Southwark Park 10k, May 2016

267 of us took part in a 10k in Southwark Park on 14th May,  organised by PB Race Events. The park hosts a weekly 5k parkrun on Saturday mornings,  on this occasion it was cancelled but many of the regulars stepped up to race the longer distance. 

As discussed here before, Southwark Park has a long athletics history  - including being the birth place of Cambridge Harriers. I can't say my own performance was particularly historic in the recent race, I started at PB pace but soon fizzled out. The course, while flat, wasn't particularly PB friendly as there were two hairpin bends to negotiate on each of the three laps. But I don't think I can really blame my sluggish second half on that - it didn't stop others.

The race was won by David Henderson of Inverclyde AC, with Tilly Snow of Stragglers running club the first female finisher (full results here)

The finish line of a well organised race

Some of my fellow Hilly Fields parkrun and Kent AC regulars at Southwark Park 10k

I wandered over to nearby Canada Water afterwards, a watery remnant of the old Canada Dock which now has a Decathlon sports store next to it and waterfowl nesting on it, including this lovely swans nest.

What is the fastest parkrun in SE London? And how much difference does the course make?

All parkruns are equal but some are more equal than others... yes they're all 5k distance (more or less ;-)) but anyone who has run more than one knows that some courses are faster. There are various reasons, such as the terrain (tarmac is generally faster than trail) and how many slowing twists and turns there are, but obviously the main factor is hills. Up hill sections slow most of us down, and even  if we go hard down hill it is rarely enough to make up the time lost on the ascent.

Still, hilly courses are excellent training and for some its enough of a challenge  to just compare times week in week out over the same course. My home parkrun at Hilly Fields is one of the hillier in London, as the name suggests, and I have run it 73 times. But sometimes its good to see how fast you can go on the flat, and if you are chasing a target time it obviously makes sense to seek out a faster course now and then.

But can we quantify how much difference a course makes? Clearly it partly depends on the individual. If you are very strong on hills, then of course you might not notice as much a difference in time when moving on to a flatter course. If, on the other hand,  you can barely keep going up hill you are likely to benefit more when there's less hill to deal with.

Making more general comparisons is more complicated than it seems, as I found when looking at runs in the South East London area (with Mile End across the river also included as it's one of my nearest parkruns as the crow flies). One obvious measure is the average run time which the parkrun website gives for each run. I assume that by average, parkrun refer to the mean. This is calculated from aggregating all the run times from an event and dividing them by the number of runs - in the case of Hilly Fields currently over 15,000.

In my area that makes the flat tarmac course at Dulwich the fastest, more than two minutes faster than the hills of Hilly Fields and Greenwich's Avery Hill Park course.Still I was surprised to see Brockwell Park coming in second fastest when it is certainly much hillier than the pretty flat Southwark, Burgess and Peckham Rye courses. Average times might be affected by various other factors though - perhaps some courses attract more, faster club runners which lift the average while others might have larger, more inclusive fields with a higher proportion of slower runners. Dulwich parkrun has a strong association with Dulwich Runners, Brockwell Park is home to Windrush Tri club, Hilly Fields is close to Kent AC's track, whereas Burgess parkrun has no nearby club - does that affect its times? It's important to recognise that what's being measured here is not how fast the course is as such, but how fast the people running it are. There is a relationship between the two - even the fastest runners run more slowly on tougher courses - but some parkruns seem to have faster fields (i.e. more generally faster runners)

Another way of looking at the average is the median time - that is the time of the runner who finished half way down the field. I would have thought that would ameliorate the 'club runner effect', as the times of the faster runners don't affect the average in the same way. As I don't have access to all the data for parkruns ever, I have just calculated this for all runs last week, that is 25 Jul 2015:

On the median measure, Greenwich still appears to be the toughest course. Southwark Park is now the fastest, with Dulwich slipping into second. Burgess is now faster than Brockwell Park which I would expect. But I certainly don't believe that Hilly Fields is faster than Peckham Rye - there must have just been a faster field at Hilly Fields that day.

