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The Course

The route is within Gunnersbury Park, is 5000m (5K) long and is mostly on park pathways, with short sections on grass. The grass areas may become slippery and muddy when wet and some of the pathways are in need of resurfacing so there are some trip hazards. 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. Parking is limited so try to arrive early.

Course Safety

The Gunnersbury 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 or harness 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). Health advice about running can be found at the excellent Runners' Medical Resource website.
  • 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 Gunnersbury 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 run 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 Gunnersbury parkrun in a larger map

Getting There

Location of Start

The start is near the car park and childrens play area, in the centre of the park, alongside a large hedgerow.

Getting There by Public Transport

By Tube:
Acton Town (District line/Piccadilly line) is 10 minutes walk
South Ealing (Piccadilly line) is 15 minutes walk
Kew Bridge (National Rail) is 15 minutes walk
Gunnersbury (District line) is 20 minutes walk.

By Bus:
E3 serves Popes lane (for Gunnersbury park).
65 passes close to Gunnersbury park, stopping in South Ealing road.
H91 stops on the south side of the park.

Getting There on Foot

The main entrance is on the corner of Popes lane and Lionel road north. The nearest entrance to the start point is the car park entrance off Popes lane.

Getting There by Road

Gunnersbury park is located close to the North Circular Road (A406), Great West Road (A4) and the M4 (junction 2).

For sat nav users please use W3 8LQ

Course Description

The course is a figure of 8. Starting near the car park, the route heads south before turning right and following the path around the edge of the park. After returning to the start, the route turns left passing the boating lake and cafe and follows the path to the right back towards the start.

Post Run Coffee

Please join us for a post run coffee in the Gunnersbury Park café, a short walk from the start/end.