Brockwell parkrun

This week I briefly stopped my exploration of new venues and returned to Brockwell parkrun for the second time. But for the first time since I have started this site, so one more event ticked off the list of the LonDone ones I had visited before starting to document my parkrun travels. 10 left on that list, so I will probably have something that will keep me travelling around London well after achieving the coveted LonDone status.

This visit comes after a trip out of the M25 last week, with my first trip to Bicester parkrun as a happy corollary to a long delayed shopping ordeal. I had not done much research before getting to Brockwell parkrun and I have to admit I did not remember the course much since my last visit roughly 2 years ago. I was very happy to find out it was all on tarmac, since this was the first rainy parkrun of the season. Goodbye sun, see you again in late April! As an aside, the weather also had another impact on my weekend: I was supposed to run my first Great South Run the day following parkrunday, but the upcoming storm led to a late cancellation. A real shame.

The weekly choice ended up being Brockwell parkrun for very prosaic reasons: I am exhausted from 3 horrible weeks at work so I wanted to wake up a bit later and this seemed to be the closest venue on my to do list. I was tempted to tick off one more new event off the LonDone list after the last one at Grovelands parkrun, but they were too far. Except Battersea, but that one will be in a few weeks, to get one more number on my Wilson Index parkrun challenge.

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

Trip to Brockwell parkrun and parking

As you might probably guess, Brockwell parkrun takes place in Brockwell Park. In Lambeth, South London, this is by Herne Hill, just South of popular Brixton. It is not that far from Central London, if you are in town for the weekend and went to try venturing out to a nice venue that is not often mention when people ask for recommendations.

According to the official event page, the closest station is Brixton. This is a London Underground station served by the Victoria Line. Once you alight, you are bit more than 10 minutes walk away from the meeting point, or you can take a bus bringing you to Dulwich Road, just seconds from it. Alternatively, Herne Hill mainline station is about 5 minutes walk from the start, if you decide to come with overground services. This is managed by Southerneastern, on the line to London Victoria.

If you are planning to drive there, the official event page suggests parking along Dulwich Road. It is free during the weekend and there were many empty parking spaces at 8:30am and I have no doubt there would be several also later. There is also a small car park past the gates of the park by the Lido, but that’s probably best left for people going there.

Brockwell parkrun: start and briefings

As you enter the park from the Dulwich Road gate, you walk by the little car park and Brockwell Lido building, then you turn right and keep walking alongside the same building for about 50 metres. Here you will find the parkrun pop-up, volunteers and runners gathering. This is the meeting point, on the path just before the finish funnel. When it is time for the briefings, people will start moving from here to a larger clearing just past the trees, up a short slope. Here both briefings will be held and people can leave their bags, if needed.

Up to the very last minute, it felt like there would be a very small field on the rainy day I picked for my visit. But close to 9am plenty of people arrived, so this is one of those events where crowds are invisible until the last minute. The FIrst Timers briefing was held efficiently on the clearing, then a couple of minutes later, the RD took the same position and tried her best to address a 400-people crowd of unruly and wet runners and walkers.

Once the briefings are over, it is time to move once more. The start line is back down on the same path where the meeting point was, just after the finish funnel going westward. Most people will not go back down the same way they came up to the clearing, but ‘jump’ down through little breaks in the trees or go the long way around in the opposite direction. The path will be fairly narrow at the start, so if you are a speed demon, listen to the briefings from the back to be ready to move fast and get a spot at the front.

There isn’t a long distance to cover and people were surprisingly fast and orderly in taking their place, so everything was ready to go in just a few minutes.

Finally, it comes: it is the countdown. 3, 2, 1.

Time to go!

Brockwell parkrun course review – star ratings

Brockwell parkrun course review – route highlights

There were 339 parkrunners on the day of my visit to Brockwell parkrun. Looking at their historical attendance levels, this is slightly below their usual attendance levels, probably because of the gloomy and rainy day it was. It looks like recently performance has been usually around the 400 mark, with some weeks in the low 300s and peaks all the way to 600. I think this event can support 4/500 runners quite easily, but it could start to struggle if very large fields became the norm.

There are no real bottlenecks along the course. The only real pinch point is at the start, where everyone has to position themselves and start on a relatively narrow path. However, there are much worse ‘long starts’ in London. Here, with around 340 runners, starting from the middle of the field I was past the timekeepers in seconds and things opened up very very fast. The first 90-degrees turn comes pretty soon, so it will be a bit busy, but definitely not problematic. There are a few 90-degree turns, but they can all be taken comfortably.

