Innpromenade parkrun, Innsbruck

Last parkrunday I visited Innpromenade parkrun in Innsbruck, Austria for the first time. This visit came after an unusual steak of international parkruns, after visiting Bulltofta parkrun and Terme parkrun for my last two parkrundays. And not waking up in time to visit any event a week ago, when I was back home in London. Absolutely unforgivable, I know. It is weird to think that my last UK parkrun was ARU Writtle, nearly a month ago.

Innpromenade parkrun has been on my target list for a while. It is supposed to be a beautiful, scenic event: I like riverside parkruns and you rarely get to combine that with the gorgeous alpine background you can enjoy in Innsbruck. On top of that, I had not ticked Austria off from my tourism check list and it is an event that was opened relatively recently, providing a handy low(ish) event number for my (Golden) Wilson Index.

While my Malmo trip was a bit of a last minute one, this trip to Austria wasn’t. I’ve known for a while that I would spend most of the week on a business retreat just outside of Munich, with more business meetings due to happen on the following Monday. I could have flown back to London and back out to Bavaria on Monday morning, but that’s a stupid thing I did not feel inclined to do. The alternative was to stay in Munich for the weekend, but I have already had the pleasure to experience the great Westpark parkrun and Riemer parkrun. So, what best opportunity to hop on a train and add one more country to my parkrun tourism roster? Especially one that helps me progress my International parkrun alphabet?

And Innpromenade parkrun definitely deserves to be experienced over a long weekend at least. Because it is embedded in that little jewel that Innsbruck is. Where you can visit history, cuisine, mountains and outdoors depending on what you enjoy most. I am glad I came, I have now decided more Austrian events will need to join my bucket list. They are not many, maybe all of them, eventually?

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

Trip to Innpromenade parkrun and parking

Innpromenade parkrun takes place in Innsbruck, Austria. Innsbruck is the capital of Tyrol, the Westernmost region of Austria, touching both Germany and Italy. And within the region of natural beauty and impressive history, the event is on the banks of the river Inn, just outside Innsbruck Old Town.

Assuming most readers of this site are not Austrian, you will need to get to Innsbruck. There is a little airport just outside town, minutes walk away from Innpromenade parkrun’s route. Innsbruck airport offers direct connections to the UK, both London and Bristol. I guess there is a risk some of those connections might be seasonal though, so checking in advance is recommended.

However, this is a part of Europe that gets a lot of tourism, and I would highly recommend making the most of a trip to these area, besides parkrun. If you are anywhere in Austria, Southern Germany or North-Eastern Italy, you can be sure there are handy connections available to reach Innsbruck by train. I was in Munich and the Railjet fast train operated by Austrian railways got me there in about 1h 45mins. It was a very comfortable train, if pricey, and Innsbruck Central Station is indeed very central. And at walking distance from the historical old town.

If you are spending the night in Innsbruck, where you sleep with affect how you get to Innpromenade parkrun. If you fly in and decide to sleep at one of the airport hotels, then Innpromenade parkrun meeting point will probably be within walking distance. I decided to stay central to enjoy a couple of days of sightseeing besides parkrun. My pick was Stage 12 hotel: it is reasonably priced, offers decent rooms and service and it is incredibly central. Literally on one of the main squares and steps away from the famous Golden Roof.

From where I was, google maps suggested walking to Innpromenade parkrun would take me about 40 minutes. And I am kind of lazy, when it comes to commutes and not exploration. According to the official event site, bus line R gets you close to the start. I rarely have the foresight to buy public transport tickets before they become impossible to buy, so needed to find alternative means. Uber is available in Innsbruck, but it uses normal taxis and the city is small, so I expected a long wait. Differently from usual, I opted for renting an electric scooter. I used Lime, the same app used in the UK for bikes sometimes. The app shows you where available scooters are and when you approach it, scan the QR code and unlock it. Scooters come equipped with a basic phone holder, so using GPS to navigate is not a problem.

The ride took me about 15 minutes, mostly on nice bike paths along the river. And it cost me only £6, so I think it was part of the special experience and a good option to reach the venue. When you arrive there, check the app to make sure you don’t park your scooter in a forbidden area and you are done. Leave it and it will probably be there for you to get back to the centre.

Innpromenade parkrun: start and briefings

Innpromenade parkrun meeting point is on a large clearing by an interesting bridge crossing the Inn. Directions on the official event site give the address I’ve listed above: the crossing of two local roads that help identifying the correct location.

I arrived very early, around 8:20 and the team was just arriving and starting to set up the pop-up sign. People started arriving pretty quickly: mostly tourists subject to a similar new city anxiety that had affected my own planning, I guess.

Once it’s around 8:45, an extremely friendly and welcoming volunteer called all tourists close to the river to start giving us the New Joiners Briefing with a beautiful background. Turned out, about 80% of people presents were tourists, but there was one genuine first timer! Interesting take from the pre-briefing: if you are lucky, you might spot a beaver in the river! I did not… and no crass jokes, people!

