We headed to Riverfront parkrun in Newport. According to The Running Channel it is 32nd out of 835 fastest parkrun in the UK. The three of us headed there as we needed a course close enough to get back for work. Our youngest had not been well and so he skipped it.
An interesting place to visit with plenty of sculptures (near the parkrun and in the town).
The Riverfront, Kingsway, Newport, NP20 1HG
Facilities at Riverfront parkrun
Accessible by train, National Express, as well as by car and on foot/bike. Parking was £2.80 for 3 hours and a short walk to the Riverfront Theatre, which is right by where Riverfront parkrun starts.
Plus the theatre has toilets, and somewhere we could obviously keep warm and dry. Although we walked around to the back of the building and as we arrived early the doors weren’t yet open that side. Not sure if we would have been allowed to use them but there were also charging sockets (plug and USB) in the theatre. As well as free Wi-Fi access.
There was a McDonald’s within walking distance so we headed over there afterwards. Also plenty of shops so we popped into a few of those too.
Riverfront parkrun Course
Riverfront parkrun course is a charming out and back alongside the charmingly described as chocolate-coloured (apt for Easter) River Usk.
Starting from the rear of The Riverfront Theatre it heads south, past the iconic Newport City Footbridge and beneath the George Street Bridge. From there it continues tracking the river path, under the Southern Distributor Road Bridge to the sailing ship sculptures and returns along the same route. Also at the turnaround point there was a great view of
the transporter bridge.
Boasting a spectacular start and finish at The Steel Wave Statue by Peter Fink. Bright red and 14metres high! This was erected in 1991 representing Newport’s steel manufacturing history.
As warned by Katrina in the first timers briefing, Riverfront parkrun it isn’t totally flat. However, it is fairly flat so a fast course. Compared to a lot of other parkrun events we have done I would consider it to be not hilly! Plus we were warned to be aware of loose stones, and other obstacles. Bollards had hi-viz jackets on.
That the course can be quite narrow in parts, therefore no dogs allowed. To be mindful of members of the public, as well as runners coming the opposite way.
Half way point was spot on according to my watch.
Experience of Riverfront parkrun
Volunteers
Obviously we are super thankful to all the volunteers – particularly as it was wet and miserable. There were 29!
Katrina did an excellent job of the first timers briefing: Making sure everything was covered in case we found it difficult to hear the main briefing.
Everyone Welcome at Riverfront parkrun
It was really good to see how everyone is welcome at Riverfront parkrun. On the one hand there were serious looking warming up and stretching beforehand. But on the other the main briefing really emphasised how they wanted us all to encourage people to next week’s parkwalk – telling us that they want to encourage everyone to join us.
The Start
Our son heard someone at the front say that there would be a lot of talk and then Run Director Aiden would just say go and they weren’t wrong!
Not sure really where the best place to start is because I wasn’t that far from the front but suddenly I just couldn’t go anywhere! Obviously it starts quite spread out and then a bottle-neck is caused – plus trying to go round things.
It had been raining so quite slippy. Also people were trying to avoid the puddles.
My Run
Despite the congested and slow start I managed my first km in 5:06 and my first mile by 8:12. There was a boy putting in a lot of effort. His form was really good and he was really kicking his feet back to his bottom. Another teen was running with him and clearly pacing him. Up until this point I hadn’t looked at my watch.
Stupidly I asked what pace he was after and he told me sub 25. They soon sped ahead mind and I am assuming for guessing within the results that he actually finished in around 24 and a half – so there’s no way I would have kept up – not yet anyway! In fact I ended up walking three times.
Finish
Near the end I again enlisted the help of a male runner to help me. Again he had started to slow down. He told me that he couldn’t go faster and I told him that he had been. As I was giving up he encouraged me. Not a PB for parkrun but according to my Strava it was a faster pace (if the courses were in fact short). Either way it shows I am getting there and did manage a nice sprint finish.
There were different pots with finishing positions to return your barcode to after scanning. Was nice that I was able to put my token in the lowest number – someone else congratulated me when they put theirs in a lower down pot.
Results
It was my 253rd parkrun and I completed my Stopwatch bingo (naturally). Plus I am really pleased that the time recorded matched up with my Strava too.
In answer to the question I guess it is fairly fast but I am not sure why it has the reputation of being one of the fastest and isn’t where I have any of us have our PBs. Although saying that I still finished in 26ms 17s. Possibly things may have been different if people were not dodging puddles.
Riverfront parkrun Stats Event 343
- First Finisher was Sam Griffiths with a PB of 15.33. Also holding the highest age grading of 82.96%.
- First female finisher, Kate Hayhoe, also got a PB at 22.59. Although the highest female age grading was Michelle Gooch with 77.39% (VW55-59) in a time of 24:02.
- There were 24 PBs.
- 8 first time ever to parkrun and a further 39 tourists.
- 241 recorded participants ranging in time from 15:33-51:18 (and one unknown after that).
- By event 343 the average finish time was 29:30. Event 343 saw 160 people run sub 30, and 146 people ran 29:30 average or quicker.
Over 60s
Altogether there were 25 participants over the age of 60. Making up just over 10%.
Males
18 males over 60, with 12 of them completing it under 30 minutes. This is two thirds of the male runners over 60. It also means that 7 1/2 % of all sub 30 participants were over 60 (males).
- 9 VM60-64 – 7 sub 30
- 6 VM65-69 – 4 sub 30
- 3 VM70-74 – 1 sub 30
Females
There were 7 females over 60.
- 1 VW60-64
- 5 VW65-69
- 1 VW70-74
Other nearby parkruns we have completed: Cwmbran (4.8m), Pontypool (7.8m); Llanishen Park (9.6m) and Cardiff (11.1m)
Visit Mum of Three World for more parkrun posts