Queensway parkrun

Last parkrunday, I ventured further than usual and visited Queensway parkrun for the first time. It is my first event in Northamptonshire. Within the UK, I usually stick to the South East or, at a push, East Anglia: until today the Northernmost event I had visited was Jubilee, Bedford. Another letter-driven escapade.

I had had Queensway parkrun on my planner once already a few weeks ago, but that parkrunday I ended up changing plans. The early alarm and longer drive really did not seem appealing after a long work week with a lot of foreign travel. Second time lucky, this time getting my third Q was not the only reason bringing me here. Event 23 also hit an attractive gap in my Wilson Index, allowing to get closer to jumping from 17 to 25. After I secure an 18, that is. One step at a time.

Before visiting Queensway, my other two Qs were the other Southern ones, Queen Elizabeth parkrun and Quakers Walk parkrun. Decent available choice for people in the Southern third of England. They are all great events with different reasons to shine, but if you are geographically indifferent and you are only chasing one Q, Queen Elizabeth parkrun still wins for its scenic location and challenging, diverse course.

When it comes to parkrun challenges, this event also brought one unexpected gift. It gave me a tick on one more UK Region, bringing my tally on that challenge to 7 out of 12. Little step on a long term endeavour.

This visit gets one more region started for me, Northamptonshire. It will be a long time before it will be fully added to my parkrun Regionnaire Hub. But I guess the county is not so far that this could not be a long term project. A lot more events to visit in the South before that though.

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

Trip to Queensway parkrun and parking

Queensway parkrun takes place in an equally named park on the Western boundaries of Wellingborough. When it comes to travel, it is not that far North of London and quite nicely placed in the middle of the country, so it benefits from excellent transport connections.

According to the official event site, the closest station is Wellingborough. The station is served by East Midlands and it is on the line connecting London St. Pancras to Nottingham. Once you reach it, Queensway parkrun meeting point will be 2.5 miles away. I did not take the train, but checking on google maps suggests that If you leave from St. Pancras, you would need to get on a train departing around 6:10am. Not much earlier than the time I had to leave driving up there. From the station, google maps suggests the W1 bus will get you to your destination in 10 minutes.

I drove there and it took me about 2 hours from SW London. Longer on the way back, obviously. The trip was pretty much 100% on major motorways and, once I got out, I only had to navigate local roads for about 10 minutes. There are no dedicated car parks at this event, but the event site mentions a couple of commercial locations that allow parkrunners to park for the event. Or, as I did, you could try finding a spot on the road alongside Queensway. I parked roughly where the ‘field loop’ touches Queensway and I saw several other parkrunners doing the same. There isn’t a huge number of available parking, but if you get there around 8:30 as I did, you might be lucky.

Queensway parkrun: start and briefings

I ended up finding a spot for my car just off Queensway, on a nearby road roughly in front of the main flat paved path running alongside the edge of the park and towards the meeting point. As I left my car, I walked a minute towards the park, crossed the road and entered the park. It was the first day of real winter I experienced in 2026, the fog was thick and low and I could not see much beyond 20/30 metres.

As I entered the park, I asked a marshal where to go and she told me to keep going straight, eventually I would see the meeting point. Probably. It was a 5 minutes walk and then suddenly I could see faint outlines of people getting together on the left, just across the field.

Once you get there, cross the field and join the group getting together on the other side. The other border path and a small sport and children play area are on two sides, with open fields on the other ones. As a relatively new event which attracts a lot of tourists, the briefings here were slightly different. The New Joiners Briefings was only dedicated to genuine new parkrunners, focusing on event mechanics, while the Main Briefing covered route and tourist shout outs for everyone.

The Briefing is already held with everyone facing towards Queensway on the open fields and, at the end, you will find out you are already standing on the virtual start line. Get your pre-run stuff sorted fast, because the countdown will not come with a long warning.

Here it was. 3, 2, 1.

Time to go!

Queensway parkrun course review – star ratings

Queensway parkrun course review – route highlights

There were 234 parkrunners on the day of my visit to Queensway parkrun. I joined event 23, so still a relatively young event, but mature enough to have a few weeks of reasonable, unskewed attendance levels. The event is still attracting a good amount of tourists, but for the Q and early event numbers, but that will probably remain the case for the foreseeable future. In general, it seems like average attendance levels have stabilised in a wide 150-250 range, but we don’t have clear evidence of winter seasonality yet. And there is a good amount of grass here. The course combines an out and back on a narrower path with wide segments on grass, but at these attendance levels, it’s never a problem. And I don’t think it would be even with materially busier fields.

