Mura di Lucca parkrun

This parkrunday I visited Mura di Lucca parkrun, adding a fourth event to the list of Italian venues I have been to so far. I have taken advantage of separate commitments in Italy on the couple of days after a parkrunday and flew into Pisa instead of a more convenient airport, ahead of a long high speed train trip in the afternoon, but how could I miss the chance to tick one more Italian event off?

Mura di Lucca parkrun has established a pretty solid reputation as a a bucket list, destination event. And it is definitely well deserved. Where else could you run 5K nearly a single loop on top of elevated medieval walls with beautiful views of the old town on one side and of the rolling Tuscan hills on the other? Nowhere, clearly. And since most tourists will come from afar, it will be at least an overnight trip, which is likely to mean a night or an afternoon in Lucca, a beautiful little town with plenty of things to explore.

Mura di Lucca parkrun comes after two other Italian events I visited in August, Salento parkrun and Roma Pineto parkrun. Both highly recommended: there is something special about Italian parkruns that make them definitely feel different. I really enjoyed them all for different reasons and I would love to keep exploring them all and, eventually, complete them. Unless, as we hope, the number of events keep growing. I have family in Turin, so I would definitely welcome some events popping up in the Italian North West.

Anyway, enough with my rumblings. It’s time to dive into some more info about Mura di Lucca parkrun!

Trip to Mura di Lucca parkrun and parking

Mura di Lucca parkrun is, unsurprisingly, in Lucca. It is a small town not far from Pisa, in North Eastern Tuscany. It is wonderfully located for a visit if you are visiting Pisa, but also if you are in Florence (about 70K away) or if you are enjoying the sea in Eastern Liguria (Genoa, Portofino, Cinque Terre). And Tuscany is rich in options, with one more parkrun in Florence and one in Montecatini Terme, half way between Lucca and Florence. Tempted to spend two weeks exploring the area and visiting 3 events? Yes, I know, it is tempting.

If you are flying for quick touch and go or you want to start your local exploration with Mura di Lucca parkrun, the most convenient airport will be Pisa airport. From the UK, there are plenty of flights coming here with BA, EasyJet or Ryanair. Once you get to the airport, you can catch the shuttle to Pisa central station and then a fast regional train to Lucca. Or you can grab a taxi which will cost around 90 euros for a 30 minutes drive. I would recommend sleeping in Lucca, it is a more interesting town for a couple of days, especially if you have already seen the leaning tower in Pisa.

If arriving in Lucca in the morning, Lucca train station is less than 10 minutes walk away from Mura di Lucca parkrun’s meeting point so it is possible to come in the morning from elsewhere in the area. Italian regional trains tend to be relatively on time, but I would recommend trying to have some slack.

Finally, if you are driving, there are (paying) public car parks by the entrance of the old town where parkrun starts. I was not there with a car, so I don’t know if they particularly expensive, but I doubt it.

If you are staying in Lucca overnight, there are several hotels within the Old Walls and I would recommend trying to be there or close by. Not only parkrun will be within 5/10 minutes at most, but also you will be steps away from all the main sights and the many nice cafes and restaurants to enjoy parkrun eve. Choices range from semi-budget to luxury, depending on your preferences. I picked a fairly upmarket one, but I got a very good last minute deal and it was bang in the centre and 3 minutes walk from the walls.

Mura di Lucca parkrun: start and briefings

The meeting point is already on the city walls. Head for Porta San Pietro, to enter the Old Town or to reach the section of walls where parkrun people will come around for parkrun. Once inside, climb the ramp leading up to the city walls from Piazzale Vittorio Emanuele. Once up on the walls, turn right and within seconds you will see parkrunners and volunteers starting to come together. Taking selfies and enjoying the unique views. I got there at 8:30 and there were already plenty of people there. Be aware, there are no toilets by the start.

The First Timers and Main briefing morphed into one. The implicit assumption is that most people there are either local recurring parkrunners or long-term tourists that know the procedures very well. And I think this assumption is definitely correct.

It starts in Italian, with the run director welcoming all tourists coming from far away lands. Then it turns into English, with a local expat volunteer explaining the course. It is a rather quick affair, then everyone turns towards the monument and wait for the start.

Finally, it comes: it is the countdown. 3, 2, 1.

Time to go!

Wormwood Scrubs parkrun course review – star ratings

Mura di Lucca parkrun course review – route highlights

There were 99 parkrunners on the day of my visit to Mura di Lucca parkrun. Looking at their historical attendance levels, it seems this was a fairly busy event, but not completely out of range. Over summer, fields were in a range between 75 and 120, with most events in the 90s. In winter and early spring, fields seems to shrink slightly to 40-60. As a tourism hot spot, I think more than half of the field were international tourists. A testament to what a special event this is. I see one outlier in terms of attendance: 245 people visited on 18/5/24… I wonder what the occasion was!

