After Rickmansworth parkrun it was a short drive over to Harrow parkrun for our second parkrun of the day. Harrow parkrun is held at Harrow Recreation Ground an ornamental and open parkland in the London Borough of Harrow. On their website they reference some Sensory Gardens which we didn't see and they also refer to the Multi-Use Games Area which is where we were for the parkrun.
According to their website: Harrow Recreation Ground provides excellent sports facilities including cricket squares, football pitches, a bowling green, tennis courts and a basketball court and is home to Harrow Bowls Club, one of the largest Middlesex bowls clubs with an affiliation to national, county and district associations. The carpark referenced on the parkrun website is a bit hidden in a side street, but is signed from the road. The car park is not massive but we didn't have an issue parking.
Harrow parkrun is a three lap course (with an extra loop on lap one) with an incline or two thrown in for good measure. After Rickmansworth (which is pancake flat) this course seemed much more challenging in comparison. The course is however run entirely on tarmac paths so at least you're not going to be worrying too much about terrain.
Difficulty
I'm going to rate this as a 2.5 out of 5, purely for the 40 meters of elevation, it's all tarmaced though and good times are possible here (especially if you push hard on the downhill sections), but the inclines are increasingly unwelcome especially by the time you have got to lap three.
Briefings
The briefings are held in front of a pavilion, which is visible across the playing field from the car park that you arrive at. They had a record breaking 308 runners attending on New Years Day including 76 first timers to Harrow, probably at least in part due to people attempting New Years doubles, the vast majority of which were from the 9:00 run at Canons Park. Visitors from as far afield as Swansea and Edinburgh. The first timer briefing made you aware that there is an extra loop on lap 1, where you basically are directed off the main course left to do a lap around the bowls square, and that once you have done this loop to keep right to allow slower runners to start their loop, don't be tempted to do an extra lap or indeed don't blindly follow quicker runners who may have already done their loop (depending where you are in the field), otherwise you may have a longer (or shorter) parkrun than intended.
Course
This is a three lap anti-clockwise course (with an additional loop at the beginning of lap 1 which you don't do again), you start just north of the pavilion and you are heading north along a footpath. When you reach the car park you turn left to pass the car park on your right. After the car park you turn right, staying on the footpath, before a marshal will direct you left off of the main path to complete a roughly 400m somewhat oval loop around the bowls square. When you get back to the main path keep right to allow any slower runners/walkers to start their loop. You're now heading roughly north past some football pitches on your left and uphill for the next 400m or so until you reach the top of the park. At this point you'll take a left turn to cross the top of the park and then another left turn to head south heading downhill and past some tennis courts on your left. Once you reach the bowls square on your left you'll keep heading south but you'll now be climbing uphill until you reach the bottom of the park, it's then a left turn you'll soon pass the finish area on your left, then you'll take another left turn around the pavilion where the briefing is held, back past the start onto lap 2. Lap 2 is the same as lap one except you miss out the loop around the bowls square. Lap 3 is almost the same as Lap 2 but is slightly shorter not being a full lap as you'll reach the finish area before the pavilion where you started.
Elevation
Total climb is about 134ft or 41 meters, placing it at 334th flattest out of the 519 ranked by https://jegmar.com/stats-hq/fastest-races/parkrun/. There are two distinct inclines one on the way out along the north side of the park, and the other as you head back along the south side of the park towards the finish. You have to do both these inclines three times.
Parking, Facilities and Coffee
Limited free car parking, but the car park is a bit hidden away, if you're using sat nav then the postcode HA1 1RR should get you there OK, look for a sign for Harrow Recreation Ground from the residential street. Toilets can be found in the pavilion where the briefing is held. Coffee is also served in the pavilion after the parkrun, there is also a playground next to the car park.
Summary
A pleasant and interesting run around an urban park, with some gradual inclines and run entirely on tarmac, if you're not keen on muddy routes, this is good parkrun to consider especially in winter. Despite the inclines good times are possible here and I managed a very quick time even though it was my second parkrun of the day. Definitely a parkrun I want to come back to in future.
Links
Link to official parkrun site for this course - https://www.parkrun.org.uk/harrow/
Link to my Relive summary of the course - https://www.relive.cc/view/v4OGme5Lwmq
Link to a YouTube video I found on the internet covering the parkrun on the 5th November 2016 -
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