Posts tagged parkrun
South-West England parkruns

The parkrun Regionnaire status used to be a major part of parkrun tourism, with South-East England being the largest region. Changes in the parkrun website in 2019 removed the regions making it harder to track completion status. All is not lost though as here’s the complete parkrun guide to what’s in and what’s out of the counties of South-West England.

The South West England region is the largest of England's nine regions by area, encompassing the historic and ceremonial counties of Cornwall (including the Isles of Scilly), Devon, Dorset, Somerset, Wiltshire, Gloucestershire, and the city of Bristol. It stretches from the border with the South East and West Midlands, down to the far southwestern tip at Land's End, giving it the longest coastline of any English region. The area is often romantically referred to as the West Country and includes ancient landscapes such as Wessex. The key urban centres are the thriving city of Bristol, the historically important naval port of Plymouth, and the coastal conurbation of Bournemouth/Poole.

Map of South-West England showing the Historic and present-day (Ceremonial) counties

parkrun event numbers per county

There are currently 86 parkrun events in the South-West region. Three of these events were in Hampshire in South-East England before the county boundary changes in 1974, however this was a long time before parkrun started. There are currently no parkrun events in the present day / Ceremonial county of the Isles of Scilly

Notes and exceptions.

  • Numbers of event above exclude prison parkruns and permanently cancelled events.

  • Bournemouth and Moors Valley parkruns were part of Historic Hampshire and would have been in Historic South-East England, but are now part of Present-day Dorset, so would be in the South West England region.

  • Tidworth: South Tidworth where the parkrun takes place was moved from Hampshire into Wiltshire in 1992 but houses there still have Hampshire on their address for post.

  • The course for Tamar Lakes is in both Cornwall and Devon however the start and finish are on the Cornwall side so I’ve included it there.

The South-West Counties parkrun pages

Click on each of the images below to go to the page with details of the parkrun events for the county. Bristol is included in the Gloucestershire page.

More parkrun posts

parkruns are free, weekly, community 5k events all around the world. I started in December 2012 and have been obsessive about it ever since. See my parkrun Collection page for details.

Featured and popular parkrun posts:

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Richard gowerRun, parkrun, Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset, Wiltshire, Gloucestershire, EnglandComment
Completing all Cornwall parkruns

There are currently 9 parkrun events in present-day Cornwall of which I have completed 1. The first was Lanhydrock which started on January 18th 2014 and the newest is Penryn Campus which started on October 16th 2021. The name for having completed all parkrun events in the county is CornwALL

The course for Tamar Lakes is in both Cornwall and Devon however the start and finish are on the Cornwall side so I’ve included it here.

The interactive maps below take you to the approximate location for the course, typically the centre of the park. See the course instructions in the parkrun page for each event for specific directions to the start. Course maps show the route at the time that I ran it and may have changed since then.

Eden Project

 

Heartlands

 

Land’s End

 

Lanhydrock

 

Mount Edgcumbe

  • I completed this event on: October 21st 2025 with a finish time of: 29:46

  • Other routes touched (walk): England Coast Path

  • Other routes touched (cycle): NCN 2

  • Inaugural: January 30th 2016

  • Links: Event Home Page, Course Page

 

Penrose

 

Penryn Campus

  • I have not yet completed this event

 

Tamar Lakes

 

Trelissick

 

More parkrun posts

parkruns are free, weekly, community 5k events all around the world. I started in December 2012 and have been obsessive about it ever since. See my parkrun Collection page for details.

Featured and popular parkrun posts:

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Richard gowerRun, parkrun, Cornwall, EnglandComment
Completing all Devon parkruns

There are currently 19 parkrun events in present-day Devon of which I have completed 2. The first was Killerton which started on April 30th 2011 and the newest is Greendale Farm Shop which started on January 11th 2025. I’m not aware of a collective name for having completed all Devon parkrun events, but let me know in the comments below if you know of one.

The course for Tamar Lakes is in both Cornwall and Devon however the start and finish are on the Cornwall side so I’ve included it there.

The interactive maps below take you to the approximate location for the course, typically the centre of the park. See the course instructions in the parkrun page for each event for specific directions to the start. Course maps show the route at the time that I ran it and may have changed since then.

