Bulltofta parkrun, Malmo

Last parkrunday I visited Bulltofta parkrun in Malmo, Sweden for the first time. This was my first international parkrun since Farfalle parkrun, in Padova, Italy in early January. And my second Swedish parkrun after visiting the gorgeous but challenging Huddinge parkrun just outside Stockholm for Swedish National Day a few years ago.

My first Swedish parkrun experience back in 2023 took a good deal of planning. Setting a business trip the day after National Day and planning an earlier trip to be there in time to enjoy the local celebration. Similar to what I deliberately did in 2025 in Copenhagen, to join their special event at Amager Faelled parkrun. This time, there was very little planning involved and destiny pulled me towards this interesting new parkrun event in Malmo, Sweden.

On Monday I left London for what was supposed to be a Monday to Thursday business trip in Copenhagen. But I knew there was a possibility I might have to extend to Friday, so I brought my running and parkrun gear, just in case. And the extension indeed happened: I was happy to get a new sneaky international event and not fly back on one of the awfully overcrowded Friday evening flights and started thinking which one of the other Copenhagen events I could go to.

Then I saw that there was a new event just across the bridge. And it was going to host event 14, the next unclaimed event to keep progressing my (Golden) Wilson Index. And its name started with a B, a letter I still did not have for my International Alphabet challenge. Too juicy to miss, isn’t it? I booked a train for Friday afternoon to cross the bridge and an hotel in Malmo. Will I enjoy my time at this buddying new parkrun in Malmo?

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

Trip to Bulltofta parkrun and parking

Bulltofta is a neighbourhood slightly outside Malmo city centre and it used to host the now closed Malmo Bulltofta airport. The airport stopped operating in 1972 and the area has now been converted into a large park and a commercial development. Interesting how this is not the first converted former airport area I have run a parkrun on. Riemer parkrun in Munich is on a large park that still embraces its former identity as a runway even more than Bulltofta. Similar story for Roundshaw Downs parkrun in Croydon, South London. Some airport landmarks, like the control tower, are still visible at Bulltofta parkrun, but the main area has been converted into a beautiful, green park.

If you are visiting from abroad, it is likely your visit will include a flight. While Malmo Airport provides some international connections, the most likely port of arrival is Copenhagen Airport, since it is a major international air hub. Malmo is a short train (or taxi) trip over the Oresund Bridge from Copenhagen or, even closer, from its main airport. I don’t normally fly on purpose to visit a parkrun, usually combining them with business or leisure trips, but in theory you could probably get to Bulltofta parkrun from Copenhagen airport in the morning, if your flight lands early enough. Swedish parkrun events start at 9.30 am, the train from the airport runs every 30 minutes and it will get you to Malmo Central Station in less than 30 minutes. From there, I would guess Bulltofta parkrun is a quick 10/15 minutes taxi ride away.

I booked a train using the Omio website from Copenhagen Central Station on Friday afternoon, to have some time to wander around Malmo before dinner on parkrun eve. For the night in Malmo, I stayed in the Radisson Blue Malmo. A decent hotel, not too expensive and in the city centre. There were a few cheaper options closer to Bulltofta parkrun, but I wanted to stay in the city centre and, most importantly, I wanted an hotel offering noon checkout rather than 11am. That’s my main decision driver in these cases, I prefer not to be rushed after parkrun. I travel to and from Bulltofta parkrun by taxi, booking on Uber. It cost me about 10/15 pounds each way and took around 15 minutes. Faster than I expected, which meant I was at the venue before 9am, with plenty of time to explore and chat with the extremely nice and welcoming local team.

According to the official event site, there are local public transport options to reach Bulltofta parkrun if you want to avoid paying for a taxi. The team suggests bus line 13 and 6, alighting at Malmo Ulricedal, about 400m walk away from Bulltofta parkrun meeting point. If you have a car, head for the Bulltofta Motioncentre and you will find a large, free car park waiting for you. The car park is free for up to 4 hours and it requires a parking disk. Sends me back 20 years, I have not seen those around for a while. I also used the Motioncentre car park as destination for my Uber and once there, I was 5 minutes walk away form the event meeting point.

Bulltofta parkrun: start and briefings

If you are coming from the car park, walk towards the path sided by signs and buildings and turn left to start heading into the park. Walk passing the tennis courts on your left and the the white motion centre building on your right. Once terrain on your left opens up, turn left onto the grass and the meeting point will be there, next to a small wooden hut. As said, I miscalculated my taxi time and got there stupidly early. Like, 45 minutes before start time early. And yet, even if no one was there physically yet, the Bulltofta parkrun pop up sign was already out.

As the team started arriving, they were some of the friendliest core teams I have encountered so far. And parkrun core teams tend to be friendly in general, but the Bulltofta team did go one step ahead, similarly to the incredible team at Salento parkrun, near Lecce. I guess smaller events that tend to get a lot of tourists do lend to a special atmosphere.

As a small contingent of parkrunners started arriving, there were a lot of tourists and conversations were pretty consistently in English. Not unusual for Nordic countries, where English is spoken fluently pretty much everywhere. The very friendly RD then started giving the First Timers Briefing and, shortly afterwards, the Main Briefing. Both took place by the little hut, next to the finish funnel, roughly half way between the Motioncentre building and the round cricket green.

After the briefing, everybody starts walking towards the cricket green. Turn left when you get on it and keep walking 2/3 up the left semicircle to reach the start line.

After a short countdown, the time came. Parkrun.

