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The Course

The course is 5000m (5K) long. This has been accurately measured by us with a professional measuring wheel. The course is in Wormwood Scrubs Park, Shepherd's Bush, and run on a mixture of grass and woodland 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. Parking is limited so try to arrive early.

Course Safety

The Wormwood Scrubs 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 Wormwood Scrubs 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 Wormwood Scrubs parkrun in a larger map

Getting There

Location of Start

Meet up on the piece of grass that faces the entrance of the Linford Christie Car Park (see the flag on the Course Map).

Getting There by Public Transport

By Bus:

to Scrubs Lane: 220
to Du Cane Road: 7, 70, 72, 272, 283

By Tube:

East Acton (Central Line), then walk Erconwald Street until you reach the Park. There is a footpath along by the prison.
White City (Central Line) then walk north on Wood Lane or on the bus routes listed above.

Getting There on Foot

The course and the start are situated just behind Hammersmith Hospital off Du Cane Road.

Getting There by Road

Wormwood Scrubs is located in the north-eastern corner of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West London/White City.

It is very close to the shopping Centre Westfield which is indicated frequently when you get to London.

For satnav users, enter W12 0DF

Parking is available.

Course Description

The course is a 2 lapper entirely on grass and open scubland. Starting by the car park, the route heads north through the middle of the park before turning left when reaching the north boundaries. It then follows the edges of the park back past the prison before arriving back at the start.

Post Run Coffee

Please join us for a post parkrun in the Thames Valley Harriers clubhouse at Linford Christie Stadium, or - If the clubhouse isn't open - at the Coffee Cup Café, 22 North Pole Road, W10 6QL.