It is a very fast course: one loop on a wide carriageway on top of the walls. No bottlenecks, no narrow points, no hard turns. Go for your PB and don’t be concerned about difficult spots along the way. On a good weather day, however, this paths seem to be very popular with locals, so you will meet a lot of walkers, cyclists, runners and dog walkers. It never feels too crowded. In a couple of points there were some small roadworks or repairs to the gatehouses which meant half of the path was not available: even there, while you might have to zig-zag a bit, I did not have to slow down too much.

Surface-wise, it is essentially all on excellent paved roads. It is smooth and well maintained, so if you have them feel free to sport your carbon-plated shoes. I did not think about it and I regret coming just with usual and well-worn road shoes.

Elevation-wise, at 6m elevation gain, Mura di Lucca parkrun is unquestionably flat. Really, I don’t think there are many other venues that are as flat as this one. However, while it is very flat overall, there are a few minor little bumps around the gatehouses of the walls. It is never something that felt more tiring than average; if anything, it makes the route more interesting.

In terms of course design, it is really really simple. It is one lap around the walls, with start and finish points in the same place. However, there is one little quirk. You start in the opposite direction of the main lap and run for 200m towards a monument that you have to circumnavigate around in a wide circle. Then you come back the same way and pass by the start again: at this point you have about 4,300 metres to go in one loop.

A quick Relive route plot is on my YouTube Channel, with longer video highlights embedded below.

Everyone is already listening to the run briefings in the right place to be ready to start. When they are done, turn 90-degrees towards the monument and everyone will be ready to go. It is not a busy start, with plenty of room for everyone to get going at their pace. But beware, it really is a fast surface and it is very flat: the usual start euphoria will take hold of you and you will definitely risk starting too fast. At least, be conscious of it, because 5K don’t get shorter even if you are in perfect running conditions.

For the first 150m, you run on the walls, along the beautiful wide tree-lined paved road that will be with you for the whole event. At 150m, it is time to turn left and start a wide roundabout around a monument at the edge of the walls. Go one full look and re-enter the main walls road at the same place where you had left it. Now you will run again those 150m in the opposite direction reaching once again the start/finish location. Funny signs there, indicating this is the last lap, for only 4250m (or something like that).

Immediately after the start, you will meet the first ramp into the walls. At this ramps, you will have a short and light descent immediately followed by a short and light ascent to get back on the walls level and keep going.

From here, it is a full, round loop along the walls. Rarely, you will have hard turns, but there will be plenty of light turns to keep things interesting. You will pass several gatehouses, with short covered sections providing variety and the nice effect of entering a darker segment and leaving it. About half way through, you will pass the beautiful cathedral of the old town, or one of them, which will be easily visible on your left. While for most of the lap green and lush rolling hills will be visible on the right.

It is a truly scenic and pleasant run and I doubt anyone will be able to go through all of it without stopping at least once or twice to take some pictures.

At the end, you will again approach the start, where a mini funnel will be waiting for you to celebrate your achievement.

Congratulations on completing Mura di Lucca parkrun!

Facilities at Mura di Lucca parkrun

There are no facilities by the start on the walls themselves. There are a few cafes and speciality shops dotted around along the walls, but not immediately by the start. If you need toilets, stop at a cafe on the way to parkrun or in the train station if you are arriving that way.

When it comes to parkbreakfast after the event, then you will be spoilt for choice. The historical old town is full of great little cafes and bakeries and you can be sure quality will be very good in most places. When I visited, I went to the Cafe Dogana (Customs Cafe), which can be found on the little square just after the ramp that got you to the event a few minutes before.

As a competitor to the McDonald’s index, I am continuing to collect data for the parkbreakfast index: how much is breakfast at each location?

At Mura di Lucca parkrun, I ordered a Diet Coke a fresh pistacchio croissant and a single espresso.. This cost €5.7, which is definitely honest, given quality and location.

Mura di Lucca parkrun: Video Highlights

As usual, I’ve taken a few video snippets during the run to give an idea of the course. If you like it, please subscribe, it’s a fun past time for me 🙂

The other parkrun videos on my YouTube channel are all linked on the course review and video highlights summary page.

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Achievements and performance

Conclusions

Mura di Lucca parkrun is definitely a great event and it deserves the status of destination parkrun event that it has achieved. Lucca has enough to support a weekend away, if not more, and the run itself is really unique. If you can catch it in spring or autumn, the green paths are truly glorious and the views it offers on both sides are fascinating.

I would love running it again if I ever manage to stick to more consistent training and come back to my old running shape. And you know what, I think I will. It could be a special treat to crown the achievement. Anyway, I wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone who enjoys visiting new interesting locations with parkrun as an excuse. Or to anyone who likes collecting unique parkrun events. This is definitely one of them.

Finally, obviously, thank you, Mura di Lucca parkrun team for your hospitality!