During my visit to Osaka, Japan recently, it was a must to get a parkrun in and tick another country off the global list.

Nearest to Namba 

The event that I selected was the Tsurumi Ryokuchi parkrun, which is about 40 minutes away from Namba, where I was staying, on the Osaka metro. 

An 8am parkrun 

Parkrun in Japan starts at 8am. Tourists need to be well aware of the starting time. Do note that in Japan, punctuality is key, so don’t be late.

Osaka has three parkruns in total but the Tsurumi Ryokuchi one was the nearest one to my hotel.

Weather and attire

The weather when I was running was about 6 degrees. It was cold at the start and I wore a long sleeved top underneath my parkrun singlet to stay warm. For my legs, I wore my usual running shorts. However maybe I should have worn long pants instead because I could feel goosebumps on my legs when I wasn’t running.

Getting there

To get to the park from Namba, I took the Nagahoritsurumiryokuchi line  from Shinsaibashi station to Tsurumi Ryokuchi station, 11 stops away. At first glance, I had thought it would be easy enough.

But the Osaka metro is literally a maze and I spent more time than expected trying to navigate my way round the station. I think that I got lost trying to find the correct line. 

Reaching the park 

As a result, I arrived on the dot at 8am. Definitely not a good way to create a first impression. 

The parkrun is a short 200m walk from the train station and there are clear instructions on their official Facebook page on how to get there. So this, at least, is quite straightforward.

Friendly and patient

However despite me being almost late, the parkrun hosts were extremely warm and friendly. 

I was in a foreign country but thanks to the spirit of parkrun, they were super gracious and really made me feel right at home. 

The run director and a couple of the other volunteers patiently and painstakingly showed me the run route to get me familiar with the course. This was despite the fact that they spoke limited English.

Unfortunately I still wasn’t confident of the course, so I gestured to them that I’d just follow some of the other runners in front of me. 

I guess this was the best move as I felt a bit paiseh to delay them or hold them back any more. 

So here is a word of warning from me: Please prepare about additional half an hour to navigate the Osaka metro, my mistake.

Course and terrain

The parkrun course was two loops around the park. It is a pretty and scenic loop course; however not the most straightforward to run in terms of navigating.

The terrain is easy to run, consisting of a mixture of cement, gravel and stones. It is quite flat apart from a couple of very gentle inclines, and nothing too challenging. It is unlikely that your shoes will get muddy. 

Signs and directions 

There are a few signages and marshals along the way to ensure that runners do not lose their way.

For the first loop, I was following other runners in front of me to ensure I didn’t get lost. However my sense of direction is quite bad and when it came to the first junction, I wasn’t too sure of which direction to go.

But one of their local runners was super friendly and actually ran together and pacing with me for the entirety of the loop, keeping an eye on me and ensuing that this directionally challenged tourist didn’t get lost. I really appreciated their help and friendliness. 

Finishing 

I finished the parkrun in an official time of 24 mins 01 second. I guess this is pretty comparable to my parkrun times back home in Singapore.

Meeting other tourists 

It was cold when I finished and I rushed to put my jacket back on. 

After the parkrun, I met and chatted with a couple of other super friendly tourists. 

It is this friendliness and how everyone is so approachable at parkrun that I like. This is despite no matter where you are from. This is what I always like about parkrun.