Lillsjön parkrun
Lillsjön parkrun: an undulating trail run, two loops through tree-lined paths with a view of two different lakes. And you can swim afterwards.
For the second week in a row, I ran a parkrun with the smell of pine in my nostrils. I am a fan, as you’ll know if you read about Huddinge parkrun. This one is a relatively new event, albeit actually a relocated one. Last year was the final event at Kungsangen parkrun, which ran for 131 events (7/10/17-6/6/22) before the team brought it to this new site, which has newly built facilities making it a (n even) better home.
I used those facilities (but didn't take a photo - there’s one on the news story about the change of venue), noting the cafe, toilet and even a shower if you want one. The building is right in the clearing where the event starts, so you can’t miss it, and it’s a short walk from the car park. I caught the commuter train from Stockholm to Kungsangen (Stockholm City station, for the commuter trains, is downstairs in Stockholm Central, which is probably clearly signed, but confused me when I first went) and then walked the nearly-3km to the start, a pleasure on a warm day.
Just like Huddinge, this course takes you on hard-packed paths through a forest, with undulations. I thought there were fewer hills here, and the GPS trail agrees (though it varies enormously in picking up elevation). Personally, I struggled more here than the previous week, but that’s fitness rather than a reflection of the course, I think. It feels like it should be a bit quicker/easier, though of course running each once isn’t the ideal way to tell.
The course starts in the clearing, next to the lake, which looked very tempting as the day continued to warm up - it was just getting close to hot, compared to the absolutely blissful ‘warm, but sit in it without roasting’ weather of the previous few days. It then takes in two loops, covering part of the route round the edge of the forest, cutting up the middle to save going too far round.
This is a lovely course (did I mention the pine smell?) and idyllic on this sunny day, with sun dappled paths and plenty of shade. I chose not to resist the lake, wading out to paddle afterwards, joining the people who looked set to spend the day there. It had been all quiet when I arrived before 9, but by 10 there were several families in the water.
The cafe comes highly recommended, but I’d chosen to make the most of the time I could be out of the city by heading straight for small-town Sweden that afternoon, so I had to scoot back to the station in order to make a 12:45 bus. That still gave me time to applaud the local who had finished her 100th parkrun that day. The run director said she sometimes grumbles that she’s too old to be doing this silly thing on a Saturday morning; but she misses it when not there. I am certain many many people identify completely with the sentiment, especially the former when struggling up a hill.
Results from Lillsjön parkrun #34, 17/6/23; 17 finishers.
I ran the Kungsängen course on Swedish National Day 2019. Know as the one with the snake on the path 🐍. Lovely trail run. Great team. Must return.