‘Race Across South London’ - Hilly Fields junior parkrun #507 - 31/06/26
- aqasanu
- 1 day ago
- 3 min read
Previously, you could do two parkruns on New Year's Day. I completed this challenge on 1st January 2018. I went to Peckham Rye parkrun, then to Hilly Fields parkrun. I remember it fondly. Parkrunners were offering lifts to other parkrunners wanting to do the ‘double’, it was like something out of Race Across The World.
Yesterday, with my home parkrun closed due to the George Irvin Fun-Fair being in town, I went to Peckham Rye parkrun and so it felt appropriate that today I should return to Hilly Fields, but this time for their junior parkrun, making this my 5th new parkrun this year.
The origins of Hilly Fields can be traced back to the ambitions of the great social reformer Octavia Hill. Octavia was a campaigner for social housing, poverty alleviation, and access to green spaces for poor people. Her biggest legacy is being one of the three founders of the National Trust in 1895. One of her many achievements was forming a committee in 1889 to prevent Hilly Fields area from being sold to housing developers, as had been the fate of Deptford Common. Hilly Fields became a public park in 1896, designed by J J Sexby. Responsibility for maintaining the park passed to the London Borough of Lewisham in 1971.
Hilly Fields is approximately 46 acres, furnished with over 700 mature trees and many great features, including a beautiful meadow, you can see why the park has won a Green Flag Award. The 175-foot elevation provides panoramic views of the London skyline, including the Shard and the City of London, it is breathtaking.
The course starts behind the Pistachios cafe, where I met Tien, today’s Run Director and other members of the 28-strong volunteer team. This was event #507, and Tien sent everyone off with strict instructions to have fun. I joined two other tail walkers, a mother-daughter team, who, by judging how far back we were from the start, could closely estimate the number of attendees.
It is a two-lap anti-clockwise course and, according to Strava, has 26m of elevation. The two-lap course enables children who can only muster one lap to make a dignified exit after 1k, although this meant we Tail Walkers had to do a cheeky jog to catch up with the final finishers.
Unlike when I’d previously attended Hilly Fields, today I was walking and able to savour the views and sights the course offers. This includes rich views of Blythe Hill Fields, which can be seen to the south of the park. Mum and daughter offered great company, and it was fun to cheer on the faster runners as they overtook us on their second lap.
The finish funnel is by the stone circle, which was erected for the Millennium in 2000. It was designed by Richard Kindersley inspired by ancient megalithic structures like Stonehenge.
With all 107 juniors accounted for, we packed up, with the cafe offering the perfect location for token sorting, refreshment grabbing and parkrun faffing. I was once again struck by how parkrun juniors is as much for the adults who put it on as the young people who complete it.
Hilly Fields has an inspiring history and tremendous views. A destination I might never have visited if not for parkrun.
Next Saturday, I’ll be back at Burgess to celebrate with Rita, a Burgess regular, joining the 250 club. It will be great to see familiar faces and hear tales of running and volunteering tourism from the last two weeks.
Happy running, walking and volunteering.
You can read about how parkrun was created by the founder, Paul Sinton-Hewitt, a care leaver, in his book ‘One Small Step’, The Definitive Account of how a run became a Global Movement by clicking here.
You can buy a booklet about the Millennium Stone Circle produced by the Brockley Society by clicking here.
Comments