We headed down to Y Promenâd parkrun a new event in South Wales. You may be aware that this makes it only the third Y parkrun in Europe! The other two UK ones being more Northern (York and Yarborough Leisure Centre parkrun). Therefore, this is bound to be a popular one.
Y Promenâd (The Promenade), Brecon, LD3 9LL – what3words: ///vowed.snippets.tile.
First Timers Information at Y Promenâd parkrun
Thank you to the 45 hi-vis heros and especially everyone involved in the setting up and getting this parkrun off the ground. We love visiting South Wales and you will admit that Brecon is a very beautiful place to visit.
Accessibility
The parkrun is accessible by public transport but sounds like you’d need to stay overnight to be on time!
The course is accessible for pushchairs and those with dogs – but I wouldn’t think a side-by-side would fit! Please check with the RD when planning a visit. Similarly for a VI runner – some parts are narrow and I am not sure how comfortable it would be with a guide running at the side. Hopefully helpful information such as this will be added over time.
Parking
If you are heading to Y Promenâd parkrun for the first time then leave plenty of time. There’s parking right near the start. It is a good idea to take cash for car park (£2.50) or card as machine doesn’t like pay by phone. In fact the start was delayed to allow for everyone to get started as it took a couple of minutes to do.
There are other car parks available all within around a mile walk away.
Toilets
Speaking of cash you will need 20p for the toilets. Apparently these are around 3/4s of the way around the course. I didn’t notice them. Unfortunately, someone did decide to just go on the course – this is not acceptable! We were told before we attended about needing the 20p, and again reminded during the briefing!
Briefings
As 85% of participants were first timers to Y Promenâd parkrun they were reasonably quiet during the first timers briefing. However, despite the main briefing being louder a lot of people took it upon themselves to talk. As the idea of new parkruns is to encourage new people to join in I feel it is imperative that they are able to listen to all the things that we have heard hundreds of times!
Maybe this is the reason that there seems to have been three under 11s running on their own!!
Also the run director did initially accidentally refer to it as a race – but he then kept reminding us that it is NOT a race.
About the Course at Y Promenâd parkrun
Y Promenâd parkrun is a two lap course on a mixture of path and grass. On this wet day even the path was quite muddy with big puddles. Especially with the turn-around point it was rather slippery.
At points it is really narrow with participants heading in both directions.
It isn’t all flat! With a short, steep slope at the end of each lap.
You need to keep left generally, but then keep right as you start to do your second lap so that finishers can finish on the left (and then move left again).
The Start
We didn’t know where the start began exactly and in which direction. With new events there’s lots to think about and am sure that next week this will be clear. Basically after the briefing we were walking back towards the carpark but then to turn around and run away from it.
Unless you start near the front you may not be aware that there is a bench on the right hand side as you start – so be careful.
Also with time hopefully people will be more aware of whereabouts to start dependent on their anticipated finish time. Something like this I feel will be important as numbers swell. Hopefully people could volunteer to be pacers – or some other kind of markers put in place.
Thank you to the patient fast runners – as our teen apparently ended up at the front and had to hang in for a while to get to the point where he could let others pass him.
Don’t Go For a PB!
This is not going to be the kind of course where you go for a PB! We went during Cowfest (organised parkruns by parkrun tourists) and it was also raining. Therefore, I imagine the 200 people is going to be a small turn out for this event. Especially with Alphabeteer chasers.
Due to the nature of the course there is a lot of just being patient. Going slower because there is no room to overtake.
Plus people need to be more mindful to keep left and only run in groups where there is plenty of room for others to overtake. This was difficult for me as a Jeffer as well as the faster runners overtaking on their second lap.
Personally I attended to increase my Wilson Index and because we love South Wales – you can read more about parkrun Stats and Challenges.
The Finish
The finish is where the start is so was not set up straight away. This meant that first time first finishers weren’t quite aware of where exactly it was. Anyone completing their second lap after 16 minutes however could see it up.
The finish is not long after the hill – so if you can sprint the hill then do. If not then there’s enough of a little straight after the hill to put a bit of extra effort in if you wish.
Other Thoughts on Y Promenâd parkrun Stats for Event 3
I left my coat on the side and it was still there when I finished. There didn’t appear to be anywhere “safe” to leave anything or anywhere dry. This may not be the case as I didn’t ask as I didn’t require it.
In future it may need to be changed that once you have finished you cannot go back on the course, as is the case at Grangemoor.
One of our children finished in 5th position – but didn’t really have time to even look at his first token before his arm got scanned! Perhaps giving people a chance to recover their breath is an idea.
The Y Promenâd parkrun sign was in a different place at the start – possibly showing where the start was!! At the end it had been moved to a more scenic place and there was a queue for photos.
Y Promenâd parkrun Stats for Event 3
There were exactly 200 participants at Y Promenâd parkrun; ranging from 18:17 to 1:01:51. Of them 95 completed in sub 30 minutes; and there were 12 PBs!
There were 170 first timers and 10 of which were doing parkrun for their very first time!
Highest age grades were 76.78% for Andrew Brasington (VM60-64) and 76.64% for Charlotte Minchell (VW 65-69).
Parkrun Milestones
Celebrating parkrun milestones were:
- Andrew Brasington, Donna Douglas, Catrin Evans, Roy Wood and Jo Francis completing 25 parkruns.
- Graham Stellyes completing 50 parkruns.
- Andy Norman completing 400 parkruns.
- Finally Mark Dunscombe, Alun and Ann Hurley, all achieved Welsh Regionnaire status. This means that they have completed every parkrun in Wales!
See more parkrun reviews
It sounds like there is a lot to think of there! It just shows how much thought has gone into established parkruns over the years to get them to run smoothly.
It sounds like the event could benefit from not being overwhelmed by people for the next couple of months, but no doubt it will always be busy because of the Y!
Well done to your son on his fifth place.