Course records

So how do the faster runners compare? What about the course records? Well Bromley comes out fastest for both men and women, with Dulwich and Brockwell Park in the fastest four for both. But course records can sometimes just reflect that a top runner turned up one day. Hilly Fields certainly wouldn't be seen as faster than Burgess Park by most runners, but the fastest male time at the former is 22 seconds ahead of the latter, set on Christmas Day 2014 by team GB mountain runner Shaun Dixon (mind you Burgess record holder Max Nicholls is a junior Team GB mountain runner who could probably also get a good time at Hilly Fields).

More instructive is comparing course records set by individuals at different courses. Kent AC's Amy Clements' has the records at both Dulwich and Hilly Fields, the former 1:18 faster. That's in line with the gap in average times between the two. But  this year's Manchester Marathon winner Paul Martelletti holds records at Mile End and Southwark Park- is the former really faster, or was he just taking it a bit easier in Southwark that day?

To exclude the 'anomolous super-speedy visitor effect', I've also looked at averaging the last ten fastest finish times at the events. Dulwich and Mile End are in the top three for men and women, Hilly Fields and Greenwich in the bottom three.

Not sure what to conclude from all this - on most measures Hilly Fields and Greenwich are at the slower end, and Dulwich is clearly one of the fastest. But how much difference it makes depends of how you measure it, and of course on the individual. Burgess Park is definitely the fastest for me, my PB there (19:42) is 92 seconds faster than for Hilly Fields PB (21:14), with my fastest times for Dulwich, Southwark Park and Peckham Rye somewhere in between. So I'm surprised that Burgess doesn't figure higher up the speed tables - maybe it just needs some faster runners to run there!

[updated 1 August with median times; all statistics as of 4 July 2015 unless otherwise stated]

Go Dad Run - Running to Raise Prostate Cancer Awareness

I got to meet two great athletes today, in fact I got to shake hands with the sometime world's fastest man.

 Colin Jackson and Donovan Bailey were at Southwark Council's HQ in Tooley Street (London SE1) to promote an event taking place nearby in Southwark Park on Sunday 21st June. Sanlam Go Dad Run 'is a series of 5K runs for men and boys aged 11 and over to raise awareness of and funds for Prostate Cancer UK'. 5k runs have taken part in the last couple of weeks in Worcester, Bristol, Warrington and Llangefni, with the final two of this year's events taking place on Fathers Day in London (Southwark Park) and Cardiff this weekend (further details here).

Colin Jackson, world champion and 1988 Olympic silver medallist in the 110m hurdles (and lately BBC athletics presenter), founded the project after the death of an uncle. He notes that 'whilst 1 in 8 men in the UK will develop prostate cancer, that actually rises to 1 in 4 men from an African Caribbean background'. Donovan Bailey, an Ambassador for Go Dad Run,  is a double Olympic and three-time World Champion and became the fastest man in history when he set a new world record of 9.84 seconds running for Canada in the 1996 Olympic 100m final. The pair also visited Globe Academy school in Southwark today.

Jackson (above) and Bailey (below) in action

Friday photos (11): Running tracks from space

People have speculated for many years about the 'Nazca lines', a series of prehistoric geometrical figures in the Peruvian desert. Images of them taken from airplanes have been used to support various theories, most famously the claim by Eric von Daniken that they were messages meant for alien spaceships! I much prefer the explanation arrived at by one G.A.von Breunig that they were actually running tracks (there's apparently a 1980 article of his entitled 'Nazca: a pre-Columbian Olympic site' though I haven't been able to track it down).

Nazca lines

But what would space travellers or future archaeologists make of modern day running tracks? Thanks to Google Earth we can spend hours looking at satellite images of these mysterious ovals, overlaid with the strange markings of track and field. Here's a few examples I'm familiar with.

