STONES CORNER PARKRUN REVIEW

GETTING THERE

In May last year, it was the turn of Stones Corner Parkrun. This venue is fairly close to where I live and I took Old Cleveland Road to get there. The entrance to the venue can be accessed either from Junction Street which is on the western side of Norman Creek or as in my case, on Lincoln Street which is east of the creek. To get to Lincoln, I had to wind behind Stones Corner Village but it was worth it because of the available parking spaces.

PARKING

In the early days, this event attracted just over 100 runners, but lately, there have been consistently well over 200 participants with a record 430 runners for the 100^th birthday celebration. Parking in this area is potentially difficult because it is a fairly built up area, but that being said, Lincoln Street has a lot of designated parking available. Street parking is also on Junction Street and in the surrounding suburb.

TOILETS

If you are driving from far to run here, you may have more need to use the toilets before running and in this particular case, they are not easy to access. The Parkrun page advises runners needing to use the bathrooms to cross the busy Logan Road with care and access the toilets near the public library.

THE COURSE

When it comes to my favorite type of course, other than a full loop, the out and back course has to be up there. What I like about this type of course is that I am able to judge my pace fairly well and as long as I take it easy out, I am usually able to put on a bit of pace on the return leg.

After the briefing, we walked across a bridge and onto the South East Freeway Bikeway to the start. As I have seen in all events that start on a busy public pathway, the start took place on the grass to the side of the bikeway so as not to obstruct the public. We ended up having to wait for a few cyclists to ride past us before we could actually start. Cone markers were placed out so as to position runners prior to the race and faster runners naturally gravitated to the front. Fortunately, the bikeway is nice and wide so there is very little possibility of congestion.

The start of the run was fast. Norman Creek has been concreted over for the section from Ridge Road to Old Cleveland Road and the pathway runs under Cornwall Street before crossing the first of three narrow bridges. This stretch of the course is highly concreted and there is very little shade. Not that this is any reflection on Parkrun, but I think that the Brisbane City Council may need to spend some money upgrading this area because it is certainly in need of a bit of love and care. I crossed a second bridge near Baron Street, back onto the bikeway running under the Ridge Street bridge and then under the South Eastern Busway as well as the Pacific motorway. This stretch of the course is super flat and fast and I made the mistake of going out a little bit too fast, not realizing there was a bit of an incline coming up.

Once I passed under the Pacific Motorway bridge, I turned left and ran next to the Pacific Motorway. This section of the path has lots of trees and is cool and shady albeit kind of hilly. The turnaround point had a marshal. The return journey was pretty much the same. I made the mistake of taking the corner onto one of the bridges a little too closely and banged my elbow against the railing, causing it to bleed a bit, but it was nothing serious.

VOLUNTEERS

Whilst the course is not that pretty, the volunteers were really cool. The run director for that day was very engaging and he managed to keep it fairly short whilst still celebrating milestones and conveying the necessary information about the course. There were ample volunteers along the course and the finish scanners were lovely.

I ploughed through the Facebook page and it was obvious that Stones Corner has a fantastic community spirit. It is vibrant, full of life and color and the interactions are very positive and encouraging. I went back quite a way and the only requests for help were for a photographer on a couple of occasions. Stones Corner attracts a younger population and has a thriving atmosphere which is reflected in the volunteer participation.

PHOTOS

The Facebook page has a well-documented collection of photo albums and whilst there were a few weeks in the early days where there were no pictures loaded, in recent times they are all there.

Click here for the Facebook page

THE ALL IMPORTANT COFFEE AFTERWARDS

Okay, so this is Stones Corner so no trip to the village would be complete without a walk down Logan Road. I went to Caffe di Moda for a cuppa after the run and it did not disappoint.

OVERALL 

The community spirit is awesome and the Stones Corner Village an appealing attraction. The course itself is fast and it attracts quite a large crowd of runners which is lovely. The pathway along Norman Creek and the Pacific Highway is in need of a spruce-up and the lack of a toilet block close to the start/finish is also a bit of a negative. This is certainly a popular event and I was really happy with my time. I have awarded this run a Gary rating of 8/10.