Jubilee Bedford parkrun

Chris Jeanes
9 hours ago
5 min read

Bedford gets it's third parkrun course, and I think it will be a popular one for the Alphabet chasers, indeed on the morning of our visit there were a number of Alphabeteers, Cassabeteers (tourists who have completed six whole alphabets) and World Tourists in attendance. This parkrun was my 75th parkrun venue and meant I have now achieved the 3/4 Cowell, I still have the long term aim of reaching 100 venues, but am in no particular hurry. Although I knew about this parkrun before it went live, I avoided the inaugural as all tourists are asked to do, and instead visited on event number two, and with it being quite close to MK a lot of Redway Runners had the same thought, so event two was almost like an unofficial Redway Runners road trip. The course we did was a three lap route all on tarmac with an additional path from the start to the main outer lap (I think they have since changed the route, so it may be slightly different when you visit). It was also almost entirely flat with a very short incline 3/4 of the way through each lap, I think it should be possible to get very good times here once you have learned the course. This was another parkrun with easy free parking at the John Bunyan leisure centre with a few minutes walk from there across some road junctions to reach the park. You'll be fine in road shoes here all year round as it is an entirely tarmac course. [I first visited this parkrun on 28th June 2025]

Bit of History

Jubilee park is part of the Silver Jubilee Neighbourhood of Bedford which was developed in the 1930s in the Kingsbrook area of Bedford, and named after the Silver Jubilee of King George V in 1935. There is evidence of settlement here going back to the late Neolithic or Early Bronze age with excavations in 1995 near the John Bunyan centre unearthing three skeletons and a Beaker pot.

The John Bunan Centre, free parking available here for the parkrun.

Briefings

There wasn't any evidence of a Visitor and First Timer briefing on the morning of our visit, but with it only being event two they are probably still finding their way and may not have written a specific visitor briefing yet and a lot of people here were visitors anyway so they may have decided to just do one combined briefing. Either way the briefing was informative making a call for future volunteers, instructing us where to park on future visits, and welcoming all the tourists, including some tourists all the way from Cape Town! There was also a mention of volunteers still being required for Junior parkrun at both Jubilee Bedford and the sister Junior parkrun at Great Denham. Always nice when Junior parkrun gets a mention. Health and Safety messages that first aiders are available and if you get in trouble please see the nearest marshal and a defibrillator is available at the finish. We then got a course description, three laps all on tarmac, with some uneven sections, a ramp and a roundabout with rocks in the middle so go around it not across it. Please be mindful of other park users, we do not have exclusive use of the park. There was then a brief description of the course, which starts with an anti-Clockwise section, taking a sharp left turn at the playground, to deviate from the outer loop on lap one, you only do this diversion on lap one, once you re-join the main outer loop you then complete three laps of the outer path. I'll go into a bit more detail on my course notes. We were also advised that there were signs at all the turn points as well. Buggies are not permitted at this parkrun due to the narrow paths, also this is a keep right course and pass for overtakes on the left. Final reminder that parkrun is a run not a race and then we were started...

Course Description

Tarmac path all the way round. From the start you are heading roughly south east towards the sharp first corner, where you turn left to head back North West towards the next corner, which is a gentle left taking you towards a tree line, through the trees you soon enter a tree lined avenue, which is the end of the first section of the course which you don't repeat again. At the end of the tree lined avenue, you take a right turn, past a playground on your left and a bowling green on your right. You will then pass a skatepark also on the right and after that you take a right turn, to enter another tree lined avenue, you will then come to a ramp and then a roundabout, and you will soon come back to the very first corner, then you take a right pass the finish area and then back to where you started from to complete lap one. Continue straight on into lap two, taking a right turn and then a sweeping left to bring you back to the first tree lined avenue again. Complete the whole outer lap again, and then again for the third time around, the finish is fairly close to that initial sharp first corner. Basically you will pass the playground, skatepark and roundabout three times, after the third time around the roundabout you know you need to stop at the finish, the last few metres are on grass. It's another one of those courses which is much easier in practice than trying to explain it.

Difficulty

On this fairly flat sheltered all tarmac path parkrun, with only one really sharp corner it would be difficult to rate this course as anything other than a 1 out of 5. Road shoes all the way here and maybe even put on your carbon plated supershoes and go for a time. I finished in around the mid 24 minutes pace wise here, so on a par with the quicker parkrun courses I have run this year.

Get ready for your sprint finish like this lot ^

Elevation

With 19m of elevation this is a pretty flat course with very little elevation. If you are looking for a hilly challenge look elsewhere. If you are looking for a mostly flat and fairly quick course then you are in luck.

Parking, Facilities and Coffee

Car parking and post parkrun coffee at the John Bunyan centre, which is a short walk from the park. Unfortunately no toilets available before the run at either the John Bunyan centre or in the park itself, so please make your own arrangements. A playground, an outdoor gym and a skate park can all be found in the park itself.

Other Points of Interest

As a letter J parkrun, I expect this parkrun will be popular with alphabet collecting tourists. Indeed as I already mentioned on event number two when we visited we saw a number of Alphabeteers, Cassabeteers and World Tourists. So keep an eye out for them when you visit.

Watch out for tourists they tend to hunt in packs!

Summary

Another fabulous morning to complete another new parkrun course. It was great to see all the Redway Runners and various tourist groups on the day. This is a fine addition to the Bedfordshire collection of parkruns, being fast, flat and all on tarmac. I am looking forward to visiting this parkrun again in the future, hopefully to set a better time now I know the course.