VARSITY LAKES PARKRUN REVIEW

GETTING THERE

I met my bunch of mates who live down on the Gold Coast at Varsity Lakes Parkrun a few weeks ago, which meant that I had to leave home at 5:30. Using the old GPS, I took the Scottsdale Drive turnoff and found my way to Christine Avenue.  The start was relatively easy to find as it is right on the grass just below the sidewalk on the main road. The banners and marquee were clearly visible from the road.

PARKING

Because I was very early, I was able to find a parking spot in the Sports House car park but there is also ample street parking as well as in the Aldi shopping centre right next door to the start.

TOILETS

The Parkrun page says that there are toilet facilities in the Sports House and the building looks impressively new, which is very encouraging. However, I didn’t need to experience these facilities so I can’t comment further.

THE COURSE

The outlook of this course is spectacular. The air was fairly crisp when we arrived and the early morning sun reflecting on the lake was beautiful.  The race director for the day was very well versed and looked like he was very connected to his community.  There was good banter through the presentation and he carefully explained about the obstacles in the way because of construction that was happening along the path, a few hundred meters from the start.

This course runs west for about half a kilometer, passing the entrance to the construction site but to be quite honest, it wasn’t an issue at all. The run director mentioned that they were talking to the developers about providing a traffic controller for the run on a Saturday.  The route then takes a right turn and takes you onto Varsity Parade. At one point the course takes you onto the pathway that runs right next to the lake. Unfortunately, it wasn’t marked and there was no marshal there so I overshot the turnoff however, someone behind me, called out to me and I was soon back on the course.

The route from this point on is really pretty. You run along the boardwalk for a couple of kilometers until you reach a turnaround point. Again, this was not well positioned and I unfortunately ran past the point before the bloke behind me came to my rescue once again. I doubled back and headed to the finish, crossing over a pedestrian bridge and back to the finish.

Varsity Lakes is a popular place for the public to get out and about so I am sure the course can get quite congested during the warmer months, however, on this particular day there were only a few folks on the route so it was not really a problem. The course itself is flat and very scenic which I would hope would attract some fast times. On the day I ran, there were only 80 participants and if you look at past results, you can see that this is about the norm. I find this surprising because suburbs that are usually being developed should attract younger participants, but in this case, there seemed to be a healthy representation of a slightly older group. The exception would have been the lead pack, which managed to get 6 runners under the magical 20 minutes. (4 minutes/km)

VOLUNTEERS

The Facebook page has many posts asking for people to volunteer and I guess that because this event only attracts a relatively small group of runners, it is difficult to fill all the positions on a weekly basis. I can’t imagine why so few people actually run this event because it is definitely one of the prettiest and it is certainly flat. The people at the finish tent were enthusiastic and friendly and the run director that week was really into it so I am a little surprised at the low weekly turnout.

PHOTOS

The photo section on the Facebook page has quite a few gaps; clearly there wasn’t anyone there that week to take photos which is a pity. I wasn’t able to find a picture to record me running that day; not that this is in any way important. 

Click here for the Facebook page

THE ALL IMPORTANT COFFEE AFTERWARDS

There is a shopping center within walking distance from the finish and it hosts a lovely coffee shop called Zarraffas. We enjoyed the experience and the service was really good.

OVERALL 

So as I mentioned previously, I have no idea why this particular Parkrun struggles to attract large numbers. It is really pretty venue and the course itself is conducive to fast times. I do hope that they manage to keep this event running because it is worth the effort to get there. The Gary rating for this event is 8.5/10.