Holyrood parkrun wasn’t on my list of parkruns to visit, as when I am in Scotland it is usually visiting relatives in other parts of the country. However, we were at DRS Conference for a week, and the student accommodation they rent out to attendees is very close to the entrance to Holyrood park. It was too good an opportunity to miss. I paid for late checkout (noon rather than 10:00am), and headed to the parkrun.
Pre-event
I got there rather early, and there was nothing like the 550 or so people I was expecting. I wasn’t sure whether to go to the Start or Finish area (they are maybe 100 metres apart?) but there were some volunteers including the Run Director at the Finish area, plus the parkrun flag and pop-up sign, so I guessed that was the first-timers area. I introduced myself to the Run Director and he said the First-Timers briefing would be in around 10 minutes.
I had remembered to bring my mobile phone, but hate taking selfies, so I found someone standing alone and asked if they could take my photo at the sign. I then did the same for a few other tourists. If you are turning up to a large parkrun solo and are unsure who to talk to, offering to take photos at the sign is a good way to strike up conversation with other tourists. The ones I spoke to were a guy visiting from New Hampshire, for whom it was his first ever parkrun as there are none in his home state, and a woman from Sydney who had been here once before.
The RD managed to do the First-Timers briefing without using the megaphone, which was impressive. By this point there were around 50 or so people at that area. We then walked down to the Start area, which was where, somehow, hundreds of people had amassed without me noticing. I said goodbye to the lady from Sydney, who wanted to start further back, and hopped in a little behind where the Run Director was standing. He did have to use the Megaphone for the pre-event briefing. There were many people both ahead and behind of me, and I had no idea whether where I had picked was too far forward or too far back.
The course is quite crowded at the start, and it’s hard to find where best to stand for your pace. Luckily I had picked a good spot and it felt like a reasonable pace for me after I had overtaken a handful of runners. We had been warned about the hill, and the wind that would hit us after the hill. The crowds did begin to thin out a little on the second half of the hill, and I was glad to be going past a woman pushing a buggy. That must be a tough job, both on the uphills and on the downhills.
The hill isn’t as tough as you might expect (the RD had joked in the first-timers briefing that we were not running up Arthurs Seat) but it was nice to get to the top, which is around a mile into the parkrun. The views were nice heading up the hill, but once you get onto the mostly flat second mile, the views are absolutely stunning. It had also started to thin out more, and I saw a guy wearing an Aberdeen top and decided to try to follow him. Unfortunately he really sped up and I lost him before the downhill. I had done the first two kilometres in slightly under 6 minutes per kilometre pace, and seemed to be doing a little over 5 minutes per kilometre on the flat part. It was somewhat windy, so when a few guys went past me I tried to use them as a windbreak before overtaking them on the downhill.
That final mile is wonderful. The views are breathtaking but the running is not. Suddenly I was effortlessly running at under 4:30 per kilometre pace. I had started the run thinking I would be around 29 or 30 minutes, and was hoping to get position 280-something for a parkrun bingo position. After kilometre 4 I realised it would be 26-something. It’s impossible to guess as to your finish position in such a large group, so I just went for it. Unfortunately the final 200 metres or so are a very gentle uphill, so my 5th kilometre was slightly slower than the 4th. I crossed the line in 26:07, and received token 179. My lowest ever finish position, and also not a position bingo number (I already had 79 from Haga) but also the largest parkrun I have ever attended. The finish funnel has a few funnel managers, and is very long, looping back on itself. It took around 2 minutes to get out of the funnel. There were several people scanning, and some runners cheering on those just approaching the finish. I took a few photos, looked around to see if the people I had talked to at the start were there (which they were not), then jogged the kilometre back to the accommodation to check out.
Holyrood parkrun was a great experience for me. I was a little concerned about attending such a large parkrun (my home parkrun (Skatås) averages around 70 runners, and we only get 200 or so when tourists visit on our special day) but it never felt too crowded thanks to the road closures. It is definitely a contender for the most stunningly situated parkrun, with Arthurs Seat and Salisbury Crags as a backdrop, and views over most of the city and across to Fife from some parts of the route. The final mile or so being downhill is also a lovely payoff for the uphill start. If you are lucky enough to live nearby, or are planning a trip to Edinburgh, attending Holyrood parkrun is something you should definitely try to fit into your Saturday morning.
