Crane Park parkrun

After a couple of weeks on different explorations, this weekend I visited Crane Park parkrun for the second time.

Last week I finally took the chance offered by my frequent business trips and visited my first German parkrun at Nidda, Frankfurt. It was a great experience and I will visit more German events this year, I suspect. The continental escape came after a last minute diversion to Woking parkrun a week before. Waking up late meant I could not visit Valentines as planned, so I picked the closet Surrey event I had not visited yet. It turned out as a fun experience, but more of a park tough mudder than a traditional parkrun. Mind you, my local is Wimbledon Common parkrun, so I am very familiar with running through quicksands, but Woking was truly another level. I dare you, visit it after a week of rain!

So, after the mild trauma experienced at Woking, for my return to London events I was determined to pick one with good surface for a relatively dry experience. It had been raining during the week, but nothing crazy. Or so I thought.

My last visit to Crane Park was in spring and I remembered it as a fast course with good surfaces, so why not? I had been there only once and before I started this site and my You Tube channel, so it seemed to me stars were aligning perfectly.

Crane Park parkrun is an often forgotten little jewel in West London. Its course design is fairly unusual and it is set in beautiful surroundings, so definitely worth a visit. Unfortunately, it is not the easiest to reach: it will need some planning. My plans for a dry, proper run were not going to be satisfied though. When the Run Director welcomes to ParkSwim, it tells you something.

Anyway, let’s dive into some more info about Crane Park parkrun, then!

Trip to Crane Park parkrun and parking

Crane Park parkrun is in Twickenham, a relatively ‘remote’ area of West London that seems to be a forgotten child when it comes to public transport. It is especially neglected by the Tube network. As the crow flies, it is not far at all from where I live, but even for me, getting there requires some planning.

The official course page is not terribly useful in terms of transport suggestions. It says the closest station is Whitton, served by SouthWestern. Unfortunately, it also says that the station is 40 minutes walk away from Crane Park. I guess local bus options might be available if you don’t want to walk that long two ways. I tried checking public transport options for me using the convenient What3Words arrival point offered by the official course page: ///dollar.hedge.lake. The what3words iOS app then allows you to navigate to the destination offering links to Citymapper or Waze, among others.

Looking at trusted Citymapper, a trip by public transport would have taken me 90 minutes from Wimbledon to Whitton, including 30mins walk at the end. The alternative, using the bus network, would have taken me 140 minutes, cutting the final walking time at the end to 10 minutes.

We are talking about roughly 10KM away from where I live, so no, I was not going to spend 2 hours on a bus. I drove there this time and last time. There are no car parks around Crane Park parkrun. None. So it is a matter of finding on street parking without invading the local area. The official course page suggests going to Ellerman Avenue. This is an ok option, but it is still pretty far from the start and a good option if you want to reach your car fast after finishing.

The first time I went there I parked by the entrance leading to the start in Pevensey Road. There is a decent amount of available, free, on street parking here, if you don’t arrive too late. This time, I tried Ellerman Avenue with little success, so by the time I got there, it was all gone. The alternative that worked for me this time was just across the A314 in Saxon Avenue. There were several spots and I managed to park in a roundabout about 500/700m in. Also convenient because immediately after this roundabout there is a cut through into the park that leads you exactly in front of Crane Park parkrun meeting point.

Best not to abuse this parking location because it is a very residential area and we don’t want to upset locals. I only left my car there because it was 8:50 and found no alternatives.

For measure, driving there took me 25 minutes compared to the convoluted public transport options.

Crane Park parkrun: start and briefings

From where I parked, it was a 2 minutes walk up a short and very muddy path from the roundabout to the meeting location. This can be confusing, so I would suggest using the what3words coordinates and help that navigate you to the right spot.

If you parked in Ellerman Avenue as recommended by the official course page, you need to go down to the A314, walk on a bridge alongside the park and enter the park from the Southermost entrance, AFTER the bridge. Then walk for 500 metres and you will meet the volunteers congregating on a small clearing by a bend in the river Crane. The river was very turbulent and high on the day I visited, I think it was tempted to join us for parkSwim.

If you park in Pevensey Road, go back to the A314 and the right entrance to the park will be pretty much in front of you. Then walk the same distance as above.

On the day of my second visit, it was pouring rain and little lake-like puddles were forming pretty much everywhere along the route. Also, there is no real cover where the meeting point is. So both the New Runners and Main Briefing were very quick affairs. The volunteers mentioned us to parkSwim and thanked all volunteers for braving the storm. Special mention to the pacers who tried doing their best hitting a time while adopting a new version of jeffing: 1 minute running, 2 minutes surfing. With a couple of snorkelling intervals thrown in for the fun of it.

Once the preliminary ceremonies are done, it is time to walk to the start line. It’s just 20 metres back on the path in the direction most people came from. Get in line, wear your fins and it is time to go.

Crane Park parkrun course review – star ratings

Crane Park parkrun course review – route highlights

There were 154 parkrunners on the day I visited. Looking at historical results, seems to be in a 150-200 range. This makes Crane Park parkrun a well attended event, but definitely on the smaller side compared to other London venues. I guess numbers were impacted by the weather on my last visit, but even in these dire conditions there were a couple of tourists and one real new joiner. Well done to you, lady! Say hi, in the remote change you are reading this; I swear, parkrun is not always this miserable!

