Home/Course
Wimbledon Common

The Course

Beverley Brook, the Windmill and the Butts: the ground Oxford and Cambridge have raced over since 2000, and how to follow it.

The routeLandmarksWhere to watch

Beverley Brook · the water splash. Graham Smith Photography, 2025

Two routes, one Common

Out across the brook, up to the Windmill, home through the Butts.

All three races start and finish beside Thames Hare & Hounds’ headquarters. They share the opening miles and the run home; the Gentlemen add a long northern loop that takes them almost to Tibbets Corner and back.

This is cross country as it was meant to be: open grass, woodland tracks, uneven winter ground, climbs and a passage straight through Beverley Brook.

The official course plan

Follow the lettered route

Choose a race, then pick a stage to see it on the map. The letters are the ones marshals and the Match Programme use.

Thames Hare and Hounds course plan of Wimbledon Common, with the route marked by lettered points from A to Z2
Course plan courtesy of Thames Hare & Hounds, based on the 1995 map drawn by Robin Thomas. Open the map full size ↗
Gentlemen’s Race · 7½ miles
  1. Start
  2. A
  3. B
  4. C
  5. D
  6. E
  7. F
  8. G
  9. H
  10. I
  11. J
  12. K
  13. L
  14. M
  15. N
  16. O
  17. P
  18. Q
  19. R
  20. S
  21. T
  22. U
  23. H
  24. I
  25. J
  26. K
  27. L
  28. M
  29. V
  30. W
  31. X
  32. Y
  33. Z
  34. Z1
  35. Z2
  36. Finish
Ladies’ and Old Blues’ Races · 4 miles
  1. Start
  2. A
  3. B
  4. C
  5. D
  6. E
  7. F
  8. G
  9. H
  10. I
  11. J
  12. K
  13. L
  14. M
  15. V
  16. W
  17. X
  18. Y
  19. Z
  20. Z1
  21. Z2
  22. Finish

Exact locations of every lettered point are in Thames Hare & Hounds’ course points list ↗. Final race-day instructions take precedence over this guide.

A Gentlemen’s runner wading through the water splash while others come down the bank behind
The Gentlemen at the water splash
Two Ladies’ runners scrambling up the muddy bank out of the brook as spectators cheer
Up the bank and out of the brook
Old Blues’ runners crossing Beverley Brook in a line
The Old Blues’ Race

Photography: Graham Smith Photography, 2025

Course character

Four places to know

Every Varsity runner remembers these. Each one is marked on the course plan above.

Detail of the course map showing the start and finish beside the Thames Hare and Hounds clubhouse
Roehampton Vale

Start and finish

Beside the Thames clubhouse

On the west side of Beverley Brook, just across the brick bridge by the Thames Hare & Hounds clubhouse. Every race starts and finishes here.

Detail of the course map showing the water splash on Beverley Brook between points A and B
Beverley Brook

The water splash

Between A and B

Reached shortly after the start, as runners cross Beverley Brook from the Commons Extension playing fields. The image of Varsity day.

Detail of the course map showing the Windmill, its car park and points L, M and R
Wimbledon Common

The Windmill

At L and M

The Ladies’ race passes once and the Gentlemen’s race three times. The café there serves refreshments.

Detail of the course map showing the Butts beside Queen’s Mere between points Y and Z
Queen’s Mere

The Butts

Between Y and Z

Invariably the muddiest part of the course. Only a mile or so from the finish, the boggy ground saps the strength of the toughest runners.

Course history

On this ground since 1975

1975The Races move to Thames Hare & Hounds’ new headquarters on the Memorial Playing Fields at Roehampton Vale.

1992The first of several extensions to the Ladies’ course.

2000Today’s courses are introduced, and the Ladies’ course reaches its current 4 miles.

Every venue since 1880 is on the History page →

Race day

Coming to watch?

The course loops back on itself, so one walk across the Common gives you several views of each race. Everything you need for the day is on the Races page.