The resurrection + Reclaiming the Crown! - Morden parkrun #2 - 22/06/24

Our friend and parkrun explorer extraordinaire Daniala Bassoumba advised us that Lullingstone parkrun would be better visited in a few weeks once the lavender comes out.  Therefore our attention turned to the resurrection of a previous event and the small matter of regaining the status of LonDONE; completing all the parkruns in London, by attending Morden parkrun.  

In the London Borough of Merton, we find the 120-acre Morden Park with 69 acres of it being a local nature reserve. Previously this was an estate with its grand house being built in 1770 for the lords of the manor. The grand house is now a listed building and home to the registry for births, marriages and deaths and the park is now home to the newest London parkrun.

Entering the park from the London road we walked past the modern South Thames College on the left and then the ultra-modern leisure centre on the right. We walked through the almost hidden pathway at the end of the car park and came out into the fields of Morden Park with its rolling hills and tree-lined skylines. Like in The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, I felt like I’d come into another world. This is an impressive addition to the London parkrun stable of events. 

Parkrun HQ encourages people not to attend the inaugural events and do not to publicise when new events will start. This allows the volunteer team the chance to get familiar with their roles and responsibilities. With the inaugural event completed parkrun tourists flocked, increasing attendance from 103 participants to 349, many in 50, 100, and 250 shirts. There were a few 500 shirts and Tourist Flagtastic shirts too, reminding me of the buzz of attending Special Events overseas.

There was a crackle of excitement as the assembled were addressed at the start. The 45-strong volunteer team was ready. The participants were ready, and with a blow of the Run Director’s whistle, we were off. 

50, 100, 250 and a few 500 club shirts were out in force! Photo credit Gemma Southren,

Morden parkrun is a three-lap, undulating clockwise course, predominately on grass with the main incline on a tarmac path. Shielded from roads, noise pollution and no planes above you can see why it has the status as a Site of Importance for Nature Conservation, you can immerse yourself into this green oasis.   

The course could pose challenges when wet. Today the ground was good to firm and the parkrun gods kept the rain clouds away.

The finish is on a downhill section and with a well-managed funnel and lots of barcode scanners the event started and finished like they’d done it more than once before.  And perhaps some of them had… 

Morden Hall Park which is very close to Morden Park was previously the site of a one-off parkrun. A parkrun was held here on 05/06/19 as part of the Wandle Valley Festival under the category of bespoke parkruns. According to the now inactive Facebook Page Bespoke parkruns are official one-off parkruns. The site describes them as ‘... a rare and wonderful thing, a spontaneous parkrun event with no regular home’. Bespoke parkrun events can be found on the Runbritain website. They include Bramhall Park 06/09/11 (Adidas t-shirt launch), Harrogate 07/01/12 (Harrogate parkrun pilot event), and Highbury Fields 26/07/12 (Olympic Special).  If anyone knows of any other one-off Bespoke parkruns I’d love to hear about them!

The all important business of checking results and updating social media aka parkrun fathing.

Crossing the line and being scanned I felt that warm feeling of having my LonDone status restored. When I’m in ice-breaker situations for work or at conferences and asked to ‘tell everybody one interesting thing about yourself’ I can once again say ‘I’ve run every parkrun in London, which includes Feltham parkrun 🙂  

Happy ice-breakers and Happy Running

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