Battersea parkrun

This parkrunday I have visited Battersea parkrun for the first time. Yes, I have finally made it to the newest and long awaited Central(ish) London event for their event number 5. And this week was also coming after the impossible happened 7 days ago: I did not wake up on parkrunday. Absolutely unexcusable and I will have to carry the shame for it for the rest of my life. Or a few weeks, I guess.

Battersea parkrun has been my NENDY since it has started about a month ago and I was itching to visit it. However, higher powers compelled me: the mighty and completely useless Wilson Index. Having missed event 1 because, God forbid, I would never commit treason and risk the first event having an attendance any closer to the one it has had every week since, the first event number I was missing was event 5. So here we are, box ticked on the required parkrunday.

Now a controversial thought. Battersea parkrun is now the parkrun closest to Central London in my view. I know civil wars have been fought around the definition of Central London and some people might argue Mile End, Southwark or even Hampstead Heath are closer to what they consider the centre. But I don’t care, I declare it here and now, Battersea parkrun is the most central event now. Hate me if you disagree.

Next controversial point: I think this will become the fastest course in London and, probably, one of the fastest courses in the UK. It is all tarmac and it is in great conditions. It is very flat, with some extremely mild downhill gradients and barely any uphill at all. And the paths are wide and curve gently. It is essentially the perfect course for a PB attempt. I think it beats Dulwich, because Battersea is genuinely flat and Dulwich has a little hill. And I think it beats Burgess because of the wide, gentle turns, while at Burgess you have a couple of sharp ones and a 360-degrees turnaround point. So yes, I don’t think there is any other event that can compete in the capital if you want to go for a PB. The same course holds my all-time 5K PB, on a Runthrough race, at around 24 minutes. A couple of years ago, when I was still in good shape.

One more comment before diving into the event. It is clear the team is very focused on making sure they respect the conditions they have probably been imposed by the council. Stay on the left, don’t run or walk on grass, let other park users do their own thing and don’t lock bikes to random fences. These are all very reasonable and I very much doubt sticking to them will be a problem. There was a lot of talking about parkrun taking over Battersea Park and the hordes of parkrunners being a serious inconvenience to locals. Frankly, having experienced a 1200-people event, I really doubt there will be any problem. Except the few minutes before and after starting, paths will be busy, but they are never overrun. It’s a big park and parkrun will not hinder other people rights to enjoy it. Long live Battersea parkrun!

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

Trip to Battersea parkrun and parking

The event starts on the West side of Battersea Park. While South of the river, this London landmark is pretty central, just on the other side of the Thames from Chelsea. Meeting point and finish funnel are on the West side of the park, so the opposite side from the new(ish) power station developments and tube station. However, crossing the park on foot will not take more than 15 minutes and it can be a pleasant early morning stroll.

As a fairly central location, it will be busy and traffic will be significant. On the other side, several public transport options will be available.

According to the official course page, the closest tube station is unsurprisingly Battersea Power Station, roughly one mile away from the meeting point. This is served by a dedicated branch of the Northern Line. The official course page also mentions South Kensington station as an option, but I think that’s probably further out than you need to go to get here. Battersea Park and Queenstown Road are also mainline stations within walking reach. Similarly to tube stations, the team seem to be a bit overreaching in their recommendations, mentioning also Clapham Junction and Victoria. While definitely in the general vicinity if you are coming from out of town, both will need additional travel arrangements or long walks.

If driving is more convenient, the Western car park inside the park is open early. Since I am lazy, I’ve tested this option for you: I arrived at 8:15 because I was concerned about very large numbers attending and the car park was virtually empty at that time. It is also a fairly large car park considering where it is, so early arrivals should have no issues finding a spot. Payment is via the RingGo App and slightly less than 3 hours cost me less than £4 – fairly reasonable for a Central London car park.

Once you leave your car, Battersea parkrun meeting point will be just a couple of minutes walk away.

Battersea parkrun: start and briefings

If you are coming from Battersea Power station, the good news is that getting to the meeting point is pretty easy. The bad news is that the reason it is easy is that you have to cross the whole park and get to the very opposite corner from where you arrived. Jokes aside, while it is a fairly big park, it is not massive and if you cut it diagonally and the grass is not too wet, it can be a pleasant, scenic warm up walk.

