FOUNTAINS ABBEY PARKRUN REVIEW

GETTING THERE

In December last year, I was fortunate enough to take a trip across to the UK to visit my Mum and Dad and other family members. I also made sure to put it in the schedule to run a Parkrun whilst I was there and I wasn’t disappointed. The folks live in Ripon, North Yorkshire and the nearest Parkrun is in Fountains Abbey, 3 miles SE of Ripon. The day I ran, it was raining and yukky cold, but I suppose one shouldn’t expect anything less in December.  It certainly wasn’t difficult to find; not that I was really paying attention. My Mum drove. 

PARKING

Fountains Abbey is a World Heritage site so as you can imagine, there is excellent parking. When we arrived, we followed the other cars to an expansive car park. This is a good 10 minute walk from the actual start.

TOILETS

The Visitor Centre is quite flash in comparison to the other Parkruns I have run. They were very clean and sparkly. Unfortunately, they were a fair distance from the start. We arrived really early because Mum didn’t want to be late and we ended up standing around in the wind and the rain. She needed the bathroom but decided to hang in there until after the run because of the hike back up to the Visitors Centre.

THE COURSE

As I said, we walked down from the Visitors Centre to the actual start of the run and we were quite early which meant I hung around in the cold and the rain. Having just come from the Australian summer, I was struggling. This however didn’t seem to bother the locals. Many were standing around in their shorts and vests ready for the start. I on the other hand was in multiple wet layers.

We started from a very old looking, stone building called Huby’s Tower. This is a two-lap course. The first loop is shorter and takes you past beautiful lawns, over a bridge and along a rustic path on the far side of the Abbey. The second and longer loop takes you the full length of the Abbey and leads you across a narrow wooden bridge, which is just in front of a lake. You then follow the rustic path to the finish.

I wasn’t prepared for how fast these runners would be. I dashed out way too fast, mostly to keep up with one of my Mum’s friends who happens to be quite a bit younger than me. I was surrounded by some very classy school student runners who were obviously well trained. The pace was swift considering how undulating it was. The first loop went quite quickly and I managed to take in the majestic Abbey to my right. It was spectacular to say the least and I found it hard to believe that I was actually there. By the time I passed Huby’s Tower, I knew I was in a bit of trouble. The cold air in the back of my throat and in my lungs was a little confronting but I had my pride to uphold. After all, Mum had boasted my PB to her friend so I had my reputation to uphold. Haha. They say pride come before a fall and my fall was about to happen.

I slowed a bit and tried to take in the splendor of my surrounds. The second lap ends with a gradual incline and before I knew it, it was all over.

The event attracts some really good runners. The top two finishers ran under 17 minutes, which is seriously good considering how undulating the course is. For a small country town (They think Ripon is a city) in the middle of winter, to draw a crowd of just under 200 people is amazing. They have a culture of not making the weather an excuse for not exercising. All I can say is wow. I was certainly thinking of some excuses after the run.

Because the Abbey is a World Heritage site, there is no access to the public until after 10:00am and all participants have to be out of the precinct by that time. This also means that there are no members of the public on the course whilst the run is on. It is really cool to have the entire Abbey to ourselves for the run and I certainly didn’t take it for granted.  The pathways are a mixture of grass, concrete paving, wooden bridges and I guess bitumen but I could be wrong. Some of the sections along the back half are a bit narrow but this worked to my advantage as I may have prevented myself being overtaken. (joke)

Every Parkrun wouldn’t be complete without dogs on the leash and parents with children in strollers and even in this weather, they were there. 

VOLUNTEERS

How on earth do you get people to volunteer in the middle of winter, in the rain and the cold? Fountains Abbey certainly seems to get it right. The organization involved was very good. The run director made the briefing short and sweet. I scanned my disc really quickly and we walked briskly up to the Visitors Centre.

PHOTOS

I perused the Facebook page but there are no pictures of this particular event. I then went through the Flikr site but I don’t think anyone took any pictures on that day. Never mind, Mum took a picture as evidence. I did manage to crack a nod in the weekly run report which was pretty cool. 

Click here for the Facebook page

THE ALL IMPORTANT COFFEE AFTERWARDS

Fountains restaurant has a captive audience. We bundled into the warmth and got some English breakfast tea and scones. It was toasty and snug in there and the place was bustling with activity.

OVERALL 

I was in awe of the spectacular views as well as the elite runners who presented on the day. The course was much tougher that I initially gave it credit and the cold got to me. I spent the rest of the week with a hacking cough. It is not often that you get to run in a World Heritage site so the Gary rating for this run is a chilly 9/10.

NEW FARM PARKRUN REVIEW

GETTING THERE

New Farm Park is one of the main go to places when visiting Brisbane. It boasts a trendy market twice a month, beautiful gardens and a view of the incredible Brisbane River. Getting to New Farm Park however is not that easy if you live on the Southside of Brisbane. The most straightforward route for me is to go over the Story Bridge and right into Brunswick St.

PARKING

New Farm Parkrun regularly attracts over 300 runners and when the markets are on, there are even more people. Suffice to say, there is ample parking along the ring road and on Brunswick St as well as in the surrounding suburbs.  

TOILETS

There are a number of toilet facilities near the event. The closest are in the same building as the End of the Road Coffee shop. They are the cleanest and newest in this park. The other toilet blocks are pretty dated and the male toilets smell of old urine haha.

