Hervey Bay parkrun Review: A Flat Run By The Bay
After six hours of whale watching the day before, setting up camp and eventually collapsing into my swag before 8 pm, you would think I'd make absolutely certain I had an alarm set for parkrun the next morning. I did not.
I woke up with a fright at 5:15 am when I realised I'd completely forgotten to set one. Luckily, I'm usually awake ridiculously early anyway, so there was no disaster. There was even time for the most important part of any parkrun morning: coffee.
I was staying at Pier Caravan Park for the weekend, which turned out to be an excellent choice for parkrun tourism. The Hervey Bay parkrun start was only around 400–500 metres from my campsite, so rather than worrying about driving or parking, I simply walked across to the Esplanade. By Saturday morning, the Urangan Pier Park Community Markets were already setting up along the way.
My Hervey Bay Results – 328 parkrunners
Event 590.
🏃 Chooky — 34:50 | 177th | 201st parkrun
Hervey Bay parkrun At A Glance
Location: Lions Park, Charlton Esplanade, Urangan, Hervey Bay
Start: 7:00 am
Course: 5 km, flat 2.5 km out-and-back
Surface: Paved path and brick pavers, uneven in places
Toilets: Available near the start/finish, plus facilities along the course
Parking: Car parks and street parking available nearby
Prams: Allowed, but watch the uneven pavers and busy start
Coffee: Saturday markets beside the start/finish offer breakfast and drinks
Bonus: Urangan Pier and Saturday markets are right beside parkrun
Stay: Pier Caravan Park, approximately 400–500 metres from the start
It was a brisk morning beside the bay, around 13.5°C but feeling closer to 11.7°C when I was getting ready to run. Being right beside the water added a little extra chill, but the clouds disappeared and it turned into an absolutely beautiful sunny Hervey Bay morning.
This was event number 590 for Hervey Bay parkrun, with 328 people completing the course. There were a couple of 300-parkrun milestones announced before the start, along with the usual first-timers briefing and course information.
But Hervey Bay does its briefing a little differently.
The entire run director's briefing was written in rhyme.
It wasn't just one clever line thrown in for fun either. The whole thing was a printed rhyming script, including warnings about the uneven pavers along the course. Whoever sat down and wrote it deserves some credit because it was genuinely adorable and one of those little touches that gives a parkrun its own personality.
The Hervey Bay parkrun Course
The course itself couldn't be much simpler. It's a flat, 5 km out-and-back along the Hervey Bay Esplanade, with runners travelling approximately 2.5 km before looping around a small garden roundabout and heading straight back towards the finish.
For roughly the first 650 metres, the course runs right beside the bay with beautiful, uninterrupted water views. After that, the course heads into a more tree-covered section while continuing along the Esplanade. You haven't left the waterfront, but from there the ocean plays peekaboo through the trees: you see it, lose it, see it again and then lose it again.
That tree cover also provides something I particularly appreciate on a Queensland parkrun course: shade. There are some lovely, shaded sections through the middle of the run, although the final approximately 650 metres heading back towards Urangan Pier are exposed. On a cool September morning it wasn't a major problem, but I suspect I'd appreciate every one of those trees a lot more in the middle of summer.
There are also plenty of toilets available, which is always useful information for parkrun tourists. There are facilities around the start area and I passed another two sets of toilets while running the course. So if your pre-parkrun coffee decides to make its presence known, Hervey Bay has you covered.
Watch Your Feet On The Pavers
Although the course is flat, I wouldn't describe every part of the surface as perfectly smooth. Much of the route is paved with older brick pavers, and some sections are uneven enough that the run director specifically warns about them during the briefing.
I discovered why when I managed to catch my foot on one and had to quickly correct myself. I didn't fall, but it was enough to remind me to pick my feet up and pay attention to where I was running. It's certainly not a reason to avoid the course, but it is worth knowing about before you arrive.
There is also some congestion immediately after the start. With 328 participants this morning, it took me around 30 seconds just to cross the start line and then a few hundred metres before I had enough room to comfortably work my way around people. Again, that's not a criticism of the event, it's simply something worth considering if you're chasing a PB: position yourself accordingly before the start rather than spending the opening section trying to get through the pack.
My 201st parkrun
This was my 201st parkrun overall and my second time running at Hervey Bay. My first visit was back on 7 October 2023, when I finished in 49:05. Today I finished in 34:50, placing 177th out of 328 participants and 64th female, with an age grade of 46.51%. It was a new Hervey Bay PB, my best age grade at this event and, even better, my fastest parkrun of 2026 so far.
