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.

February parkruns

02/02 - The weather for this one was a bit dodgy. The previous day tempretures got down to -6 in Glasgow and some parkruns called off on the Friday with others in the Glasgow area holding off till Saturday morning to declare.  I had it in my mind to go to Tollcross again as I they had the good XC course. It came to Saturday morning and I was a lot more prepared than usual to deal with the elements and also cancelations.  I got down to my car for 8.15 and got rid of all the ice.  In the past I have missed parkruns due to not descraping quick enough - not today! I checked my phone and refreshed facebook reguarly for updates.  Victoria was first to declare it was on. I waited till about half past and no one else had posted yet. So I thought to just go for Victoria.

When I got there it was reasonably busy but it was quieter than I thought considering Pollok, Linwood and Ruchill were off plus Victoria is usually very busy at the moment.  The run itself was good. I think I started a bit too far back as for the first lap the pace was very much dictacted. For the second and third laps there was a lot more room so I actually ran a pretty good pace for me.  As it was the alternative course it was slightly longer so I reckon I would have been under 29 minutes if it was the normal course but I still managed under 30 coming in at 29.45.

09/02 - I went on a run on the Tuesday at work which was to change the way I want to approach running. It was a great run, I really pushed it and got round the route faster than I ever have before. Well below sub 30 min 5k pace.  However it took me days to recover from it and I did feel a bit dazed for the next few days as my body recovered. It made me realise that I was trying to race too many runs and I needed to take it easier if I am going to improve and be able to run more.

So with this in mind I went along to Pollok on the Saturday with my new easy approach mentality. I'm not going to say it was easy as the words "Pollok" and "easy" don't really go together. But I did run it more conservatively than I otherwise would and ended up doing it in 32.13. I realise this strategy is going to mess up my goal of averaging below 30 mins for parkruns throughout the year. But I am thinking of changing it so I do one all out effort a month.  This is something I used to do when I was a lot more successful a runner and I think it may be the way forward. I'll try it anyway and see how it goes.

16/02 - What a difference a week makes.  I have had a really good week running and I rept the rewards today.  It was Springburn parkrun time and I started off the run chatting to Pauline who is the ED at Rouken glen. Although she quickly realised I wanted to run slower and she wanted to run faster so off she went.  I maintained a comfertable pace all the way round and felt really good.  I looked at my watch when I finished to see 28.31. I could not believe it. A seasons best and the best I have run since I last did Springburn in September last year.

23/02 - I was due to run Pollok today according to the schedule. But that schedule has now gone out the window. I saw the weather forecast earlier in the week was meant to be good for the weekend. I fancied a bit of adventure so headed up to Aberdeen after work on the Friday and stayed overnight within a short walk of the start of Aberdeen parkrun.  This was an extremely good run. It is an out and back course. But the out is beside the road on a wide pavement with plenty of room for the 300 runners.  It takes a while before you get views down to the beach but they do come.  At the turning point you go down to the bottom path which is nearer to the beach so no problems at all with people getting in the way as you are on 2 different paths.  The path on the way back does have slight inclines and delines but this is a very flat and fast course. 

In terms of my own performance it couldn't have gone any better. Getting faster each mile and at no point I would say I was feeling it while putting in a good effort. I think taking it easier and have more runs during the week is starting to pay off. Time was easily a seasons best 27.40

So after saying I would scrap the average time thing in week 2 of this month. I have ended up getting an average of below 30 minutes this month. So average parkrun time this month was 29.32. And out of January and February average I have reduced it to 30.23.