If you left your car in the car park, just leave it heading South and you will be straight onto the West carriageway in sight of the meeting point. Probably less than 100 metres to walk before you reach everyone else.

The meeting point is at the end of what will be the finish funnels, just off the paved carriageway. The area offers a lot of space for parkrunners (and parkwalkers) to spread around, with large meadows just behind it. A lot of people were warming up very seriously, other were taking pictures, other chatting, but it did not feel very busy. At least not until after the First Timers Briefing. It is fascinating how at that point, everyone seemed to suddenly appear. Curious.

The First Timers took place by the event name pop-up, in the same area. The friendly volunteer who held it had a loudspeaker to carry her voice and a little ladder to make her more visible, but I don’t think there were more than 20/30 people surrounding her for it. I guess, maybe the high volumes of tourists is starting to decrease after 5 events. That said, I am sure Battersea parkrun will become a staple for people visiting London, so I am ready to bet there will always be a meaningful contingent of parkrun tourists here.

Afterwards, it is time to start walking towards the start line. This was an interesting experience, because I had not realised we were not close to it. And because the local time has come up with a smart walking route that allows people to join the pack from behind, rather than merging into it and having to walk to the back from the front. You have to walk towards the East-West carriageway, then loop around the trees and back. Smart move. However, this means that if you want to start from the front you should probably skip the First Timers briefing and go straight to the start line before the slower masses start walking towards it.

What about the Main Briefing? If there was one, I could not hear it from the middle of the pack. And if there was one, either it started before everyone got there or it must have been very short. Anyway, I know the drill, not a big deal.

And then, suddenly, I saw the giant blob of parkrunners slowly starting to move., It was time to go!

Battersea parkrun course review – star ratings

Battersea parkrun course review – route highlights

There were 1,168 parkrunners on the day of my first visit to Battersea parkrun. It’s a new event, so there isn’t a long term trend to look at and infer what could be average, but I doubt Battersea parkrun will surprise us. All events after the very secretive first one attracted more than 1,000 parkrunners. Sure, there are several ‘event collectors’ and the bulk of tourist flows have not come through yet, but I would not be surprised if this become a destination event with consistent tourist flows. So, let me take my crystal ball: Battersea parkrun will probably slowly grow and find its long term equilibrium around 1,500, competing with Bushy and Clapham for the busiest events in London. The very central location is just too convenient for it not to happen. That kind of numbers will probably mean a slow and congested start and a complicated multiple funnel finish line, but I think this venue can accomodate them. And accomodate them without making the run unpleasant for most people. We will see.

There really are no bottlenecks here. This event is run on a loop all following wide paved ‘carriageways’. Turns are wide and gentle and there are no abrupt corners. The start will be slow, but that’s only because of numbers, not because of course design. If anything, for such high numbers, congestion at the start is actually not as disruptive as it could be. The first turn after the start, probably 200m on, is also the sharpest of the course and on the first lap it can feel busier than ideal. But again, it is not a major issue. It is a great course for fast times and fun running, regardless of numbers. And even considering that the team tries to keep 1/2 of the carriageway empty for other park users. In some areas is more 1/3 than half to be fair, but it makes little difference, really.

Surface-wise, it is tarmac all through. And it is excellent quality. You can sport your delicate, expensive race shoes here if you want to, they will do their job without getting damaged. The only exception is 50m of gravel just before the finish funnel. It is a very small bit though. Excellent course for winter days as well, since water or mud are never going to be a concern here.

Elevation-wise, this is as flat as it gets. The total elevation gain over two laps is an impressive 4 metres, so there metrics confirm the feeling. Surprisingly, on the Southern side of the loop, there is a short section where I could actually feel some light downhill. I have no idea where you recover that, but I did not experience any uphill at all. Anywhere. Looking at the plot, it looks like it is on the Northern straight, just after the start. Not noticeable. This is as flat as a pancake. A pancake without air bubbles.

In terms of course design, it couldn’t be simpler. Two oval loops and a short additional segment at the end to go from the start line to the finish funnels, positioned where the original meeting point is. If you have run the Runthrough 5K races here, the loop is the same, but while Runthrough starts before the bandstand, Battersea parkrun starts just after it. That’s it, no other difference.