Icknield High School, Luton - I went to this school and remember running the 1500m around it. In fact I can still remember coming second with a time of 5:52 (quickly calculating that equates to about a 19:30 5k, about a minute faster than the taller, older me manages over that longer distance all these years later). The track is painted lines on grass, wonder how many times over the decades somebody has retraced the lines, and wonder too how many kids have run around it.  On this photograph you can make out the tiny dots of the runners, seemingly running a relay. Seems the picture was taken on the afternoon of Tuesday 30 June 2009, so if you had PE on that day it could be you! The overlapping oval of the cricket pitch can be seen too, with the wicket inside the running track.The marshy area at the top of the image was part of our cross country route:

Haberdashers Aske's playing fields, off St Asaphs Road,London SE4. My children had their primary school sports days there. Another grass track, with lots of other markings presumably related to javelin and shot put:

Ladywell Arena in Lewisham, home to Kent Athletics Club:

Southwark Park running track. The geometric design is some kind of temporary cover, the facility being currently  in poor condition and hardly used. Good news is that Southwark Council agreed last month to spend £2.6m to refurbish it:

Previously in the Friday Photos series:

New York High School Runners 1970s

Lilian Board, 1948-1970
Running in Tel Aviv 1942
Alan Turing the Runner

Marilyn Monroe the Runner
Tom Longboat, Canadian First Nations Marathon Runner
Runners in Space: an image from Munich 1972 on NASA's Voyager spacecraft

Jim Peters collapses in Vancouver 1954

Anita Neil - Britain's first female Black Olympian?

Running in the Streets of New Cross 1953

South London Running News: Spring 2014

The sun has shone and the ground's drying out, and even the most fair weather of runners are showing their faces and indeed their legs.

Sidcup 10

I took part in Kent Athletic Club's Sidcup 10 Mile Road Race a couple of weeks ago (Sunday 9th March) and it felt like the first run of the summer, I was pouring water over my head after the first lap. More than 300 people took part in a well organised run, starting off at Sidcup Leisure Centre and finishing three laps later in the grounds of Chislehurst and Sidcup Grammar School. Mark Steinle (Blackheath & Bromley) came in first for the men with a time of 55:11, while Tina Oldershaw (Paddock Wood AC) was the women's winner in 62:05.

Lewisham-based Kent Athletics Club have had a busy winter, winning the Surrey Cross Country League for the second year in a row. Not to mention the club's Conrad Williams winning a silver medal in the 4 x 400m relay at the World Indoor Championship in Sopot earlier this month.

Parkrun

Parkrun continues to expand locally as everywhere else. On 8th March, more than 1400 runners were out for a 5k Saturday morning run across nine South East(ish) London runs, compared to 969 in the same area on the same weekend last year. At my home parkrun, Hilly Fields in Lewisham, slippery conditions on the muddiest part of the course necessitated a change of route during the latter part of the winter, but it's now back to normal.

Parkrun participants in 9 South London events,
second weekend in March, 2013 and 2014

10ks

Nearly 700 people finished the 'Wrap up and run' 10k in Crystal Palace last week (16th March) in aid of Age UK. Patrick Brown of East London Runners was the fastest man (35:52), while Sarah Watson of Kent AC was the fastest woman (39:59).

With the encouragement of Southwark Council, London City Runners are establishing a London City Athletics Club that will include a youth athletics section. Their inaugural event is a 10k run in Southwark Park on March 30th - with plans in place too to refurbish the athletics track in the park. On Saturday 5 July the park will also see the Southwark Park 150th anniversary 10k Run, organised by PB Race Events.

PB Race Events are also organising the 'Run for Diabetes 10k' in Greenwich Park on Saturday 14th June, while on 19th October there's another Greenwich Park 5k/10k organised by Run Through.

New Eltham Joggers are organising the Eltham Park 5 on Sunday June 8th, a 5 mile run through Eltham Parks and Shepherdleas Wood. There's also a 3.5 km run, and a 1 mile family fun run on the same day.

Croydon Half

Next big run for me is the Croydon Half Marathon on 30th March,organised by Striders of Croydon - I think there's still some places left.

