Brighton & Hove parkrun

Last parkrunday, I visited Brighton & Hove parkrun for the first time. I had planned this trip for a while, since I noticed this historical event was going to high a major milestone: their 900th event. Brighton is not far from where I live, and I had been interesting in driving back down for a while. I ran Hove Promenade parkrun long ago, before I started collecting my visits here, but still had a few more events I wanted to try in this beautiful and welcoming part of the country.

The event also offers another fairly unique ‘tick’ for your challenged-obsessed tourism adventures: Time Trials. This is the challenge that tracks the first 10 parkruns to ever be established in the world. All in the UK, unsurprisingly. Most keen parkrunners will know the first two, Bushy and Wimbledon Common, but Brighton & Hove came very early too. During the First Timers Briefing, the welcoming volunteer said they were the 5th or 6th oldest one. I guess two might have started on the same day maybe, back in 2007. The challenge is called ‘Time Trials’ because that was the original name of parkrun. If you are interested in the history of parkrun, the official webpage provides a decent historical account.

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

Trip to Brighton & Hove parkrun and parking

There are a few parkruns not far from each other in Brighton. Brighton & Hove parkrun takes place in Hove Park, not far from the centre of town and uphill from the views and excitement of the seafront.

According to the official event site, the closest train station is Hove station. The station is served by Southern, with frequent services to London and the South East. Once you reach the station, you will be 0.6 miles or 15 minutes walk away from Brighton & Hove parkrun meeting point. Brighton train station is not to far either. Brighton station, also operated by Southern, is a bit further out, roughly 2 miles or 40 minutes walk away according to google maps. There is also a good network of public buses operating in the Brighton & Hove area and the official event site provides a number of recommendations for local travel.

If driving, the venue is not far from the Northern boundaries of the metropolitan area, where main motorway links arrive. I drove down from Wimbledon and it took me about 1 hour along the M25 and the M23 and the A23. This link can get busy, but you should be ok if going early on a parkrunday. Your luck will be tested on the way back, as always. Once you get to Brighton, follow the postcode I have indicated above. Unusually, the official site does not provide a postcode, but I derived from google maps, targeting the intersection of Goldstone Crescent and The Droveway. Goldstone Crescent is the road running along the Eastern side of the park and this intersection gets you pretty close to Brighton & Hove parkrun’s meeting point.

Parking along Goldstone Crescent is free for up to 3 hours and there are plenty of available parking spots. Alternative parking is also available at retail centres around the Southern edge of the park.

Brighton & Hove parkrun: start and briefings

Brighton & Hove parkrun’s meeting point is along the Western boundaries of the park, next to the iconic Goldstone. Will the druids bless your morning with a PB? Not very likely on this course, unless you are comfortable with elevation changes.

From where I parked my car along Goldstone Crescent, I could see volunteers in his viz vests in the distance, through the trees. As I approached the park, I just had get in crossing through the trees and cross a wide, green field to reach Brighton & Hove parkrun’s meeting point. The meeting point is not only by the imposing stones, but also close to a toilet block, cafe, tennis and basketball courts.

This is a busy, well attended event, but most people arrive pretty close to the deadline. Around 10 minutes before 9am, the First Timers Briefing started. There were a number of genuine first timers, great to see the cult spreading! The course is easier to underhand that the map would make you think, so the briefing mainly focused on warning people about the deceiving upcoming elevations. They were called ‘inclines, not hills’. Would they be?

Shortly afterwards, everybody starts walking together towards the start line. This is about 200m North of the meeting point, roughly half way through a high green field. Once most people got there, we started attempting to seed ourselves along the path. It was pacer day, so that provided some indication, but it was fairly random. The Main Briefing is given from the field, looking at the path were runners and walkers were queuing up.

Once the briefing was done, the RD clearly communicated they were checking if timers were ready and we would soon get going.

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

Brighton & Hove parkrun course review – star ratings

Brighton & Hove parkrun course review – route highlights

There were 531 parkrunners on the day of my visit to Brighton & Hove parkrun. This is pretty consistent with long term averages, so it seems the 900th anniversary did not attract a lot of additional tourists. When looking at long term attendance records, the first thing that popped to my eyes is how volatile attendance at this event seems to be. I guess Brighton is affected by holiday and university timelines, or maybe weather? That said, attendance seems to be in a wide 450-800 range, with most events ending at the lower end in a 450-550 range. Regardless, at 531 we were bang in line with average attendance levels and it was a pleasure to join. Starting from mid field took a few seconds, but besides that, paths are always more than wide enough to deal with even much higher attendance levels.

