Uppsala parkrun
Sweden
Uppsala is North of Stockholm, only about 40minutes away by train (and about an hour by car - that shouldn’t be a surprise, but I live in England, so I expect trains to be a disappointment). It’s known for its university or, if you’ve watched Vikings, as the Pagan heart of their world.
It also has a parkrun, as you’ll know by now, which is right in the centre of the place, running alongside the river Fyris. The location of the start is marked on Google Maps, at the top right of the park, but bear in mind the meeting point is the other end (SE) of the park at the finish, by the Hamnspången bridge. It’s not far from the start, but I couldn’t see it when I wandered in. Even though I’d been good and not left my accommodation till 9 - it was cold, so no reason to stand around for too long - I was still in the park before the parkrun signs had got to the start, so had to walk further before I found a parkrun flag, signs and so on.
There are loads of toilets by the finish (hence the meeting point, perhaps). After a briefing we all wandered along the paths to the start. I and an Irishman were behind everyone else, as the run director had paused briefly to give us a course description in English. He had checked we understood the basics so he was okay to give the main briefing in Swedish, which saved us all some time.
The route is simple enough. I had wondered how such a relatively small park could be 5k in two laps, and the answer is - with help from an out and back section. To get to that you turn left to cross the bridge from the opening straight, crossing a cycle path on the way.
There’s a marshal at the end of the out and back section, plus a cone and sign, so you can’t go wrong. We spread across the path at first, soon realising we’d have to keep right as faster runners came back towards us. I thought I’d take it easy, but this is a flat course, with occasional undulations to give a boost, and most runners seem to push themselves so I joined in. I ran my quickest of the year, and that was only good enough to put me halfway in the field. As a couple of event directors mentioned in Norway, they aren’t yet attracting so many walkers and 30min-ish runners. They are very welcome, though.
After the event there were cakes and tea to celebrate the fifth anniversary. Those were excellent, as was the extensive selection in the post-event cafe, which is a little walk away in the centre (they use a different cafe in summer - both are mentioned on the course page).
Later, after a shower, I walked North to Gamla Uppsala, a parish and village in its own right but also the name of the archaeological area. It’s about 5km from the centre, initially a walk through town (though there are off-road cycle and foot paths which are nice enough) then out into trails in the open air, with a bonus forest if you’d like the short detour. There’s plenty of room to explore on foot or on bike; I limited myself to a wander round the edge of the mounds and a seat by the museum. The day had warmed up to 10° which was enough to see people sunbathing and picnicking and it was very enjoyable when out of the wind.
Results from Uppsala parkrun #179, 6/5/23; 42 finishers