Victoria Dock parkrun

This parkrunday I have visited another one of they key London landmark parkrun events, Victoria Dock parkrun. This new addition comes after two parkrunless weeks. Such an abomination is absolutely unforgivable, considering once I allowed a little flue to keep me from the weekly ritual and the second time I gave in to post Christmas party hungover. I will try to atone, but missing two in a row is pretty unforgivable. Especially the one I missed because of the office Christmas party: let’s be honest, like most people, I didn’t really want to be there to begin with!

Anyway, it was a spur of the moment decision taken on parkrun eve, since the original plan was for a foreign event this week. But it all came together very well. I decided to combine two meaningful parkrun challenges milestones in one event! Victoria Dock parkrun was my first V and the last letter I was missing to become a parkrun alphabeteer. I have now run events start with every letter in the alphabet, except X. Because there are no events with a name starting with X across the whole world.

At the same time, this was also the 100th unique event I have completed, giving me the coveted Cowell Club achievement. I will write a bit more about both in separate posts. In terms of LonDone progress, I am back to missing 3, after the addition of a new event in the far, mystical lands of East London a week ago.

Victoria Dock parkrun is a special event for several reasons. First of all, it is one of the few Vs across the UK, so many alphabets chasers flock to it every week. However, there is another V in London, so what makes this more famous across the parkrun tourist community? I think it is its unique course, combining a very urban feel with a scenic riverside environment. In terms of urban feel, it is not only the relatively central location, as I experienced for Mile End parkrun. The event is all run on riverside paths crossing a modern new development with features such as the Excel, a yacht hotel and the London cable car. The riverside feel is also unique, very different from what you experience at Kingston parkrun or Thames Path parkrun: come to see it yourself!

It is also known for being one of the fastest events in London and I think it can definitely be, if you visit when there are no gale force winds. On the day I visited, the event was also finally able to return to a 2-laps course after a fairly long time running as a slower 3-laps loop. That said, even in perfect conditions I don’t think it can match Battersea parkrun or Burgess parkrun. 4 360 degrees turns are bound to slow you down.

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

Trip to Victoria Dock parkrun and parking

Victoria Dock parkrun stars in front of the new City Hall, in the heart of the new docklands development, just across the water from the O2. Let’s start with driving directions: this is not one you want to drive to. According to the official course page, all parking locations near the start are resident only and I would not be surprised if this were indeed the case. It’s also a very busy and crowded area: even if you manage to find a spot and get there relatively easily early morning, leaving afterwards is guaranteed to be a nightmare.

If you really need to come by car, a potential solution, while expensive, could be to park at the O2, just across the water. This would be an expensive solution, but if you can get on the cable car, you have a scenic last leg to your trip and the station of the cable car on Victoria Dock is just seconds away from the meeting point. Parkrunners also used to be able to use the cable car for free before and after the event if the present their bar code. I think it is still the case as of the time of writing. If you go for this option, please do check if the cable car is expected to operate before 9am: there were reports they might change hours of operations on Saturday from January 2025 making this impossible.

Luckily, the central location ensures public transport alternatives are great. The meeting point is 2 minutes walk from Royal Victoria DLR station and less than 10 minutes away from Custom House station, served by the Elizabeth Line and the DLR. The Elizabeth Line is fairly dependable, but the DLR can be subject to weekend suspensions: I suggest checking weekend travel disruptions on parkrun eve.

I went via Royal Victoria and left via Custom House and they are both very convenient. This combo is probably the most convenient since Royal Victoria is really very very close to the start and you are pretty much guaranteed to be on the train with other parkrunners you can follow. If alone, take the overpass and head towards City Hall. Once out of the station, cross the road and turn right. You will soon see the futuristic City Hall building. That’s where you want to go.

Victoria Dock parkrun: start and briefings

Everyone meets on the little square in front of City Hall. There is a small green space where volunteers set up the pop up sign and several pictures are taken before things start. Once it was time to get going, volunteers asked everyone to line up at the end of the City Hall building. We will soon find out that they were asking us all to go behind the start line.

Just before asking everyone to move past the imaginary start line, the Run Director had called for new runners to meet her for the First Timers Briefing. However, first time since I parkrun, she specifically asked for real first timers not to the event but to parkrun itself. Tourists would be dealt with separately with everyone else later. A bit unusual, but it will make sense soon.

Why? Immediately when we started listening to the Main Briefing we found out. This was the first time in a while that Victoria Dock parkrun could come back to a 2-lap course, after running a 3-lap course for a while. As such, the course description was kept for the Main Briefing when everybody could hear the news.

Something else I found funny was that we were specifically warned that course conditions were ‘horrible out there’. Sure, the wind was a pain and there were a few puddles. Not a PB parkrunday, but heaven on earth compared to some less urban courses throughout winter. Woking parkrun, you came to mind.

And then, suddenly, a quick countdown started to get running and stop waiting under the miserable weather. It was time to go!

Victoria Dock parkrun course review – star ratings

Victoria Dock parkrun course review – route highlights

There were 165 parkrunners on the day of my first visit to Victoria Dock parkrun. To be honest, I was a bit surprised by the relatively low turnout, but I guess the miserable weather and it being the last weekend before Christmas contributed to it. The event never felt busy or overcrowded, but it also always felt like a group event, even when people were spaced out further away from each other. Looking at historical attendance, I realised that while attendance was lower than usual, Victoria Dock parkrun does not reach the attendance levels I thought it did. The average seems to be around 150-250, with a few rare peaks above 300. One exception in April 2024 reached 699, which must have been a fun event. I think the course is good enough to accomodate large fields, maybe with the exception of the turnaround points.

