Eastville parkrun Review

My 69th parkrun course was visited during another of my frequent visits to the South West. Wanting to meet up with an old running buddy who lives in Bristol, she suggested I take a trip up the M5 from Taunton to Eastville park in Bristol. Coincidentally I used to live in Fishponds very close to Eastville park so it was a bit of a trip down memory lane even though parkrun wasn’t even I thing back in the days when I used to live here. I had forgotten that Eastville park is built on a hill so unfortunately this is quite a hilly parkrun (as is the case with most of the Bristol parkruns). It is however a pretty park and there is a lovely section around a lake on lap 2 of this 3 lap course. [I first visited this parkrun on 2nd November 2024]

Back in Bristol, my home for about 5 years (some time ago admittedly)

Bit of History

Eastville park is an urban park laid down in the late 19th century when the local council purchased the (previously agricultural) land from a local landowner. There was originally a boat house attached to the lake but this was burned down in 1913 and again in 1923. There is also a disused Victorian Lido which was hit by a bomb during World War II. The boundary wall to the park is grade 2 listed.

Briefings

A good visitor and first timer briefing, focused very much on the three lap route with a map as a visual aid (love it when there's a map), plus a bit of information about the finish funnel and finish token for newbies to parkrun. The main briefing had a megaphone which was very necessary as this is one of the bigger parkruns in terms of number of runners. Firstly there was a big cheer for some runners completely new to parkrun, followed by a shout out to some visitors from Belgium. Course check was described as excellent conditions, dry but with lots of leaves on the course to be aware of. Then another brief description of the three lap course, which I will go into more detail on in the course section of this writeup below. Then there was a reminder to keep moving in the finish funnel. A warning to take care on the first corner as it can get very bunched up, and a reminder to keep right on this course until you get to the lake where you keep to the left, followed by the usual reminder to under 11s to stay with their responsible adult. An ask for dogs (one dog per runner on hand held lead) and buggies to start at the back. A big shout out to all the marshals and volunteers. We were then advised that there is a first aid kit and defibrillator at the finish, before a reminder that we are not the only users of the park so be friendly and say hello when passing pedestrians. Then there were lots of shout outs for milestones on what was a very busy morning, a couple of times people did have to be reminded to keep quiet during the briefing. After all that we were set off!

Course Description

OK a complicated course so I will try and keep it as simple as I can. Effectively three laps but each is a bit different. Briefly Lap One is a short lap of the west section of the park, Lap Two starts the same way but takes you on a diversion around a pretty lake section and then past the start to take in a lap of the Eastern section of the park, before a final loop of the western section of the park, but I will now give you a more detailed course description... You start on a footpath which runs roughly North South effectively splitting the park into two. Lap One, you head south along the path and turn right at the bottom of the path to head downhill towards the bottom of the park in the South Western corner of the park, you then take a sweeping right turn slightly uphill, before taking another right turn and up the main part of the hill, which takes you all the way back up to the start finish straight where you turn right to pass the start area completing lap one. Lap Two starts the same way as Lap one but after reaching the bottom of the hill, you are directed left onto a twisty section which brings you to a lake (this is the prettiest bit of the course, with lots of ducks and other wildfowl), once you have completed a lap of the lake, you re-enter the main park to go up the same main hill from lap one, but this time you are climbing for longer as instead of joining the North South footpath again you continue on up the hill passing the start area on your right and you take in a lap of the Eastern section of the park, as you round the most Easterly point of the course you are now at the highest point of the parkrun and at the top of the hill. You then head downhill passing by the North South Footpath on your right, which effectively completes lap two. Lap Three is another shorter loop of the Western park (missing out the lake section this time), but still heading back up the hill for the third and final time, turning back onto the main South West path to the finish. It sounds complicated, but you can't really go wrong unless you are fast enough to be worrying about leading the field out.

Course Map — I call it ‘The Distorted Teapot’ course

Difficulty

Just due to the undulating nature of the course, and the fact you have to do the hill three times I think I am going to have to rate it as a 3 out of 5. It's all on footpath but with a total elevation of over 60m this is not an easy course by any means. My favourite section was around the lake in the middle of the course which is both pretty and flat, I thought it was a shame you only get to do this section once.

Hill with BT Mast and Church in background — This is the main hill going West to East up the park, you can see the spire of Holy Trinity Church and the Purdown BT tower in the background.

Elevation

This course is undulating and you have the joy of running up the hill a total of three times, the entire route has a total of 61m elevation, and there is only one flat section around the lake. This course feels if anything worse than the 61m would suggest which is why I gave it a 3 out of 5 in difficulty.

Parking, Facilities and Coffee

There is ample parking at the Eastgate centre which is about 5 mins jog or 10 minute walk from the start. There is also EV charging at Eastgate, which is always useful if you happen to have travelled some distance. Also at Eastgate is a Tesco Superstore, an IKEA, a Burger King and a KFC in case you need a recharge of a different kind after your run. From Eastgate you need to head underneath the big M32 roundabout through some underpasses to reach Eastville park on the other side of the M32. There is also a playground in the park and a public toilet by the playground, which is at the top end of the park. Post parkrun coffee is a Tesco cafe at Eastgate.

Car park with IKEA in background — Parking at the Eastgate Centre

Other Points of Interest

There were some fantastic murals on the sides of the residential buildings next to the M32 roundabout, see below...

Summary

A nice trip down memory lane to Bristol where I went to Uni at UWE. A great park with some pretty scenery and some interesting history. Also nice to meet up with Laura, an ex Redway Runner who used to go to a lot of my runs and now lives in Bristol. A popular parkrun with a regular large turnout and some very competitive young people. High numbered finishes are much more challenging in University cities such as Bristol.