The 5 TOUGHEST parkruns
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- Опубліковано 27 лип 2024
- Lots of us claim our parkrun is mega hilly and super tough BUT is it one of the 5 toughest parkruns? Thanks to the experts at RunBritain and the amazing volunteers who sent us footage of their courses, we can show you exactly what they’re like!
↓↓ Have you run any of the toughest parkruns? Or have you been inspired to do a bit of parkrun tourism in the quest to tackle the toughest? Tell us in the comments below ↓↓
The list’s made using the Standard Scratch Score (‘SSS’) of each course. This is a unique system developed by the guys at RunBritain which is a score relating to the course difficulty. The higher the number the more difficult the course is. This is what they say is used to calculate it:
"The SSS is a difficulty score based on how easy or difficult it was to run a quick time in a given race. The harder it was to run a quick time, the higher the SSS score. The way it is worked out is by looking at people's times in a particular race and comparing it against their previous performances. As a very simplified example, if 100 people run in race A one weekend, and the same 100 run in race B over the same distance the next weekend, if, on average, the field is 60 seconds slower in race B than race A, there was clearly some factor (be it weather conditions, accuracy of course measurement, type of terrain, competitiveness of the field, how hilly the course was etc) which caused times to be slower. Therefore the SSS for race B will be higher than the SSS for race A."
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Have you been inspired to give any of these a go? Which is the toughest parkrun you’ve done? 👇👇
The Running Channel friton 5k I’m only 10 tho
Did Woolacombe park run recently on holiday there , before I knew it was the toughest 😂😂
The Running Channel flatts lane is tough, most probably be in the top 5
My toughest one yet is Waterfall park in South Africa. 3kms downhill and 2kms uphill.
WoodRIDGE, hardest in Ohio. :)
I hereby swear that I will never complain again about the two minor inclines on my local PR
😂
You should try Scotland! Some of the routes are so hard , some runner's are still out on the course and it's Tuesday🏃
Ha 😂
mark findlay agreed I live in Scotland and some of the bits are hard
Brian Cooper Sorry I didn’t know there was one in Glasgow because I don’t live in Glasgow 😂
captain mirrorboots you also need an end quotation mark on “runners”
Of the six Glasgow parkruns Drumchapel is by far the toughest.
Great Yarmouth North Beach Parkrun is tougher than Woolacoombe. No one has yet run it in under 20 minutes!
I think the most overlooked aspect of what makes a parkrun (or any race) difficult is how the downhill elevation is spent. For instance if it's all used up on one very steep downhill, that won't be as fast as if that same elevation was used on a shallow downhill gradient over a longer distance. It's true for up hills as well. Short but steep up hills probably are faster for than a long slog with a more shallow up hill gradient.
Thank you UK for inveting ParkRun.
For some crazy reason i really fancy the No1 toughest parkrun! Although i might work on the top 5 fastest to start with ... and may i echo your words 'thank-you to all the amazing volunteers'
I live down in Devon and there are several notorious ones:
-Parke parkrun, which is all off road, very muddy and rough underfoot and there is a whopping steep hill half a km in.
-Tamar Trails parkrun is all offroad and difficult to run on with a very steepd downhill, then flat then a horrible uphill to the finish line. Even 20-22 minute runners there sometimes stop and walk up it.
We’ll have to put them on our list to visit!
Great video. Loved it. I run Wepre each week and that is tough.
Yay. I've done Woolacombe Dunes too and it's tough. May have to do Mount Edgcumbe now!
Let us know how you get on!
I hope to do all 5 of them in the future as I will be moving to the UK I'm the next month so now I'm even more excited to see what parkrun is going to have in store for me 😁
They all look like so much fun and the countryside is just beautiful. I really have to travel the UK again soon.
Yes! Come over :)
You need to add Thousand hills parkrun in South Africa ... the male course records is 20:07, and that is actually ‘unpossible’ it is trail all the way on a single track, extremely steep ups and down, total elevation gain is 216m and both uphill and downhill are too steep to actually run it without sliding off the hill! It took me 1 hour and 13 minutes!! (Never again!!!)