Barnstaple

 

Bideford

 

Bolberry Down

 

Central, Plymouth

 

Cranbrook Country Park

 

Exeter Riverside

 

Exmouth

 

Greendale Farm Shop

 

Haldon Forest

 

Killerton

  • I completed this event on: June 4th 2022 with a finish time of: 25:25

  • Other routes touched (walk): Two Counties Way, National Trust walks through the estate

  • Inaugural: April 30th 2011

  • Links: Event Home Page, Course Page

 

Parke

 

Plymvalley

  • I completed this event on: October 26th 2019 with a finish time of: 28:40

  • Other routes touched (walk): West Devon Way, Plym Valley Trail

  • Other routes touched (cycle): NCN 27

  • Inaugural: September 22nd 2012

  • Links: Event Home Page, Course Page

 

Seaton

 

Sharpham Estate

 

Simmons Park

 

Tamar Trails

 

Teignmouth Promenade

 

Torbay Velopark

 

Woolacombe Dunes

 

More parkrun posts

parkruns are free, weekly, community 5k events all around the world. I started in December 2012 and have been obsessive about it ever since. See my parkrun Collection page for details.

Featured and popular parkrun posts:

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Richard gowerRun, parkrun, Devon, EnglandComment
Completing all Dorset parkruns

There are currently 9 parkrun events in present-day Dorset of which I have not yet completed any. The first was Poole which started on April 2nd 2011 and the newest is Durlston Country Park which started on March 19th 2022. The name for having completed all parkrun events in the county is The Dor Set

Bournemouth and Moors Valley were in historic Hampshire but are now part of present-day Dorset.

The interactive maps below take you to the approximate location for the course, typically the centre of the park. See the course instructions in the parkrun page for each event for specific directions to the start. Course maps show the route at the time that I ran it and may have changed since then.

Blandford

 

Durlston Country Park

 

Poole

 

St Mary’s

 

The Great Field

 

Upton House

 

Weymouth

 

More parkrun posts

parkruns are free, weekly, community 5k events all around the world. I started in December 2012 and have been obsessive about it ever since. See my parkrun Collection page for details.

Featured and popular parkrun posts:

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Richard gowerRun, parkrun, Dorset, EnglandComment
Completing all Somerset parkruns

There are currently 15 parkrun events in present-day Somerset of which I have completed 3. The first was Ashton Court which started on April 23rd 2011 and the newest is Brickfields park which started on May 10th 2025. The name for having completed all parkrun events in the county is The Somer-Set

Yeovil Montacute parkrun was active until the Covid-19 parkrun pause and is now permanently closed. Henstridge Airfield parkrun closed in September 2023.

The interactive maps below take you to the approximate location for the course, typically the centre of the park. See the course instructions in the parkrun page for each event for specific directions to the start. Course maps show the route at the time that I ran it and may have changed since then.

Ashton Court

 

Bath Skyline

 

Brickfields Park

  • I completed this event on: June 28th 2025 with a finish time of: 26:21

  • Other routes touched (walk): N/A

  • Other routes touched (cycle): NCN 244

  • Inaugural: May 10th 2025

  • Links: Event Home Page, Course Page

 

Burnham and Highbridge

 

Clevedon Salthouse Fields

  • I completed this event on: December 30th 2023 with a finish time of: 28:34

  • Other routes touched (walk): England Coastal path

  • Inaugural: September 21st 2019

  • Links: Event Home Page, Course Page

 

Five Arches

 

Frogmary Green Farm

 

Henstridge Airfield

***Henstridge Airfield parkrun is now permanently cancelled ***

  • I did not complete this event while it was active

  • Inaugural: September 8th 2018

  • Final Event: #167 on September 2nd 2023

  • Links: Event Home Page, Course Page

 

Longrun Meadow

 

Marine Parade

 

Minehead

 

Sharpham Road Playing Fields

 

Shepton Mallet

 

Somerdale Pavilion

 

Street

 

The Old Showfield

 

Yeovil Montacute

***Yeovil Montacute parkrun is now permanently cancelled ***

  • I completed this event on: September 15th 2018 with a finish time of: 25:41

  • Other routes touched (walk): Monarch’s Way

  • Inaugural: September 7th 2013

  • Final Event: #295 on March 14th 2020

  • Links: Event Home Page, Course Page

 

More parkrun posts

parkruns are free, weekly, community 5k events all around the world. I started in December 2012 and have been obsessive about it ever since. See my parkrun Collection page for details.

Featured and popular parkrun posts:

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Richard gowerRun, parkrun, Somerset, EnglandComment
500 parkruns

Back in 2014 when I got my 50th parkrun Milestone T-Shirt I imagined a time in the far future when I get my 500th. It seemed so far off it was like Science Fiction back then. Based on a rough calculation of completing an average of 45 parkruns per year I worked out that I could complete 500 before my 50th birthday.

