A guide to touristing the Aberdeenshire parkruns

I have managed to get up to all the Aberdenshire parkruns this year and enjoyed them all. Whatever you look for in a parkrun I think there is something for everyone in this area.  If you want to find out about the parkruns themselves I have done blogs on them throughout the year and also I would recommend searching for Douglas Mason's videos on You tube if you want an even better idea of what they're like.  But this blog is mainly aimed at how to get to these parkruns if you can't drive or just would prefer to get public transport.  To make it easier I have split it up into different sections. I realise if you don't live in Glasgow or Edinburgh the first bit might be mute. But once you get to Aberdeen I think everyone who can't get there in the morning faces the same dilema. So here is what I have learned and what I did.

1) Getting to Aberdeen from Glasgow or Edinburgh

2) Where to Stay

3) Aberdeen parkrun

4)  Hazlehead parkrun

5)  Crathes Castle parkrun

6)  Stonehaven parkrun

7)  Ellon parkrun

8) Going home

9) Reasons I ended up staying central

1) Getting to Aberdeen from Glasgow or Edinburgh

For all my journeys to Aberdeen I got exactly the same train from Edinburgh each time. The 1736 from Edinburgh Waverly which gets into Aberdeen at 2005.  Its ideal if you can just go straight from work and you can also go up from Glasgow Queen street.  The trains to Aberdeen from both are generally once an hour.  If you live in Stirling, Perth, Dundee or surrounding areas you are on the way too.  I would say if you are going from Edinburgh, you are as well going from Waverley if you can rather than Haymarket as the trains do tend to be busy and by getting on at Waverley its a lot easier to get a seat.  And if you have a seat reservation which you get with cheap singles, I wouldnt bank on it because every time I have been on that train there have been no seat reservations. So it is just a free for all.  

In terms of cost I made the mistake the first time I did it of getting an open return.  Yes I could come back anytime I wanted but at £70 it was expensive.  Getting cheap singles by booking in advance (earlier the better!) is the way to go in my opinion unless you want that flexibility. Because getting the cheap singles does mean you are commiting yourself to certain trains. I realise not many people will live exactly in Glasgow or exactly in Edinburgh. So will probably have to get another train to get to Queen street or Waverly.  If you are doing this you are as well seeing if buying each part of the journey seperatley is cheaper and it is quite often the case.  To give you an idea on how much cheaper it can be. On my last trip to Aberdeen I got cheap singles and it ended up costing £24 return.

I know a lot of people choose to drive, but I would recommend the train even just once for the amazing views you get going up the coast both in Fife and in the North east. Some of these views you can only see by train.

2) Where to Stay

With every parkrun in Aberdeenshire you have a choice as none of them are right in the city centre.  You can either stay in the centre, then get a bus or run to the parkrun in the morning or alternatively you could get a hotel closer to the parkrun and travel to it on the Friday night.  I did a bit of both.  Its basically a choice between B & B's and independent hotels nearer to the parkruns or chain hotels in the city centre.  

3) Aberdeen parkrun  - 10 minutes by bus north of city centre

For Aberdeen parkrun I took the bus from the bus station in union square which is right next to the railway station on the Friday night.  I stayed at the Brig Inn which is litrally just 10 minutes on the bus.  There are quite a few buses which go out that way so no issues on getting a bus at that time.  From the Brig Inn it is about 400 metres to the start. So its an ideal location if you want a lie in. I used booking.com to book it and it was only about £35 for the night.  

In saying that now I know how easy this parkrun is to get to, I would probably have stayed in the city centre next time. As from the bus stop its about a 5 minute walk to the start.

4) Hazlehead parkrun - 2-3 miles west of city centre

For Hazlehead parkrun there does seem to be buses which go past the park entrance and it is about 10 minutes to get from the park entrance to the start. But I stayed in what I thought was the nearest hotel to the start which was the Double tree hotel.  It didnt seem like it was that handy for the buses and when I arrived in Aberdeen on the Friday night my thinking was I just want to get to the hotel. So I ended up getting a taxi which was about 7 quid.  It was only about 2-3 miles out from the city centre.  From the hotel in the morning it was about a 20 minute walk to the start.  Again this was booked on booking.com for about £40.  To get back, it was a nice day so I ended up walking and it took around 50 minutes.