There are no real bottlenecks along the route. At the current attendance levels and probably even a bit beyond, the run flows well along the whole route. The only area where big groups might have to slow down slightly is when ‘entering’ and ‘exiting’ the par at the two extremities. I think there is only one proper gate, but the other 3 are sharp turns and, in one case, a small ‘hill’.

In terms of surface, the Southern half is on hard path and the Northern half is on decent tarmac. I remember this as a good and fast course from my last visit and I have no reason to recommend anything other than road shoes in normal conditions. This time, fins would have been in order. Mud is very much present outside the paths if you are trying to skirt around the deepest puddles, but then you will slip and fall face into soft mud. Not recommended. Just own it and get your feet wet if you are wearing not waterproof road shoes. It’s the only way, unfortunately.

Elevation-wise, according to Strava Crane Park parkrun nets 16m of elevation gain over one lap and 2/3s. It is flat, it feels flat, there are no real hills. The only noticeable hills are one leaving the park from the Southern half and half way to Shot Tower on the Northern half. The former is a 2m long little ramp and the latter is probably 30/40m long but very gentle. It is not a venue where you will have to cry while climbing long, painful hills. Had it been the case, we would have a new lake with rubber ducks at the bottom of the hill on the day of my last visit. Which would have made for a cool photo.

In terms of course design, it is very simple, with one special quirk. Start and End points are pretty far from each other unless you want to cross the river where there are no bridges. And crossing that angry stream was not something anyone thought of doing when I was there last. Besides that, you start 1 third in on the southern half and do one full lap then during the second lap you stop about 60% in by the tower. It is a long and narrow linear park and the laps around running along the river, leaving the park at both edges for short sessions along busy public roads to benefit from the bridges that are there.

A quick Relive route plot is on my YouTube Channel, with longer video highlights embedded below.

As said above, after the briefing everyone walks back 20/30 metres and starts lining up along the path. The path is wide enough for 4 people, so there will be a little bit of queue, but nothing dramatic. Once it is time to start running, everyone will get going and soon you will be running alongside the river Crane. It can be quite beautiful, especially on a day like last time I visited. The river was in full swing, full and flowing and, in some areas, very very close to the edges of the path.

Soon after the start, you get under tree cover and will remain like that for a few 100m, with a few twists and turns. Some of the most majestic, muddy puddles were here. Then it is soon time to tackle a short climb and emerge from the trees behind a bunch of new apartment buildings. Here you are crossing some open fields with a children playing area. And more deep puddles to swim through.

At the end of this section, a quick turn left and immediately right to see a short ramp. After you have climbed the rump you emerge on a public footpath to the side of a large, busy road. Turn left and keep going past a bridge on the Crane and then left back into the park. A volunteer will be here to avoid you miss this turn and end up in Hounslow. Not worth it, by the way.

Once you turn left and get back into the park, you are greeted by decent tarmac surface. However, whomever laid it must not have thought draining was necessary, so most of it will be a nice little lake to walk through. Like good Jesus wannabe, trust the process and walk on water.

The first bit is a nice fast descent, that will soon be met by its inevitable counterpoint. A moderate hill making you pay your dues for the fun you have just had. Nothing at parkrun comes for free, itself parkrun itself. After the climb, you need to keep going a bit more under trees and enjoy a mildly undulating section. Soon you will reach the tower where you can see a ‘cone funnel’. Volunteers will kindly tell you to sod off if you are tempted to go in and show you that you need to keep going for one more lap. Turn right end enter another open field that, once crossed, will lead into another flat section under trees. Soon it’s time to leave the park again and turn left for another short section along a busy road. Another bridge and then time to turn left into the park again.

Here you will have to run briefly under trees again before reaching the previous start. Nothing will be there to show you this was the original meeting point, so if you don’t know the park you will not realise you have completed the first lap. At least not until you reach a recognisable landmark. For me, that was the open area with the children playground and flats. Meaning I was nearly through with the Southern half by that time.

This time, one you get back to the tower it is time to enter the cone funnel. I was a bit confused there, it was not obvious to me if timing was at the beginning or at the end, but no big deal. It is only 10 metres or so.

After that, the process was very efficient and friendly, as usual.

Congratulations on completing Crane Park parkrun!

Facilities at Crane Park parkrun

Very limited facilities available at the venue or in its immediate area. The site does not mention any toilets. And I have not seen any either.

Also, no proper cafe, but an addition since the last time I’ve visited in a little kiosk for refreshments just by the finish funnel. Its offering is fairly basic and there is only one guy trying to feed a 100 starving parkrunners, so queues will develop. By the time I got there, there was no food left and I had drinks in the car, so I skipped and left my spot to others.

As a competitor to the McDonald’s index, I am continuing to collect data for the parkbreakfast index: how much is breakfast at each location?

At Crane Park parkrun, I did not test the kiosk to provide a cost benchmark.

Crane Park 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.

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Achievements and performance

Conclusions

I really liked this course the first time I visited with good weather. This time was a bit less fun, but still enjoyable if put in perspective. Better puddles than quicksands after all. Thinking of you, Woking!

Facilities are barebone, so plan your visit well. But if you know what to do and come with something to eat and drink at the end, this is truly a great venue to experience. I am sure I will be back again with better weather, it is not far from me after all. Maybe it will eventually make it into my p-Index venues.

And obviously, thank you, Crane Park parkrun team for your hospitality, again!