That plan would have happened if it wasn’t for Covid thwarting 70 weeks of parkrun opportunities. As we entered 2025, my year of turning 50, I worked out that I would do my 500th run just 6 weeks after my birthday. It also nicely coincided with a planned weekend in Bath with friends.

Having already done Bath Skyline earlier in the year I planned to do either Shepton Mallet or Somerdale Pavilion. My excitement grew when I noticed a brand new event pop up at Brickfields Park. It would also link to another obsession of mine, Disused Railways. With that the venue for my 500th run was set. It also set in motion a series of coincidences that would unfold during the day.

On hearing that my 500th would be in Bath, Paul, a colleague and fellow parkrun tourist, decided to also plan a weekend in Bath with his partner around the event. Coincidence #1 was that their hotel was just round the corner from our B&B. We planned to walk to the event together but after a late arrival on the Friday and some complicated logistics we decided to drive separately and meet at the start.

I arrived at 08:30 with my wife and the friends that we were staying with. Shortly ahead of the First Timers Briefing, Paul texted me to say they had parked a mile away and were on their way. That checked out as we also parked a mile away at the stadium. By the time of the start I couldn't see him but figured that he must be at the back of the group and I’d see him on the out-and-back sections. I didn’t see him at all so I thought that something must have gone awry.

On finishing the run I checked my phone to see a message from him at 09:01 to say “it’s Bath Skyline, right?”. I replied with a Facepalm emoji. He’d travelled from Manchester for a weekend away to be at the wrong parkrun. It was all caused by something wrong with his 5k app not showing new events, so Bath Skyline was the only Bath parkrun event that showed up for him.

The situation also meant that I had two 500 Milestone pre-event shoutouts at two different events on the same day. Yet another coincidence was that Paul had unknowingly booked dinner at the same restaurant at the same time as us later in the day.

The final coincidence was having an accidental race to the finish line with Danny Norman, host of the parkrun With Me Now Podcast. I had met Danny once before but too long ago that I didn’t recognise him. What I did notice was a guy in a 500 milestone T-shirt just ahead of me as I closed in on the finish line. My wife was at the line waiting to video my 500th finish and I thought it would be fun to cross the line next to a runner in a 500 shirt. I sped up a bit to slightly overtake him to get both of us in the video. It was only later in the morning when a different friend of mine noticed Danny in the results 1 second behind me.

As well as all the funny coincidences, it was a lovely day for the run. It was a bright, warm summer day with a field of 282 runners and walkers. As a Disused Railway geek I loved the out-and-back on the old Somerset and Dorset Railway line.

First finisher was Harry McMurtrie coming in at 17:19 with a good spread of timings through to just over 1 hour. There were 174 First Timers to Brickfields Park and 32 PBs.

As always, a huge thanks to all of the volunteers who made the event possible. If you’ve not volunteered before or it’s been a while since you last did it, please consider signing up for one of your next events.

Thanks to everyone who helped make my 500th parkrun at Brickfields Park a fun and memorable event. A final special thanks goes to Neil Chapman who took me to my first parkrun on Boxing Day 2012. Saturday mornings have not been the same since.

More parkrun posts

parkruns are free, weekly, community 5k events all around the world. I started in December 2012 and have been obsessive about it ever since. See my parkrun Collection page for details.

Featured and popular parkrun posts:

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Richard gowerRun, parkrun, NCN, Disused Railway, Somerset, EnglandComment
parkrun LonDone+ and LonDone ++

“LonDone” is the name for completing the full set of 65 parkrun events in Greater London. There’s 2 other terms: “LonDone +” and “LonDone ++” that have been widely debated in the various parkrun social media forums.

  • LonDone + is generally seen as being all parkrun events within the M25. There are currently 15 parkrun events that are within the M25 but outside of Greater London or a total of 80 events within the M25.

  • Up to now I’ve ignored LonDone ++ as a lot of the definitions have felt a bit arbitrary. However, one definition that I like is that it includes events that are outside of the M25 but have a Voronoi area that crosses inside the M25. This includes a further 9 parkrun events making a total of 89 events that have part of their Voronoi area within the M25. Note that different parkrun apps have slightly different calculations for their Voronoi apps. For this page I’ve used the Voronoi map from the Running Challenges Chrome Extension.

  • LonDone+ and/or LonDone++ are also referred to as “Orbit-All”

See the main LonDone page for details of all parkrun events within Greater London.

LonDone +: parkrun events within the M25

Note that the Egham Orbit course crosses under the motorway with a short section outside of the M25. I've included it in LonDone+ as the start, finish and majority of the course are within the M25.