That's 14 minutes and 15 seconds faster than my first visit.
I'll take that.
The Volunteers And The People You Meet
The volunteers were fantastic throughout the course. I always try to thank volunteers as I pass them, and there were plenty of opportunities to do that on the way out and again on the return journey. Combined with the slightly quirky rhyming briefing, the whole event had a friendly, relaxed atmosphere.
After finishing, I sat down and ended up chatting with a gentleman named Barry. He had recently retired and moved to Hervey Bay from Noosa and had completed twenty-something parkruns. Somehow, our conversation moved onto his travels and hiking through places including Switzerland, France and Rome.
I love conversations like that. You turn up to run 5 km and end up sitting beside someone you've never met before, talking about places on the other side of the world. That's one of the things I've come to love about parkrun tourism: the course matters, but so do the random people you meet along the way.
Don't Leave Straight After parkrun
If you're visiting Hervey Bay for parkrun tourism, don't scan your barcode and immediately disappear. One of the best things about this particular location is everything sitting right around the start and finish area.
The Urangan Pier Park Community Markets are held on Saturday mornings, so there were plenty of people around after parkrun grabbing something to eat. Kirra had very wisely decided that sleeping in sounded considerably better than joining me for a 5 km run, so she met me afterwards and we went looking for breakfast together.
I ordered a toasted sourdough sandwich with smoked cheese, scrambled egg and bacon, which was absolutely delicious. Kirra chose three pulled-pork bao buns with pineapple marinade and coleslaw, although her verdict wasn't quite as enthusiastic. She ate one, decided they were fairly basic and then helped herself to half of my toasted sandwich instead.
We wandered through the markets afterwards without buying anything before heading across to another Hervey Bay landmark sitting practically beside the parkrun.
A Post-parkrun Walk Along Urangan Pier
Urangan Pier makes an easy little addition to the morning, particularly if you're visiting Hervey Bay rather than rushing home after your run. My watch measured our walk to the end and back at 1.78 km, and after breakfast it was a lovely way to keep moving without doing anything particularly strenuous.
The pier also has more history than I'd realised. It originally opened in 1917 and stretched 1,124 metres into the bay, where it was used to export sugar, coal and timber. Parts of the original structure were later removed, which is why today's return walk is considerably shorter than 2.2 km.
About halfway along we met one of the locals.
A pelican.
And this particular pelican was absolutely not camera shy. It stood there happily while we took photos, seemingly completely unbothered by the humans wandering around it. Whether the locals have given it a name, I have no idea, but it was quite happy to become part of my post-parkrun morning.
Where To Stay For Hervey Bay parkrun
For parkrun tourists, I'd happily stay at Pier Caravan Park again. I originally booked it thinking it was actually beachfront, which it isn't, but for this particular weekend I accidentally made the better choice.
The caravan park is across the road from the waterfront and only around 400–500 metres from the parkrun start. I could wake up, have my coffee and simply walk across rather than worrying about the car. For anyone driving to parkrun, there are car parks around the area as well as street parking.
The location also means you're already beside the Saturday markets and Urangan Pier once you've finished. You could quite easily turn Hervey Bay parkrun into an entire Saturday morning without getting back into your car.
Planning your own Hervey Bay parkrun weekend? Compare places to stay near the Esplanade and Urangan Pier:
Would I Run Hervey Bay parkrun Again?
Absolutely.
It's flat, simple to follow and has beautiful views across the bay. There are shaded sections, plenty of toilets, enthusiastic volunteers and enough going on around the start and finish to make it particularly good for parkrun tourism. The uneven pavers require a little attention and I'd position myself further forward if I were seriously chasing a time, but neither would stop me coming back.
In fact, I think I will.
I'd happily book another weekend at Pier Caravan Park, walk over for parkrun on Saturday morning, grab breakfast at the markets and head out along Urangan Pier afterwards. I live close enough that Hervey Bay doesn't need to be a holiday destination, but sometimes that's exactly why we forget to treat it like one.
And after 201 parkruns, this one has reminded me that sometimes a pretty great parkrun weekend can be sitting almost in your own backyard.
Before You Go...
Trying to decide between Hervey Bay's two parkruns? 👉 Hervey Bay vs Point Vernon: Which parkrun Would I Choose?
You can also read my full 👉 Point Vernon Foreshore Reserve parkrun review, or head up the coast to
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Have you done Hervey Bay parkrun? Did you get a rhyming briefing too? Tell me in the comments.
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Chooky xx
Embracing the slow. Chasing the now.
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