But the view and scenery is beyond stunning!
WOW 😮 Sounds incredible. We’d love to check it out some time
Barbel Browne I second that, it is brutal, beautiful and more of a trail run than the actual trail runs I have tried 😁
If you want a hilly one try Wyre Forest in Worcestershire!!
If you want a flat one, go to Armley parkrun near Leeds! It’s still hard because it’s such a fast pace. My record there is about 18:45 ish. I tried it once when I was visiting!
Ludlow is a tough one too
I really wish they would start doing 10k parkruns on Sunday mornings :)
I ran around Mt. Edgcumbe while on holiday. Don't feel so bad about suffering on those climbs now.
Drumchapel parkrun is one of the top rated tough UK parkruns. Top 5 for sure
Not quite this time. It’s actually just outside top 5 at number 6!
Not sure of the criteria used
But
Drumchapel and Wepre are two very tough ones
Drumchapel is my local event, and tough!
I did Churchfields Farm a few weeks ago (early July) and it's really not that bad in the summer! You get plenty of downhills to recover after the hills and the ground was quite firm when I ran. However, I can imagine in the winter when it's wet it must be a nightmare! For an all-year round beast of a course, try Wepre in North East Wales. It has one big, very steep hill that you have to do twice.
My usual parkrun has about 75m elevation gain (246 feet) and when it snows it's quite a challenge, because it's mostly trail and uneven terrain with roots and pebbles. I ran at threshold effort yesterday and managed a sub 29 min by a matter of seconds). To give you some perspective, I had ran a different 5k parkrun the week before in 22:05.
I ran the Woolacombe Dunes parkrun a year ago - running that distance on sand, followed by the sand dune and then back up that incredibly steep hill, was horrible haha - did it in 33:55, my slowest parkrun time by about 3 minutes!
I've done Watergrove Parkrun around 35 times now, that hill never gets easier😅 Great video
It definitely looks tough! It’s on our parkrun tourism bucket list for sure! Thanks for watching 🙌
I’ve done it...it’s a beast...it’s just up and up and up...
Parkrun at Parke, Bovey Tracey is pretty brutal with a very steep rocky, muddy hill at the start, and many places you have to watch your step between trees.
Try doing it in Darwin Australia during the wet season, the humidity is ridiculous and you can never get enough oxygen for your muscles.
We did Whinlatter last weekend, stunning views - savage 200 + metres of ascent. Not quite a personal worst and well worth it!
Awesome! And well done for it not being a PW!! Woolacombe next??
Great Yarmouth is supposed to be the hardest park run, but it does depend on what time you do it, today I done it today after heavy rain yesterday and the sand was somewhat compacted making it a little easier, then again if the run takes place at low tide you can divert to some better terrain. But judging by the number of people who regularly do it which is about 50 would suggest it’s very tough..
Maybe you could try Uckfield parkrun during the winter. From experience, I can say it is incredibly tough
Tempted to have a go at taking a course record on one of these tough ones
Do it!!! Let us know which one you go for
Ouch. Heading to Woolacombe this weekend - have to test it out!
How was it
The one at Gibside, National Trust is tough and scenic one in North East England! 🏃♂️🏃♀️😃
A beautiful place for a parkrun 👍
Keen to try the Worcestershire park run now I've seen this !
I love parkrun, want to do more. Have mostly ran Southampton, Cardiff and Didcot. Southampton has an alternative route that it quite hilly when there are events going on in the common. - I can't imagine it would make this list though.
I haven't yet looked, but do you have a list of the most beautiful parkruns?
My local Parkrun isn't usually the toughest but once in the first week of January, the grass hadn't been cut over the Christmas break and it rained heavily for almost 2 weeks. Long wet grass almost to your knees, feels like jogging in shallow water. Also slippery on the downhills .
Nice to see a Lovely Goat doing the No1, go goat 🤘
Love the ‘Lonely’ typo to ‘Lovely’ 🙌
We have some tough ones in South Africa. One of them, Thousand Hills, has an elevation of 201m or 660 feet.
