Taking place all over the world, parkrun is a series of timed 5km running events where participants can feel free to run, walk, jog or crawl the distance, and then socialise with other like-minded folks for coffee and breakfast after the event.

Throwing in a parkrun before leaving Amsterdam 

I was in Amsterdam for the week, so I decided to throw in the parkrun there before leaving the country. 

After all, a popular part of parkrun culture is the tourism aspect, where visitors to a country can participate in the parkrun in order to check another new event or country off their parkrun bucket list.

Finding the parkrun site

I took the train down to the Amsterdamse Bos parkrun site. At the train station, I met up with a family who were also heading to the parkrun, so we went down together, comparing direction on google maps to ensure that we were heading to the correct place. 

This was pretty helpful and it was nice to get to know some other park runners along the way.

We all got to the parkrun site with about 15 minutes to spare.

I did seriously think of renting a bicycle again and cycling down to the parkrun, like I had done at Rotterdam, but considering the journey was about 9km each way, and the Amsterdam traffic is many times more busy than in Rotterdam, I decided against it. Maybe I will try it some other time!

A small gathering was there already

The parkrun site is located right behind the De Boswinkel building within the park. 

This is roughly a one mile walk from the nearest metro station, Amstelveenseweg. Alternatively, public buses are available too, outside the train station.

There was already a small gathering present when we reached. This parkrun would eventually attract about 95 people, and is considered as the biggest event in the Netherlands.

 With a sizeable number of tourists present at the parkrun, the race briefing took place in English punctually at 9am.

Weather and course

By my standards, it was a pretty chilly morning with the temperatures hitting the low double digits around start time. I was feeling the cold seeping into my bones while I was waiting for the parkrun to start.

The course is a pretty simple one-lap route around the forest and there are marshals and signages to guide you at the various turning points should you be unsure of the way. So it is pretty easy to know where to run. 

It is a fast and flat route and the terrain is a mixture of road and gravel path. It is quite easy to run on.

Starting the run

I started off pretty fast, sucked in by the adrenaline of the race start, but it soon became very clear that I was still tired from the marathon that I had run one week before. 

My heart rate was significantly higher than it should have been and I had to dial the pace down a little.

Scenery and pace

The scenery was beautiful and it was lovely to be surrounded by the nature and the trees.

I found myself struggling with the pace from about halfway and from that point on, it became harder to hold onto a sub 5min/km pace.

But maintaining this pace till the end would be a personal record for me for the 5km distance as well as my first parkrun under 25 min.

At this point it also became significantly more sunny and my body was warming up significantly. As such, I actually found myself starting to sweat a little. Actually this is probably the first time that I have sweated while running in the Netherlands. 

It was quite weird though because I would sweat, and then the sweat would dry up quickly and then subsequently disappear. 

photo credit: parkrun

This is also completely different to Singapore, where I am from, because I just become completely soaked in sweat by the end of every parkrun.

Struggle towards the end

The final two kilometres were a struggle to maintain the pace I wanted, and my shoelace even came off in the final few hundred metres. I contemplated whether I should stop to tie my shoelace, but doing so would probably cost me precious seconds off my timing especially since I was so near to the finish now. 

So I decided to take the risk and hope that I would not trip up as I sprinted and accelerated.

A new personal record

In the end, I made it without tripping, completing the parkrun in 24 minutes 11 seconds. Yes, it is a personal record. I am happy with the timing.

However I don’t think my legs are very happy with me, considering I put them through a full marathon in Rotterdam one week ago, and now this week, a fast parkrun.

Easter eggs and coffee

There were some easter eggs at the end, because the next day was Easter Sunday. I thought that this was a pretty nice gesture on the part of the volunteers who were putting the parkrun together. 

While waiting for the parkrun to come to a close, I lost count of how many easter eggs I munched. The temperature was perfect to eat chocolate and they really tasted so good.

The social aspect is always good

I also enjoyed the social aspect of the parkrun, as I met a few people and we chatted about topics relating to parkrun and running. Once again, I have to say that it is always really nice to meet and get to know people from all corners of the globe.

We then adjourned to a cafe across the road after the parkrun where I ordered some food and a coffee. I was now feeling a bit peckish after the run after all.