East Grinstead parkrun

Back in the UK, this week I visited East Grinstead parkrun, a venue that had been on my to do list for a long time. What a change from the last two weeks in Italy, starting with Roma Pineto parkrun and ending with the wonderful Salento parkrun. Scorching sun and 30 degrees were swapped for the more familiar grey skies and rain. It was very nearly cold and the luxurious green grass was slippery and very wet. Welcome home! 🙂

Oh well, we cannot always be on holiday, unfortunately. The return home did not bring me to one of the last 5 venues left to complete LonDone, surprisingly. I was tempted to progress that challenge, but I preferred to tick off one of the locations I had on my to do list before mudrun seasons well and truly starts. Next week, I will probably do the same, but with one of the London venues I have already visited, but not covered on this site yet.

East Grinstead parkrun has been a target for quite a while. First of all because it was a large polygon on the edge of my Voronoi map that needed to be filled, but mostly because it was needed for a fairly large number of parkrun challenges. It gives me my second E, for both Namely and Old McDonald. E’s are not very frequent in the South East and I need a lot of them because of my cursed name. And it also ticks one of the compass points, which I had not secured yet.

It is a beautiful location, adding to the busy roster of gorgeous parkrun venues in West Sussex. I am consistently surprised by how blessed this part of the country is, with every event being unique, beautiful and challenging. Within probably less than 20 minutes drive from East Grinstead parkrun you can visit Tilgate, Wakehurst and Ifield Mill Pond: all definitely worth adding to you your parkrun touristing list.

East Grinstead parkrun has some specific features that make it stand out. On one side, it is incredibly friendly and welcoming, probably the most welcoming event I have visited in the UK. On the other side, it is hard. Harder than Wakehurst, which is already pretty damn hilly. But it is worth the pain.

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

Trip to East Grinstead parkrun and parking

East Grinstead parkrun starts just by the pavilion at East Court park. This green space is pretty close to the centre of East Grinstead, so reaching it by public transport is definitely possible even if you are not local.

Taking hint from the official event site, the closest station is East Grinstead. Not surprising. It is managed by Southern, so from London you can reach it from Victoria Station. Once you get there, walking to the start will take you about 20 minutes, with some mild elevations on the way. But you are not afraid of those, aren’t you? More will be waiting during the event!

If you are driving, East Grinstead is fairly easy to reach since it is not far from major motorways. The M25 can easily feed people onto the M23 and if I remember right, once you leave it, it will be less than 10KM to reach the event. As usual, early morning traffic will not be a concern, but getting back will be another story.

Parking-wise, the event team points visitors at the car park used by East Grinstead FC. It is not huge, but when I got there around 8:30am it was virtually empty, only one other car. This car park is free and it is well signposted by the event team. Using the postcode above will get you to the park, then turn left instead of going straight on if you want to park here. This car park is in front of the recommended cafe to be used after the run, but it is about 10 minutes walk from the start, so leave your car bearing that in mind.

Another car park just by the start/meeting point is available. It seems to be the one used by most of the locals and the event team. However, it is pretty small and it is shared with other park users, so I would think a short walk is not a problem as a courtesy if coming here only to visit.

If coming from the recommended car park, the ‘directions’ feature of the 5K app can come in handy. You need to walk back the same way you come by car, then climb the little hill towards East Court mansion. Once you get into the actual park, stop following those directions and cross through the meadows if not too wet. It will be shorter than following the road as recommended since that goes all the way around the hill. The pavilion will be clearly visible at the bottom of the hill just in front of you.

East Grinstead parkrun: start and briefings

As said above, when walking past East Court manor, you will quickly see the pavilion at the bottom of the hill. If you have time, spend a few minutes walking around the Manor House, it is beautiful and it offers great views on the surroundings. It is also worth giving a look at the Millennium Stone and the location of the Greenwich meridian. Yup, you can stand in both hemispheres here.

The only toilets are also by the Manor House car park, so if you need them, you will need to explore this area anyway.

When ready, go down the hill and head for the pavilion. If you want to take the obligatory selfie with the event lanyard, it is positioned by the start line and not at the meeting point, which will be at the opposite side of the pavilion.