Wow 😮 That sounds mega tough!!
There is a new one in Perth, Australia called Mundy Regional parkrun of over 200m of elevation gain as well. It’s awesome!
The Running Channel ua-cam.com/video/KmhFiAxhyUc/v-deo.html
I've done the Whinlatter Forest parkrun and I think I ran it the day you filmed the clip there in this film. Millom parkrun's 'Fun run in the mud' over the winter months is reputedly 'tough' but definitely worth it. Millom parkrun will be even more fun on a day when there's a strong wind coming down from the fells or blowing in from the sea. Just think 'scenic' and all will be well with these so-called 'tough' parkruns.
yes I was wondering where Millom was. Not done it but 'there is no actual surface' I've heard said. Sounds like it's not as bad in summer though.
Millom now has a tarmac track all the way round, so it's not bad these days actually. Millom is located in the far west of Cumbria.
Portrush in Northern Ireland for me. point to point all on sand, plus a biting atlantic wind and when i did it, hail and snow to boot. Literally numb afterwards!
love your shows
I Have done Whinlater Forest and I am a kid. I was on holiday.
If you’re just starting out at park run, Huntingdon Country Park is a good one as it is widely pathed for quite a lot and no inclines
Definitely look at Camperdown Park Run Dundee Scotland...the terrain underfoot is enough of a battle if you weren’t going uphill for half of it too 😭
WOW! That sounds really tough!
I know it's not in the UK, but Cleland parkrun in South Australia is really hard. The average is about 37min, and I got my personal worst there. It's a there-and-back with a steep uphill to get to the turn around point, and there are no flat (or functionally flat) surfaces, except for about 20 meters at the turn around. It has fantastic views though.
Wow! That does sound tough!
If you think your number one parkrun is tough, you should come to The Netherlands and try the Zandvoort Circuit Run half marathon. 8k of the race is on a beach, after which you have a massive dune to climb and then another 8k of rolling hills! The only real flat part of the course is the start/finish line (also you start and finish on a motor racing track which is going to be used for F1 from next year!). The whole thing is just bonkers but a ton of fun! (Also, Droitwich is my home town but I’ve been living abroad for 7 years and never actually made it to the park run yet!)
I've done the Churchfields Farm parkrun and got a pretty respectable time. The one thing not mentioned that makes this even more difficult is the amount of cow pats you have to dodge
and loads of thick mud generally when it's wet; and the style (I've done it twice). Managed 26' 30" when it was dry a couple of months ago (about three minutes slower than my average).
😂
But where are the easiest Parkruns?! That's what I want to know!!
Ha! Fastest parkruns coming to the channel soon John.
Promenade parkruns, super flat and all road
Cardiff has gotta be up there!
North Beach, Durban, South Africa. Also the biggest weekly Parkrun the world we are told, usually 1500+ on a quiet week.
Worthing park run is pretty easy!
I thought the Mole Valley run in Dorking was hard, these look next level :O
I’ve done Woolacombe and it’s not too bad... it’s just the dune of doom
Not done any of these, but I now want to do them all!
👌 you should!
Looks really great. The awesome thing about Parkrun is that it's free and such a great platform to meet new people.
Totally agree!
Hadleigh parkrun should be on this, gravel and last mile is 350ft of hills
U should try Cuerdan valley in Bamber bridge Lancashire
You should have had a look at Sheringham park run. The whole 2nd half of the 5km is a constant uphill struggle.
Lanhydrock in Cornwall must've been close? We are the 2nd toughest in terms of elevation gain anyway! And if you run the route backwards? Yeah you're best of just staying in the cafe ;)
Haha, yeah the Christmas reverse route treat... I think I was accidentally busy that weekend last year!
The old course at Sheringham Park used to be the 5th hardest however they did away with Heartbreak Hill. Think Norfolk is flat ? Try running Sheringham, it's a beautiful run and if you are lucky you might even see a steam train pass by from the North Norfolk Railway.
Sounds awesome! 👌
Best of luck to everyone running #parkrun this morning 👍 the weather may be a little wet & grey,but Go smash it 😁👍
Good luck everyone!