LonDone ++: parkrun events with a Voronoi area crossing the M25

Event (County, Region)

Notes on recent changes

  • Thurrock’s Voronoi area extended across the M25 before the start of Ingrebourne Hill.

  • Jersey Farm’s Voronoi area extended across the M25 before the start of Oaklands College.

The images below show the Voronoi area for each of the LonDon ++ parkrun events in blue with the M25 as a red line.

More parkrun posts

parkruns are free, weekly, community 5k events all around the world. I started in December 2012 and have been obsessive about it ever since. See my parkrun Collection page for details.

Featured and popular parkrun posts:

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Richard gowerRun, parkrun, London, Hertfordshire, Surrey, Kent, Essex, Middlesex, Buckinghamshire, England Comments
Completing all Nottinghamshire parkruns

There are currently 13 parkrun events in the county of Nottinghamshire. The first was Colwick which started on June 25th 2011 and the newest is Wollaton Hall which started on February 8th 2020. The name for having completed all parkrun events in the county is “Get Nott’ed”

I have not yet completed any of the Nottinghamshire parkrun events.

The interactive maps below take you to the approximate location for the course, typically the centre of the park. See the course instructions in the parkrun page for each event for specific directions to the start.

Beeston

 

Bestwood Village

 

Brierley Forest

 

Clifton

 

Clumber Park

 

Colwick

 

Forest Rec

 

Gedling

 

Mansfield

 

Newark

 

Rushcliffe

 

Sherwood Pines

 

Wollaton hall

 

More parkrun posts

parkruns are free, weekly, community 5k events all around the world. I started in December 2012 and have been obsessive about it ever since. See my parkrun Collection page for details.

Featured and popular parkrun posts:

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Richard gowerRun, parkrun, Nottinghamshire, EnglandComment
parkrun LonDone Tracker

If you would like a PDF version of my manual LonDone tracker, please BuyMeACoffee and let me know on the Contact Page. It’s a table of all current Greater London parkrun events, plus all events inside the M25, with space for future new events. You can track your date completed and finish time. It’s simple and you could easily make one yourself, but let me know if you want a copy of mine. 20% of each virtual coffee goes to parkrun Forever and the rest goes toward the running of this website.

Excerpt from the full PDF

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Richard gowerRun, parkrun, London, EnglandComment
LonDone parkrun Transport Connections

LonDone is the term for completing all parkrun events in Greater London. There are currently 65 parkrun events in Greater London. The first was Bushy Park which started on October 2nd 2004 and there’s typically a couple of new events added to the region each year. London is blessed with great public transportation links with most parkrun events within walking distance of a train, tube, tram or DLR stop. Travelling by bus gives you even more options.

Driving to the events is generally discouraged, but it will be the preferred option for some parkrunners for some events. Key considerations for drivers are parking options and whether the event is in, or the trip is through, the ULEZ or Congestion Charge zone.

Content on this page is sourced from the individual event pages, desktop research and input from the parkrun community. There make be some errors in the early release of this page and things can change. When planning your trip use this as a guide but always check the Course page of the relevant parkrun event and check other travel sites for any issues on your route for the day. Let me know if you spot any errors or have new information and I’ll make a quick update and will donate £1 to parkrun Forever for every update made.

See my main parkrun LonDone page for more geekery on the Greater London parkrun events.

Scroll right on the table below to also see parking, ULEZ and Congestion Charge, toilets and cafes and nearest airports. Click Here to open up the Spreadsheet in a new browser tab for easier navigation. See below the table for notes on each section.

Public Transport: Nearest Stations and Stops

Notes:

  • Nearest station, excluding bus stops, is shown with a white background. Nearest alternative type shown with a light blue background.

  • Nearest and nearest alternative stations are all within walking distance of the start line. “Walking distance” is subjective but for the purposes of this I’ve determined it as “half-a-parkrun” (2.5 km).

  • Stations with an orange background are longer walks of between 2.5 km and 5 km.

  • “N/A” indicates that there’s no station of this type within a 5 km walk for the start line.

  • The Bus column shows the nearest stop to the start line. There’s normally several other stops nearby and on different routes.

Parking, ULEZ and Congestion Charges

Driving to London parkrun events is generally discouraged and it can often be expensive. I learned that the hard way when I running late for Victoria Dock had to pay £20 for a short stay in the nearest car park.

If you are driving the main three things to know are about parking, the ULEZ zone and Congestion Charge.

  • Most events have a car park either in the park or nearby. Some can be small so plan to arrive early to make sure you get a space and have time to pay (if needed) and walk to the start. If there’s a charge many car parks have pay-by-app options. This is great if you already have the app but takes time if you’re a first-time user and need to set it up. Northala Fields is an example of app-only parking with no options to pay by cash or card at a machine. I’ve made note of any specific details on parking, but let me know if you have additional local knowledge.

