Amager Fælled parkrun (Amager Faelled parkrun)

This week I had a parkrun fix on a Thursday visiting Amager Fælled parkrun in Copenhagen for the first time. What is this crazy malarkey, parkrun on a Thursday? Yes, it was Ascension Day, which is now the parkrun special day across all Nordic countries.

About two years ago I joined my first foreign special event when I visited Huddinge parkrun in Stockholm. I have wonderful memories of that day, a tough hilly course in a beautiful forest. That time, I joined a special event nearly by accident: I happened to have a business meeting in Stockholm the day before and decided to extend by one night. Definitely the best choice and, probably, one of the events that got me stuck on international run tourism.

Copenhagen is a bit of a weird one for me. I am in town on business at least twice a month and it has been the case for a few years. However, I had never stayed on to try one of the parkrun events in town. Familiarity maybe? I am here all the time, so eventually it will happen was the thinking I guess. Well, when I happened to have pre-booked business in town on Tuesday and Wednesday before a special day the writing was on the wall, I could not miss it! So I stayed! My usual hotels when I am in town are in Nordhavn, so another event would have been closer, but for my first event I wanted to try the oldest parkrun still in existence outside of the UK: Amager Fælled parkrun. Or Amager Faelled parkrun: yes, annoying I alternate both spellings or even use both in the same sentence. But this is a necessary sacrifice to the SEO Gods, deal with it.

Seems like many people had my same idea, because it was a very busy day at Amager Faelled parkrun, with a record for the highest attendance on record. Managed wonderfully well by the great local team!

A lot of hard core parkrun tourists will be taking the opportunity of a special event on Thursday to go for the mythical Nordic double: catch two Nordic countries in the span of a few days. It is a good idea because Copenhagen is a wonderful city to spend a few days in and the other Nordic countries are also glorious places for a weekend break, especially in spring just a few weeks before midsummer. By the way, that’s another great time to visit: they go bananas that weekend! 🙂

Denmark is now parkrun country number 7 for me. I am still a baby tourist but I am starting to get there. From 2 Nordic countries to the beautiful but awfully humid Presint 19 in Malaysia or the closer but very hot Salento parkrun in Italy. Great excuse to explore new places!

Trip to Amager Fælled parkrun (Amager Faelled parkrun) and parking

Well, it’s in Denmark, so, assuming you don’t live in Sweden, travel involves a train, if you are coming from Sweden. Or a not very environmentally friendly car drive via the Oresund bridge. That’s kind of cool, I did that a few times.

Amager Faelled parkrun is actually on the way to the city centre from the airport, closer to the latter the former. If you are coming for a quick trip exclusively to visit this event, there are hotel options next to the park, but I would definitely not recommend that. Copenhagen is a great city and it is definitely worth a short stay. Funny story though: the first time I came to CPH years ago, for meetings that eventually led to my current job, I stayed at the A/C Marriot Bella Sky. This is the weird building you see while running Amager Faelled parkrun and it is just a short walk away from the event. Even more, I remember going for an evening run in the park, I wonder if I touched Amager Fælled parkrun back then.

If you are staying in the city centre, most hotels offer bike rental services and if the weather is good Copenhagen is a great city to ride a bike around. Plenty of people come to this event by bike and safely leave their bikes by the meeting point and finish funnel. As a Londoner I would be a bit spooked leaving a bike without a blood thirsty killer cyborg guarding it, but I guess some parts of the world are just less prone to bike theft.

The next environmentally and budget friendly alternative is public transport. Copenhagen has an excellent underground system and, according to the official event site, the closest station to Amager Fælled parkrun is DR Byen M1 line. Once you reach the station, you will have about 1.3K to walk to reach the meeting point.

Finally, if you have a rental car or decide to take a taxi, there is a free car park inside the park, about 2/300m walk from the event meeting point. Drive or be driven there and walk the path towards the centre of the park. In less then 5 minutes you will reach a clearing that will eventually see people arrive and a finish funnel appear.

Amager Fælled parkrun (Amager Faelled parkrun): start and briefings

I visited Amager Faelled parkrun on a special event day, so my experience was definitely not the one that greets visitors on most other normal days. At the end, final results shows 464 finishers. Record attendance level mostly fuelled by tourists, while usually attendance seems to normally be around 75-100 per week.

I arrived early because I did not expect the total and complete lack of traffic Copenhagen enjoyed on this (partial) day off. By 8:20 in the morning there were probably already 40/50 people dotted around the clearing that acts as meeting point. Pretty much all tourists, obviously. The largest contingent was probably British, with a lot of running clubs having come with common gear and flags. Special mention also to the Polish and German contingents, which also came with good numbers and enthusiasm.

One curious thing I noticed was that from 8:30 onwards an insane queue started to form with people waiting to take a selfie with the event name pop-up. Quite civilised, but I was very happy with my choice to snap a pic of the pop-up itself without any need to wait for my time to be in it as well.

At around 8:50, the First Timers briefing was called. Which was basically everyone. Kudos to the great, fun RD who kept everyone entertained with jokes, a decent attempt at calling most parkrun countries who might have been there and an impressive go at Finnish language. Special honourable mention for the crafty snide at the absurd Brexit vote and its consequences: don’t steal barcodes, because replacements get stuck at customs now!