Off to try Woolacombe Dunes Parkrun this morning. Wish me luck!
Mole Valley park run in the Surrey hills (runs through Denbie's vineyard) is a newest park run and tougher than some of those featured. No buggies allowed.
We will have to try it out when parkrun is back on!
Toughest for me is Clitheroe Castle parkrun, when i was visiting the castle as a child, I couldn't walk up that hill and had to take a break. Fast forward to 2018 and I ran up that hill 5 times in this killer 5 lapper in 31 minutes. Its the 60th toughest parkrun apparently and it's definitely not my PW!
Would love to know where molevalley sits on this, approx 2.5km up hill often through the mud!
That's the toughest I've done out of 33 different events. Alice Holt probably next.
Woolacombe looks amazing I'll have to give it a go
I’ll be in the Lake District in September so I’ll give that one a go
Love your channel. How about a follow-up, the 5 hardest parkruns in (Greater) London?
Thanks for watching! That’s a great suggestion. We’ll see if we can get to work on the maths of it! 🤓
Going to try Woolacombe this weekend, wish me luck!
Good luck! And enjoy - it’s beautiful!
I love Watergrove. They no longer do the infamous ‘Y’ shape due to the course collapsing and no one is fixing it. The alternate course is still breathtaking though. Both figuratively and literally.
We have started a park run here in South Africa its a very nice route but u must come run it the hardest part is called heart break hill its very tuff but very enjoyable
Mr M where abouts is yours?
Got to try East grinstead parkrun in the winter.
'That Hill'
You should try flatts lane In Middlesbrough
What about Flatts Lane? Park Run admit it’s in the top 2 for toughest Park Runs. That hill is a killer
Never done Flatts lane, Gibside is tough as is Blackhill.
Surely you mean 'parkrun' - one word and all lower case...
I did Flatts Lane last week and the main hill (Big grey Hill on Strava) seemed worse than anything on there, bar possibly the dune-hill at Woolacombe. I'm sure the only reason it isn't the slowest is down to the 1km or so at the bottom which is flat enough to knock time off. Godfalter hill (I think it's called) isn't just steep, it's like 300m long and climbs 36m so running up there is relentless. I run three times a week but went out on Monday and could barely manage a 5k! (I know this video has been posted a while, someones just posted it to a running group on Facebook)
I did Flatts Lane with my disabled 5 year old son in his wheelchair buggy. I did 29 mins which in hindsight was actually quite a good effort!!
@@steveburke2190 Absolutely sterling work there, that's no easy task at all!
Can somebody do this for South Africa please?
I have a local one which I haven't tried yet called Flatts lane(it's not flat). Hear it's one of the toughest too.
I would often do the Portrush Park run which is entirely on sand, and yes there isn’t that much elevation, but because it’s all on sand it is hard on your ankles and feet
Takeouts: "Character Building" and '"Dune of Doom"
Hey Guys!! First.. Love love love your videos 🥰 Who could we connect with to get a game plan to start a ParkRun here in San Diego??
Hey! Thanks so much. Our guess would be to hit up the parkrun HQ team to get one set up. Let us know if you manage to! We'd love to come and visit!!
Ps, don't forget to hit 'Subscribe' and tap the bell icon so you get notified when we upload new videos about running - there's new stuff every week and it'd really help us out if you subscribed ☺️ (it is free after all! And you don't get much for free these days)
@@runningchannel Thanks for the reply! I'll certainly keep you updated as I'm working with Balboa Park Rec right now to get a course cleared then I'll present that to HQ. Fingers / toes / tongues / anything else crossed. : )
Sutton Park near Birmingham surely has to be on this list? It has a steep uphill section second to none. Ok, the hill/escarpment is fairly short, but then is followed not to long after by going down and then back up a steep hill. Even though it's all downhill after this you'll have no energy left in the legs for much, unless you are a highly trained athlete!!! Ally Pally is a killer too.
I live in South Devon so will have to give woolacombe Parkrun a go one day 😂
You should. It’s SO hard. Trust us!