Surface-wise, it is a tarmac path all through. And it is actually pretty well maintained. It is not super-smooth and PB-ready like nearby Dulwich, but I think it is definitely above average. There were no puddles or mud in sight, so add this event to the roster needed to get you through our wet winter (and autumn, and spring…) months. I was wearing road shoes and I am pretty comfortable saying they should be fine in all seasons.

Elevation-wise, at 62m elevation gain over just shy of 2 laps, it is definitely undulating. I think it actually feels hillier than it seems to be according to the data, probably because it is not one hill breaking an otherwise flat course. It is consistent up and down throughout. The elevation plot reminds me Huddinge parkrun, near Stockholm, where I thought those were evil witches hats, but over there the pain was much more memorable. I think this event can be an excellent candidate for winter hill training if you are within reach. When I was training for a hilly half marathon and I was in better shape, I used Richmond parkrun as my go to event, but that’s not only hillier, but also muddy. Here it is consistent but gentler, so I think it is a great option, especially for winter months.

In terms of course design, it is fairly simple. The first lap is around the full perimeter of the park. At the end of the first lap, you turn left just before the finish funnel and cut uphill avoiding a short section and joining the main perimeter path half way through the main climb. You won’t get lost, plenty of marshals are dotted around the course.

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

Once it is time to get going, the starts works fairly efficiently even on a congested path. You will start running and soon pass the start line and reach an open area with meadows on both sides. This is relatively flat, which is good given you will soon start climbing. At the end of this straight, a sharp left turn and you are at the bottom of the main hill. It starts gentle, even with a little downhill to break this. However, the net climb is long and consistent, so pace yourself.

On the way up, you will pass a couple of fenced off sports area and eventually reach higher grounds with beautiful views over the park on your left. It is difficult to convey from the pictures below, but the park is truly beautiful. Once at the top, there is no flat waiting for you, the downhill starts nearly immediately. This is, again, long and consistent. You can recover some of the time you have lost climbing up, but don’t overdo it because it is not a fast and steep downhill.

At the bottom, turn left gently around a small clearing/roundabout and you are on the Southern straight. This felt flat to me, but clearly it was not based on the chart above. Apparently it is still downhill, just gentler. Roughy half way, watch left and if the weather is not too miserable, you will be treated with a nice view on the City skyscrapers and the Shard.

At the end of this straight, another left and wide turn over a paved open space. Here you get a good view on the very urban surroundings. I quite liked it, it was the only reminder we are in Brixton after all. After this turn, you are on the straight home. Kind of. Keen going until you reach the internal car park, then turn left and right to coast along the Lido building. When you reach the original meeting point, do not go straight. Turn left instead and climb the hill on a narrower path. Because why not, let’s add some more elevation in, right?

Half way through this diversion, you will pass the BMX park on your right. It is actually the most substantial I have seen in London and it was full of people enjoying it. After the BMX park, the path flattens out and you cross a couple of clearings before starting to go down across a field. Yup, you climbed up just to go down and reach the route of the first lap half way through the main climb. Fun!

Once you are down this short downhill, turn left and, you guessed it, start climbing again.

Do roughly 2/3 of the first lap again and then, this time, go straight at the meeting point. The finish funnel is just there, waiting for you.

Congratulations on completing Brockwell parkrun!

Facilities at Brockwell parkrun

Brockwell Park is a large, nicely landscaped park offering beautiful views and several sports areas. However, when it comes to traditional facilities parkrunners are used to find, it is currently lacking.

There are no public toilets near the meeting point. When asking a volunteer, I was told to try getting into the Lido and asking nicely, they might let me in. I suppose this could be an option of last resort for people, but I doubt they would enjoy letting 400 people in if this has not been formally agreed, so I did not test how lucky I would be. On the official course page, they write there is a toilet by the BMX track. It is not far, but I did not check if they are open or still there at all.

When it comes to the cafe, the course page says they go to the Manor House in the centre of the park. This is however, out of date because the House has been under refurbishment for a few years and, as of October 2024, the cafe that used to be there is replaced by a couple of food trucks placed just outside of its fenced perimeter. They focus on burgers and ice cream, but there are some lighter breakfast options.

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 Grovelands parkrun, I ordered a (massive) brownie, a diet coke and a single espresso. This cost me £5.8, which is reasonable for London.

Brockwell 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 am glad I came back to Brockwell parkrun. It is a fun route with a great local team of volunteers. Yes, it can be moderately painful, but it is not among the most challenging ones in London. It is a good workout in a beautiful park and the paved paths are great for the winter.

The hill is substantial enough to provide a good work-out and definitely affect times, but not terrible enough to force most people to walk, unless they want to. And the downhill is glorious.

Finally, obviously, thank you, Brockwell parkrun team for your hospitality, once again!