Riddlesdown parkrun

This parkrunday I came back to London and visited Riddlesdown parkrun for the second time. The second visit ever here, but the first one since I’ve started this blog. I have now 4 more events to visit before not only being LonDone, but also covering all the London parkrun events here. A bit of a change from the original plan to visit my first Danish event, but that will also happen soon.

After I finally achieved LonDone status with my visit to Valentines parkrun a few weeks ago, I spent some time going to events outside of the Big Smoke. I enjoyed less urban escapades to venues like Leybourne Lakes parkrun or the new(ish) Oaklands Collage parkrun or Rickmansworth parkrun. And I recently ticked one already visited but not covered here yet event, Hilly Fields parkrun. This week I was tired after a lot of business travel and I wanted a flat course ahead of a 10K on Sunday, so it was time to go back to South Croydon.

This is not an easy event to visit for people chasing LonDone status. It sits at the very edge of London, in its South/South-East sector. So that part of town that was kind of forgotten when the tube network was designed. And in winter, people might also be disincentivised by likely mud baths. Why do I say this? Because if you still need to come here on your way to LonDone, take advantage of the spring and summer months: it’s a nice event, well worth a visit.

This recommendation holds for the other 2 venues in South Croydon: Roundshaw Downs parkrun and Lloyd parkrun. Both will surprise visitors with the beauty of their green environments. But they are also both very much cross country courses with elevation and, potentially, a lot of mud. Out of the 3, Riddlesdown parkrun is definitely the least challenging course, so if you want to ease into this area, start here.

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

Trip to Riddlesdown parkrun and parking

Riddlesdown Common is in South Croydon, visually at the very Southern edge of London if you try to plot it as a rough circle. According to the official event site, the exact location of the start is called Ibetts Piece. It is an area of the common equally distant from two of the entrances to the Downs: Honister Heights and Tithe Pit Shaw Lane. If, like me, you are not a local, this won’t tell you much, I guess.

If coming by public transport, the nearest stations are Whyteleafe and Upper Warlingham. They are both served by Southern trains, with direct connections from London Bridge. The latter seems to be slightly closer to the start, but in both cases you will have about 30 minutes to walk. Local buses are available and they are indicated on the official event site.

If you decide to drive, the recommended postcode is CR6 9YB. This gets you to the car park at Warlingham School. It’s a big campus with several entrances and the team is allowed to use different parts of the car park, depending on the week. The official event site suggests they will update which car park is in use with a pinned post on their facebook page, but they don’t seem to be doing that anymore. No worries though, volunteers were available to direct people on the day I visited. The car park is free and not far from the meeting point.

Special mention for the mild freak out I experienced when I went back at around 9:50 and the gate was closing. I managed to sneak through and just about leave before it closed again. Lucky I guess, no idea what I should have done had I arrived a minute later.

Riddlesdown parkrun: start and briefings

Assuming you are approaching the Common from the school car park, you will enter it from a small gate near by Tithe Pit Shaw Lane. The event name pop up sign is there on the fence to confirm you in the right place. And the initial meeting point is immediately past that gate. This is also where the finish funnel will be at the end.

The quirk of this venue is that start and finish are not in the same place, but about 500m apart. When it’s time, people start crossing the field to reach the start line. I did not hear any invite to get going, so don’t loiter around too long or you might miss the First Timers Briefing. Once the right volunteer gets there, they will start it if it is time, even if some people are still crossing the field. I arrived just slightly late, so managed to catch most of it. Good briefing including a printed out map to explain the course.

Afterwards, everybody starts lining up a few metres away. The path leading to the start line is relatively narrow, so positions will matter if you are pushing for a faster time. Once people are relatively packed up on the path, the Main Briefing starts. Fun and engaging as usual, with special mentions for milestones. On the day I visited, a local gentleman was celebrating is 500th event, out of which more than 400 were run at Riddlesdown parkrun. Congratulations!

Then, I heard the RD start the countdown. ‘3, 2, 1, go!’. It was time to go.