On the day I visited, East Grinstead parkrun was celebrating their 7th birthday, so there was a nice party and celebratory atmosphere, with a lot of party hats. And a lot of dogs around! No idea if this is usual or I joined a lucky events, but there were a log of happy dogs getting ready for the event with their humans. I love dogs, so no complaints there. I will remember East Grinstead parkrun and doggie parkrun.

Both briefings happens at the back of the pavilion. The First Timers briefing is aided by a printed poster with the route map and the volunteer does their best to describe a route that sounds confusing at first. Then you get it, not that bad right. Then when it is time to experience it in real life, it will become confusing again. A couple of tricky turns, no doubt. But there are plenty of marshals around the course, so the risk of taking a wrong turn is minor. But not zero, I have to say, for the first time in my parkrunning career.

After the main briefing, everyone walks around the pavilion and lines up along the paved path by the name banner.

Then, without any further wait, you hear the countdown. 3, 2, 1.

Time to go!

East Grinstead parkrun course review – star ratings

East Grinstead parkrun course review – route highlights

There were 103 parkrunners on the day I visited. This seems to be roughly average for East Grinstead parkrun, but it’s an average that swings heavily between dry months and wet months. Over summer I can see attendance in a 75-150 range, while during winter it seems to take a step back and reset to a 45-75 range. I think this is a course than can easily sustain 100-150 runners, but it should probably not blow up into much larger numbers, because of several narrow segments. Seasonality seems to be driven by a very muddy and partially flooded course during winter. I have not experienced it, but even at the very beginning of September grass segments were fairly slippery.

The start is on the only paved section of the course and it is relatively wide for the attendance level. So no early congestion and I doubt it would be a problem even with significantly higher numbers. However, there are a few bottlenecks around the course, even with low numbers. The first one is at the bottom of the lower hill, shortly after the start. The short turnaround point under the trees goes through a narrower bit. Then towards the end of the lower loop, you need to go through the narrow Wobbly Bridge and shortly afterwards a narrow trail. This is strictly single file. A short similar segment can be found at the end of the higher loop as well. In short, at current attendance levels, it is not a problem, you might just have to slow down a bit and the energy you save will be a boon when you reach the main hill.

Surface-wise, there is a lot of grass and a fair bit of trails. Just a short section is paved. The trail sections come with plenty of roots, but it is not a scarily technical course. I ran with road shoes and it was ok, but I could definitely have enjoyed a bit more traction from trail shoes. I nearly feel once, as you can see on the video below. So, unless it has been very sunny and dry for a while (does that ever happen?), I think trail shoes come highly recommended here.

Elevation-wise, at 76m elevation gain, I think there are no doubts this is a hilly course. Look at the elevation profile chart below, hard to disagree, right? You start on a short uphill and then, immediately, benefit from a great downhill. This could be considered false advertising: you think this is going to be easy and then soon realise that you need to come back up. The lower hill, however, is kiddie stuff compared to the one you will encounter on the higher loop. Yup, this is a fun, hilly course. Run it smart, because it will surprise you several times.

In terms of course design, this is simple and complicated at the same time. At a basic level, you run a lower loop once, then run it again together with a higher loop twice. When it becomes complicated, it is in the connection between the two loops. It can be a big wiggly and turny under tree cover and it could be mildly confusing. However, there are plenty of marshals and signs so unless you are really not paying attention, you should be ok. As a local runner told me, you could look at it as 2.5 laps or you could look at it as 5 loops. The latter helps when you are half way through. 🙂

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

Once it is time to go, the start is characteristically uphill. At least they don’t lie to you and present a downhill start! The initial uphill segment is not long and it is only to cross the field of the lower loop left to right. After about 100 metres, it is time to turn right around a big tree and start a wonderful downhill bit. This is again not long, but it is pleasantly steep. Soft grass underfoot and not too slippery, so letting go was very tempting.

At the bottom, another big tree marks the spot for the next turn. Turn left before the tree and enter the forest, but not for long. A gentle turn left is quickly followed by a sharp turn right: essentially, it is a wide turn around the big tree. At the end of the turn it is immediately time to enter the open fields again, but this time we are at the bottom. One flat straight segment, then a slight turn left to run the other half of the bottom section. At the end, it is time for a 90-degrees right turn, to start on the way back up.

