Church Mead parkrun

Last parkrunday I finally bit the bullet and visited Church Mead parkrun for the first time. Yes, I had been looking at this scenic location in Buckinghamshire for a while, but the scary, famed hill concerned me. Also, after an extremely wet start of the year, there had been a few days of slightly respite from rain. I thought, maybe this weekend won’t be too muddy. When I arrived to a glorious sunny morning, my hopes got even stronger. Boy, was I wrong!

There was another reason to finally accept my destiny and pick Church Mead parkrun: this week marked their 200th event. A great achievement for the local team and a pointless reason to tick on more box on a parkrun challenges, namely the one that tracks multiples of 100. It was also St. Valentine: I was briefly tempted to head back to beautiful Valentines parkrun, but changed my mind quickly. Good call, since they ended up having more than 2000 visitors and getting into the finish funnel apparently required a 400m queue.

Church Mead parkrun starts at the feet of a hill, next to a beautiful church, memorial gardens, a stream and a charming old town. All so bucolic and inviting, until you see the hill better, that is. It’s painful, it’s substantial and, in winter at least, it is muddy. Very muddy. Memorably muddy. Not as bad as Woking parkrun, but more consistent in its squishiness. And in terms of elevation, it definitely competes with ordeals like Lullingstone parkrun or Wendover Woods parkrun. I ran those in summer, so at least I could fly on the way down. Here, trying not to turn into a rolling ball of mud kept me as concerned going down as the hill exhausted me on the way up.

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

Trip to Church Mead parkrun and parking

Church Mead parkrun takes place on a fairly imposing hill just behind Amersham Old Town. It’s a beautiful green area, just off the War Memorial Gardens and a charming church. All at the edge of a very nicely preserved old town with plenty of character. I went for a short walk around after the event and found it really beautiful.

According to the official event site, if you want to come by public transport, the closest train station is Amersham. I was surprised to find out that the station is managed by TfL, and it is served by the Metropolitan Line of the London Underground. It is in zone 9 and I have no idea if Saturday morning services are regular, but it is a nice to have if you are coming from London. The event site says it is about 10 minutes walk away from Church Mead parkrun meeting point, while Google maps says 18 minutes. It seems that the latter is wrong, though.

If driving, it couldn’t be more convenient. Amersham is just off major motorway networks, so easy to reach from most parts of the South East. Once off it, it took me less than 10 minutes to reach the Old Town and its large car park just behind a Tesco superstore. Parking was not free, but it was cheap, less than 3 pounds for 3 hours, at the time of my visit. Once you leave your vehicle, the meeting point will be just a couple of minutes walk away.

Church Mead parkrun: start and briefings

My visit to Church Mead parkrun fell on a special day: their 200th event and St. Valentine’s Day. I guess this brought a few more tourists than

If you came by car, leave with Tesco on your back and head for the corner by a little stream. Follow the stream for 50 metres and you will reach a small clearing overlooked by the local church and by the side of a peaceful stream. This is the very charming setting where Church Mead’s parkrun meeting point is. Shielded away from the hill, because you want to keep your spirits up before the event, right? Why show tourists what they are gonna have to survive too early… crafty.

On the day I visited, the First Timers Briefing and the main briefing both took place on grass, back to back. The event is well attended, but not overcrowded, so everyone could listen to the speeches easily. I have to give credit where it’s due, during the briefing the volunteers said, when describing the course, that the strange wiggly bit at the beginning was there for a reason. Give us at least a little flat segment. Kind and very considerate.

After the briefings, everyone walks off back towards the car park. And stop pretty soon, turning around and facing the meeting point area again. The start is here, by the little stream, on a path that suddenly started to feel narrower than it did 20 minutes before.

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

Church Mead parkrun course review – star ratings

Church Mead parkrun course review – route highlights

There were 156 parkrunners on the day of my visit to Church Mead parkrun. The event does benefit from higher turnout on special occasions and my visit hit both their second century and St. Valentine’s Day. At 156, attendance was significantly higher than long term averages, especially in winter, but not a record. That seems to have been achieved on Christmas Day 2025, when 242 people braved the evil hill. On normal parkrundays, Church Mead parkrun seem to attract around 60-80 in winter and 100-120 in summer. And the mud bath I was soon going to experience justifies the difference. Paths are not too narrow, expect for a short while at the beginning, so higher numbers would not be a problem.

Congestion is never really a problem on this course. The start line is on a narrower path, that gets even slightly narrower after the first turn, but things flow pretty well. Shortly afterwards, it is time to cross a small stone bridge, but again, it is wide enough to allow all parkrunners to get through without major issues. As you get onto the hill and forest parts, paths are very muddy and sometimes uneven, but they will be a pleasure to run on with dry weather.

Surface-wise, it is mostly hard path and trail. However, the hard part of if does not compute during winter. It was muddy, very very muddy. Not as bad as other events, but still muddy enough to make running significantly harder on the flat and deprive us of any speed benefit on the way down. I could not find my trail shoes in the morning, so I ran wearing road shoes. Yeah, partially my fault, I know. Do come wearing trail shoes if you can. Some with real grip: getting wet is not the problem, you want proper traction not to tumble and become part of the brown surroundings.

