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The Course

The course is 5000m (5K) long. This has been accurately measured by us with a professional measuring wheel. The course is in Bradford's Lister Park, and entirely on wide, smooth surface tarmac paths, although some sections of the course do accumulate mud, leaves and puddles after rain. Dependent on availability, marshals will be at key sections of the course, or temporary signs in place.

Please remember that the parkrun uses shared paths. For the continued success of the event, please give way to other park users. This won't hurt your time, it won't stop you from getting a PB and it will make sure everyone continues to to enjoy the event.

Please, wherever possible walk, jog, cycle or use public transport when attending the event. If you do have to drive, please consider car-sharing to reduce our impact on both the environment and other park users.  Please also watch out for other park users when arriving and leaving. Parking is limited so try to arrive early.

Course Safety

The Bradford parkrun is a fun, free event organised by volunteers for the benefit of everyone. We wish to make the run as safe as possible, so runners, spectators and helpers are asked to take care about the following:

  • Please be considerate to the park and other park users at all times.
  • Please arrive by foot, by pedal-power or by public transport if you can - your efforts help to reduce our impact on the park and the planet.
  • Please consider volunteering to help occasionally - this event survives only because of your generosity - please vist the volunteer page for more information.
  • Take care near roads and car parks - some vehicles drive very quickly. Please congregate away from the cars and be careful in particular if you have children. If you’re driving to the run, please drive carefully even if you’re late!
  • When running, take care on uneven surfaces - whether on grass or on tarmac. Watch out for cyclists, other runners, pedestrians, children, deer, dogs, vehicles, park maintenance work, falling branches, bollards, posts and other obstacles around the course.
  • Runners with dogs are welcome, but please keep dogs on a short lead or harness and under control throughout the event.
  • Runners pushing buggies are also welcome, but please take extreme care of other runners around you. If possible start from the back of the field and try to keep to one side of the main body of runners.
  • Please make sure you’re fit enough to run 5k (3.1 miles) – if you’re in any doubt, please consult your doctor.
  • Remember to warm up before the run.
  • If you see a runner with a serious problem, please stop to help them out and get help as soon as possible.
  • If you’re watching, keep clear of runners on the course, and look after any children and dogs you may have with you.
  • While rare, Lyme Disease is present in areas where deer live, and occasionally passed to human’s through infected ticks. See NHS Choices website for more about Lyme Disease, and how to deal with ticks.
  • This is a free training event, so all run and attend at their own risk.

We hope these tips help to ensure that Bradford parkrun is fun and safe for everyone.

Age Grading

All parkrun events use Age Grading to help athletes compare results.

Age Grading takes your time and uses the world record time for your sex and age group to produce a score (a percentage). This score allows you to compare your personal performance against other people's performances even though they might be a different age and a different sex to you - the higher the score the better the performance. The scores can also be compared across different run distances - to allow you to, for example, compare a 5km time against a marathon.

For more information, please see the Running For Fitness website.

Course Map


View Bradford parkrun in a larger map

Getting There

Location of Start

The Bandstand
Lister Park
North Park Road
Bradford
BD9 4NR

The toilets in the park are out of action and we have been advised that they may not be repaired in the forseeable future.

Getting there by car

Lister Park is approximately 1 mile from Bradford City Centre on the A650 Keighley road. Vehicle access via North Park Road. There are car parking spaces on the main drive and disabled parking in the bowls pavilion car park and at the rear of Cartwright Hall.

By bus

Many bus routes travel along Manningham Lane/Keighley Road to Lister Park, including 680, 629, 737, 662. For bus timetable information contact Metro on 0113 2457676 or www.wymetro.com

The start is near to the bandstand, in the middle of the park, behind Cartwright Hall.

Course Description

We are lucky that the paths in Lister park are so wide, smooth and well kept making an excellent course for running. The course starts by the fossilized tree along past the bandstand and the beautiful Cartwright Hall, through the formal gardens and past the mughal water gardens before turning left down a long gentle downhill path towards the entrance to the park on Manningham Lane, you then turn left again on a beautiful long meandering slightly downhill path, past the large playground - great for kids to play and cheer you on as you fly by! then up the teeny tiny hill to the fossilized tree again. It's 3 laps then past the bandstand and to the right to a glorious finish on the elevated section just above the bandstand.

Post Run Coffee

Nick from the local Cafe 2 U service is usually at the finish area ready to supply parkrunners, volunteers and spectators with a range of well earned drinks and snacks from 8.30am until after the event so please stick around for a coffee and a chat.