parkrun on Tour – The Christmas Awards Edition

Having completed my tour of new parkrun events for this year, and apologies if you waded through all 5 long parts of the tourist blog, I have decided to sum up from those I have experienced so far! If you are looking for a new parkrun to visit maybe this will help you decide, depending what you are looking for that particular parkrunday!! Please note this is all just my own opinion and is hopefully a bit of fun, though please feel free to discuss!

Fastest Course – not based on my time on the day but on how I feel I could do when fit and not running with a 7 year old!!

1. Hull
2. York
3. Harrogate

Surprisingly all Yorkshire/Humberside – though I’d put Bushy close behind with Milton Keynes and Edinburgh if you catch the weather right!

Toughest Course

1. Barnsley
2. Dewsbury
3. Glasgow

Honourable mentions for Roundhay and Bradford.

Friendliest parkrun

All of them so far- could not pick one not to include!

Child Friendly – for either running or facilities on site, bearing in mind my boy is now just 7!

1. Huddersfield
2. Barnsley
3. Pontefract

Best Café

1. Milton Keynes- fantastic sausage sarnies and coffee
2. Bushy – full English, expensive but worth it!
3. Huddersfield – literally as you fall over the finish line!

Honourable mentions – Leeds, Bradford for Nick the Frothy Coffee Man, Dewsbury.

Maddest

1. Huddersfield
2. Huddersfield
3. Huddersfield

Muckiest

1. Wythernshawe
2. Colwick
3. Harrogate

My favourites – courses to run

1. Milton Keynes
2. Colwick
3. Conkers

Least favourite – courses to run

1. Barnsley – the constantly varying gradient up each long hill is too tough for me!
2. Braunstone – no particular reason it just was non-descript. Lovely people though…
3. York – very flat and fast, almost oval so no landmarks and I’m afraid I’m not fast enough to appreciate it, I like scenery!

Apologies to the event teams but please appreciate this is based on running the course not the parkrun experience!

My favourites – whole experience

1. Milton Keynes
2. Huddersfield
3. Bushy
4. Glasgow
5. Conkers

Now this is obviously all just in my opinion, and based on only 20 different parkruns but I hope that some of you will contradict me and give me somewhere else to add to my list to try! At the moment that list says “as many as possible” so anything that can make the decision easier is appreciated!

If you would like to see any other categories included (Parking/toilet facilities etc) included in these leave me a comment!!

So far in 2013 we have planned trips to:

12^th Jan Burnage

26^th Jan Malahide

23^rd Feb Faelledparken

25^th May Falkirk

1^st Jun Camperdown

But I am sure that will grow before long!!!

See you at a parkrun soon!