Running on Clapham Common
A flat loop of roughly five kilometres, a Saturday parkrun on two laps, a running track and free club sessions most nights of the week. How to run Clapham Common, alone or with company.
By Clapham London Editorial
The best run on Clapham Common is the perimeter loop, roughly five kilometres and flat all the way round, so two laps make your 10k. The Common is about 220 acres of open grass and tree-lined paths, with three ponds to aim for and a running track if you want to be precise. There is club company on several nights of the week if you want it. Here is how to run it.
The loop
The perimeter loop is roughly 2.9 miles, or 5km, and the paths across the middle let you cut corners for shorter efforts or intervals. Start at Clapham Common tube, by the Old Town, and run anticlockwise along the North Side past Holy Trinity, then down the West Side and back along the South Side past The Windmill. Expect a mix of tarmac paths, grass and trail, all of it flat, and use the ponds as markers for reps. After dark, stay on the main paths and pavements, which are better lit.
Clapham Common parkrun
Every Saturday at 9am there is a free, timed 5km. It starts on the Broomwood Road side of the Common and is run entirely by volunteers. It was paused during Covid and came back in July 2021, and it has been a Clapham Saturday fixture ever since. If you cannot run, volunteer: it is the best way to meet half the neighbourhood. The course is two clockwise laps over a mix of tarmac, grass and trail, generally flat with a slight slope from south to north. It is popular: one spring Saturday saw 871 runners. Register at parkrun.org.uk before your first run, print your barcode, and arrive early to warm up.
The running track
The Common has its own running track among its sports facilities, alongside the tennis and netball courts and the pitches. It is the place for proper speed sessions without dodging buggies and dogs.
Clubs that run here
RunThrough Running Club: Monday, 7pm
The session meets by The Windmill on Clapham Common South Side. It starts with a group warm-up round the Common, then up to 30 minutes of intervals or fartlek. It is free to sign up, and there is no charge to use the Common.
Clapham Runners: Thursday, 7pm
A group interval session on the Common every Thursday evening. On Tuesdays at 8pm, Clapham Runners move to the track at Battersea Millennium Arena for coached speed and core work, and on Saturdays many members run parkrun, here or at Tooting Common.
London Frontrunners: Thursday, 7pm
London Frontrunners is open to anyone, whatever their ability, sex, sexual orientation or gender identity. The Thursday run meets at 6.50pm at Clapham Leisure Centre, 141 Clapham Manor Street, and goes at 7pm: either 5km, one loop of the Common, or 10km, adding Battersea Park. There are changing rooms and lockers at the centre, which take a £1 coin. Afterwards, the social starts at The Belle Vue and moves on to The Two Brewers on Clapham High Street.
Clapham Chasers
The area's big multisport club, founded by local runners in 2005 and now with more than 1,200 members, runs running, cycling and swimming sessions through the week for novices and experienced athletes. It is based at the Trinity Fields Clubhouse in Wandsworth, so check the club's timetable for where each session meets.
Five runs to try
- The 5k: one perimeter loop from Clapham Common tube, the classic before-work run.
- The 10k: two loops. Flat, steady and easy to pace.
- Pond reps: run hard between two ponds, jog to the next, repeat. The paths across the middle make it simple.
- The Battersea extension: one loop of the Common, then on to Battersea Park, the way the Frontrunners do their 10km.
- Saturday parkrun: the timed 5k, with a few hundred others for company.
Races on the Common
RunThrough holds 5k, 10k and half marathon races on the Common through the year, on flat paths with every kilometre flagged, water on the course and a medal at the end. They are a friendly first race, and you will already know the route.
Before and after
- Getting there: Clapham Common and Clapham South stations, both on the Northern line, sit at the edges of the Common.
- Breakfast: The Windmill on the South Side opens at 7am on weekdays, with breakfast until 11am.
- Coffee: the Pear Tree Cafe by the bandstand, right in the middle of the loop.
- Safety: wear something bright in winter, keep to the lit paths after dark, and watch for cyclists where the paths cross.
