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.
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.
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