  • The Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) is a large area of London where you have to pay a charge if your car doesn’t meet certain emissions standards. You can find out if your car is exempt, see the area covered, and pay the fee on this TFL page. From August 29th 2023 the ULEZ zone was expanded to include most of Greater London, and all London parkruns are now in the zone. 2 events; Bedfont Lakes and Riddlesdown are right on the edge of the zone. It’s possible to reach these by car and park outside of the ULEZ zone, however be careful not to cross into it on the drive there.

  • There are currently no parkrun events inside the Congestion Charge zone. As with the ULEZ Zone, be careful when planning your drive as you may have to pass through the zone even if the parkrun event is outside of it.

Cafés and Toilets

Knowing whether there’s a toilet at the event is often important when planning your trip. Most events have one near the start line but if they don’t it’s worth checking to see what’s on your route, especially for long trips. The original information here is from the Course pages from each event. Let me know if you have additional information (e.g. opening times, disabled access) on each that would help other parkrunners.

The cafés shown here are either ones noted on the Course pages or the closest one if not mentioned. These are not recommendations.

The LonDone parkrun tube and train map

There’s often chat in the Facebook parkrun groups about having a transport map showing the nearest stations to the London parkrun events. I’m certainly not the first to have this idea or to give it a go. Here’s my attempt at putting one together. Things to know are:

  • It shows nearest stations to parkruns and key interchanges, not all stations and lines.

  • Other stations may be more convenient for each parkrun, depending on where you’re coming from. Check the tables above for alternatives.

  • It’s intended to be an “artistic impression”, not for navigation.

Nearest airports to London parkrun events

I’m guessing that parkrun’s encouragement of using public transport doesn’t include flying to events. This section is likely to be pretty niche, but I included it anyway. The map and table below shows the nearest major London airport to each parkrun event. “Nearest” is defined as the quickest route via public transport rather than as the crow flies.

The reality is that anyone flying to London for a parkrun is likely to choose whichever airport has the best cost and route options from wherever they are flying in from. Every parkrun event is accessibly from each of these airports within 90 minutes, so flying into any London airport on a Friday gives you lots of options to get to the event by parkrun o’clock on the Saturday.

A few notes on the exercise:

  • I included major commercial airports and excluded RAF or smaller airfields such as Northolt or Biggin Hill.

  • London Southend (SEN) was in-scope but there is no London parkrun that is closer to it by public transport than to a different airport. Harrow Lodge is the closest event to SEN but it’s quicker to get there by public transport from London City Airport (LCY).

  • Walthamstow is the only parkun event that is closer to London Stansted (STN) than any other London airport. This is mostly due to LCY being very well connected to many public transport routes with fewer options into London from STN.

More parkrun posts

parkruns are free, weekly, community 5k events all around the world. I started in December 2012 and have been obsessive about it ever since. See my parkrun Collection page for details.

Featured and popular parkrun posts:

Richard gowerRun, parkrun, Railway, Underground, London, England Comments
The parkrun Collection

If something is outdoors, has variety, can be tracked and has challenges, it’s a fair bet that I’ll get obsessed with it. parkun ticks all of those boxes and it’s been an obsession of mine since 2012. A friend who had got the parkrun bug a few years before took me to a Boxing Day Freedom Run in December 2012. I was hooked straight away and returned to Black Park to do my first official one the following week. I started touring early, heading over to Wycombe Rye only a few weeks later. As it happened the event was called off due to ice but we did a Freedom Run anyway and returned the following week to do it properly.

Since then I’ve been touring as much as possible, collecting challenges and counties along the way. Here’s a selection of my blog posts on parkrun. Comment below or contact me if you spot any errors and I’ll donate £1 to the parkrun Forever fund for each correction made.

parkrun Challenges & general geekery

parkrun Regions and Counties: London & The South East

parkrun Regions and Counties: The South West

Other parkrun Regions and Counties

I add in a new county collection page once I’ve completed at least 3 events in the county. If you would like to speed up the process, Buy Me A Coffee and I’ll create a new one for your chosen county.

parkrun Timeline

My completion year for the various parkrun clubs, challenges, countries and counties. There’s a few other smaller challenges that I’ve not shown here.