The event starts on a wide start line on grass, with no risk of early congestion. It then keeps running around wide paths or field edges, until you get to the out and back segment. That segment is on a narrower path, but event then, it is not narrow enough to feel cramped, even when you are meeting runners coming from the opposite direction. There are two bridge underpasses in this segment too, but event those are comfortable. The course will never get in the way of your experience here.

Surface is mixed. It starts and ends on grass, with paved paths available on the out and back and on parts of the field loops. The grass was not slippery and there was no mud on the day of my visit, but I suspect mud could be a feature in winter. I ran in road shoes and they were fine, but trail shoes might be helpful in winter.

Elevation-wise, at 28m elevation gain over a fairly convoluted multi-segment layout, the course is flatter than you would expect. Around 30m of elevation gain over 5K usually suggest at least a vague feeling of undulation, but it was not the case here. At least not for me. With the exception of bridge underpasses, Queensway parkrun felt flat. Maybe not pancake flat, but flat enough to ignore gradient changes.

In terms of scenic value, Queensway parkrun is not an event you will remember for its beauty. On the day of my visit, fog created a charming, mysterious atmosphere, but besides that, views are fairly standard and uninspiring. The team is very friendly and welcoming though and even with a multi-lap design, the course can be interesting the first time you visit.

Course design is fairly complicated. You start with a field loop and at the end of it, you turn 180-degrees and run around the same loop once more in the opposite direction. Then one out and back and afterwards, another 1.5 laps around the same field.

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

You start from a corner of the field, right where you were listening to the briefing. As you go, the first segment is slightly diagonal, across the field and converging towards the side path. You soon reach it and can transition on to it, to leave the grass surface, but you can also decide to stay on grass if not muddy and easier to overtake. Then there is a short straight(ish) segment leading you towards the side of the field backing up onto Queensway. Take a wide left turn here and run on grass alongside this short side of the field. At the end, take another 90-degree turn and stay on grass. The return segment will all be on grass this time, and only this time. Get back to the start area and take another 90-degree turn left, heading towards the start line.

Here It gets quirky. Navigate a short turny segment around the meeting area and then take a tight 180-degrees turn getting you on a path. Keep following the path along a slight uphill and you will find you on the same long side of the park you just came from, just heading the opposite direction. This is the start of a second loop of this field, in the opposite way.

You are running towards Queensway again, on a paved path this time and closer to the houses that face onto the park. Once you reach Queensway, head out of the park and turn 90-degrees right onto the pavement just outside the park. Run the short segment under trees for a change and turn 90-degrees right into the park again at the end. Here there is a short climb that will get you back onto the tarmac path you had run in the opposite direction before. Run along that path again until you get back to the start area for the second time.

Once you reach the start here, keep going straight this time. Pass by the fenced off play area and leave it on your right, taking a slight left downhill turn towards a bridge underpass. Go under it and alight on the other side, where a short ramp will get you on the out and back straight. This is again paved, with trees on both sides for most of its length. Soon you will pass under another little bridge and then it is mostly straight after that. Reach the turnaround point, turn around the usual cone and start coming back.

Once you get back to the start area, turn left and run the field loop once again, same way as you did the second time you did it. Then you will reach the start area and hope you can bask in glory through the finish funnel, but not yet! Keep going and start another lap.

At about 1/3 of the way through the first long straight heading back towards Queensway, take a 90-degrees turn onto the field. Then keep turning gently until you are heading back towards the start area. A long sprint to the funnel can start here, maybe 100/150 metres. You will eventually reach the narrower funnel and now you can finally celebrate.

Congratulations on completing Queensway parkrun!

Facilities at Queensway parkrun

There is no car park or retail area serving as an event hub and, once you get to the meeting point, all you see is green fields and a small play and sport area. However, if you cross into the nearby field, you will see the Glamis Hall Community Centre and Cafe across the field. It is a couple of minutes away.

Queensway 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

Queensawy was a welcome addition to the parkrun roster, adding a Midlands options for people chasing a Q. It is a nice local event with an enthusiastic and welcoming team and a quirky route. I wonder how muddy it can get in winter, but we will soon find out. Not a scenic venue, but a perfectly enjoyable experience.

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