Previously part of the Coombe Estate, the 114 acres which make up Lloyd park was bequeathed to the Borough of Croydon by the family of Frank Lloyd, following his death in 1927. The park is not enclosed and flows like a common green into a much greater expanse which has populous tree planting, shaping the woods and hills.
According to an article in the Londonist, Lloyd parkrun is the toughest parkrun in London. The Event Director of the event brims with pride describing their ‘hill’, which when wet resembles a scene from the film Hamburger Hill. I’m a fair-weather runner and particularly dislike running through mud. When I last came here in February 2019 it was wet and very muddy and although I had on trail shoes the 77m ‘climb of hell’ had scared me, thus I was nervous about returning.
Shveta needed this event for her LonDone challenge so here we were and fortunately, there had been no rain for weeks, the sky was blue and it was turning into a rather hot and sticky day, the ground seemed to be ‘good to firm’.
Shepherded by 23 volunteers, 222 participants took to the start line, 6 people new to parkrun and 26 of us being tourists including Burgess regularly Graham Buckle who it was great to see.
We set off passing the excellent cafe and changing facilities, before hitting a trail which was twisty and narrow. I’d gone out strongly and found a good rhythm and to my delight found the ground good to firm. The notorious hill was firm and unlike previously where I was head down trying not to fall over, I was able to look around and admire the great views westwards across Croydon towards Sutton and Banstead.
This course is two anti-clockwise laps and this visit I was blown away by its beauty. This isn’t an event to come to for a personal best however the views are some of the best for a London parkrun.
At the end I had my barcode scanned by a young person volunteering as parkrun volunteering is an approved activity for the Duke of Edinburgh award. This is another example of how parkrun provides opportunities for people, young and old, both runners and non-runners to get involved.
We had to hurry home to get dressed for another parkrun event, our Event Director’s wedding! Parkrun really is the gift that keeps on giving 😀
Happy running
Sounds like a great park.