Hackney Marshes parkrun

After a few weeks, it was time to return adding events to my LonDone tally, so this week I have visited Hackney Marshes parkrun for the first time.

This destination made for a major change compared to my recent stops, which included the countryside marvels of Edenbrook Country parkrun and the West London suburbs of Hanworth parkrun.

With only 8 venues left to complete LonDone (before inevitable new additions), all that’s left is in the far away N/NE quadrant of the Capital. I am not in a rush to finish, enjoying the journey is better than reaching the destination, after all. To make selection even more complicated, it is now nearly summer, kind of. Or the bad imitation of a summer that we are getting this year. And in summer I feel a strong inspiration to visit the beautiful events of the Home Counties, rather than sticking to London. So here is what I am doing now: pick out the ‘potentially muddy’ events left in London and leave the paved ones for later. Then I still have some time left for the countryside.

Hackney Marshes parkrun is at least 2/3 on grass. It seems to be pretty well tended and I guess it would dry well, but I am ready to bet that it can get pretty muddy during wet months. And we get a lot of wet months around here, so here I was, taking my chance at the beginning of June. And I was lucky: even the event team mentioned that conditions were much better than usual on the day and I was able to enjoy my weekly fix of parkrunniness.

Anyway, enough with my rumblings. It’s time to dive into some more info about Hackney Marshes parkrun!

Trip to Hackney Marshes parkrun and parking

Hackney Marshes is unsurprisingly in the London Borough of Hackney, very close to the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in Stratford. You have beautiful views of some of the landmarks in the Olympic Park from the venue, including the weird Arcelormittal thingy. Apparently the location is ‘internationally reknown’ as the spiritual birthplace of Sunday league football. I had no idea, but I am sure that’s true.

Reaching Hackney Marshes parkrun by public transport is obviously possible, but stations don’t seem to be exactly on its door step. According to the official course page, the closest stations are Homerton and Hackney Wick. They are both served by the London overground. I suppose Stratford Underground station could also be a possibility, with a longer walk through the Olympic Park to reach the venue. Looking at Citymapper, the trip from Wimbledon would have taken me about 90 minutes and it does recommend to alight at Stratford Underground.

I ended up driving in just less than 60 minutes. Parkrunday mornings are always quite on the roads, the pain is usually the way back. When I put the postcode recommended on the event site, I got nearly there. Nearly being the key word. My GPS app lead me to what seemed to be a gated community, one turn before the main car park. Someone was kind enough to direct me to the right place. Just pay attention to that if you are planning to drive there.

The car park is spacious and free. I arrived at around 8:30am and it was still essentially empty. It got pretty full by the time I left around 11, but I doubt finding a spot will be a problem for parkrunners unless you really get there at the last minute. The car park is right in front of the Hackney Marshes Centre. The building is particularly ugly with a peculiar rusty look, but it is convenient. It houses cafe and toilets, besides what I think are gym facilities and changing rooms.

Hackney Marshes parkrun: start and briefings

If you left your car in the car park I mentioned above, you are very close to the meeting point. Allow 5 minutes to walk there before things get going. If you need to use the toilets, get into the rusty building from where the cafe is, enter and goes through the doors in and out to the other side. Toilets will be on your left.

Back to the car park side, walk past the building and enter the park, turn left soon and then shortly afterwards right onto a little bridge. After the bridge, everything opens up into the East Marsh and you will immediately see the meeting point, start sign and finish funnel on your left.

When you get to the meeting point, walk a bit into the fields and look towards the opposite side of the open area. You will get your first chance to take in the sights of the Olympic Park, including the Arcelormittal weird thingy. You will get better vantage points during your run, but this is a nice way to start your parkrunday morning.

This is a fairly busy venue, but it won’t look like it until briefings start and people come together, because the meeting point is in a very open area and many people will be walking or running around to warm up. When it’s time to start, a big human blob will form and it will be the first time you realise how busy it really is.

The First Timers briefing takes place at the edge of the meeting area towards the centre of the field. I visited on the day of a running club take-over, so I guess a lot of volunteers were enthusiastic occasional actors and no the usual recurring team. The lady who gave the First Timers briefing was incredibly friendly, enthusiastic and funny and she gave a very thorough briefing.

Afterwards, moves towards the start ‘line’ and form a chaotic human bunch roughly where it is supposed to be. A chair acts as the very official reference point. The RD then gives the Main Briefing, which was a pretty quick affair on the day I visited.

Then, without any need to move elsewhere, you hear the countdown. 3, 2, 1.

Time to go!

Hackney Marshes parkrun course review – star ratings

Hackney Marshes parkrun course review – route highlights

There were 448 parkrunners on the day I visited. Not a huge number for London standards, but definitely on the busy side of things. It seems attendance at Hackney Marshes parkrun increased significantly in 2024. Before, it showed a lot of seasonality, with numbers in the 400s during dry months and as low as the 200s in muddier times. Since 2024, the 350-450 range appears to be more consistent, including dry, muddy winter months. I’m glad to see this, because it is a nice event in a heavily populated area, it deserves to grow and become on of the big, well known events in East London.

The course is very open, with the only exception of a segment along the river Lea. But even there, the paved path will be pretty wide, avoiding excessive congestion. The only real bottleneck is on the little bridge crossing the river. You encounter this roughly 1K in and then roughly 1K before finishing, so the field will be pretty spread out both times.