Bulltofta parkrun course review – star ratings

Bulltofta parkrun course review – route highlights

There were 32 parkrunners on the day of my visit to Bulltofta parkrun, Malmo. It was only event 14 and weather was not particularly appealing, so it is early to establish long term attendance. However, there was a substantial contingent of international visitors and the team seem to be keen on engaging the local community further. I am sure this event will keep growing and become a staple in Southern Sweden. There were two attendance spikes so far, 83 parkrunners for the landmark launch event and 116 parkrunners for event 9. Apparently there was a plane load of Irish visitors that day: it must have been fun! Besides that, attendance fluctuates in 25-45 range. The course is very open and it could definitely accomodate large numbers without becoming too crowded.

Congestion is never really a problem on this course. It starts on a wide path going around the circular green and then turns into forest trails. There are two hard turns, one when leaving the green and when when turning onto the first paved uphill. Both of these could become bottlenecks if there were several 100s parkrunners, but as the field thins out, they will be manageable with moderate numbers. 2/3 of the lap in there is a little bridge crossing, but again, it is not too tight. Similarly, there are two gates you pass by towards the end. These could become a bottleneck at more moderate numbers, but they are at the end of the lap, so thinner fields will reach them.

Surface-wise, this is mixed terrain. Most of it is on compacted trails: they are even, well pressed and it seems they would also be draining well in case of rain. There is also a fairly substantial amount of paved paths, which are very well maintained too. The last 50 metres leading to the finish funnel are on grass. It did not feel slippery or muddy when I visited. I wore road shoes and think they were perfectly fine. You might even sport your fancy carbon plated shoes here, I think. And you might end up with a good time, the course can be a fast one, if not a PB one.

Elevation-wise, at 31m elevation gain over two laps, Bulltofta parkrun is just mildly undulating, but the overall feel is that of a flattish course. About 1/3 into the first lap, there is a tight left turn that gets you into the first climb. It is on a smooth paved path and the uphill is fairly steep but very short. Then you run for a good while on higher ground before a longer, milder downhill. I never felt the uphill being draining and all can be run comfortably.

In terms of course layout, it is two laps. Both start with a circular trip around the green and then you start an irregular lap around the park. I did make a mistake during my first lap, so the triangular bit on the right bottom corner of the map above should not be there. This diversion made my run about 150 metre longer than it should have been… not a big deal.

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

Once it’s time to get going, everybody lines up on a compacted ground path running around the circular cricket green. When it is time to go, you pass the turn to the main loop after 20/30 metres, but keep going. After slightly less then half circumference, you pass the wider turn towards the meeting point and finish funnel. Keep going again. Finish the round and keep going until that first turn, take a hard right and immediately another hard right and you are now on the main loop.

When you start on the main loop, it starts as a nice, wide path on compacted ground again. You go through a section under mature trees first, then transition on open path sided by green meadows. This head towards the lake, which you run towards, enjoying a nice view of the water. As you reach the lake, you immediately turn 90-degrees right onto a narrower path covered by trees. This is not a long segment and you will soon reach a paved path.

When you reach the path, take a very tight left turn and start climbing a small hill. It’s noticeable, but very short. When you reach the top, keep going on the paved winding path for a short segment until you reach a marshalled point. Here it is where you have to turn left and where I made a mistake during the first lap. I guess I was in the zone and preferred staying on the paved path. I eventually reached the end of the park, turned left and descended back towards the correct course. If you are smarter than me and turn left at the right spot, you start a mild descent on a narrower path covered by thick vegetation. Eventually you will reach a crossing with the wider path and turn left. This is where I joined the correct path again.

It’s soon time to cross a little bridge and start running on a winding up and down section through the forest. Very soon we get back on a paved path and start running on more open terrain. A wide left leaning curve that starts on a downhill and then keeps going flat gets you back towards the other side of the park. Here you can see a large shopping centre on the right, before eventually turning further left and back towards another copse of trees. As you reach the tall trees, cross a segment under them and go through a small gate. Immediately after the gate, turn left and run on a narrower path by the car park.

Cross another little gate after the car park and keep going straight by the tennis courts before turning left again. This is the final stretch of the main loop and gets you to the point where you had left the circular loop earlier. Turn right back into the loop and run around it in full again. Resist the temptation to turn and head towards the funnel this time. It’s hard, I know, but you can do it :).

Once you have run it all again once more, you will get into the circular bit for the third time. This time, turn right and head towards the finish funnel, you have earnt it. Fly over the grass and reach the funnel!

Congratulations on completing Bulltofta parkrun!

Facilities at Bulltofta parkrun

Bulltofta Park offers a lot of outdoor facilities around the Motioncentre. Within walking distance, I could see a children playground, an outdoor gym, tennis courts, a cricket green and a disc golf course.

There are public toilets next to the tennis courts. I did not visit them, but the team kindly offered to show me the way and pointed out they only open from 9am. In case you arrive too early.

The main white Motioncentre building hosts a nice and cosy cafe too. There is a lot of outside seating that will be great in good weather. On the day of my visit it was not too cold to sit outside and I would have, but benches were all wet from the rain unfortunately.

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 Bulltofta parkrun, I ordered an orange soda, a slice of local cake with cream. It was really good.

Bulltofta 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.

• Instagram
• Twitter
• YouTube

---

Achievements and performance

Conclusions

I am glad I followed my instinct and took the impulsive decision to cross into Sweden and join Bulltofta parkrun. It is a great event organised by a great team and going through a beautiful park. I am sure the location will truly shine if people visit it in spring or summer weather!

Bulltofta parkrun comes highly recommended and I hope it will grow into a great event and enjoy a long future.

Finally, obviously, thank you, Bulltofta parkrun team for your hospitality!

Bulltofta parkrun