Green achievement badges sourced from the Running Challenges extension

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Richard gowerRun, parkrunComment
Completing all Gloucestershire parkruns
Gloucestershire Flag.jpg

There are 24 parkrun events in the Historic County of Gloucestershire, of which I have completed 5. Two of these events: Blaise Castle and Eastville are now in the Ceremonial County and Unitary Authority of Bristol. Three events: Thornbury, Chipping Sodbury and Pomphrey Hill are in the Unitary Authority of South Gloucestershire. The name for having completed all parkrun events in the county is “Glos’ed Over”.

Severn Bridge gets a special mention as most of the course is in Gloucestershire but the start and end are in Monmouthshire, Wales.

The county’s first parkrun event was Forest of Dean, whose inaugural was on April 24th 2010. The newest event is Three Brooks which started on July 20th 2024.

The interactive maps below take you to the approximate location for the course, typically the centre of the park. See the course instructions in the parkrun page for each event for specific directions to the start. Course maps show the route at the time that I ran it and may have changed since then.

Berkeley Green

 

Blaise Castle

 

Cheltenham

  • I completed this event on: December 28th 2015 with a finish time of: 25:43

  • Other routes touched: none

  • Inaugural: February 16th 2013

  • Links: Event Home Page, Course Page

 
elevation_profile - Cheltenham.jpg
route-37413046-map-full - Cheltenham.png

Chipping Sodbury

 

Cirencester

  • I completed this event on: November 13th 2019 with a finish time of: 26:49

  • Other routes touched (walk): Monarch’s Way

  • Inaugural: February 3rd 2018

  • Links: Event Home Page, Course Page

 

Eastville

 

Fire Service College

 

Forest of Dean

 

Gloucester City

 

Gloucester North

 

King George V Playing Field

 

Kingsway, Gloucester

 

Lydney

 

Mallards Pike

 

Newent

 

Pomphrey Hill

 

Severn Bridge

Most of the course is in Gloucestershire but the start and end are in Monmouthshire, Wales.

  • I completed this event on: November 3rd 2018 with a finish time of: 28:14

  • Other routes touched (walk): Wales Coast Path

  • Other routes touched (cycle): NCN4

  • Inaugural: August 11th 2018

  • Links: Event Home Page, Course Page

 
elevation_profile - Severn Bridge.jpg
route-37413027-map-full - Severn Bridge.png

Stonehouse

 

Stratford Park, Stroud

 

Tetbury Goods Shed

  • I completed this event on: August 17th 2019 with a finish time of: 28:54

  • Other routes touched (cycle): NCN 48

  • Inaugural: May 18th 2019

  • Links: Event Home Page, Course Page

 
elevation_profile - Tetbury Goods Shed.jpg
trip-38807540-map-full - Tetbury Goods Shed.png

Tewkesbury

  • I completed this event on: August 9th 2025 with a finish time of: 26:42

  • Other routes touched (walk): Tewkesbury Battle Trail

  • Inaugural: July 4th 2015

  • Links: Event Home Page, Course Page

 

Thornbury

 

Three Brooks

 

Wotton

 

More parkrun posts

parkruns are free, weekly, community 5k events all around the world. I started in December 2012 and have been obsessive about it ever since. See my parkrun Collection page for details.

Featured and popular parkrun posts:

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Richard gowerRun, parkrun, Gloucestershire, England Comments
Zwift Watopia & (not)parkrun Mash-up

It took me nearly a year of cycling on Zwift before starting to do Zwift running too. I was hesitant to buy a treadmill so I considered buying the £38 RunPod to see if I could run both in Zwift and in real life (IRL) at the same time.

Winter 2020 approached and, with the prospect of being locked down for a long time, I bit the bullet and bought a treadmill. Predictably, I got hooked on Zwift running and was soon collecting the Run Achievement badges.

My friend Brian reminded me about the question of whether you can run both IRL and in Zwift at the same time. Having now had a better understanding of how Zwift Running works I thought that it would be weird but possible. As it turned out, that was true.

So, on a chilly Saturday afternoon in January I got to the start line of the Black Park parkrun course ready for the experiment. I had my Garmin watch ready to record the IRL run, my RunPod on my trainer and the Zwift App open on my iPhone. I selected the Watopia 5k Loop course, pressed start on the Garmin and I was off.

I normally run IRL with my iPhone in an arm strap. I kept it in my hand for this run as I wanted to keep track of my Zwift progress on screen and didn’t want to end the run by accidentally clicking on something. Keeping an eye on the IRL course and on the screen was a bit distracting but I wasn’t going for a PB so it was doable. I loved the contrast between the grey, drizzly Black Park and the bright, clear beach scene in Watopia.

When I’m running indoors there’s normally a noticeable difference between the treadmill speed and what shows in Zwift via the RunPod. The variance between Zwift and my Garmin for this run was only very slight. By the end of the run my Garmin showed 5.01 km to 4.77 km in Zwift.