Riddlesdown parkrun course review – star ratings

Riddlesdown parkrun course review – route highlights

There were 208 parkrunners on the day of my last visit to Riddlesdown parkrun. This marked the busiest day for the event in 2025 so far and while the start felt busy, it got better pretty fast and it was never a major problem again. Looking at historical attendance, it seems pretty clear this event is affected by very strong seasonality. During cold and wet months, it tends to average around 100 parkrunners, while during warmer and drier months, it settles around 180-200 parkrunners. Due to the tight start line, I don’t think Riddlesdown parkrun can accomodate much higher numbers on a recurring basis without making it feel congested.

Besides the start line, there are no other bottlenecks around the course. Most turns are wide enough for people to avoid rapid changes in direction and there are no gates or other foreign objects on the path.

Surface-wise, this is a a cross-country course.. However, there isn’t a lot of grass, nor major tree roots or changes in elevation. As cross country courses, this is pretty easy if you come on a dry day. The ground is very hard and dusty, so not the bouncier element for your joints’ pleasure. When dry, road shoes are totally fine. When muddy, I suspect trail shoes would lead to much better results.

Elevation-wise, the course felt flat. Garmin indicated 36m of elevation gain over 2 laps, which was honestly more than I would have expected. There were a couple of short mini-climbs, but they never felt substantial. I guess we are looking at a consistent change in elevation that is mild enough to feel flat. So, no real concern if you are someone who tries to avoid hills.

In terms of course layout, Riddlesdown parkrun is pretty simple. 2 laps around 3 fields with a final segments to reach the initial meeting point.

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

This is a pretty simple route, but it is interesting enough to keep you engaged over its two laps. The start line is across the field from the original meeting point, just after a clearing crossing a tree line separating two fields. It is on a narrow path, so a long queue forms and you will lose a few seconds at the beginning. It won’t be long before the field spread out though and your run will be comfortable until the end.

Rough surroundings will be consistent across most of the fields portions, with trees on your right and open fields to your left. You start with a short straight segment getting you to the tree line on the edge of the first field, then turn 90 degrees left to follow that tree line. Roughly half way through the top side of the field, it is time for another 90-degrees turn right to cross the tree line and enter the second field. During the first lap congestion caused a short walking break here as well. Once you alight into the second field, a slight bent right and then it’s another straight segment to reach the next, small tree line.

This time there is no West-facing segment. Instead, we will cross the trees at the edge of the field and quickly continue straight at the edge of field number 3. A short straight segment before turning left to cross the whole field and, at the end, enter the wood section of the course. During summer, this will provide a welcome respite from the sun, since we are now going all the way back South through a forest path. It’s about 6/700m long, with some gentle bends but, essentially, following a straight line.

At the end, a volunteer will point you to a cut through path towards the left that gets you on grass before coming out at the end of the Northern side of the first field. Now you run half of this side until you reach the cut through that had originally led you to the start location. At the end of the first lap, turn left, get through the trees and, once you have reached the start line, it is time to go once again for one more lap.

After one more lap, when you reach the cut through again, this time you will go straight. Do not think it is a short final segment and start with a sprint finish. Unless you are very very fit, because there will still be about 500m to go from here. Keep going until the end of the Northern side of this field, then turn 90-degrees right for the final straight. It is not short, pace yourself and approach the finish funnel for your moment of glory.

Congratulations on completing Riddlesdown parkrun!

Facilities at Riddlesdown parkrun

Riddlesdown parkrun takes place on a countryside area, there are not facilities within the Common. At least not near the course.

Toilets are available at the school that allows parkrunners to use its car park. They are not the easiest to find and, when I visited, they were in the section of the car park we were not allowed to use. That said, they are available, and that’s great.

There is no cafe in the immediate area either. The event site suggests a restaurant they use, but I did not look for it so I cannot comment.

Riddlesdown 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

Riddlesdown is a great location for a late spring or early autumn visit. I enjoyed my second visit and I could definitely see myself coming back every now and then. The local team is extremely friendly and welcoming and the course is very flat and fun. As long as it is not covered in mud, I guess.

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