The Course

The course is 5000m (5K) long. This has been accurately measured by a UK Athletics official course measurer. The course is in the Black Park Country Park, Slough, and entirely on flat, wide compacted earth and gravel tracks, although some sections of the course do accumulate mud, leaves and puddles after rain. Dependent on availability, marshals will be at key sections of the course, or temporary signs in place.

Please remember that the parkrun uses shared paths. For the continued success of the event, please give way to other park users. This won't hurt your time, it won't stop you from getting a PB and it will make sure everyone continues to to enjoy the event.

Please, wherever possible walk, jog, cycle or use public transport when attending the event. If you do have to drive, please consider car-sharing to reduce our impact on both the environment and other park users.  Please also watch out for other park users when arriving and leaving. There is plenty of parking (£2.00 pay & display parking), but please try to arrive early.

Course Safety

The Black Park parkrun is a fun, free event organised by volunteers for the benefit of everyone. We wish to make the run as safe as possible, so runners, spectators and helpers are asked to take care about the following:

  • Please be considerate to the park and other park users at all times.
  • Please arrive by foot, by pedal-power or by public transport if you can - your efforts help to reduce our impact on the park and the planet.
  • Please consider volunteering to help occasionally - this event survives only because of your generosity - please vist the volunteer page for more information.
  • Take care near roads and car parks - some vehicles drive very quickly. Please congregate away from the cars and be careful in particular if you have children. If you’re driving to the run, please drive carefully even if you’re late!
  • When running, take care on uneven surfaces - whether on grass or on tarmac. Watch out for cyclists, other runners, pedestrians, children, deer, dogs, vehicles, park maintenance work, falling branches, bollards, posts and other obstacles around the course.
  • Runners with dogs are welcome, but please keep dogs on a short lead and under control throughout the event.
  • Runners pushing buggies are also welcome, but please take extreme care of other runners around you. If possible start from the back of the field and try to keep to one side of the main body of runners.
  • Please make sure you’re fit enough to run 5k (3.1 miles) – if you’re in any doubt, please consult your doctor.
  • Remember to warm up before the run.
  • If you see a runner with a serious problem, please stop to help them out and get help as soon as possible.
  • If you’re watching, keep clear of runners on the course, and look after any children and dogs you may have with you.
  • While rare, Lyme Disease is present in areas where deer live, and occasionally passed to human’s through infected ticks. See NHS Choices website for more about Lyme Disease, and how to deal with ticks.
  • This is a free training event, so all run and attend at their own risk.

We hope these tips help to ensure that Black Park parkrun is fun and safe for everyone.

Age Grading

All parkrun events use Age Grading to help athletes compare results.

Age Grading takes your time and uses the world record time for your sex and age group to produce a score (a percentage). This score allows you to compare your personal performance against other people's performances even though they might be a different age and a different sex to you - the higher the score the better the performance. The scores can also be compared across different race distances - to allow you to, for example, compare a 5km time against a marathon.

For more information, please see the Running For Fitness website.

Course Map


View Black Park parkrun in a larger map

Course Description

The course is one lap on firm, flat and wide tracks of compacted earth and gravel. Fast times can be expected.

Route

The start is just north of the car park on the western perimeter bridle path.

The route then goes north for 460 metres before turning right (signed).

Follow this wide track (which swings gradually to the right) ignoring any side turnings for 1.65km until the main A412 road is reached at the bottom southeast corner of the park.

Turn right (signed) and go for 550 metres, with the main road just outside the park on your left hand side, to a crossing of tracks.

Turn right again (signed) and continue on this main track for 350metres to a fork of tracks. Take the right fork (signed) and continue for another 750metres. Do not take any turnings off until reaching the next sign.

Turn left and go forward 350 metres to the “T” junction of paths at the heathland area.

Here turn left again (signed) and run-in on this track for 890 metres to the finish.

Further Information

The course has been confirmed by a UKAthletics official course measurer.

GPS users. Please be aware that the course has extensive tree cover, which means GPS devices cannot guarantee distance or pace.

The Black Park Country Park visitors map may be useful and are available from the visitor centre on the south side of the lake.

Getting There

Location of start

The start is 200 metres north of the main Black Park car park on the western perimeter bridle path.

Getting there by public transport

Bus service 335 from bay 1 at Slough Bus Station to Chalfont Common. Departs 0807. Get off at the Stag public house, Wexham Street. 11 minute journey. From there it is a 1.5 km walk down Rowley Lane to Black Park car park.

Bus service 58 from Uxbridge LT station to Britwell. Leaves 08:05 Saturday mornings. 15 minute journey maximum. Get off at Warren House Farm (Crooked Billet) and continue for 700 metres down the A412 until Black Park is reached on the right hand side. Go through the park approximately 1 km to the car park. A park map showing your location is displayed at this entrance.

The nearest rail station is Langley. From there it is a 5 km walk.

Getting there by road

Black Park Country Park is situated on the A412 Slough to Denham road 3.5 km from the A4 in Slough. It is signed on the left hand side. Turn left for the car park which is a further 1 km down on the right hand side.