I'm going on holiday to Croyde next week so I'll give woolacombe a go !
I think Parke parkrun looks harder than that farm / fields one.
You should try Nose Hill parkrun in Calgary. It's 1220masl, if you're not used to high altitude running it'll break you esp on the last 200m where you have to run up a hill of 20-30m gain.
Ouch! Sounds brutal!
i did mount edgecombe last year and i literally omg it was so bad
Come and try our Parkrun at Highwoods Colchester Essex it’s certainly challenging.
Will put it on our to do list! 👌
Those cobble stones on Watergrove are a killer :D
They are!
Interesting to see these tough runs, I hate hills. Would a top 5 easiest be a good follow up?
Did the Whinlatter last weekend, did a character forming Personal Worst..... I'd do it again though!
Haha! Congrats on the PW! It's a great feeling, right? That one is TOUGH! Woolacombe next??
@@runningchannel It's on the list! Bit too far for a weekend trip, might have to pencil it in for Parkrun No.50.... 😎
My local parkrun is tough but it isnt in the UK. Its is the saboika jogging in buizingen. 6,5km. First lots off offroad on the 5,5 km an hill called drasop before desending steeply to the finish line.
and there I was tired from the Victoria Dock Park Run
Besides the last two, these seem quite tame from the area I live in the US, especially for the top 5. Hard to compare since you don’t give lengths. But for example my high school (secondary?) distance running team would regularly train on dunes where a 5km would take 40m for men who normally run sub 16 minute 5km in competition. Harder courses would obviously be even slower. And that’s just in my area!
True, but parkrun is not meant to be difficult - it's inclusive, for everybody, for people new to running, families, children etc - and so these slightly trickier courses are the outliers. Nobody is pretending parkrun is a hard trail run or fell run.
Oh Rochdale not far from me might have to try it.
Accidentally did Churchfields as my first Parkrun. I didn't find out until after it is the second hardest... 😁 And yes, it was flipping hard work lol Going for something a touch easier next time for a guaranteed parkrun PR!!
Haha! Oops! Well done for doing it. Fancy Woolacombe next??
@@runningchannel the sane part of my brain says no way, but the little voice is screaming yes!
Queen elizabeth deserved an honourable mention and props to the local pro who somehow gets sub 16.
Who filmed the last Parkrun footage ? I would like to get into contact with them please...
Crathes Castle in Aberdeenshire gets my vote for a tough all rounder!
Gonna go try one of them these days 😉
Which one do you fancy?
As someone from rochdale i can confirm this is one of the few things we have going for us
👌
After your videos, I really want to take part in parkruns. Unfortunately, they are not held in my country. I have to go abroad.
When they are back running it would be make a great trip!
I did WaterGrove today and as i am use to hill running found this one easier for me clocked a finish time of 24 mins
You know it's a tough run when people are crying before it's started!
Haha! Yup!
Churchfields becomes more of a mud run in the winter I've heard
Haha. Our local record is 23:18. Average is 49 minutes. I've done a sub 22 and not broken 29 at Westville in Durban South Africa
You gained a subscriber 😘
Wooo! Thanks.
Shipley Country ParkRun is one of the hardest ParkRuns in the country, but I don't think it's as hard as those listed.
Put some respect on Lyme Park parkrun’s name.. nah great video really interesting 😂
I finally done my first parkrun. First of many👌🏻
Hurrah! Congrats! How did you find it?
@@runningchannel very fun😊
Awesome! We hope you’ll be back tomorrow 🤞
Am going on holiday to Woolacombe in 2 weeks so will def give that a go! 😅
Do it! Let us know how you get on
👌
Did you do it today? How'd it go?
Keith P Couldn’t get down here til lunchtime yesterday so missed it 🤦♂️ Lame excuse I know... especially as I’ve heard of some runners getting up b4 dawn and catching a flight just to toe the line at a far flung exotic Parkrun!! 😆 I will prob try the Woolacombe route self supported solo one day this week...
Pity you missed it. Thanks for the update though. ☺