We booked our half term holiday in the Netherlands to be able to complete two Z parkruns over there. We opted for Zuiderpark parkrun Den Haag (not Hoogeveen) as it is the closest Z parkrun to the ferry port. When we arrived it was clearly the popular choice with alphabeteer parkrun tourists!
Our campsite was actually much closer to Zuiderpark Hoogeveen but we decided it was better to get up earlier to make sure we had less travelling to the ferry after parkrun. It is in fact only 17.5km away (under half an hour in a car).
Zuiderpark Mr.P Droogleever Fortuynweg 69. Den Haag, Netherlands
Facilities at Zuiderpark parkrun – Den Haag
Free parking, free toilets (you can’t even get that at McDonald’s in the Netherlands!!) and a cafe for your post parkrun coffee. However, the McDonald’s within walking distance didn’t seem to be charging when we went!
Parking
We headed to the Melis Stokelaan entrance carpark and was warned it could get busy. Indeed people were waiting to park there when we popped back to the car and it didn’t look a lot of fun to be driving to be honest.
For the Sport campus parking you need the entrance from Moerweg/Troelstrakade and use the intercom on the barrier! This is for disabled parking only.
Other
The cafe (near the sports centre) was also where they put up the name sign for after the run – due to it being just so wet! It is where the toilets are advertised as being, but before the run we went in the building everyone was huddled around, near where the briefing started.
Near the briefing/finish area was somewhere to put your things – this was then all covered up to keep it dry.
Zuiderpark parkrun – Den Haag Course
Two laps on path – literally just around the edge of the park and then turn right on a bit of grass to finish. However, it was really wet so there were a lot of puddles!
My Experience
My husband seemed to find and park okay. We got there by around 8:40 and there were clearly already a lot of parkrun participants there. A stark contrast to the quiet Zegerplas parkrun. This was even despite the fact that it was raining hard. Our youngest even borrowed one of our waterproof running club jackets.
Lovely to meet Beth with her Z balloon who I’d been speaking to on Facebook. She really was super kind letting everyone borrow it for their photos. She even tied it up by the finish when she ran. Definitely was a day for taking lots of photos for people.
The Run Itself
It was indeed wet but surprisingly not that cold, so I started in just my sports bra and skort. Quiet a busy start but the park was big enough that people could go round one another. A beautiful park that I did manage to take some photos during the run.
My legs really hurt this week – not sure why! It’s usually just my breathing. First I’d decided to walk every km but ended up walking more. Despite it being not that warm and pouring with rain I was still too hot.
Son ran me in at the end. Which was good, because despite seeing it on lap one, I was convinced the finish was on the left and it was to the right. He told me to sprint once on the grass but to be careful it was slippery.
Finishing in position 123. A time of 27m 49s and 27th in my gender. Zuider means south so I also got another one of my compass challenges ticked off too!
Post parkrun
Afterwards we walked to McDonald’s. There was also a LEGO store nearby but we didn’t really have time as needed to make sure we got to the ferry (in hindsight there was loads of time).
Stats at Zuiderpark parkrun – Den Haag 1st November 2025
- 234 participants. 130 male, 101 female and 3 unknown.
- 6 people doing their very first parkrun and a further 160 first time to Zuiderpark parkrun Den Haag tourists.
- 17:31-1:05:48
- First finisher was aged 11-14! Also the highest age grade of 82.78%
- First female 19:09
- 13 PBs
- 153 sub 30
Visit these other bloggers who cover parkrun: Sarah at Mum of Three World, Jackie at Never Imitate and Chrissy at It’s Me Chrissy J