As a genuinely urban course, Victoria Dock parkrun can be quirky at times. This means that there are a couple of notable bottlenecks people should be aware of, especially if approaching them as part of a large group. Very soon after starting, when it’s time to turn right into the path from the front of City Hall, everybody needs to get past a barrier made up of cement bollards. And you have to pass it while turning right, so you are crossing them diagonally. They are well spaced, but watch out, just to avoid bad surprises. There will be a couple of other metal barriers to cross, but all well spaced. Finally, as a linear 2-lap out and back, there will be 3 turnaround points.

Surface-wise, it is tarmac all through. And it is pretty good quality. You can sport your delicate, expensive race shoes here if you want to, they will do their job without getting damaged. There are a few small spots where drainage is not perfect and some puddles form, but really, it is barely noticeable compared to other courses. When it comes to puddles, give a look at my video shot at Crane Park parkrun to have a laugh.

Elevation-wise, this feels pretty flat, even if it is not exactly consistently flat. At 30m gain over 2 laps, any elevation will be barely noticeable and, if I am honest, I only noticed a couple of downhills, while the uphill went completely unnoticed. Not as flat as other events, but to all extent and purposes, you can consider it flat.

In terms of course design, it couldn’t be simpler. A nearly linear out and back, repeated twice. Start line and finish funnel are tucked away to the side of one extremely of this line. That’s it.

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

Once it is time to go, everyone is lined up in front of City Hall and there is relatively little congestion. Just a little bit of repositioning in case you are standing behind someone who reacts more slowly, but everyone is on to their pace very quickly. Or, mostly likely, to pace faster than they should be running at, as usual. The immediate start feels flat to downhill and it sees all parkrunners parading in front of City Hall before taking a wide right turn and getting through the cement bollards I mentioned above.

Once we are back onto a straight line, the first medium length straight segment starts. Here we are not running waterside, with a row of building to our right and a selection of paths for us. First we pass by the cable car station, than some nicely decorated coffee trucks and then the Good Hotel. This last segment is the longest and it is the only part of the course where we are running along a tree-lined path, more similar to usual parkrun environment.

Towards the end of this segment, we start experiencing a slight uphill gradient that will lead onto a 90-degrees turn right leading us onto the riverside path. After the first turn, it is not long before we are turning 90-degrees left again to start one of the two long straights of this course. The first one starts with a nice view of a large ship in the distance and a a few iron docking cranes we can run under. They look good, if you are into a industrial architecture. Half way through this straight we reach the large ship, which happens to be a floating hotel. This looks good too and when we reach it we start running at the edge of the big square in the front of the Excel building.

Keep going to the end of the square and turn right and left again, to start the second and last long straight of the course. Now we are running along the side of the Excel building, with the Thames on our right. I think this is the longest straight. Depending on the season, you will see some of the themed exhibitions hosted at the Excel, maybe they give you an idea for a future visit? When I was here it was Formula 1 and the Friends Experience. On the right the river is very open and scenic, in a post industrial kind of way again. And in front it’s London City Airport, so you will probably spot several planes taking-off.

At the end of this straight, you will reach a relatively tight 180-degrees turnaround point. Thank the volunteer and get through it, before coming back along the same path again. Towards the end of your return journey, the beginning of the last of the three straight segments will gift you a noticeable downhill, which is quite pleasant. I noticed the downhill much more than I had noticed the uphill…

When you reach the cement bollards, ignore them and keep going a few metres to reach another turnaround point. Do it all again once and get back here. The second time, get past the cement bollards again and turn left once more to parade one last time in front of City Hall. At the end of the building you will be met by the short finish funnel.

Congratulations on completing Victoria Dock parkrun!

Facilities at Victoria Dock parkrun

Victoria Dock parkrun takes place on the docklands. Essentially, you are running along a riverside pavement, so no facilities will be specifically dedicated to the event or its location. However, it is also at the centre of an area that is fast developing into a rather vibrant new centre. Facilities related to City Hall, the Excel or the cable car are plentiful around the area.

There are no public toilets on City Hall square or anywhere along the riverside walk. However, plenty of cafes and hotels are around, in case of emergency. Across social media I think I’ve seen people mentioning they were able to use facilities at the Good Hotel in the past.

The official course page also mentions the Good Hotel as the recommended location for the post event cafe. Rather than going into an hotel, I picked the Cafe Fratelli, just across the road from the finish funnel. Plenty of other options around, but I liked this one and saw also the local team arrived after a while to sort the tokens.

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 a lemon muffin, a San Pellegrino blood orange soda and a single espresso. This cost me £6.8. Quite surprisingly cheap, to be honest, compared to some of the obscene prices found in London recently and the quality was good.

Victoria Dock 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 enjoyed Victoria Dock parkrun. I am sure this is a venue that is at its best in spring or early autumn, with good weather and perfect running conditions, so I am pretty sure I will come back. This is a very unusual course and it is fast and scenic.

I highly recommend it for a different experience and for a fast run, not only to change a V.

Finally, obviously, thank you, Victoria Dock parkrun team for your hospitality!