CENTRAL LAKES PARKRUN REVIEW

GETTING THERE

Today I took a trip up to Central Lakes to run the next Parkrun on my list. My GPS calculated the 50 minute journey to perfection. The event page suggests that one parks on Central Lakes Drive, but after looking at the map, I chose to drive around the lake to Joyner Circuit. I took exit 152 and drove past a retirement village, QUT Carboolture Campus, Central Lakes Shopping Village and St Columban’s College. This seems to be a very busy precinct with a very narrow access road. I wonder what this might be like during the week.

PARKING

Parking was excellent. I found street parking within 50 meters of the start.

TOILETS

There are no public toilets at the event and after a 50 minute drive, I was fortunate not to need to use this facility. The Parkrun event page says that the nearest toilet is at Central Lakes Shopping Centre but I can imagine how inconvenient this may be if you are running late or if you have small children.

THE COURSE

The course starts near the shelter adjacent to a children’s playground just north of the lake. At the start, I ran around the first lake and crossed a lovely little wooden bridge before running along the concrete pathway that led towards the Bruce Highway. There is a concrete path that runs on the outside of the estate. On the one side is a wooden fence that protects the residents from the noise of the highway. On the other side are the back yards of the suburban houses. The developer/council has planted indigenous wattles of various kinds along this route which makes it kind of special despite the constant drone from the traffic on the highway.

The pathway was ever so slightly undulating, but nothing to really slow you down. I reached the turnaround point and doubled back. The path is of average width and was sufficient to handle the numbers running that day. This was taking into account, running into oncoming runners on the return journey. There was only one person from the public on the course when we ran; an elderly fellow walking a dog which was not on a leash. This however was not a problem. After the race, I hung around a bit and chatted to a few folks and noticed that the pathways got a little bit busy before I left.

I am not really a fan of running past backyards but the trees along the route certainly broke up the suburban experience. The concrete path was even and in an excellent condition. It was mostly flat which made for a fairly quick time. Running around the lake was nice. Again, I am not a fan of running through the suburbs but the lake made it worth it. Developers are building some magnificent houses along O’Neill Street so it will be interesting to see what this looks like in the future.

Only one man has managed to run under 17 minutes on this course but I think this is because the elite runners would have probably run at events closer to the city.

VOLUNTEERS

This event has only been going since December last year so it really is still growing. We were welcomed by the run director and her team for the week. Her gentle spirit was just delightful. They were all decked out in newish-looking high-vis vests and the team looked really tight. There was a real sense of comradery amongst the volunteers as well as the local runners.

We were briefed on the course as well as the usual rules and we celebrated someone who had achieved her 50 milestone the previous week at another event. It was really nice that the run director remembered the milestone and even though the lady had chosen to run her event at another Parkrun, she was still celebrated on returning to her home event. I spotted the camera lady near the bridge and there was another volunteer plus child at the turnaround point. Another volunteer was positioned at the exit of the bridge and some juniors were enthusiastically taking photos at this spot.

What stood out for me was the encouragement that was meted out along the course. I was encouraged and congratulated more than a number of times. At one point, I got overtaken by a young lad called Toby. The reason I know this is because he was congratulated at the turnaround point as well as by almost everyone he encountered running the opposite way on the return journey. There was a lovely enthusiasm celebrated by the people running this event on this particular day.

I love how vollies are celebrated at this event. (Yes, they are called vollies! Only in Australia haha) There are a number of Facebook posts asking for help volunteering and I can imagine that with such a small local contingent, things may get a bit tight, but it seems to be working.

PHOTOS

The Facebook page is well-organized and there are photos for every week that this event has held which is quite remarkable. It was easy to find my picture amongst the shots taken which was pretty cool.

Click here for the Facebook page

THE ALL IMPORTANT COFFEE AFTERWARDS

The run director advertised the Coffee Club which is at the Central Lakes Shopping Village; a quick 600m walk from the finish. I caught up with Eric after the race. This was his 151^st Parkrun and his first at this event. By the time we finished, I needed to get home and I had a 50 minute drive ahead of me so I didn’t have a coffee on the way home.

OVERALL 

What I liked about this event was the out and back. I appreciated not having to run multiple loops. The drone of the traffic from the Bruce Highway was a bit strong, but I quickly got used to it. As I said before, I am not a fan of suburb running, but the thoughtful planting of indigenous wattles next to the highway broke up the views. The lack of toilet facilities close to the start is a negative but the biggest asset of the event has to be the vollies and the local runners. There is something special about this event. Everyone along the course was very encouraging. Maybe I was just experiencing the overflow from Toby’s well-wishers, but either way I ran that little bit faster as a result. So the Gary rating for this event has to be an 8.7/10. This fledgling event needs your support and for what it's worth, I can only encourage you to give this run a go. I enjoyed it.