THE COURSE

I have run this event a few times but only scanned my bar code once. I have no idea why I haven’t run this event more often; it is stunning. You start on the western side of the park on the grass next to the river. If you want a good time, then you have to start near the front because of the large crowds. The pedestrian path is fully equipped to handle the numbers but there are many members of the public that have to share.

The route takes you on an easterly direction right next to the river to a turnaround point at Teneriffe two and a half kilometers from the start. You pass the Powerhouse and have views all the way to Bulimba and Hawthorne.

On the day that I ran, it was cold and cloudy. Needless to say, when the sun is out, this event is spectacular. New Farm is a suburb that tends to attract younger people including young families. It is also a very popular route for many other forms of fitness. I have often seen people practicing martial arts on the lawns as well as several Bootcamp instructors grilling their clients.

The course is super flat and fast. The magic 17 minute barrier has been broken quite a few times on this course which is incredible and only goes to show what a remarkable event this is.

VOLUNTEERS

The day started with the run director welcoming everyone. After the usual announcements and the emphasis on sharing the walkways with the public, we got into an entertaining warm-up session which was fun and also fairly useful.

Because this event is an out and back, there is very little need for many volunteers out on the course. I perused the Facebook page and discovered that there are very few requests for volunteers, which indicates a very healthy community spirit.

As with South Bank, it is usually quite difficult to engender a sense of community when your participants are sometimes transitory. Never-the-less, New Farm has a great level of participation in all areas which is amazing.

PHOTOS

The Facebook page has a very good record photographic record of the weekly events. The pictures taken on the day I ran were pretty poor and were probably taken with a smart phone, but there were pictures. Recent pictures were of an excellent quality.

Click here for the Facebook page

THE ALL IMPORTANT COFFEE AFTERWARDS

We went on market day and were spoilt for choice. End of the Road Coffee shop is also lovely. We had a great day out.

OVERALL 

I will certainly make more of an effort to run this event. It is definitely up there with the best. It is actually very difficult to fault. So the Gary rating has to reflect this. I give it a 9.75/10.

CALAMVALE PARKRUN REVIEW

GETTING THERE

In March this year, I ran the Calamvale Parkrun. I took the Gateway toll road to get there and wound my way through Sunnybank Hills and Algester to reach Ormskirk Street. I had to drive around a bit to find the entrance but ended up following some other cars. It only took me about 25 minutes to get there and I managed to get there pretty early which was a good thing because there wasn’t a lot of parking in that particular car park.

PARKING

As I said, the Ormskirk St car park didn’t have many spaces but there are other parking spots as well as street parking so parking isn’t really a problem.

TOILETS

The entire facility looks relatively new and the toilet block is in really good condition. The Calamvale District Park must attract quite a few people because the toilet block is quite big when you compare it to many of the other places I have run. The block was lovely and clean.

THE COURSE

I actually didn’t know what to expect when I arrived. I bumped into a mate from River City Runners and after the briefing, we walked to the start which was a little bit away. I discovered that this was a two and a half lap course. We started off running towards Benhiam St and left onto Ormskirk St along the council footpath after running on a short section of boardwalk. We then turned left again and ran along the road leading to the car park where we passed the central hub.

The next loop took us out to Algester St and left into Formby and again I found myself on the narrow council sidewalks. I turned back into the park and ran past the start again before repeating the figure of eight. On the return trip, I repeated the shorter loop of the eight before finishing near the picnic tables.

So in total, I worked out that I must have passed the core intersection five times not including the start. Whilst the actual park grounds are quite pretty, the council pathways are narrow and it is basically like running in the burbs. Fortunately, there weren’t any members of the public on these paths, but overtaking slower runners needed a bit of care.

It is not a particularly fast course or it doesn’t seem to attract the speedsters. I am not sure. I have seen some events draw runners who can run easily under 17 minutes but this hasn’t happened here yet.

VOLUNTEERS

The lady run director was amazing. She was engaging and full of energy. The community spirit was really good here. Like all Parkruns, the Facebook page has frequent requests for volunteers but they seem to fill them which is a credit to the community spirit. We were put through a short warm-up session which was fun and there was good participation in the briefing and recognition of milestones.

There were volunteers out on the course so I didn't get lost.  I wasn't too sure about turning into Formby St, but I just followed the faster folk in front of me. 

PHOTOS

I found the Facebook page to be very well organized. The photos of each week are well labeled so it was really easy to find my pictures. Because it is a figure of eight course, the photographer doesn’t have to move far to get different shots and the ones that were taken were really good.

Click here for the Facebook page

THE ALL IMPORTANT COFFEE AFTERWARDS

The Parkrun page recommends Zarraffas which is situated in the Calamvale Shopping Centre. Whilst I know Zarraffas to be a really cool franchise, I decided to just go home this time so I can’t really comment on the coffee, but it is really cool to have them fairly close to the event.

OVERALL 

So if I were to look at the big picture, I would say that the most positive asset that this event has is the remarkable group of volunteers. They were engaging and full of fun. The course however is a bit slow and very boring. There were parts that were quite pretty, such as the stretch on the boardwalk just before entering Benhiam St, but the narrow council paths and the two and a half loops were not that fun. Overall, I have to give this event a 7/10.