As nice as the hotel was, I think if I was to do it again I would stay in the city centre.

5) Crathes Castle - 40 minutes by bus west of city centre

For Crathes Castle there was 2 options.  Either stay in Banchory on the Friday night which is just beyond Crathes Castle or stay in the city centre.  For this one I stayed in the city centre.  The reason being if you stay in Banchory you still have another 3 miles back to Crathes castle in the morning. If you can manage a 9 mile run round trip including the parkrun fair enough. There is also the option of getting the bus from Banchory back to Crathes Castle. But there is the 202 bus which goes from Union street in Aberdeen about 815 in the morning and is due in at Crathes Castle entrance at just after 9am.  It is still a 3/4 mile walk to the entrance which is probably about a 10-15 minute walk. But to give you an idea of how much time you have. My bus broke down and they had to get a replacement bus.  I got to the entrance at 926 and I still made the start of the parkrun - Just!

If I did it again I would stay in the city centre too.

6) Stonehaven - 15 minutes by train south of city centre

For Stonehaven I also stayed in the city centre and got the 827 train out from Aberdeen in the morning.  This train gets to Stonehaven about 845. Its a 10 minute walk from there to where the parkrun is, so I got there in plenty of time at 855.

If I did it again though I would probably stay in Stonehaven. There are hotels and B&Bs which are very handy for the parkrun. Also you stop at Stonehaven on the train on the way up and it did feel a bit pointless going all the way into Aberdeen and then coming back out again.  If there was a problem with cancelations I think it would be quick enough to get into Aberdeen then out to either Hazlehead or Aberdeen beach.

7) Ellon - 45 minutes by bus north of city centre

Ellon was my last trip up to Aberdeen and again I stayed in the city centre.  In the morning the 67 bus goes from Union square bus station beside the station about 815 and takes about 45 minutes. I use my phone to track where I am so I know where to get off.  The bus is a bit slow getting out of Aberdeen but once it gets out onto the dual carriage way its very quick.  The bus is every half hour for the way back. 

8) Going home

Depending on whether you like to go to cafes after parkrun or not will decide as to what train you choose for the way home.  All the parkruns I have done I have got back to the city centre well before 12 as I don't bother with cafes and prefer to get a shower in the hotel before I leave.  So the 1248 train to Glasgow has suited me well and there is also a 1312 train to Edinburgh which I have taken once as it worked out cheaper that time to get home to Glasgow via Edinburgh.   There are also plenty of lunch options both in Union square and Union street before getting the train back.

9) Reasons I ended up staying central

So apart from Stonehaven where I would probably stay in Stonehaven next time. Here are the reasons why I would stay central for the others.

 - When you get off the train on Friday night in Aberdeen you don't have to worry about connections to your bus. Aberdeen is your destination for the night.  Especially if your train gets delayed as you could end up missing the bus

- Being in the centre means there is greater flexibility in terms of which parkrun you do.  Where as if you stay beside a parkrun you are commiting to that parkrun. Moreover, when you are booking a month or 2 in advance can be risky in terms of bad weather, as it may lead to cancellations .  But on the otherhand you get more of a lie in!

- And finally I stayed in Holiday inn to get points and make use of their extended checkout which is 2pm.

August parkruns

Better late than never! Hopefully I remembered right what actually happened in August but I'll just start rambling as usual and see if it comes back to me

03/08 - Starting off the month at Pollok parkrun since it was Craig's 250th and he invited me to come along.  You might recognise him from the You tube videos his friend Douglas makes of their journey round all the parkruns in Scotland.  It was good chatting to him and Jo in the first mile of the run. For the second mile I caught up with Stuart and Pauline, also from Rouken Glen juniors and we ran together. For the 3rd mile Stuart speeded off, while Pauline fell behind. Despite all the good chat I was still giving a good effort really all the way round and managed to come in just over 30 minutes which I was pleased with.

