Brentwood parkrun

Last parkrunday I went even further into Kent and visited Brentwood parkrun for the first time. This is only second visit to an event in Kent, after being welcome by Roding Valley parkrun the previous week. However, the latter is a LonDone+, while Brentwood was my first Kent parkrun adventure outside of the M25.

It’s a shame Kent is so far from my base in Wimbledon, because both events were gorgeous. The green hills and lush little forests really make it an ideal location for a pleasant parkrunday morning.

I was curious to visit this location before the wettest of winter comes upon us, but also picked it to tick one more B on the Beehive challenge. 20 Bs are a lot, but I am finally a couple of events away from finishing this one as well. Not that I chased it proactively, but once you get close to the end, you want to reach it!

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

Trip to Brentwood parkrun and parking

Brentwood parkrun takes place in the beautiful Weald Country Park, just outside of Brentwood proper, towards the M25. It’s a large, beautiful park with deer enclosures, rolling hills and charming forested areas. You can easily spend a few pleasant hours here after parkrun. And I did take the opportunity to relax there for a short while.

According to the official event site, there are two train station relatively close to the venue. Brentwood train station is about 3 miles away and Harold Wood station is about 3.5 miles away. Both are served by Greater Anglia and trains hail from London Liverpool Street. Both stations are also served by the Elizabeth Line, if you are coming from London or one of the few lucky towns on it. Given distance, allow for about an hour if you want to walk from a train station. And be aware the event site mentions that footpaths are not always available on the roads leading to Weald Park.

If driving, the venue is actually pretty easy to reach from most places around London, given its proximity to the M25. There are a number of car parks in the Country Park, with the one by the Visitors Centre also being right in front of the event meeting point. I took a turn into the park a few 100s metres before the location the GPS suggested and still found a car park, just a short 5mins walk from the meeting point.

Car parks are payable, with hourly cost up to 4hrs and flat fee after that. They seem to use a parking app I had never seen before, not RingGo as indicated by the event site. Moderately annoying, but it just means wasting a few minutes to download it.

Brentwood parkrun: start and briefings

Wherever you are coming from, head towards the Visitors Centre. This is roughly half way through the meadows, up a hill from the lake.

The visitor centre area hosts a few buildings including the cafe and toilets and just part the car park volunteers gather at the edges of the green meadows.

Runners and volunteers gather about 50m away from the finish funnel and start line.

The First Timers briefing was given by a very welcoming and thorough gent. This is not an easy course to explain, but high level course descriptions were given. The few tourists were picked up one by one and our home event was passed on to the RD because she did mention them all later on. Funny how another couple of tourists were coming from neighbouring Kingston parkrun.

Immediately afterwards, the RD gives the Main Briefing from the verges of the car park and after that, everybody starts the short walk to the start line. It’s a wide start on grass, so no congestion. Ah, you start facing the hills – no point hiding your destiny, I guess.

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

Brentwood parkrun course review – star ratings

Brentwood parkrun course review – route highlights

There were 137 parkrunners on the day of my visit to Brentwood parkrun. It was a mildly cloudy day in October, after some sparse rain, so good running conditions, all things considered. It is a one lapper in a grand, open space location, so even with much higher numbers it would not feel busy. As things were, it felt like an intimate affair. Attendance seems to be pretty volatile, from below 100 fields in the midst of winter to just shy of 200 during warmer months. 120-140 seems to be the long term sweet spot.

Congestion is never a problem around this course. The only exception is maybe the first left turn at the feet of the first hill climb, but that’s only because it is a sudden turn soon after the start. Paths are generally wide and well maintained. I remember one gate crossing, but even that comes roughly half way through the course, so the field will have thinned out naturally. It is a beautiful course and it definitely can receive much higher numbers without it changing the experience negatively.

Surface-wise, there is a bit of grass, but it is mostly trails. Most of the trails are well pressed, without a lot of roots or rocks to negotiate and even when exposed, it was not wet when I visited. As a result, I had no problems running in road shoes. However, I would probably think trail shoes would be recommended during winter.

