What went down at Merrell’s Parkland walk with Ollie Ranger

While London, like any city, can sometimes seem like an endless sprawl of concrete, Merrell’s ‘Outside in the City’ campaign aims to reveal a different truth: adventure and inspiration can be found in the most unexpected corners of urban life. For their latest ‘Ollie’s Routes’ event, the brand teamed up with Flock Together, once again encouraging city dwellers to find inspiration in the urban outdoors, this time through birdwatching.

Founded in 2020 by Ollie Olanipekun and Nadeem Perera, Flock Together was created as a birdwatching community to challenge the lack of representation of people of colour in outdoor activities. Through this collaboration, both Merrell and Flock Together showed that the outdoors is for everyone to enjoy and that true connection starts outside.

On July 30, Olanipekun led Dazed Club members and other attendees along North London’s winding Parkland Walk, before finishing up at Substation Studio for a well-earned rest, a refuel and a T-shirt customisation workshop.

Here’s what went down.

Following Merrell’s pavement markings and bright orange flags, a stream of Londoners in outdoorsy gear made their way to the meeting point. Here, shoes were swapped out for Merrell’s Moab Speed 2 Vent 2K’s, in colourways UMBER and ALLOY, while attendees collected tote bags equipped with branded binoculars, sunglasses, and more birdwatching essentials.

As the route wound through patches of greenery, Ollie kept the group looking up, sharing facts about the different bird calls, sightings and trees along the way. Before long, attendees were finding conversations of their own, swapping stories and getting to know each other as they wandered through the greenery.

For Dazed Club member Bahumi, the walk offered a chance to reconnect with nature. “I was born and raised in Botswana, which has amazing birds I grew up seeing in the garden. I often find I am searching for that experience in the city,” they said. “It is calming and helps me feel more relaxed in London’s busy pace.”

With Ollie and a few helpful Merrell flag bearers leading the way, the group began their route through Parkland Walk, stopping to look and listen for the wildlife tucked between the trees. Eyes turned upwards and ears were cupped for birdsong, as the hum of the city’s roads gradually gave way to something a little wilder. For Dazed Club member Koice, the walk offered a different way to experience the city. “Nature helped me find my way back to myself,” they said, describing the “small pockets of calm, amazement and joy” they found along the way.

A mid-walk pit stop gave everyone a chance to pause before the final stretch, backdropped by a bright orange Merrell mural of birds. Here, attendees refueled with fresh fruit and water before the greenery gradually gave way to the familiar grey of the city.

The final stop was Substation Studio, where the pace slowed down with matchas, juices and food, and attendees got creative with T-shirt customisation. For those still with some energy left, Merrell-wrapped Forest bikes offered a final ride home.

The Parkland Walk marked the latest chapter in Merrell’s Outside in the City campaign, following its Paris takeover during Fête de la Musique. Revisit the wider campaign and the ideas shaping it in our original editorial.