After our son deferred his place for the London Marathon it left us with a free weekend! Having always wanted to visit Poland we took the opportunity to have a short break whilst visiting Zielony Jar parkrun. This is also giving us a Z for a third parkrun alphabet. Also it would give me a fifth country – making me a parkrun World Tourist!
Zielony Jar, 31-752 Kraków, Poland
Before Visiting Zielony Jar parkrun
As Zielony Jar parkrun is such a well visited place there was lots of help and information out there before we even left. This effort by the team was very much appreciated. This includes how to get there, what you can expect and also letting them know in advance if you are completing anything and would like a certificate!
Getting to Zielony Jar parkrun
We opted to stay in an apartment just a lovely 3km walk from the start. It was a beautiful sunny day too. We had gone there the night before on public transport. We took a train from the airport to the Old Town and then a tram. Many people just use Bolt, everything really is cheap enough.
Arrival
Always aiming to arrive by 8:30am I was excited to see people already there. Warmly greeted by the Run Director straight away – proving indeed how right everyone was about the friendliness of Zielony Jar.
Facilities at Zielony Jar parkrun
Another UK tourist then heard my English and asked me about the toilets. The RD then stepped in and pointed at where they were. So off we both went, like old friends, not strangers who had just met. You could pay for the toilets by card (2 Polish Zloty – 20p).
Together we figured out how to get into them!
After parkrun Treats
Zielony Jar parkrun ask if you could possibly bring with you water, cookies, candies or even tea bags. On finding the table to put our tea bags and biscuits we had brought, we were immediately offered to have our barcodes scanned.
Belongings
Bags could be left in the dry at the amphitheatre, which would be kept dry by its roof. As we had already checked out of our apartment this was all our baggage and there was plenty of space. Being a very cautious person, however, I did keep our passports on us in a bumbag. Although I am sure they would have been fine.
Before the Run (or walk, or jog or jeff)
This was actually a relatively small parkrun and so the queue for the parkrun sign was minimal. During the briefing there were photos taken in groups with the alphabet sign, and we all had a big group photo. In fact throughout the event lots of lovely photos were taken and shared.
The Briefing
Plus I was delighted to meet the wonderful young Adam who agreed to have his picture taken with me. This is who translated the briefing into English. He was truly modest about his abilities to speak English (which are really good) and he was just so animated. A real joy. Even when he was describing the elevation of this four-lap course!
Comical
This was not the only comical aspect, as each tourist destination was read out – with some hilarious pronunciations of English places we had all come from. In fact Adam said ours better than a lot of locals!
Celebrations at Zielony Jar parkrun
As for the briefing itself you could not ask for more than what was on offer at Zielony Jar parkrun. Like I mentioned previously you could tell them in advanced about any achievements and receive a certificate. Among many we had someone completing their alphabet and 25th event in one.
Zielony Jar parkrun Course
Four laps of the beautiful at Zielony Jar park. A road shoes event as it is on path. Only time you may need trails is if it’s on the snow.
Described as Poland’s hardest course but the encouraging nature made it so much easier. Run Director Marcin even high fived us on each lap! Every time you headed up you just need to remember the down!
Besides it was so beautiful running around the park.
As there were some turn around points – wide so you could easily run around, not tight – it meant that you could see the runners ahead of you – great for both my husband and I to encourage each other.
The Run Itself
Having started after 9 o’clock (ensuring everyone was mentioned and celebrated and the group photos taken), we were then organised by finish time. With my knee still in pain I headed nearer the bank with my watch set to jeff it.
However, at first it was such a gentle start and quite busy to stop and walk so suddenly that I decided to carry on running through my alerts for a while. When I did start jeffing I began yo-yo-ing with one of the locals, He caught me up whilst I was walking, and then I would run again. Both encouraging each other around on such a hot day (for April). It really added to the friendliness of this event and we had a chat at the end too. Turns out his daughter was going to be running the London Marathon – what a coincidence!
Zielony Jar parkrun Stats
91 participants with times ranging 20:06-59:59.
First lady had a time of 22:19. She also had the highest age grading.
An impressive 15 ½% have run at an event with me before! Including first finisher and first lady.
Well done on 8 PBs today.
13 sub 25.
60 people finished in 30 minutes or quicker.
4 very first time at parkrun and a further 73 tourists! Meaning 14 participants were returning!
Thank you parkrun Zielony Jar definitely a place I recommend people visit to finish their alphabet!
Other parkruns abroad I have visited:
Mauerweg parkrun, Germany; Vingis parkrun, Lithuiania; Zegerplas parkrun – Netherlands; Zuiderpark parkrun – Netherlands
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 and Nickie at I am Typecast