I was in Rotterdam about a couple of weeks ago for the marathon so I took up the opportunity to visit the Kralingse Bos parkrun at Rotterdam, in the Netherlands, whilst I was there.

A global community 

The parkrun is a timed 5km running event that takes place in many countries worldwide. 

It does not discriminate and welcomes people of all ages and running abilities. To me, parkrun is more than just a run. It is a global community.

My first parkrun in two years

With all parkrun events in Singapore, where I am from, been closed since March 2020, this event would be my first parkrun in more than two years. Therefore I was really looking forward to it.

Cycling to the parkrun

I cycled down from my accommodation in Rotterdam to the parkrun. 

It was a short ride, about 6km away and thanks to google maps, the place was quite easy to locate and I arrived with about 15 minutes to spare. 

The parkrun start point is on google, so the guiding directions had been pretty accurate.

With separate cycle pathways on the roads and everyone, from motorists to pedestrians, being so tolerant of cyclists, I found that it was so much easier to cycle in the Netherlands as compared to in Singapore. No surprise there.

For those who choose to take a train down, it is about a mile or so walking to the start point. There is no bus from the train station.

The correct place

I knew that I was in the right place as soon as I spotted the signature parkrun flags. It felt exciting to see those flags.

It was a very cold morning and I was shivering, even with two jackets on over my parkrun singlet. 

The pre-race briefing took place punctually at 9am and was in English, probably to cater to the marathon runners who had come in from other countries. I had read somewhere online that the briefing is usually in Dutch.

Size and route

There was a total of 61 runners at this parkrun. The size, I would say, is pretty similar to Singapore’s events.

A moderate pace

Bearing in mind that I had a marathon to run the next day, I started off at a moderate pace that wasn’t pushing it. 

This was supposed to be a warm-up run for the marathon after all, and so I did not want to tire myself out.

However due to the super cold weather, which was in the low single digits, I literally found myself running faster and faster in a bid to keep my body warm.

Route and scenery

The route was a bit twisty and comprised of several turns, but there were marshals and signages to point the way. So it was quite easy to know where to run.

It is a flat course and the terrain is quite easy to run on, consisting of a mixture of road and gravel/sand.

In terms of the scenery, this was beautiful. Half of the parkrun went round a big lake and the rest of the route took us through the trees. The Kralingse forest is definitely beautiful indeed.

Cold and hailstones 

Halfway through the parkrun, hailstones came down.

Coming from a tropical country, I have only seen hail once before, but this was my first time running under hail. I have to say that it was not really fun feeling to be running under such unusual weather conditions. 

But I managed, soldering on and gritting my teeth and trying to ignore the hailstones coming down. 

Usually it is not supposed to be this cold in Rotterdam in April as it is already spring. The weather that I had experienced was apparently an outlier.

At least my body was not feeling too cold already at this stage, as it had already warmed up considerably from the running.

My finish 

I finished the parkrun in an official timing of 26 minutes 19 seconds, speeding up slightly and overtaking another runner when I was nearing the finish line. 

The feeling of racing a parkrun felt so good again. 

It had been a good shake out run for my legs and I must say my lungs did not feel too tired thanks to the cold weather. 

Gathering and coffee 

Post-run, I met and chatted to a few runners who were also taking part in the marathon the following day, as I tried not to shiver too much from the cold.

After the parkrun, we adjourned to a nearby Dutch pancake house for breakfast. 

Runners had actually passed this cafe along the route, but it was quite difficult to locate it after the run as I was not familiar with the Kralingse forest area.

I have to say that the pancakes were really delicious.

Social aspect of parkrun is amazing

There, I met up with a friendly couple, from Ireland, who were also in town for the marathon. 

It had been really nice to meet them. 

This social aspect is one of my favourite part about parkrun – meeting people from all over the world, whom we would never have crossed paths with, if it was not because of the parkrun.

As I cycled back to my accommodation, I felt a renewed sense of invigoration – I must say that I had really enjoyed doing a parkrun again after so long.