Elevation-wise, at 91m elevation gain over a single lap, this is definitely a hilly course. Not as gruesomely painful as Wendover Woods parkrun or Lullingstone parkrun, but it is a continuous up and down. Most elevation shifts are either long and mild or short and steep, so it tends to be pretty manageable, but it will start wearing on you after a while. Towards the end, you will meet heartbreak hill: definitely painful, but again, not terribly long. It is not a PB course by any means, but it is not one of those courses that will make you reconsider your life choices either.

In terms of course layout, it is simpler than it will feel while you are on it. A one lapper, there is a longish out and back section that gets you to a forest loop with a little wiggle at one of its corners.

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

After the briefings, you walk downhill a little bit to reach the start line, which is also where the finish funnel will be. When the time comes, it is a wide start line on grass, so everything gets going easily without delays or congestion. The first stretch is 2/300m on grass, with a very slight uphill slope. The ground is even and pleasant to run on, but I guess it could get muddy. As you approach the tree line, a 90-degree left turn gets you up the first hill. It is not long or steep and it gets up the hill where you will be running on high ground outside of the forest area. Beautiful views on your left as you cross to the other side of the field.

At the opposite edge of the field, another 90-degree turn left and you start another substantial straight segment running alongside the side of the field opposite to the start line and visitors centre. Eventually, you will reach the end of the out and back fields and enter the loop segment. There will be more grand field crossings in a rough straight line before you approach the entry into the forest after a short but pleasant downhill segment. After a nice ‘roundabout’ sight inside a small clearing in the forest, turn right and enter the real foresty segment. This greets you with a steep, but short uphill and then you start running a scenic straight in the middle of the forest.

At the Northernmost point of this segment, a gentle 180-degrees turn at a point manned by a marshal will get you back towards the start line, running on a wider, leafy path parallel to the one you came through. Once you are back at the end of the ‘wiggle’ at the top of the map, you get through a small get and you are back out in the fields. Cross a small field while climbing a gentle hill and after turning right through another tree-covered area, you turn right again and enter another long straight segment. This is quite beautiful in autumn, with trees on your ride, a lot of red leaves on the path and some tended shrubs or crops on your left.

At the end of this, it is time to turn left again and climb another small hill at the side of a field. On top, turn left again, run by a fence that leads to crossing a bigger carriageway. Don’t be tempted to follow it, cross it heading towards the marshal and you are out in the open again. Now you have a long stretch in the open, crossing a couple of small hilly valleys with a mild downhill followed by a mild uphill. At the opposite end, turn left for a short sharp uphill before turning left again for a steeper uphill. At the top of yet another hill, turn right and enjoy the way down, again on open grassy terrain with beautiful views. After a few more twists and turns, you leave a small tree-covered segment and meet hearthbreak hill, with a scary sign greeting you. Climb to the top and you are very close to the end of the loop section.

Run the out and back segment again and you will reach what was the first hill when you were coming the other way. It is now a glorious short downhill turning right. Once flat again, enjoy the final straight heading you towards the finish funnel, positioned where they start line was.

Congratulations on completing Brentwood parkrun!

Facilities at Brentwood parkrun

I think the main attraction of Weald Country Park is its open natural areas and peaceful vistas, but it also does not disappoint in terms of basic facilities.

Around the visitors centre, a cluster of stable-like buildings provides all a long distance parkrunner might need. Toilets are available opposite the cafe and they were open before the event.

The cafe was open after the event and it provided both indoor and outdoor seating. A decent selection of sweet and savoury food options was available and service was quick and friendly. Unfortunately, the coffee machine was broken when I visited, but the filter coffee alternative was decent.

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 Brentwood parkrun, I ordered a lemonade, a flapjack and a filter coffee. This cost me £7.2, pretty decent coming from the big smoke..

Brentwood 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.

• Instagram
• Twitter
• YouTube

---

Achievements and performance

Conclusions

I really enjoyed Brentwood parkrun, I am glad I came even if it s very far from where I live. One lap courses always have an edge and this also benefits from very diverse terrain and beautiful views. It is worth a bit of hilly pain, believe me.

I don’t think I will come back on purpose given distance, but if in the area I would definitely love running Brentwood parkrun again.

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