Congestion was only a mild problem at the start. I positioned myself maybe 2/3 of the way back and when it was time to go we probably had to walk for 10 seconds. But when the initial bottleneck was past, we very quickly transitioned to running on a fairly open path. After that, it always felt like a well attended event, but never overcrowded. It really is a very open park with wide paths.

Surface-wise, the whole route is on well maintained, flat paved paths. One more reason why running here is a pleasant experience. At no point I thought there was any real risk of mud or encountered any irregularities or obstacles on the path. I ran on road shoes and it was great: if you have carbon plated races, this is an event where you could definitely use them.

Elevation-wise, at 39m elevation gain over 2.5 laps, numbers suggest Brighton & Hove parkrun is fairly flat. Or if anything, very mildly undulating. That’s not really how it feels though. On both the short initial lap and the two large laps there is a long, mild incline that gets you to the point where you turn back on the first short lap. No, it’s not steep. But it is long enough to be noticeable. I guess if you are well trained for hills this could still be a fast course, otherwise the mini hill will be painful enough to affect your time.

In terms of course layout, looks like an 8. First you run a 1.4k loop around the bottom half of the 8, then you run 2 laps of the other loop, without crossing through the centre anymore.

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

Once the initial congestion is through, the first run segment is on open ground, running back towards the meeting point. As you reach it, you will see the path turning left towards the finish funnel, but you won’t be able to turn left there for a while. Keep going with the toilets, cafe and sport courts on your left and head towards an area with more mature trees on both sides. There is a short incline here and then you get into a flatter, wide turn heading left. As you keep going, enjoy the beautiful trees around you. When you get back in the open, you have finished the wide, gentle 180-degrees turn and you are now heading North. You are back on open terrain, running by the same big meadow and when you reach it’s mid point it will be time to start going uphill.

The incline lasts for a while, until you reach the top of this little hill and you are again under tree cover. Keep going for very short segment and you will reach the centre of the 8. Where a volunteers show you a small path cutting through the centre of the park, turn left the first time you get here. This is getting you on a fun, straight(ish) downhill across the park. As you get to the other side, get under beautiful mature trees again and turn left. You will soon be out in the open again, running towards the start line. Pass it and you will reach the meeting point once more. No finish funnel yet, as tempting as it might be!

It is now the start of two longer laps. When you reach the centre of the 8 again, this time (and next time), you will not turn left again. Keep going. As you don’t turn left, the path takes a wide heading right to get you towards the edge of the park. After a short downhill, you will keep going straight along the side of the park on a more open section. Then another short uphill gets you to the NE corner and back under luxurious tree cover. The Northern side of the park is a shorter segment on a fun downhill, before another turn left to get back towards the start line.

This new South-bound segment runs along a model railway track on flat, slightly curvy paths. Soon you will be again approaching the centre of the 8. Get back onto open terrain, pass the start line and reach the meeting point again. One more long lap from here.

After the second long lap, as you reach the bifurcation where a small path leads towards the toilets, turn left onto it. This is maybe 50m long, with the finish funnel at the end of it. The funnel starts a few metres before the location where timers are, keep going until the end!

Congratulations on completing Brighton & Hove parkrun!

Facilities at Brighton & Hove parkrun

Hove Park is a beautiful, large green expanse with a log on offer. The area around the meeting point and finish funnel acts as the hub for anything parkrunners might need before or after the event.

A toilet block is available steps away from where volunteers congregate. It is open early and big enough to deal with such a busy event.

After the event, you can walk behind the toilet block and reach the nice park cafe available in Hove Park. The cafe itself is fairly small, but it offers a good amount of outdoor seating to relax after your run. The queue was pretty long and it did not move fast, but when I managed to get to the counter, service was fast and options were plentiful.

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 Brighton & Hove parkrun, I ordered a lemon soda, a gorgeous fruit danish and an espresso. This cost me £8.75, just slightly on the expensive side all things considered.

Brighton & Hove 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

As I was driving South towards Brighton from Wimbledon, it was a miserable foggy day. The day cleared when I got there, but then a drizzle started during the briefings. Well, sun came out gloriously when it was time go go and I got to experience Brighton and Hove parkrun it all its glory, with green fields, colourful trees and a clear blue sky.

As one of the pioneer events of the parkrun movement, Brighton & Hove parkrun knows how to put up a good event. The park is beautiful and the route is fun and enjoyable. Very much recommended if you are in the area!

Finally, obviously, thank you, Brighton & Hove parkrun team for your hospitality!

Brighton & Hove parkrun