Parkrun Central London??

Hi All...

I'm based in central London and I love Parkrun...but its soo far to go to Wimbledon and I'm currently massively busy training for FLM and working full time...

So I'm wondering if anyone else is interested in setting up a central London Parkrun - somewhere like Hyde Park would be great (but Battersea Park or Regents Park are good too). There must be hundreds of central Londoners out there who are running - I see you all along Embankment in the mornings and evenings.

I'm hoping by getting a few people together we could lighten the workload of organisation and set-up!

If you're interested reply to the thread and we'll see what kind of reponse we can generate

Well I've been in contact with the organisers...first thing is to set up a committee and find a rough 5k route that doesnt cross any roads but is on nice paths (i.e. ones that dont erode in the winter) then contact the parks people and see if its possible

So I'm here just trying to get peeps involved really atm

Yeah but then you have to pay - the idea is Parkrun is free!

(plus I dont want to be in a club - it ruins your training plans because they make you run races you dont want to for the benefit of the club) 

I don't know which clubs you've been a member of, but mine never makes anyone enter a race! 

And you could always just say NO?  Just a thought....

oh ok so not overally complicated. i spose the route would be one of the first things required did you have any ideas.

Yeah I was thinking of something like this (obviously it would have to measured accurately etc):

http://www.mapmyrun.com/route/gb/london/395745673924

Which goes down the big hill rather than up and just has a nice gentle elevation profile...but like I say I'm open to suggestions 

Really!?!

Both parkrun races I have done so far dont start/end in the same place...*rushes off to check the rest* In fact it seems like 7 out of 12 dont - phew...

Hi Curly 45

It would be great to have a parkrun in central London.  The main problem with Hyde Park or Regent's Park would be the Royal Parks people, who have a fair few rules about what you can and cannot do.  I only know this because I'm a member of Serpentine RC.

Also your route in Kensington Gardens would clash with our handicap route around the Serpentine, which we hold once a month.  If you wanted to run it in Regents Park then Mornington Chasers hold races there in the summer once a month.

I agree you need to get a group of people interested who are going to help you, but maybe you could ask the parkrun gang for some help choosing a place and ask if someone has tried in central London before.

Good luck.

Paula

Hi Paula,

I've spoken to Parkrun - someone is setting up a Hampstead one, but nobodies tried doing a central London one before...sadly I cant get to Hampstead either without a load of faff...

Hyde park is pretty huge I reckon we could work out a route that wouldnt clash!

There is always Battersea park as well which is only just over the River

Thanks for the info though - I did wonder if the Royal Parks people might have been a bit off putting for anyone thinking about it before...

But since it doesnt seem like there's tons of interest I might put it on the backburner for a while anyway (since I am pretty hectic with training at the moment)...

No probs, hope the training goes well.

Paula

battersea park is a great venue and at quite a good location!

Certainly gets my vote!

Good luck with this - I would be willing to help out with any minor organisational things! 

hi found this today its a link to the royal parks website fitness training and the contact numbers of the people responsible for each park who you would need to talk to about setting up an event.

http://www.royalparks.org.uk/business/fitnesstraining.cfm

James

Thanks James - I'll look into that later today 

Hi Curly, just noticed this thread.

I live around Victoria, too, and would love to join some sort of a running group. Serpentin Running Club seems to be the only club in central London, but their runs are too early for me to get there from work. Also, there used to be a free running club every monday/tuesday, organized by Niketown. The run started from Niketown, Oxford circus and took the runners to Regent Park. They may still have this club.

Anyway, I am not good at organizing but if you need people to join your club, I am def interested.

Just for reference there is another running club in central London called City Runners. See www.cityrunnersclub.co.uk

 They meet on Tuesday nights near London Bridge.

I noticed this thread was set up early 2009 and there still doesn't seem to be any parkruns set up in the aforementioned parks.

If anyone visits this link and knows why please do explain. Otherwise I will be happy to organise a Parkrun in central London.