We headed to Uppsala parkrun our first in Sweden. This makes it my fifth parkrun country outside of theUnited Kingdom. It was also Kulturnatten in Uppsala – culture night. However, despite the name this is not just an evening event but spans the whole day.
Parksnäckan, Stadsträdgården, 753 09 Uppsala, Sweden
Facilities at Uppsala parkrun
- Public transport meant it was easy to get there. We walked from our hotel but got a train from the airport and a bus back again. Obviously there’s some nearby parking for locals.
- Public toilets (which we did not use as we were so close to our hotel)
- Ground sheet for your belongings. Not secure so if you have your passport take a bum bag, running vest, jacket, etc., to keep it in.
- Fika afterwards – but we had to check out of our hotel.
Uppsala parkrun Course
The Uppsala parkrun course begins just a little way away from the briefing and finish area. It is a flat, fast, on gravelled path and cycle track course. You go out and make a U-turn (where there is a marshal) back towards the start. Taking a left at the sculpture. Basically you just follow the park around and it’s clearly marked. Turning back towards the start area to repeat the lap again.
For the last around 100m you split off to the right for a sprint finish. This is the area where the briefing was and it was clearly marked with cones.
My Experience at Uppsala parkrun
Uppsala parkrun, like all the others in Sweden, begins at 9:30am. Although they are an hour ahead of the UK so means that they actually start half an hour earlier than the time currently at home. Thankfully there was an early post on Facebook confirming that it was definitely on. That they didn’t meet until 9:15am.
However, we were still pretty early and there was people milling about before this. As there is some nice art just across the river we went over to take pictures there first.
Welcome
As I headed to a gentleman clearly wearing a volunteer jumper the run director approached me. At this point she had not put on her jacket. She was warm and welcoming and explained the course. Naturally she answered any questions and told us about the festival of the night.
The Briefing
As she had explained everything to us all (I believe there were three lots of English tourists) everyone was asked if we needed the second half of the briefing delivered in English. Fortunately we all said no so it could be more quickly delivered in just Swedish. However, it was clearly stated that we needed to keep left.
The Run
Of course despite all the time to warm up we didn’t. Apart from the walk over there. What this meant is that I went off a little too fast. The course felt a little crowded and so I wasn’t really aware that I had. The weather was still too hot for me and naturally it wasn’t long before I could feel it.
Two young boys were running and walking. Stupidly I told myself that I would allow myself to walk if I caught up with them. They seemed to be doing so well. But by 2.5km I had caught up with them.
Walking and the final push
Six times I think I ended up walking in total. On my last walk I wasn’t even that far from the finish sprint. Even knowing that I could potentially get my fastest ever time outside of the UK was not enough to keep me going. However, another young man was walking and when he saw me he looked like he decided to run again.
In fact this was the motivation I needed and I was able to sprint to the finish. This was slower than I normally go at a top speed of 3:10km pace. My husband said it feels fast when I whizz by. Pretty sure that the young man said, “Jesus Christ!” as I overtook and finished.
Event 350 Uppsala parkrun Stats
Indeed it was my fastest time outside of the UK (27m 18s) and pleased to say that my watch recorded exactly 5km.
109 participants took part in event 350 at Uppsala parkrun. With 70 males to only 35 females. Additionally there were 4 unknown. With thanks to 10 volunteers.
- 10 first timers
- Only a further 6 tourists – from Wales, Nottingham and Gloucestershire
- 22 PBs
- Myself and my husband actually were the male and female with most parkruns (with myself having the most).
Finish Times
- Times ranged between 17:21 and 1:02:23.
- First lady in 21:17 (VW50-54) and age grading of 80.74%. Which, not surprisingly, was the highest of the day.
- Highest male age grade was 79.90% (VM55-59) in a time of 19:24.
Breakdown of finishing times
- 3 sub 18
- 9 sub 20
- 14 sub 21
- 19 sub 22
- 26 sub 23
- 48 sub 25
- 72 sub 27
- 76 sub 28
- 83 sub 30
- 107 sub 50
Other parkruns I have done outside the UK in Europe – Mauerweg parkrun, Germany; Vingis parkrun, Lithuiania; Zegerplas parkrun – Netherlands; Zuiderpark parkrun – Netherlands and Zielony Jar, Poland
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