parkrun, taking into account prep, run and leisurely parkbreakfast. If you have never been in Dulwich Park before, you might need longer to give a look around, it is nice around here.
Dulwich parkrun: start and briefings
The meeting point is about 3/4 minutes walk East from the end of the main carriageway. You can walk straight there turning right or go straight, coast the little lake and get to the cafe and toilet for the all-important pre-run pit stop. From there, proceed south for 2 minutes and you will see the start area.
Dulwich parkrun used to be one of those weird places where at 8.45 you would be walking around the start area asking yourself if you are in the right place and then, suddenly, an army of efficient people in pink jackets would show up and everything would be up and running in an instant. And then, as if by secrete agreement, hundreds of runners would show up.
I guess current numbers make some more pre-planning needed, so this time I got there at 8:40 and there were already plenty of people spreading the usual, warm, pre-parkrun vibe.
Numbers are very high, the area is quite open and the team do not seem to use a speaker, so I did not hear a word of the pre-run briefing. I am sure it was worth listening to, but hey, I preferred being a bit further up the road on the way to the actual start. Why? Because the start line is just by a bent into the main carriageway and, even if the road is wider than at most other venues, the high numbers make it quite busy for the first few hundred metres.
A minute walk around the corner and everyone is ready to start and the fun begins.
Dulwich parkrun course review – star ratings
| (0-5) | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ |
|---|---|
| Location | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ |
| Parking | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ |
| Facilities | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ |
| Hills (lower is easier) | ⭐️⭐️⭐️ |
| Surface (lower is easier) | ⭐️⭐️ |
Dulwich parkrun course review – route highlights
Dulwich parkrun is an essentially perfect 3-laps venue, with a shape eerily similar to Richmond Park parkun, which kind of freaked me out while compiling this post, since that’s where I was last week. The scenery is beautiful and it keeps things interesting even over 3 laps and the number of people at the venue also make it so that you are always surrounded by a lot of people.
No science behind it, but I think this must be the venue with the best surface among the ones I’ve tried (49, as of 3/6/23). It is all slick, paved and in great condition, so you can rock your road shoes any time of the year. If you want to, you can even go carbon plated without destroying those delicate puppies and half-cheat your way to a PB.
In terms of elevation, this is actually pretty flat, regardless of the way it looks in the Strava elevation profile above. Essentially, the South side of the loop is a very gentle climb and the North side of the loop is a very gentle descent. I guess it is a bit more tiring that if it were totally flat, but it is still an easy, fast course.
Moving on to route features, just a few metres after the start you turn right into the main carriageway and the merry go-round starts. Here you will probably have to negotiate a fairly busy field for 3/400 metres max; things thin out pretty quickly. You start with a couple of short climbs interrupted by a straight and then you are at the end of the South side.
At that point, you start a wide turn left which is gently ascending for a short while and then it starts going down. It’s not a steep downhill, but it is noticeable and you can take advantage of it increasing your pace. The view is on landscaped meadows and playing areas, with plenty of tall threes for character. It does look nice.
The above goes on for a touch longer than you would expect, with a couple of turns and flat areas, then you reach Garbage Corner: a lovely line of rubbish bins waiting for you at the end of this section and suggesting you to turn left again unless you want to dive into one of them and be recycled (unless this area is served by Veolia).
The climb starts here and it looks steeper than what it is, I think. Maybe. It’s probably still 400 metres to the finish funnel, so if you are on your third lap, don’t start sprinting yet… start when you see it, trust me 🙂
When you run past the finish funnel, you have finished your lap and you will need to do it 3 times, unsurprisingly.
The finish funnel is very efficient given the numbers. Long, but it can also double up if you are arriving when most of the herd arrives (I did). Well done to the funnel manager.
For the second time in two weeks, I have been surprised by how fast the result processing volunteers got every done and sent the final times. Once again, I got the SMS when it was just after 10.30 and I had just left Dulwich park. Well done!
Facilities at Dulwich parkrun
Cafe and toilets are 2 minutes walk from the start/finish area so both very convenient pre and post run.
The toilets are open before 9am, so no panic there if you need to go. They are not big, but clean.
The cafe tends towards posh and it offers a great choice of pastries, drinks and coffees and also a short selection of cooked options if you want to go overboard. It was very busy when I got there, especially if you ordered a coffee: the poor ladies at that station were working like maniacs, but the horde was clearly partial to caffeine.
As a new equivalent to the McDonald’s index, I have now started the parkbreakfast index: how much is breakfast at each location? The (half) almond croissant, Diet Coke and single espresso were £7.60, which is on the expensive side.
Dulwich parkrun: Video Highlights
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 🙂
The other parkrun videos on my YouTube channel are all linked on the course review and video highlights summary page.
Achievements and performance
This visit was not motivated by chasing parkrun challenges, so all that came was a bonus. Apparently the event number counted for the Primes challenge, but it was a number I had already checked.
I finished just below 28 minutes, getting me into the 27:xx region for the first time at parkrun this year. A little progress I guess, but the course certainly is the fastest I’ve run in a few months.
Only one new achievement progressing today:
- Date Bingo, now at 29%
Conclusions
It’s not very close, but it is a venue I see myself coming to recurringly for good. It has a very nice vibe and the park is lovely… and that paving job, soooo good 🙂
There are faster courses in London, but not many: this could definitely represent a PB opportunity for anyone, if you are having a good day and are wearing good road or racing shoes.
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