On a cold foggy day in Croydon I finally met the challenge of Lloyd park that was always mentioned as one of the toughest parkruns in London and it did not disappoint! I just had to make it harder by running in a Santa suit for charity that did not help my cause!

The beauty of this capital challenge is you can test yourself in so many different ways running 5K from a hilly grass courses like Lloyd to only 5 mile away flat very fast tarmac ones’s like Dulwich! The variety is what I look forward to each week, each event is a adventure!

Course

The course is two undulating anticlockwise laps of the parameter of Lloyd park that is run entirely on grass with the start and end near the pavilion!

I felt today I entered the world of cross country with a steady incline for the first part of the course that after a sharp dogleg turn right when you run to the highest point of the park! The rest of the course steadily declines back to the finish of the lap and at the end of the second lap you run through the finishing funnel.

There are two observations I would like to make, firstly if you are unsure about the underfoot conditions of the course I would definitely pack a pair of trail shoes as an option! Secondly there are a few exposed tree roots dotted about that could be a trip hazard for the unexpected runner, so be careful!

Personal Stats

Time 42:24 as always going to be slow today running in fancy dress on a tough grass course!

Important Info

The park boasts excellent facilities for the parkrun tourist including

• Free car park up to 2 hours from ticket machine
• Toilet and changing facilities (available before the start of the race)
• Lovely Cafe

Please not the post code for your SAT Nav for the car park should be CR0 5RA not the one listed on their parkrun website that is CR0 5RB, if it could be changed it would be greatly appreciated.

Final Verdict

I would like to thank Richard and his team of volunteers for organising an excellent event making me and my friend extremely welcome, it was a lovely touch to offer water and free cake to the patrons at the end. Top work guys!

I would like to thank the patrons who donated cash to my charity fund today it was very heartwarming and will be added to the current total 🙂

So if you like a testing challenge on a cross country style course then Lloyd is definitely the parkrun for you!

Run on 17-12-2016