Surface-wise, most of the run is on grass, with the exception of 1.5K on (good) tarmac. The section on grass were actually quite pleasant on the day I visited, with low grass on soft, even, dry ground. There was absolutely no mud, so I had no problems running with my road shoes, but I guess it might get pretty wet and muddy here in winter. I would be surprised if trail shoes were not the best option here in winter.

Elevation-wise, at 14m elevation gain, this is a very flat course. As you would expect on marsh land. There are some mild inclines you kind of feel here and there, but I have to admit I mostly felt downhills, with no meaningful memory of any of the slight climbs. If I felt going down, I must have gone up as well somewhere, as the chart suggests. It was just not noticeable at all.

In terms of course design, it is quite simple. One full lap around the East Marsh, then you cross the river and run alongside it. Turn around into the Marsh and back to the meeting point. As the First Timers’ briefing volunteer pointed out, prepare yourself for a frustrating surprise: when you get back to through the bridge and reach the finish funnel, you will need to keep going. One more lap of East Marsh in the opposite direction, so still nearly 1K to go. Yeah, it kind of sucks. 🙂

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

As I said, just before the Main Briefing starts, people bunch up next to the trees by the side of East Marsh. This is roughly at the beginning of one of the two short sides of the perimeter of this big field. It is an open start, nothing comparable to Bushy in terms of scale, but still pretty comfortable and able to accomodate big numbers. It reminded me the Harrow Lodge start, to stick with East London peers.

Once everyone is ready, the countdowns unleashes the herd and it is time to run. Half way through the first side, there are apparently the only two potholes, which are well signed posted with flags. Soon it is time to turn right to tackle the longest side of the perimeter. Half way through this lap, watch left for some of the best views of the Olympic park… but not the best ones, surprisingly. Keep running until the end, for another right turn leading up to the scenic steps linking Hackney Marshes to the Olympic park (see aerial pics below). By the steps, it is time to turn right once again for the last, diagonal segment that will close this loop and lead towards the meeting point. I think this felt slightly downhill.

At the end of this segment you will reach the meeting point and run with all the volunteers cheering you and everyone else on the right of the running course. You will have run roughly 1K by the point: it is a big field, hosting several football pitches. Immediately after you pass the finish funnel, you enter the little bridge and cross it. Nice views of the river on both sides here. After the bridge, it is time to turn sharp right and join the tarmac path. You are turning in the opposite direction of the car park and community centre. A volunteer is there to remind you not to make that mistake. 🙂

You have now started the only paved section of this course, all run on a good tree-covered path that follows the River Lea. Roughly 1/3 of the way through it there will be Marshall. It appears to be a weird positioning, but it does make sense, more on it later. This segment is longer than I expected and it keeps going following a slight left-leaning curve. The river is barely visible to the right, mostly covered by the mature vegetation.

And then, after what seems to be a long time, you will reach the turnaround point. Instead of making this a two-way segment, the team decided to make everyone turn back into the main marsh, so you turn not exactly 360 degrees and left into the fields again. Here you have two short slightly diagonal segments going back towards the bridge. Watch right now, this is where I think I had the best view of the now famously named Arcelormittal Weird Thingy. Soon, time to turn sharp left for a short segment leading back towards the river and then sharp right for a last straight segment that will get us back towards home. This section on open field is about 1K. At the end, one volunteer will show us towards a cut through path among the trees and here you meet the marshal who looked weirdly positioned before! Turn right back on the previous paved path for a 500m section where you can experience counterflow if you are at the very front or very back. Yep, still 500m to go, you are not at the bridge yet.

Eventually, you reach the bridge again, cross it and pass by the finish area. Force yourself not to turn left and accept the grim reality: you are not done yet, even if others are already there chatting and cheering. Don’t swear at them, they mean well! 🙂

Once you have been able to defeat the sudden and short existential crisis and run past the finish area, you have to run the loop around East Marsh once again, in the opposite direction compared to the start. A little less than 1K to go. 4 sides to run, and you will be home, eventually.

Once you have reached the last side of the field, you can let it go if you still have energy: a couple 100 metres and you will be going through the funnel.

Congratulations on completing Hackney Marshes parkrun!

Facilities at Hackney Marshes parkrun

Once you leave your car, you are already in front of the main hub in the area, the Hackney Marshes Centre. It’s quite ugly, but it’s functional.

The cafe is a window on the street one and it is open only on weekends at the moment. Perfect for parkrunday. Toilets are on the other side of the building, accessible crossing the reception area walking past the cafe. They are small, but open before the event.

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 Hackney Marshes parkrun, I ordered a single espresso, a blood orange San Pellegrino and a muffin. This cost £5.8, which is ok for London parkrun cafes.

Hackney Marshes 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.

• Instagram
• Twitter
• YouTube

---

Achievements and performance

Conclusions

Hackney Marshes parkrun is not usually mentioned when people ask about the most interesting venues to run in London, but I think it will continue establishing itself as a very interesting venue to visit. It is bound to be a seasonal recommendation since it is mostly run on grass, but if dry, it can be very enjoyable. And if you are planning to spend a day in Stratford or at the Olympic Park, it is just around the corner! The team was truly lovely and incredibly welcoming.

This was my first visit and I live pretty far from Stratford, but never say never. If I am in the area again, I would love to run this event a second or a third time.

Finally, obviously, thank you, Hackney Marshes parkrun team for your hospitality!