Alstervorland parkrun
Hamburg, Germany
what3words start (ish): liberty.liquids.widest
Alstervorland parkrun is easy to find, and if you head through the middle of the park towards the lake you can’t miss it. Hence the slightly approximate what3words up above. The U-bahn and buses stop nearby too, see the course page for more.
I definitely couldn’t miss it, after walking a few km through the city, because there were loads of tourists milling around the start and finish area. I was not expecting a crowd - heading to Denmark (which has an extra parkrun on Monday) from the Netherlands via Hamburg seemed natural to me, but by now i’m used to the idea that most people don’t travel as much as I do. Still, a percentage of people who were in the Netherlands had hit upon the same idea, others had decided to start their trip in Germany and that led to a record attendance, with 188 finishers. A big increase on the previous highest of 128 from 22nd April this year (2023).
The route takes you off to the right of the island in the picture above, and soon on to the path by the water. On a dry day almost any number of runners will kick up some dust on this surface, and with a crowd of us there was a slight sense of briefly running into a sandstorm. After a short section by the water there’s a short out-and-back allowing people to wave at each other, before the loop ends by swooping back up the middle of the park and a sharp right turn takes you onto the lower loop. That swoop up the middle avoids the route going across a road and makes for an almost figure-of-eight course, though there’s no crossover of runners and masses of space throughout.
After a cold start to the day before, I was expecting to be a bit chilly, but this was a warm and getting warmer day - the sort of day that we Brits over-excitedly describe as hot, but really it was a lovely Spring/early summer day, cooling off quickly in the evening. Great running and walking weather and I enjoyed hanging around afterwards, watching rowers on the water and the occasional swan floating past.
The paths are wide throughout, and the route is flat other than going over a bridge. Very little to concentrate on other than the view and/or your performance if you’re pushing. On this warm day under bright blue skies everything looked fantastic - reflective strips glowed, kit shone, muscle tones were defined, grass and trees were coloured in every shade of green imaginable and many not.
The team had obviously expected a high attendance and were well organised. The course is very simple to follow with well-placed arrows, and a few marshals to make sure. One was enjoying cheering us on from the first U-turn at the top-right of the map, with another making sure we ran the bulge round a tree (top left of the lower loop) and the last waving us (sharp) left at the bottom of the park and map.
There’s plenty of grass to lounge on, and the water is right there if you want to take your shoes off and cool down quickly. The water was also useful for a new friend who had tried a new brand of arnica cream that morning and found that this one burns a little.
The cafe is right by the start and finish and opens at 10. I didn’t stay - I had a friend to meet to relive Cape Town, and find out whether you can, in fact, recover from a fractured spine in 8 weeks (yes) but the shorter experience was fabulous in the sunshine.
I highly recommend a walk through Hamburg if you can; it’s full of parks and very walkable for a big city.
Results from Alstervorland parkrun #156, 3/6/23; 188 finishers
