For my 63rd parkrun I decided to add to the list of North London parkruns I have already completed, and rocked up to the two lap Bow-Tie shaped course at Gladstone park. It reminded me a lot of the new University of Northampton parkrun, in that you start out going out across a bridge into a park where you complete Bow-Tie shaped laps of the park which does include a hill which you climb multiple times. This is all on tarmac, but with a fair amount of elevation (another similarity to the University of Northampton course). Gladstone park is effectively split into two by the Overground railway line, with a bridge linking the fairly flat and plain part of the park on the south side of the railway, and the much more interesting and hilly part of the park on the north side of the railway. The south side is used for sports pitches, the outdoor gym and café, and the north side has the formal gardens, the duck pond, Dollis Hill House, some tennis courts as well as the magnificent views over London.
[I first visited this parkrun on 18th November 2023]
Bit of History
Gladstone park is named after Sir William Gladstone the former Liberal Prime Minister, who spent many years of his life using the Dollis Hill Estate (as it was called then) as his weekend retreat. Gladstone park evolved from the Dollis Hill Estate and became a public park in 1901. The modern Gladstone park is on a hill with fantastic views over London, and has meadows, tree-lined avenues, a walled garden, sports pitches including Football, Cricket, and Rugby, as well as Tennis Courts, and outdoor gym and children's playgrounds. Also in common with many of London's parks, it has parakeets in the trees, I think I may spoken about these on an earlier London parkrun blog. The park is also home to the Cricklewood Pumping Station built in 1905 to supply water to North London, it was originally coal powered and the defunct tower now has a new life as a mobile phone mast.
Briefings
Both briefings took place next to the outdoor gym, the visitor/first timer briefing focuses on the course, two bow tie shaped laps of the park with a short out and back section across a bridge to start and finish. On the main briefing were some milestones, and furthest visitors this morning were from Aberdeen, plus a brief recap of the course a description of the current condition of the course (wet with puddles, keep off the grass as it is slippery) and a reminder to keep left after crossing the bridge into the park, as well as a desperate call out for volunteers as they were short of volunteers for the next few weeks. I've included a video containing both Briefings further down this page.
The Course
The start is close to the outdoor gym on the south side of the park and you head out along a footpath heading towards a bridge, over the bridge into the North side of the park. After the bridge you take a slight right and uphill along a path to the east side of the park, this becomes a sweeping left and then sharp left as you crest the hill entering a tree lined path taking you south towards the middle of the park, this becomes a sweeping right turn as you pass a set of crossroads with a children's playground next to them. Sweeping away from the playground you head uphill again, towards a car park at the far west end of the park, at the car park you take a left and a left again to head south and downhill towards the bottom of the park, at the bottom of the park, you take a left turn to head uphill and back towards the centre of the park and the playground you passed earlier. At the playground you turn right to head back towards the bridge, to complete the first lap of the bowtie. On lap one a marshal will direct you left at the next turn to start lap two of the park. Lap two of the park is identical to lap one, but at the end of the final straight you will take a right back over the bridge and back to the start finish area, where the final 50m or so is on grass (the rest of the course is all on footpath), but at least it is all downhill from the bridge.
Difficulty
With a total ascent of 83m across the whole course, I'm going to rate this as 3 out of 5, despite the fact it was mostly on footpath, I enjoyed it and you get some great views out over London, but it was a tough run, and I was grateful when I completed the last section of uphill for the final time.
Elevation
This felt quite undulating and with 83m of total elevation across the two laps, this one really felt like quite a challenge. It's not the most hilly course out there, but it's not an easy course by any means. Great views of London though so try and take a look on your way round.
Parking, Facilities and Coffee
We parked in a residential street for free and walked the length of the park to reach the start, encountering a few parakeets in the trees along the way. There is a cafe at the start which opens after the parkrun, but the recommended coffee shop is in a nearby library (but unfortunately they don't open until 10am so we headed off back to MK). This park also has an outdoor gym and children's playgrounds. There is also a public toilet somewhere in the park according the the parkrun website it is 10 minutes from the start but we didn't find it. There is also a toilet at the cafe in the library but this doesn't open until 10am. Postcode for the start of this parkrun is NW10 1JH.
Other Points of Interest
Probably already covered most of the facilities and points of interest here. It's always worth trying to spot a parakeet in the trees, we heard them before we spotted them. The park itself particularly on the northern side is very pretty and a nice place to go for a walk and take in the park itself. The southern park is less interesting but is home to the outdoor gym. If you are around until 10am the library and café are probably worth a visit.
Summary
Another cracking North London parkrun, like a lot of the North London parkruns it has a fairly small participant number (around 200), so has a more approachable feel than some of the bigger parkruns in the area, is also has a very friendly core team, an interesting and pretty park with some amazing views of London from the higher parts of the course.
Links
Link to official parkrun site for this course: https://www.parkrun.org.uk/gladstone
My YouTube Video Review of this parkrun:
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