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

As said above, after the FIrst Timers briefing, everybody starts walking towards the start line. It will take a little while, because the walking route is designed to get everyone seeded facing the direction of the course. Once there, wait a bit and, maybe, hear the main briefing. I did not hear any of that and just saw the mass of people slowly starting to move suddenly. Guess that was my cue to get going. The immediate few seconds after that are fairly slow, but things get going surprisingly quickly for such a busy start line. After about 100m I had reached what was the actual start line and I was entering the final stretch of the middle carriageway, the Northern straight bit in the map above. Here you are running along a wide tree-lined paved path: a pleasure with autumnal colours.

At the end of this segment, it is time to turn 90-degrees left and join into the Western Carriageway. Immediately after turning, you will pass the long multiple finish funnels on your left and then the original meeting point with the parkrun popup sign. Afterwards, keep going for a few metres before entering a very large left turn. This wide turn feeds into a small square/roundabout area next to some park gates. Cross this clearing and you are then entering the long, Southern straight of the loop.

The Southern segment will again alternate tree-lined sections with shorts crossings of small clearings. Initially, we pass some buildings on our left, I think at least in part we are running by the local GoApe area. Then we will run by some playing fields (tennis?) and then reach the lakes. Lakes are barely touched by this course, so you will see some water, but no scenic or particularly immersive moment. Once you have reached the lakes, you barely realise you are slowly turning left again to start the very short Eastern side of the loop. At the end of the very wide turn, you pass by the back of the Pear Tree cafe and then start a short segment in the open, leading to the next turn.

Here, a sharp left turn again and we are back on the Northern long straight. Grand views in front, with mature trees on both sides of the road and a beautiful bandstand visible in the distance. Keep going straight until the bandstand and negotiate around it leaving it on your right to merge into the carriageway again. Soon markings on the ground will show where the start line was: time to do it all once more.

After the second lap, keep left after passing the start line again and, at the end of this straight, turn left onto the gravel section next to the main path. The finish funnel will be right there in front of you, ready for a glorious sprint finish!

At event 5, the team was already efficiently managing a triple-funnel, which is impressive. Wonder if they have been training at Bushy.

Congratulations on completing Battersea parkrun!

Facilities at Battersea parkrun

As a self-described ‘inner city oasis’, Battersea Park offers a lot to do, see and experience. I won’t cover activities and infrastructure on top of what is immediately related to parkrunday morning.

Public toilets are available if you are coming from far away, however, they won’t be in the immediate vicinity of the meeting point. The ones I found were in a cluster of buildings at the end of the large fountains facing the North carriageway. They were open when I walked by them after the event, but the official event page suggests they will be open before as well. Separate male and female buildings, they are pretty big and can accomodate large numbers. In these area there is also a small stall serving food and drinks: it is a closer and, possibly, cheaper option than the main cafe recommended by the team.

The Pear Tree Cafe is the recommended parkbreakfast location. You will run by its back during the event, so you should have a rough idea of its location. In short, you need to walk to the other side of the park, past the lakes. It is a beautiful cafe offering plenty of choice for sweet or savoury parkbreakfast. It also offers a large and scenic outside sitting area, if the weather is not too miserable. Lines will be long, but you can get your energy fix two ways: going inside the cafe or from a window stall outside. I chose the latter and it was faster. While quality and location were great, this cafe also wins the title of most expensive parkbreakfast I have had (so far). Interesting change after the cheapest parkbreakfast in London last time in Pymmes.

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 Battersea parkrun, I ordered an apple and almond cake, a diet coke and a single espresso. This cost me £9.8. Yes, you read it right, prices at this cafe are just ridiculous. It tasted great though.

Battersea 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

Battersea parkrun was a long time in the making, with many people waiting for it for a long time. And I am sure, the team working hard to make it happen. Now that it is a reality, I am sure it will become one of the most successful and well recognised parkrun events in London.

It is a great running course, proved by the number of races that have always been organised here. And the team has it working like clockwork already! I have no doubt i will be back, and several times. If you are in the area (or maybe even if you aren’t), I would be surprised if this did not become of the events in the local rotation.

Finally, obviously, thank you, Battersea parkrun team for your hospitality!