Elevation-wise, at 147m elevation gain over 2 laps, Church Mead parkrun should be fined by the advertising authorities. It should be called Church Hill parkrun and I will submit a complaint to get my admission fee refunded. And damages, probably: I will carry some trauma with me for a few weeks for sure. There is a short flat segment at the beginning and that’s the last time you will be on a level. The main climb is daunting and sadistic. Once you turn a corner and think you have reached the top, you are met with another less steep but still long(ish) uphill. And then there is the way down: there are a few meaningful downhills, but they are not consistent. Because why not pepper a few short climbs in there too, if you can? It’s a challenging course, but the views from up there are worth the pain. And I would love running the downhill with better terrain.

In terms of course layout, with the exception of a short initial segment, it is 2 loops up and down a hill. Deceivingly simple.

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

The start line is on the path connecting the car park with the meeting point clearing. It’s a cute setting, with a nice, peaceful stream to your right. The path is not very wide, but wide enough to allow for a decent run soon enough. Probably less than 100m after the start, as you reach the clearing, it’s time to turn left. Here you take a path going all around the meadow at the centre of the clearing, before getting on a little stone bridge across the stream.

On the other side, turn left immediately and then right after a short, flat segment. Here we will be running on a gentle uphill, siding a brick wall between the path and an old cemetery. On top, turn 90 degrees again and you are at the feet of Evil Hill. This is a long straight segment on muddy mud, first siding the cemetery and then mature trees. About half way through, a little bum gives you a bit more of a feeling of elevation, but it is just a fluke. Get past it and then soft left and down again to continue going straight. The descent is short but steep and it very muddy. Sliding down would probably have been more efficient.

The view from the bottom of the hill is beautiful. Peaceful, if a bit intimidating. And then, you soon reach the end of that segment and turn right, facing the grassy mound of evil. And up you go, on a steady, straight uphill. The gradient is noticeable, the ground is soft. After a long slog, you reach a spot where you turn left briefly and then hop over a steeper jump to transition to a higher terrace. You thought you had reached the top right? Lol, no. As you get over the top, you see there is still a substantial straight in front of of you before reaching the top. Take a breath, turn around, take a picture. You have not reached the top yet, but it is a beautiful vantage point.

As you process the disappointment of seeing more hill in front of you, you will eventually feel it is now at least more gentle. After a shorter further ordeal, you eventually reach the top. Here, you turn left again and run a few seconds along the top before turning right again to enter the forest. It is a fairly dense, beautiful forest with large paths. You run flat for a short while before turning left and starting a steep descent. Not long, but potentially fun. Potentially because it was a mud bath on the day of my visit. At the bottom, turn left again for a longer straight(ish) segment. Slightly better terrain, slightly undulating. At the end of this segment, another steeper descent and a left turn for a quick climb. On top, turn left again and side a road for a short while before going back into the forest.

Once you are back in the forest, it is for a short straight on a wider path surrounded by mature, imposing trees. This straight eventually transitions into a steeper descent. This is satisfyingly long, with fun roots and irregularities in your way. But these would not be spoiling the fun, what does that is the usual culprit. The mud. If you can get to the bottom without falling, you reach the exit of the forest segment. After that, the course opens up back onto the hill. A straight, paved path goes down to the bottom of the hill, in a straight line. All the way to the turn where you had reach the footholds of the hill before.

The first time you get here, the temptation to go straight is strong. Alas, it is too early, time to turn left and do it all again once more. Yup, climb that monster again, survive the mud again. The second time you reach this point, you are allowed to go straight. Go by the segment with the brick wall again, turn left at the bottom and the finish funnel will be 50 metres ahead in front of you. Bonus: they are flat!

Congratulations on completing Church Mead parkrun!

Facilities at Church Mead parkrun

Church Mead parkrun takes place next to Amersham Old Town and a large Tesco store, so necessary facilities are easily reachable. However, besides that and the beautiful War Memorial Gardens, the course is fully on wilder terrain.

A toilet block is available by the side of the car park. It is open before the event and more than big enough to accomodate jumpy parkrunner in a rush. Even those long distance tourists who are on the verge of exploding.

Once you are done with your run, if you leave the meeting point clearing from its Southern exit and go through the beautiful gardens, you will reach the Old Town high street and see Seasons Cafe across the road. It’s a nice cafe with a good spread of sweet options and some savoury ones. Staff is friendly and fast and there are some outdoor tables for warmer months. I did sit outside: the location was very pleasant, but it was freaking cold.

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 Church Mead parkrun, I ordered an orange San Pellegrino soda, a brownie and an espresso. This cost me around £7.5, so pretty much in line with most parkbreakfasts.

Church Mead 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

Church Mead parkrun has a reputation for being hard, painful and beautiful. And that reputation is well deserved: it was one of the hardest events I have visited, but it was also gloriously beautiful. And the little quaint old town is a very nice setting for parkbreakfast. I guess mud makes it significantly more painful in winter, but it is also fun. Kind of.

I would love to visit again with good weather to experience it in a different way. Maybe I will, who knows.

Finally, obviously, thank you, Church Mead parkrun team for your hospitality!