PARKRUN REVIEW: SOUTH MANCHESTER, ENGLAND

Greg
May 1
3 min read

This is the first review of South Manchester Parkrun. I will be adding a second blog post within the next week from one of my clients, Julie, who completed her 100th Parkrun on the same day, which was an outstanding achievement.

COURSE INFO & REVIEW

This Parkrun is located at Platt Fields Park in Fallowfield, South Manchester. I parked on the side of the road at Mabfield Road but there is also a car park near to there too. This is about a 10 minute walk from the start point. Alternatively, there is usually space to park on the side of the road on Platt Lane which is only a 2 minute walk to the start.

Start Point of South Manchester Parkrun — Picture I took before the Parkrun, near the start point. The houses in the distance are on Platt Lane and this is only a 2 minute walk to the start point.

Route of South Manchester Parkrun — Strava Map for South Manchester Parkrun

This course takes you round the park mainly on even pavements but also through a sort of wooded area with less even ground underfoot. It involves 2 laps but the second lap is slightly different to the first as you don't go past the start point on the second lap, but you do pass near it and then repeat the route with a slight extra bit towards the end of the run.

On the second lap, once you go over a small bridge, you then keep going forward towards Platt Hall instead of turning left which you do on the first lap. At this point there is a small short incline towards Platt Hall, but not a significant one. You will then run towards the start point in the distance, following the main path with the Church on your right. You will finish by taking a left turn and then will run straight ahead to the finishing point.

The winning male time was 16:15 and the quickest female time was 19:55.

Church at Platt Fields — This is the Church that you will pass on your right on the 2nd lap, not far from the finishing point.

MY RUN ON THE DAY

This was my first time doing South Manchester Parkrun for over 9 years so it was good to do it again. I had planned to run round this in the quickest time I could and then join up with my client, Julie on the 2nd lap and pace her/encourage her to run quicker than she usually would on her own. My target was to run under 19 mins if possible, which I have not done for a while.

I was feeling better than expected when running round and despite my usual drop off around 3-4K, I managed to get the sub 19 min time I was looking for. I remember the 2 times that I ran in 2015 & 2016, I was disappointed not to break 20 mins and was quite a way off it still.

Results at South Manchester Parkrun — Table showing the 3 runs I have done at South Manchester Parkrun in 2015, 2016 and 2025

The difficulty level of this Parkrun is a 2/5 in my opinion (easy) because there isn't any significant hilly sections and the ground is mostly good underfoot, although not as good as say Stretford Parkrun.