Located in Northolt in the London Borough of Ealing, created as part of the Northolt and Greenford Country Park project and backs onto the older Rectory Park, Northala Fields was opened in 2008 and includes four artificial hills/pyramids standing next to the A40 Western Avenue. Standing magnificently like the ancient pyramids of Giza, these pyramids have an ancient pagan feel, they also provide a screen to the noise. Unlike the pyramids of Giza, we know how these were built, using rubble from the demolition of the original Wembley Stadium which was demolished in 2003. The park has several fishing lakes, a large field area, a children's play area and an adjacent cafe where the parkrun starts.
We crouched around the cafe for cover on a very wet and windy morning. However, as the time edged closer to 0900 the wind lessened and the sun started to peak out. The Run Director nursed the 195 participants with 33 debutants amongst us, out from our shelters to explain what lay in store. The course is a one-lap clockwise, snakey route, going down into Rectory Park, through a wooded area and then a larger field before coming back up to Northala and around the great pyramids, with a little bit of elevation before a gentle downhill finish just before the cafe. It’s a mixture of tarmac paths, gravel paths pebbly sections. Sadly for me, due to the rain, there were lots of puddles.
The 22 Hi-Viz heroes were encouraging and running near the marshy grassland and wildflower meadows the entire area was bristling with life, understandable since it has won the Landscape Institute award and been awarded a Green Flag in 2009 for being a well-managed park/green space.
I had previously been to Northala Fields parkrun in April 2019 when I needed the letter ‘N’ for the parkrun Alphabet challenge (running a parkrun with each letter of the alphabet which we then completed at Zamat W Malbourku parkrun in Poland). Today I wanted to see if I could go faster than previously and was delighted to see I’d shaved 2mins of my previous attempt #gettingolderandfaster 🙂
After completing the 5k and being scanned we decided to climb the spiral walkway running around the major mound/pyramid to the summit. The view to the South East takes in the whole city of London; #stunning
Next week our tourism will be going up the gears as we travel to the Netherlands to complete the Amsterdam Bos parkrun!
Happy running
Northala sounds like a great location for a Parkrun and a stroll afterwards. The climb and the view from the pyramids has really piqued my interest! Great writing Aqasa.
Another great write up. I also liked Northala Fields when I ran it few years ago. Lovely route, volunteers and overall vibe. Daniela B
Wow I have never heard of this place and it looks stunning. What a venue for a Parkrun. You’ve done a great job of capturing your experience of it as usual. 👍🏾 Thank you