5k is probably as far as I would do as a dual run. Apart from the distraction it was a quite a drain on the phone’s battery so it won’t have lasted for a 10k. It was a fun experiment to prove that it could be done but I don’t think I’ll be doing any more dual runs.

Zwift stats after sync with Garmin Connect

Zwift stats after sync with Garmin Connect

Zwift print screen at end of run

Zwift print screen at end of run

IRL stats directly recorded via Garmin watch

IRL stats directly recorded via Garmin watch

Start of Black Park parkrun course

Start of Black Park parkrun course

Black Park parkrun elevation profile

Black Park parkrun elevation profile

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Richard gowerRun, Zwift, parkrun, Buckinghamshire, EnglandComment
Completing all Wiltshire parkruns
Wiltshire banner.JPG

There are currently 10 parkrun events in present-day Wiltshire of which I have completed 5. The first was Lydiard (formerly Swindon) which started on March 6th 2010 and the newest is Thoulstone which started on February 8th 2025. The name for having completed all parkrun events in the county is “A Complete Bustard”.

South Tidworth where the Tidworth parkrun takes place was moved from Hampshire into Wiltshire in 1992 but houses there still have Hampshire on their address for post.

The interactive maps below take you to the approximate location for the course, typically the centre of the park. See the course instructions in the parkrun page for each event for specific directions to the start. Course maps show the route at the time that I ran it and may have changed since then.

Chippenham

 

Lydiard (formerly Swindon)

  • I completed this event on: January 12th 2019 with a finish time of: 24:38

  • Other routes touched: N/A

  • Inaugural: March 6th 2010

  • Links: Event Home Page, Course Page

 
elevation_profile - Lydiard.jpg

Marlborough Common

  • I completed this event on: New Year’s Day 2022 with a finish time of: 29:35

  • Other routes touched: Wessex Ridgeway

  • Inaugural: September 22nd 2018

  • Links: Event Home Page, Course Page

 

Melksham

 

Quakers Walk

 

Salisbury

  • I completed this event on: July 6th 2024 with a finish time of: 28:37

  • Other routes touched (cycle): NCN24

  • Inaugural: June 6th 2015

  • Links: Event Home Page, Course Page

 

Seven Fields

  • I completed this event on: March 7th 2020 with a finish time of: 26:59

  • Other routes touched: N/A

  • Inaugural: November 16th 2019

  • Links: Event Home Page, Course Page

 
elevation_profile - Seven Fields.jpg
route-32083407-map-full - Seven Fields.png

Southwick Country

 

Thoulstone

 

Tidworth

  • I completed this event on: October 25th 2025 with a finish time of: 27:40

  • Other routes touched: N/A

  • Inaugural: June 4th 2022

  • Links: Event Home Page, Course Page

 

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parkruns are free, weekly, community 5k events all around the world. I started in December 2012 and have been obsessive about it ever since. See my parkrun Collection page for details.

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Richard gowerRun, parkrun, Wiltshire, England Comments
parkrun Stopwatch Bingo Challenge

I found this using the Running Challenges Chrome extension. Its a challenge to get a parkrun finish time for each second of a stopwatch. Given that its practically impossible to plan a finish to the second, its really a matter of luck over a period of many runs. I completed mine with :59 at Lyme Park in the Peak District in September 2017. Well, kind of ..... there was something wrong with their timing that day and I (and I assume others) was recorded at 59:59 rather than 29:39 as my Garmin had it. It took another 2 and a half years before I finally got a genuine :59 at Seven Fields parkrun in Swindon.

59.JPG

More parkrun posts

parkruns are free, weekly, community 5k events all around the world. I started in December 2012 and have been obsessive about it ever since. See my parkrun Collection page for details.

Featured and popular parkrun posts:

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Richard gowerRun, parkrun, England, WalesComment
South-East England parkruns

The parkrun Regionnaire status used to be a major part of parkrun tourism, with South-East England being the largest region. Changes in the parkrun website in 2019 removed the regions making it harder to track completion status. All is not lost though as here’s the complete parkrun guide to what’s in and what’s out of the counties of South-East England.