Just before 9, the Main Briefing started, facing the little grass covered slopes leading onto the bridge. It was again friendly and welcoming, focused on making everyone feel at home and extending an invitation to the special post parkrun celebrations after everyone is done. After all announcements are done, everybody walks around the bridge, where the start line is.

After a short countdown, the time came. Parkrun.

Innpromenade parkrun course review – star ratings

Innpromenade parkrun course review – route highlights

There were 40 parkrunners on the day of my visit to Innpromenade parkrun, Innsbruck. At event number 30, there is probably enough historical evidence at this point to show what usual attendance is expected to be. And trends seem to suggest a field size of around 35 to 45 people: a nice, well attended local event. And paths are large enough to allow for many times that without impact how much everyone will enjoy their parkrun. Funnily enough, there was a spike of 175 people on their 26th event. Probably a tourist take over and I am sure they had a lot of fun also with that kind of attendance.

Congestion is never really a problem on this course. Paths are always more than wide enough, even with runners coming in the opposite direction towards the end if you are not the fastest. They get a little bit narrower towards the turnaround point, but it is still more than enough to run without any concern. Just remember to keep to the right (not left) and you will be fine.

Surface-wise, it is nearly all compacted gravel or hard paths. At the briefing they said if you find yourself on tarmac, you got lost. Technically, there are two short segments on tarmac, but that was not far from the truth. I get the feeling mud and puddles should not be too much of a problem here, but snow and ice could be. So if it is snow season, come prepared. Otherwise, it is perfectly fine to show up in road shoes. I did, and it was fine.

Elevation-wise, at 13m elevation gain, this is definitely a flat course, even if it is all at around 600m over sea level. I don’t think 600m is enough to require adaptation though, so don’t worry about it. There is a small down and up ramp about 600m in, but it is shallow and short, so it won’t affect your effort in any meaningful way. It can be a fast course, if you don’t waste too much time decelerating and re-accelerating at the mid point pin.

In terms of course layout, it is as simple as they get. A one-lap out and back, following the river. Not exactly in a straight line, but nearly. It reminded me of Kingston parkrun, to give an idea. Minus the annoying field loop at the beginning.

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

As course descriptions go, this one will be easy. Once it’s time to get going, everybody walks to the other side of the bridge and compacts before the start line. After the go, the run gets going easily, with a straight section on good surface and mature trees on both sides. The trees on the left will never leave you, remaining as a fairly thick barrier between you and the river. It is always there and visible, but as riverside courses go, the river is not the protagonist here. The real protagonists are the majestic mountains you will see on your right when that side opens up.

After about 600m, you reach a little building blocking the path. So the path swerves right a little bit. Go down and then turns right again to climb back onto the path. This tiny diversion is the main elevation change along this course, with a volunteer placed there to make sure you don’t make a mistake and divert onto the road running to the right.

As you go back up, keep going and see the airport terminals on your right. They will disappear soon, it’s a small airport. But the runway will continue being there, out of your sight. I realised it was there towards the end, when I heard a small private plane rolling. Otherwise nothing disturbed the peaceful views on the Alps.

A long stretch will not have trees on your right and follow the bank of the river on a long, wide turn gently leaning left. You can see fast runners in the distance, approaching the turnaround point. But you can mostly see large, green meadows on your right and a whole frame of imposing mountains with the last snow on their peaks.

As you reach the end of the long, wide turn, you re-enter an area with trees on both sides. Soon the path gets slightly narrower and you go through a tighter S-shaped curve. Once you are out of the S, there is another short straight segment that gets you to the turnaround point around a pin. It is reasonably wide, but it is still a 180-degrees turn, so you will have to slow down a bit.

Then it is time to go back, all the way to where the start line was. This time, the team will have laid down a short finish funnel and as you approach it and cross it they will cheer you up enthusiastically.

Congratulations on completing Innpromenade parkrun!

Facilities at Innpromenade parkrun

Innpromenade parkrun starts in the middle of a riverside path, in a residential area. No facilities are in the immediate vicinity of the start and finish area.

The official event site says there is a public toilet block along the promenade, not far from the meeting point. I have not seen one, but also did not look for one, so I have no reason not to believe it is there if you need it.

There are also no cafes around. But the team organise a nice coffee trip 5 minutes walk away. Cafe Baguette is the in-house cafe of a small supermarket a bit deeper into the residential area and they have a dedicated sitting room available for parkrunners there.

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 Innpromenade parkrun, I ordered a coke zero, a slice of sacher tarte and a single espresso. It was really good. This cost me €8.02. And it was good: I mean, when in Austria, have Sacher, it is mandatory.

Innpromenade 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

I am really glad I got on a train from Munich rather than a plane back to the UK. Innsbruck is a gorgeous town and Innpromenade parkrun on a clear sunny day is a spectacular venue. And the team is wonderful, inclusive and welcoming. This event deserves to become a staple for European tourists and a must visit when on holiday along the Eastern Alps.

I loved my time at Innpromenade parkrun and I strongly recommend it to anyone who got this far reading my write up.

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

Innpromenade parkrun