Afterwards, the Main Briefing blended naturally into the stand up comedy performance and it was soon time to start walking to the finish line. Good choice to call finish times to self seed along the path, starting with walkers and moving up progressively to the speed demons. As it happened, when people reached the start line, the team quickly realised we all needed to walk further back away from the start line given numbers. A few loud and motivating shouts afterwards, the team had managed to herd the field far enough and it was nearly time to go. Around 9:10, so all in all very well done considering the extraordinary numbers.

Amager Fælled parkrun (Amager Faelled parkrun) course review – star ratings

Amager Fælled parkrun (Amager Faelled parkrun) course review – route highlights

If I don’t count crossing national borders at Severn Bridge parkrun a couple of months ago, my last international parkrun event was at Presint 18 in Malaysia at the end of 2024. Literally on the other side of the world compared to Denmark and very different perceived heat! The beauties of international parkrun tourism!

As said above, there were 464 finishers on the day I visited. On top of this, I am sure there were several volunturists who also flocked on this historical Danish parkrun. Normally Amager Faelled sees less than 1/4 of this, so it is truly impressive that the event run very smoothly and with no major issue at all. At least none that I could see, I am sure the team had to cope with unexpected bothers. But if they did, they did it so well that it did not affect the experience at all. If anything, they took it in their stride and doubled up on humour and hospitality. While this attendance level is a record, there was another event above 400 two years ago: I guess that was the 2023 special event. A drop can be seen in 2024: my guess is that when the seafront parkrun sibling on the island of Amager is on, tourist flows can be split more evenly. In terms of course congestion, besides a short wait at the start, it was never a problem either. Great event.

There are absolutely no bottlenecks on this course. There are few turns, of course, but they are all pretty wide and no bollards or gates are ever encountered. Well designed course that will not stop you from having a great run or walk.

In terms of surface, it is pretty much all on compressed gravel and hard path. On the day I visited it was hard and dry, so not as fast as soft tarmac, but still one of the best options for a great run. My road shoes did not have any issues on it. I assume there might be puddles when rainy, but I doubt it would turn into a mad bath like some of the UK courses. That said, this is pure conjecture.

The course also feel fairly flat. There are a few little changes of elevation here and there, but it’s not something that affects perceived effort significantly. I was surprised when I saw the 32m of elevation gain on Garmin and Strava, I expected it to be less. That said, since this is over 2 laps, I guess the stat confirms the overall flat profile of this course.

In terms of route design, it is pretty simple as well. You will run little more than 2 laps because the start line is about 200m away from the finish funnel. Each lap is roughly a triangle around the Northern portion of the Amager Fælled park.

You can see a short video of the course profile on my YouTube channel. More visual video highlights are also available below.

At the start it took a while to push everyone far back enough to get the leaders on the start line, but after that I was surprised by how fast things got going fluidly. There were probably 15/20 seconds of slow walking, but then everyone could run quite comfortably and I did start towards the back. The first 100m or so are on a path surrounded by trees high enough to provide shade, then things open up a bit more and you go by a small clearing. Then soon after the larger clearing where the meeting point was and now, the finish funnel if fully visible and ready for you. Not yet though, not yet.

After you pass the meeting area, there are another 100/150m straight, going back towards the car park. Just before reaching that, it is time for a 90-degrees turn left to start going down the next side of the triangle. This is the only one of the three that is not a near perfect straight line. There will be a few twists and wide turns to make things more interesting and scenic. In general, this side has a more open profile, with a few small areas of trees, but mostly open views on meadows and green fields. Quite calming and peaceful, even with so many people around.

Just before the end of this segment, a light turn gets us into a short straight going between two nice, green hills covered with grass. Cool view seeing people climbing up and down them on both sides of the run route.

Then it is time to turn again and enter the third side of the triangle. This side is mostly sided by trees, with several sections under tree cover from both sides. The shade adds variety to the course and it might also be quite welcome during the warmest months.

As you reach the top of this segment, another left turn will get you onto the top segment. A short straight between trees and you see the chalk start line on the ground. Nearly there! 200m more and you reach the finish funnel by the start line. Tempted? Nope, tough, one more lap!

The second time you get here, you can stray left slightly onto the grass and bask in your glory while you enter the finish funnel made with cones.

Well done and congratulations on completing Amager Fælled parkrun!

Facilities at Amager Fælled parkrun (Amager Faelled parkrun) parkrun

There are no facilities at Amager Faelled parkrun. The park is a large wild natural area with no constructions within it. The official event site suggests a nearby shopping centre if people need toilets or for post run refreshments. I did not go there so I cannot comment on it.

FAQs recently published on the event facebook page also remind people how humans can get back down to basics if physiological needs strike unexpectedly. Plenty of bushes around, indeed. I guess being a man helps there, but I’m sure both genders can find good spots with a bit more searching.

Occasionally, the event is visited by a coffee cart, or coffee tuk tuk as they call it. The RD said they were expecting it for the day, but I did not see it around the finish line when I tried looking for one. Either it was not there or it had already left. Not a big deal, since wait times would probably have been the stuff of legends anyway.

Amager Fælled parkrun (Amager Faelled parkrun) 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

What an enjoyable break in the week, we should have mid-week parkruns at least twice a month! And work should stop for it, so that everyone can join a new one and explore the city around it. I could see Amager Fælled started during the early days of the parkrun movement, it embodies the spirit of the original courses: a run in a beautiful park without too much thought given to facilities and amenities.

Amager Faelled ias a beautiful park in a great European city. Come to Copenhagen, and come more than once, there are 4 parkruns to explore after all!

Thanks to the great Amager Faelled parkrun team for the wonderful hospitality. Even if we were an unruly bunch of tourists!