(all photos from Sidcup 10 2014)

See previously: South London Running News Summer 2013

Running London (3): Southwark Park

It was the first parkrun in Southwark Park yesterday. A good turn out of 150, with the rain holding off after earlier showers.  I am pretty familiar with the park, having run round it a few times with people from work in our lunchtime runs. The course is flat and fast with tarmac almost all the way round - the 20 fastest runners all finished in less than 20 minutes. Mind you there were some very experienced runners taking part, including three with more than 250 parkruns under their belt.

David White (Croydon Harriers, as well as Southwark Council's Run! Co-ordinator) had the fastest time amongst the men (16:57), and Janet Worster (City Runners) was the fastest woman (19:35). But as usual at parkrun it was an inclusive field with plenty of runners who had never taken part in parkrun before - some of whom will no doubt become the bedrock of Southwark Park as it establishes itself.

As it was an inaugural event, the run attracted quite a few runners from around London and beyond, including Parkrun podcast presenter Danny Norman and a contingent from Orpington Road Runners there to celebrate Zoe Wright completing 50 parkruns (Zoe has struggled with cancer and family tragedies, and writes enthusiastically about parkrun at her blog)

The history of running in Southwark Park

Just south of the river Thames in Rotherhithe, Southwark Park was opened in 1869. It has a long history of athletics, as local historian Pat Kingwell has documented in his Some Races Run: Glimpses of Athletics in Southwark Park. Seemingly in its early days cricket was pretty much the only sport catered for, but from 1890 Cambridge Harriers started having regular running events in the park. The club grew out of Clare College Mission, a philanthropic endeavour involving Cambridge graduates doing charitable works amongst the Bermondsey poor - the Dilston Grove art gallery in Southwark Park was formerly the Clare College Mission Church. Cambridge Harriers Athletics Club continues to this day , though now based in Bexley and training in Eltham.

By 1898 Cambridge Harriers events were attracting crowds of 2000 to the park and in 1903 they had a membership of 150 runners. In October of that year, in his annual report to the London County Council, the Park Superintendent James White commented that athletics was thriving on Monday and Wednesday evenings and early mornings from 6am, the latter “mostly men employed in the printing trade.”

Also in 1903 another club, St. Katherine’s (Rotherhithe) Harriers, were holding meetings in the park which attracted 2000 spectators to the oval - the cricket ground area sometimes used for athletics. In July of the same year, Southwark Schools Athletics festival attracted over 1800 child participants in a day-long event, watched by 8000 people. School sports days continued in the interwar years, as well annual Children’s Sports and Gala Days throughout the 1930s organised by the Bermondsey and Rotherhithe Trades Council and the Bermondsey Labour Party at the time of the May Day celebrations.

The park was close to the Surrey Docks and to the factories of Bermondsey, so the privileging of cricket over other sports such as football and running can be seen as disadvantaging local working class people. Even when athletes were allowed to use the cricket oval for training, rules stipulated that this was  'provided he is attired in proper University costume' (1898).

In the late 19th century Cambridge Harriers campaigned for a dedicated running track in the park, and in 1910 the Southwark Park Improvement Committee (which included representatives of the dockers union) took a deputation to the London County Council calling for an athletics track. These demands were rejected, and it was not until 1980 that a running track was finally opened in Southwark Park. The following year the very first London Marathon route included a diversion through the park, though from 1982 this was changed so the route goes past it rather than across it.

Today the track is in disrepair, though plans are being developed to refurbish it. The park is having a bit of resurgence as a running venue, with London City Runners now training there and a 10k taking place there next month - all this plus the new weekly parkrun which will no doubt go from strength to strength.

Getting there: Parkrun (every Saturday, 9 am) starts at the corner of the park nearest to Surrey Quays station (London Overground); Canada Water, Bermondsey and Rotherhithe stations are also nearby to the park. Local buses 47, 188, 381, C10 and P12 all stop near the Jamaica Road entrance.

Post-run refreshments: there is a cafe in the park, never seen it as busy as yesterday. There also various cafes just across the road in Surrey Quays Shopping Centre, including one in Decathlon Sports.