Here we are mostly running on a mixture of hard path and grass. It starts with a mild uphill, then it becomes a bit steeper after going around a copse of trees where a marshall will also be waiting and cheering you on. Once at the end of this segment, we will not be at the top yet! You meet a volunteer who is guarding a hard 90-degrees turn left, which leads immediately to Wobbly Bridge. This is a short wooden bridge that is indeed a bit wobbly, but really, not too bad.

After the bridge, turn right again and soon enter a forest trail path. It is very narrow and ideally ran single file and it is, again, uphill. As usual on this course, it is not long and soon it will be time for another sharp right turn heading out of the forest again. Now we are on top, or at least, at the middle level where start and finish are. Once you are out in the open again, head towards the pavilion on grass and run along its side to reach the start and funnel areas. It’s probably around 150m from the forest to the start. At that point, you have finished the first lower loop. Run it all again until you have reached the start level and you are ready to add the higher loop to your course.

When you get back up the second time, don’t head for the start after you leave the tree covered area. Instead, head for a volunteer to the side of the car part manning the entrance into another tree covered section. The upcoming section is a nice hard path trail section under trees, running in the middle of a children play area. Here you will find interesting wood sculptures of an ant, two badgers, a wizard and a totem. It is not long and soon you run around a basketball court and exit again onto the higher fields. Turn around the woods and head left, towards another marshal guarding the lower end of the major hill.

Once you reach that marshal, similarly to the lower end, enter the woods briefly to run around a few trees and exit again at the bottom of ‘That Hill’. This is the main, painful hill that will get you up to the leave of East Court mansion. It is steep, all on grass and about 100/150 metres long. At the top, you join a flat gravel path that will run alongside the mansion’s front gardens all the way up to another turnaround point around a big tree. This starts the way down, all on grass again and, you guessed it, towards another big tree marking the corner of the fields! Reach the big tree, run around it and join a dirt path going alongside the paved road between the lower and upper hills. At the end of this path, another wiggly bit inside the woods before you turn around and start heading for the start/finish area.

Once you reach the start/finish area, it is time to do it all one last time. Lower and higher loops together.

After you are done with your second full lap, you have finally reached the end and you can glide towards the funnel.

Congratulations on completing East Grinstead parkrun!

Facilities at East Grinstead parkrun

East Court park is a large green space, dominated by the mansion. The mansion seems to be mostly used for events, but it also hosts a museum, if you have time to give a look. Around the park, there are several children playgrounds with interesting wood carvings dotted around. Playing fields dominate the centre of the green space and they are busy with children on parkrunday morning.

Public toilets are available near the car park of the mansion, on the opposite side of it from the pavilion. It is a 5/10 minutes walk uphill from the pavilion if you forgot you need a pit stop, so go there before walking down if needed.

The recommended cafe is at the club house of East Grinstead football club. It’s a club house, not a full blown cafe, so while it is certainly a great hub for the local community, you won’t find a lot of options if you are looking for a substantial parkbreakfast. The town centre is only 10/15 minutes walk away, so more options will be available there if you want.

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 East Grinstead parkrun, I had a diet Coke and a Snickers bar. This cost £2.2, definitely good value for money. But an outlier compared to the other venues because of limited choice.

East Grinstead 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

East Grinstead parkrun is a great event set in beautiful surroundings. It is also hilly and challenging and I have visited outside of rainy months. I kept hearing that when it is raining, it is not only muddy, but also fully flooded in certain sections. I think coming back in the middle of winter could be fun! And I might be back for that.

Furthermore, after experiencing the friendliest and most welcoming parkrun so far at Salento last week, I have to say I might have found a contender here. The local team is truly friendly and welcoming and they really did go out of their way to make me feel at home. Definitely come visit if you are in the area, just be aware it will not be a walk in the park. Oh well, it might be, but it will be in a hilly and potentially muddy park!

Finally, obviously, thank you, East Grinstead parkrun team for your hospitality!