Osterley parkrun - event 544

On the 25th October 2025 I ran the Osterley parkrun which was the 544th event held at the venue, my 259th parkrun and 176th different course I'd attended.

Over the course of the year I've steadily been ticking off the Greater London venues, so that by the time Saturday morning had come around I had ticked off 60 of the 65 venues across the region.

Having visited almost all of what Greater London has to offer I could say that I've seen it all. From venues with over 1,000 participants. Venues with multiple laps, multiple hills or in the case of Thames Path Woolwich a Walnut Whip/Curly Wirly feature slap bang in the middle of the course.

Across a size of 607 square miles the 9,000,000 inhabitants of London are spoilt for choice on Saturday mornings, but those living in the west are fortunate in that they will.have slightly easier access to Osterley, which until Saturday was to me just a stop on the Piccadilly line.

But it is of course much, much more than that.

A national trust property, Osterley is the location of Osterley House, originally built in the 1500's, it's now open to the public to enjoy as it would have been in 1780 with access to grounds and parkland.

The parkrun course takes in some of the parkland and starts directly outside the house which is probably one of the most impressive parkrun starts anywhere, not just Greater London.

The air had the feel of the first of Autumns chillier weather, and whilst there wasn't frost around, it certainly felt a possibility. The sky was clear and the sun was low in the sky, alongside airplanes coming into land at Heathrow Airport which is a stones throw from the venue.

In fact you needed to see the planes coming in low as a steady reminder that you were actually in London as once inside the ground of Osterley itself your transported, almost magically to an alternative rural reality that feels a million miles away from the hustle and bustle of one of the worlds greatest cities.

The course itself, as said above starts outside the house and takes in two laps of the grounds in a clockwise direction. 

The first part of the course is based on tarmac paths and runs from the house to the northern perimeter of the property where it runs parallel to the M4 and transitions onto a firm gravel path.

As it was autumn when visiting, the trees were awash with autumn colours and lit up magnificently by the low November sun. On part of the route you run by a lake, before taking a right hand turn through a gate and the landscape changes.

From dark pathways framed either side with trees and bushes, the next segment runs parallel to farmland. Open, flat, and green with horses and cows chewing contently.

Around another corner and the course changes profile again, the farm view is swapped for woodland as the next segments twists and weaves itself through the woods before popping out again by the lake outside of the house which completes lap one.

I had been suffering all week with a rotten cough and cold and was debating whether or not to actually go to parkrun or not. I arrived with the expectation that I'd walk, but from.the start I began to ran, albeit fairly slowly and not pushing myself through the crowd at the beginning.

Surprising myself, I made it around the first lap without stopping and so carried on around for the second on the basis of seeing how much further I could get before I had to pull up. But three quarters of the way around the second lap I decided I couldn't stop now and that is actually take a walk around again for the third time, just to get some photos as I couldn't get any of the course whilst running.

I finished in 204th position out of a field of 340 participants in a time of 30:34. The course has potential to be able to set a fast time if you start well. But the start can get congested from what I saw with not a huge amount of wiggle room for the first 800m or so.

Either way, i kept the promise to myself and walked around again enjoying the scenery and being outdoors on a detour route back to the car.

I say it all the time, but only as it's true and thats the fact that had parkrun not existed, I'd not have. Visited Osterley and would never have been able to enjoy the view of the house and it's surroundings.

People ask me why I get up early and drive for 80 minutes just for a 5k run, and mornings like Saturday are for exactly the reason. To be surprised and delighted, to be up, out and one with nature and the great outdoors. I might not like running, but doesn't enjoy being in beautiful surroundings?