South East England is the most populous and economically significant region of the UK, excluding London, which it entirely surrounds on its southern and western borders. The region is composed of nine ceremonial counties: Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, East Sussex, Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, Kent, Oxfordshire, Surrey, and West Sussex. Geographically, the South East is characterised by its distinctive chalk ridgelines and ancient woodlands. It contains the majority of the North Downs (running through Surrey and Kent) and the entirety of the South Downs National Park (in Hampshire, West Sussex, and East Sussex). Coastal features are dramatic, notably the world-famous White Cliffs of Dover in Kent and the coastal resorts like Brighton.

parkrun event numbers per county

There are currently 122 parkrun events in the present-day counties of the South-East region. The Historic Counties, prior to the various boundary changes had a further 34 events, most of these are now part of Greater London.

Notes and exceptions.

  • Numbers of event above exclude prison parkruns and permanently cancelled events.

  • Bournemouth and Moors Valley parkruns were part of Historic Hampshire and would have been in Historic South-East England, but are now part of Present-day Dorset, so would be in the South West England region.

  • Tidworth: South Tidworth where the parkrun takes place was moved from Hampshire into Wiltshire in 1992 but houses there still have Hampshire on their address for post.

  • Hazelwood was part of Historic Middlesex and is now part of Present-day Surrey.

  • Parts of Historic Surrey and Kent are now part of Greater London. See the individual pages for those counties for the list of which events are now part of Greater London.

The South-East Counties parkrun pages

Click on each of the images below to go to the page with details of the parkrun events for the county. Isle of Wight is included in the Hampshire page.

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parkruns are free, weekly, community 5k events all around the world. I started in December 2012 and have been obsessive about it ever since. See my parkrun Collection page for details.

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Richard gowerRun, parkrun, Oxfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Hampshire, Surrey, Sussex, Kent, EnglandComment
Completing all Northamptonshire parkruns
Northamptonshire Banner.JPG

There are 12 parkrun events in the Historic County of Northamptonshire, of which I have completed 5. One of these events, Market Harborough, is now in the Present-Day County of Leicestershire. The name for having completed all parkrun events in the county is “Northamp-done-shire”.

The county’s first parkrun event was Northampton, whose inaugural was on May 5th 2012. The newest event is The Plens which started on July 20th 2024.

The interactive maps below take you to the approximate location for the course, typically the centre of the park. See the course instructions in the parkrun page for each event for specific directions to the start. Course maps show the route at the time that I ran it and may have changed since then.

Brixworth Country

 

Corby

 

Daventry

 

Irchester Country

  • I completed this event on: December 21st 2019 with a finish time of: 25:58

  • Other routes touched: N/A

  • Inaugural: November 2nd 2019

  • Links: Event Home Page, Course Page

 

Kettering

 

Market Harborough

 

Northampton

 

Salcey Forest

  • I completed this event on: January 25th 2020 with a finish time of: 26:03

  • Other routes touched: N/A

  • Inaugural: October 26th 2019

  • Links: Event Home Page, Course Page

 
elevation_profile - Salcey Forest.jpg

Sixfields Upton

 
elevation_profile - Sixfields Upton.jpg

The Plens

 

University of Northampton

 

Watermeadows

  • I completed this event on: July 31st 2021 with a finish time of: 25:18

  • Other routes touched: N/A

  • Inaugural: February 16th 2019

  • Links: Event Home Page, Course Page

 
elevation_profile - Watermeadows.jpg
route-36984491-map-full - Watermeadows.png

More parkrun posts

parkruns are free, weekly, community 5k events all around the world. I started in December 2012 and have been obsessive about it ever since. See my parkrun Collection page for details.

Featured and popular parkrun posts:

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Richard gowerRun, parkrun, Northamptonshire, EnglandComment
Euro parkrun

The first parkruns events in each country in the continent of Europe. Updated August 2024 to show Lithuania. See the footnotes regarding Cyprus.

Footnotes

  • * shows where there were multiple events started on the first day for that country.

  • Iceland briefly had a parkrun but it has been permanently cancelled. Iceland is generally considered part of Europe but actually straddles the European and American continental plates. The parkrun event at Elliðaárdalur was on the American side of the continental divide.

  • Both of the original Russian parkruns are on the European, rather than Asian, part of Russia. parkrun is currently not operating in Russia

  • Although there is no parkrun in the Czech Republic yet, the Cieszyn parkrun course in Poland crosses the Poland/Czech border.

  • Akrotiri parkrun on the island of Cyprus is part of the British Overseas Territory of the Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia. This makes it fall within the same box on the graphic as Cape Pembroke Lighthouse, Falkland Islands. It is also on a closed facility and is therefore open to authorised people only.

More parkrun posts

parkruns are free, weekly, community 5k events all around the world. I started in December 2012 and have been obsessive about it ever since. See my parkrun Collection page for details.

Featured and popular parkrun posts:

Back to Run Index
Richard gowerRun, parkrunComment