Hilly Fields parkrun 500

Hilly fields parkrun celebrated its 500th event last Saturday (6/6/23). Since it started in 2012 nearly 12,000 separate individuals have run or walked  three laps around the park on a Saturday morning to complete a 5k. The combined distance covered by all those who have taken part is around 480,000 km – that's equivalent to running a couple of time around the world, then running to the moon and running a couple of times round that too.

The free, volunteer run event started out from a meeting at the Ladywell Tavern, where Stephen Robson (pictured) agreed to be the event director. Having reached 500 events he stood down from this role on Saturday but will continue to be involved - thanks to Stephen and all the other volunteers who have kept this event going. Stephen and some of the others involved in setting it up had previously taken part in Bromley parkrun. Hilly Fields has gone on to spawn other events locally, with runners from there going on to set up Hilly Fields junior parkrun (for children on Sundays) and  Peckham Rye parkrun, among others.

In the early days of Hilly Fields parkrun attendance averaged around 40 runners. Nowadays it routinely involves more than 200 people and for Saturday's anniversary 438 people took part including 32 volunteers helping to make it happen.

Hilly fields parkrun has had a big impact on me since I first took part in 2013. It was the first organised running event I had taken part in since leaving school, and from that I really got the running bug. Parkrun led me on to get active in Lewisham based running club Kent AC and taking part in lots of races. But Hilly Fields parkrun is where I have run most and like many others I have developed an intimate knowledge of every twist and turn, every incline and descent. My running has declined due to injury in the last year, but it was great to attend at the weekend and I hope that as long as I am able to keep moving I will return there on Saturday mornings.

Olympic gold triathlete Alex Yee leaves us all behind at Hilly Fields parkrun in 2015

Like an Old Dead Tree

The damage from October's storm wasn't as bad as some feared, but running round Hilly Fields at parkrun* it was sad to see some fallen landmarks.

*Hilly Fields parkrun is a free timed 5k run every Saturday morning at 9 am, with a regular attendance of 80 to 100 people of all levels of ability. On 21 December there will be a Santa themed run for those who don't mind dressing up and there's an extra run on Christmas Day too! See also report at Go Feet running blog.

Hilly Fields Parkrun Birthday

This Saturday (9 am), Hilly Fields parkrun will be celebrating its first birthday. In the last 12 months, 887 different people have come to the park on a Saturday morning and run 5 km. The combined distance they have run is 17,640 km - which is further than from Hilly Fields to Sydney, Australia. Most weekends there are between 70 and 100 people taking part, plus a team of volunteers organising it. For the birthday celebrations there will be cake and prizes - and running the course around the park in the opposite direction to usual.

I've written here before about the wonders of parkrun - it's a free, accessible run (or walk if you want), and a great community event. For details of Hilly Fields parkrun, see the website. Weather forecast is that Saturday will be a day of sun in a week of rain, so get along and join in!

Photo from Hilly Fields parkrun flickr group

There are other parkruns in many other London parks (see map here). Last week a new one started in Southwark Park, getting off to a fine start with 150 people taking part (see report here).

For a round up of South London running, check out Go Feet.