10/08 - Back at Pollok again but this run was to be very different to the previous week.  I had been a bit ill during the week so no running and I clearly wasnt firing on all cylinders today.  I was yo, yoing a bit with Doug who I know from Rouken glen juniors and found myself walk/running after the first mile.  It was easy to walk so cant really say it was a tough run.  And when you do parkrun as much as myself, I have had many off days. So it no longer frustrates me to have a slower run. I just kind of accept it. So today I came in just over 37 minutes.

17/08 - This adventure actually started the day before on the Friday as I headed up to Orkney for Kirkwall parkrun.  As I took the train up to Inverness. Then it was bus to John O'Groats, ferry to Orkney, then bus to Kirkwall.   My hotel was just a short walk to the start.  Its a really nice area they have for the parkrun which is really right in the heart of Kirkwall.  During the pre-run briefing the run director asked if there was any tourists. I was reallly surprised when about maybe 40% people put there hand up.  And when they went round where everyone was from, a lot of folk were from England.  As I say it is a really nice place to have a parkrun but I couldnt help but thinking the course was a bit of an accident waiting to happen for the first 500 metres.  Its a narrow path and within the first 500 metres there is an out and back. During this time people are still sorting out there position in the pack, weaving in and out. Meanwhile you have the front runners coming the other way in no time at all.  Maybe they looked at all the options and this was the only one which is viable though.  But positively after the first out and back people are spread out enough that it isn't an issue for the rest of the run. I was pleased to just dip below 30 minutes on what was a reasonably flat course. 

I had the rest of the day in Kirkwall as I decided to make it a 2 nighter and head back on the Sunday.  In the afternoon I had a really nice time walking round Kirkwall, going to museums and the historic Scotland site, as well as the cathedral.  I wish I had another day so I could have gone to some of the sites outwith Kirkwall as there were plenty of bus tours. But for me thats a lesson learned for when I do Bressay.

24/08 - Another adventure up north, this time it was to Stonehaven parkrun which is just south of Aberdeen.  I actually stayed in Aberdeen just because I was into the routine of booking the same hotel for the last few Aberdeen parkruns.  Although when I went past Stonehaven on the train on Friday night I was thinking maybe I should have just stayed in Stonehaven.  The train was fine in the morning though and it was only a 10 minute walk to the park in Stonehaven from the train station. I actually arrived at 8.55 to the park and there was no-one there so I found a bench and just chilled out for 20 minutes.  Gradually more and more people congregated right in the middle of the park. Then someone put all the signs out.  It did remind me of Drumchapel parkrun a bit. Quite a small parkrun in terms of numbers, 3 laps and some tough hillls.  I did get chatting to one of the women there too who I later found out was one of the run directors there.  Which is quite reminicent of Drumchapel as I always find myself chatting more at the smaller parkruns than the larger parkruns.  In terms of the parkrun itself, I enjoyed it.  I managed to run up the big hill twice, albeit slowly.  The third time I had to walk up but once I was up to the top I managed to increase the pace quite a bit and finished strongly.  So for this one I came in about 31 minutes.

31/08 - Today I was back at Pollok and it was for a wee parkrun landmark as this was my 100th Pollok parkrun.  For the first mile or so I was running with Craig, Jo and Pauline.  As we reached the main hill by the glade though they all started to pull away.  I did have to take some walk breaks but it wasnt as bad as the run I had at Pollok earlier in the month.  So came in about 33 minutes.

So getting an average time of 30 minutes or less is suddenly getting a lot tougher especially as I seem to be doing a lot of hill runs at the moment. But I did complete 50 miles for the month which is what I set out to do. So hopefully I can continue to build on that and that in turn will get my times down a bit.