Sonsbeek parkrun, Arnhem

Dec 18, 2021

Park Sonsbeek is to the North of Arnhem, cutting into the city with its tip pretty close to the centre. It's also uphill from there, and is proud to be a parkrun in The Netherlands with an actual hill. It's toward the end of the lap, so there's a lovely swooping downhill as you head towards the last section.

Map of the route for Sonsbeek parkrun; two loops going clockwise, starting at the pavilion. — Sonsbeek parkrun route. Two clockwise loops, starting by the pavilion/restaurant.

For a change, I was staying near enough to walk to the start, and so could enjoy the dark red leaves on the trees and gathered on the ground that give the park a particular look at this time of year. I've not seen anything quite like it.

On the route, dark red leaves everywhere

The meeting point is on the NW side of the pavilion, which is pretty easy to find (though there are some wending and winding paths in the middle of the park, in which I had got nicely entangled the day before). The start is just along one of the paths there, but everyone walks there together after the briefing.

Start line marked by sign and two cones, either side of a path which is itself bordered by leaves and trees. A Christmas tree is chalked onto the path. — The start line, and the route follows the path you can see winding away.

A pond is beside the course, with a muddy grassy verge. The course goes by on tarmacced paths. — Scenic to the side of the route

A small waterfall into a large pool, with grass nearest the camera and tall trees on the far side of the pool, and dark red leaves on the ground. — A mini waterfall

The route takes in the main sights in the park; a small waterfall, those leaves, plenty of trees, then up the hill through trees, swoop down past a big house off to the right (Stadsvilla Sonsbeek), over a little bridge and back to the start. It is very pretty, the surface is always good with occasional spots of mud to watch for and there are some undulations to keep you concentrating. Marvellous.

Chalk on the floor tells you to go straight on for the 2nd lap (2de ronde) and right over the bridge for the finish. — Chalk marks - straight on first time, right to finish after two laps.

After the event, those of us who'd stayed headed to a nearby cafe, shown below, for breakfast. In a sense, it was just as well we did, as more or less everything in The Netherlands was closed on the next day. The event director had tipped us off that further Covid measures were expected, though was mostly thinking about them closing secondary schools early (primary had already closed). Others had guessed at wider restrictions, though, given that a couple of restaurants with outdoor seating were absolutely full that afternoon. At any rate, the food was good and the chat healthy.

Two buildings with pointy roofs, one holds the cafe and both its barn-style doors are wide open for custom. There are a few trees behind, and a bike is leaning against a low wooden fence in front. The pavement is cobbled. — Post-event cafe, a 500m walk away from the finish, towards town.

This is a lovely event, the hill isn't particularly steep so is worth attacking if you're in the mood, and you're well-placed for a visit to Arnhem afterwards. With around 20 finishers (21 this day) at the moment, it isn't in any way crowded, but there's plenty of space for more people as it grows. I'll leave you with a few more views from the course.

A small humped-bridge over a canal at the end of the downhill section. The paths winds uphill away from the camera, with the white walls of the Stadsvilla visible through the trees. — You run towards this camera point (twice), over the bridge and turning right (left in this picture). Big house behind.

Trees and dark-red leaves surround two paths, the left-one mud, the right tarmac. The parkrun route takes the path to the right and goes uphill, bending right then left between trees. — The route takes the right-hand fork here, heading up the hill.

A pool of water with paths on both sides. The course loops round most of the paths in this picture, almost popping out of the tree-lined area before turning round to come back along the nearer side of the water. — Route comes down the path on the other side of the water, past both big bushes and back towards the camera. A Marshall is there to stop the (accidental!) shortcut past the water.

Results from Sonsbeek parkrun, event 17, 18/12/2021.

parkrun touring

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