Blog7t has another report of the Southwark Parkrun with lots more photos: http://www.blog7t.com/2013/09/southwark-parkrun-inaugural-event.html

Southwark Park showing parkrun route - the shape of what was the oval cricket ground, also used for running,
can be clearly seen in the centre

South London Running News (1): Summer 2013

A round up of running things going on round my way:

Your Pace no Race in Burgess Park

I took part in the 5k parkrun in Burgess Park (Camberwell/Walworth) last week, which like all UK parkruns takes place every Saturday at 9 am. Something slightly different coming up in the park next month though:

'Fancy a running event where no one comes last? Are you new to running and want an achievable goal? Not ready for a 5k or 10k race yet? "Your pace no race" is a running event were no one comes last. You can choose from two, three or four kilometre runs, with no timer, no top three prizes and no race numbers. Just you, your challenge distance and a fun, friendly, no pressure event.

Sunday 22 September 2013, 11am to 1pm. £5 entry for all distances Register on the day and arrive by 10.15am to pay and sign in. Free tshirt for all participant All events are wheelchair and pram friendly.

Southwark Park

Meanwhile elsewhere in Southwark, Rotherhithe's Southwark Park is re-emerging as a running venue with a new parkrun starting there on Saturday September 7th. I went for a run there today, nice flat course with tarmac path so should be good for those chasing a 5k PB.

This month London City Runners have started a weekly Thursday training night in the park (7 pm start) , using the nearby Seven Islands Leisure Centre to leave belongings. London City Runners was established in 2010 and has quickly grown to over 2000 members. The club currently train twice a week from Bermondsey Square, but due to restrictive space have been looking to expand the number of sessions they offer each week.

There's also a 10k fun run in the park on 12 October. Details from Southwark's RUN! London Activator David White (david.white@southwark.gov.uk)

Other Parkrun News

Bromley Parkrun are celebrating their 4th birthday on 31st August 2013, and will be running their usual course backwards - that is running in the opposite direction to normal, not actually running backwards!

My home Hillyfields Parkrun in Lewisham will be having its first birthday on 14th September with cake and prizes. They will also be reversing their normal direction so those dreaded uphill stretches will now be a doddle, and those downward slopes... well you do the math. Check their facebook page for updates on what's planned..

Athletic Clubs

There's lots of running clubs locally, most of which cater for all levels from beginners to elite runners (including in some cases international athletes). South London Clubs include:

- Croydon Harriers - based in South Norwood.
- Kent Athletic Club - based in Ladywell/Lewisham
- Dulwich Runners - have a 10k charity run coming up on 6th October, starting and finishing in Dulwich Park.
- Dulwich Park Runners
- Herne Hill Harriers - actually based in Tooting Bec, not Herne Hill.
- Beckenham Running Club
- Blackheath and Bromley Harriers
- Petts Wood Runners
- London City Runners. (see above)
- Clapham Runners
- South London Harriers - based in Coulsden, but also training at Crystal Palace
- Cambridge Harriers - based in Bexley, also train in Eltham

Running at work by the River Thames

I went for a very pleasant run at lunchtime with a group of people from work. They run a couple of times a week, and are also preparing for the 5k Your Way event at Hackney Marshes in September. We have some great places to run near to work, today's 6k took in Southwark Park, King Stair's Gardens and various historic locations including the Angel pub on the River Thames and the Rotherhithe house where Jessica Mitford may have lived. All that and dodging the tourists under Tower Bridge.



Caryatid Statues in Southwark Park - they once adorned Rotherhithe Town Hall before World War 2 damage
(photo by Julesfoto)

It was the first time I'd done a lunchtime run at work and I wasn't sure how it would go. Well I knew the run would be fine, it was more the thought of returning to work afterwards. Usually after I've got my breath back I have a post-run feeling of deep relaxation which is not exactly consistent with being at work. I also had a potentially difficult meeting immediately after lunch, so wasn't sure whether I would be able to get back into the zone. As it turned out  my calmness and a quick shower carried me through nicely, though an afternoon of work soon put paid to that deep relaxation...