Facilities

This parkrun is located about a ten minute walk from the centre of Castlerea town. There is ample parking available close to the start line, and toilet and showers are also available. Castlerea can be accessed by a limited number of bus and reail services.

Course

The course consists of three outer laps around the demense followed by one loop around an inner lap. As you go around the outer lap the inner lap is tantalising as you can see it from the outer lap. It is a great feeling when you actually get to turn into the inner lap, even though there is still almost half a kilometre to go. There is a fair bit of climbing in this run. No big hill, but there is a small incline and when you have to cover this four times it all adds up. The surface is a mixture of paved surfaces, with tighly and loosely packed gravel. The park environs are varied, which makes for an interesting run as you go around, passing open fields with large mature trees, and running along next to the Cloonard River. There are some sharp turns on the course, but all turns are well signposted and marshalled.

Coffee

After their run, parkrunners alternate between two local cafes. The coffee is nice but the cafes are located around a 15 minute walk from the run finish.

X Factor

The finish line for this parkrun event is next to an open air swimming pool which is a bit of a novelty. I can imagine that it would be extremely refreshing to go for a swim there after the run. Perhaps only during the summer though. The volunteers at this event are also very friendly and encouraging as always.