Roundshaw Downs parkrun takes place on Saturdays at 9 am on Roundshaw Downs in Croydon. Established in 2009, it is one of the UK’s longest running parkruns, with almost 700 events completed.

Getting There

Roundshaw Downs are in Croydon, on the southern edge of London, around 12 miles from the City centre. The start is just off Purley Way. It is quite difficult to find, as it’s at the end of an industrial estate. Turn off Purley Way at the lights by the Aerodrome Hotel into the Croydon Airport trading estate, then turn left into Imperial Way. The start is then straight ahead of you at the end of the road.  The nearest stations are Purley (1.3 miles) and East Croydon (2.3 miles). By bus, Nos 119 (The Colonnades / Croydon Airport) and 289 (Battle Of Britain War Memorial) pass close to the start.

Parking

There is free off road parking along Imperial Way. It’s predominantly an industrial estates, so quiet on Saturday mornings. We usually park in the Costco car park.

Toilets

There are no toilets here or anywhere close by.

Course

The course consists of two laps of Roundshaw Downs, starting and finishing in the north west corner close to the end of Imperial Way.

Terrain

All grass. The start and finish of each lap is round a field. The bit in the middle is through woodland. The first park of the lap is uphill, with a downhill section at the end. It can get very muddy!

The area spans two London Boroughs (Croydon and Sutton) and historical issues with travellers in the park, who when removed by one borough, crossed into the other and vice versa, means there is a large mound of earth across the borough line. There are now narrow gaps in the mound, through which you can run (in the past, parkrun entailed scaling the mound on the way round). It can get a bit congested, particularly on the first lap.

Shoes

Probably trail shoes, although I’ve seen plenty of people do this one in cross country spikes.

Difficulty

Run Britain rankings for UK parkruns places Roundshaw Downs as 574th fastest out of 706. It has a total elevation of 22 metres.

Fun Factor

Not my most favourite parkrun, which probably explains why I’ve run here 5 times (mainly on Christmas Day when other parkruns weren’t running) but don’t have a single photo.

Nearby Attractions

Roundshaw is in Croydon. Nobody goes to Croydon unless they have to. Adjacent to Roundshaw Downs is Croydon Airport. Opened in 1920, Croydon used to be the UK’s main airport until Heathrow was built. The Visitor Centre only opens for one day a month, but the exterior will be familiar to you if you watch period dramas like Poirot. Agatha Christie’s ‘Death in the Clouds’ was filmed here.