I Finally Got My Z: Zillmere parkrun

2 days ago
5 min read

Celebrating finally collecting my Z for the parkrun Alphabet Challenge at Zillmere parkrun, my 199th parkrun. — Chooky holding three large red Z letters at Zillmere parkrun in Brisbane

Ten years.

Ten years of getting up on Saturday mornings for parkrun, and it's taken me this long to get organised enough to chase my alphabet properly. But this weekend, I finally got one of the letters that's been sitting there staring at me.

ZILLMERE = Z COLLECTED. ✅

This was Zillmere parkrun #384 at O'Callaghan Park in Brisbane, and my 199th parkrun overall.

Yep. 199. Which means the next barcode scan is a fairly big one.

But we'll get to #200 next week. This one belongs to the Z.

Our Zillmere Results – 95 parkrunners

🏃 Chooky — 37:28 | 59th | parkrun #199

🏃 Paige — 57:06 | 89th | parkrun #20

🏃 Tearri — 57:06 | 90th | parkrun #97

🏃 Kirraleigh — 1:06:35 | 94th | parkrun #64

I jogged rather than raced. I wasn't chasing a time today — I was chasing a letter. Tearri and Paige walked together, while Kirraleigh was understandably taking things easier just six days after finishing the Sydney Marathon. Mission for the morning?

Get the Z. Done ✅

Zillmere parkrun At A Glance

Location: O'Callaghan Park, Zillmere, Brisbane

Start: 7:00amCourse: 5km, two flat anticlockwise loops

Surface: Predominantly grass and uneven in places

Toilets: North Star Soccer Club, immediately behind the start/finish

Parking: Available nearby

Train: Zillmere Station is approximately 600m away

Prams: Allowed; I'd choose a running pram over an everyday pram

Coffee: North Star Soccer Club kiosk (coffee caravan on our visit)

What Is The Zillmere Course Actually Like?

The predominantly grass course at Zillmere parkrun, which follows two flat anticlockwise loops around O'Callaghan Park. — Grassy Zillmere parkrun course through O'Callaghan Park in Brisbane

Zillmere is flat and predominantly grass, with two anticlockwise loops around the sporting fields, a dog-leg, a concrete creek crossing and a section alongside the railway line. Flat doesn't necessarily mean you can switch your brain off, though. The grass is uneven in places, so I found myself watching where I was putting my feet more than I would on a sealed-path parkrun. There are also a few worn sections where synthetic grass has been laid over the ground.

After rain, the official parkrun information warns that parts of the course can accumulate mud, leaves and puddles. Having seen the course, that makes complete sense. If Brisbane has had a decent amount of rain before your visit, I'd expect a very different surface from the dry one we had. And that's about all you really need to know about the course.

It's flat. It's grassy. It's two loops. And, most importantly for today's mission...

It starts with Z. 😂

Getting There, Parking And Toilets

We had no trouble finding parking when we arrived. There is parking around North Star Soccer Club, on some of the surrounding grounds and along Jennings Street. One thing worth knowing before you arrive: parkrunners are not permitted to use the AFL Club car park.

If you're coming by public transport, Zillmere is actually a pretty easy option. Zillmere Station is around 600 metres from the start/finish area, so you're looking at a short walk rather than an elaborate pre-parkrun expedition across Brisbane. And toilets? Yes. North Star Soccer Club allows parkrunners to use the clubhouse facilities immediately behind the start/finish area. As someone who likes knowing the toilet situation before arriving at a parkrun, I consider this important tourism information. 😂

What About Prams?

The concrete creek crossing at Zillmere parkrun, one of the changes in surface on the otherwise predominantly grass course. — parkrunners crossing the concrete causeway on the Zillmere parkrun course

Running prams are officially allowed, and I saw people using them on the morning we visited.

Would I take a normal everyday pram around Zillmere? You could. Would I choose to? Nope.

There's a difference between allowed and I'd recommend it. With so much uneven grass, an everyday pram would be considerably harder work, particularly if the ground was wet.

A running pram? Absolutely. The shopping-centre special? I'd leave that one at home.

Coffee And A Beautiful Brisbane Morning

The Roaming Roast Coffee Co. caravan was serving coffee at Zillmere parkrun on the morning of our visit. — The Roaming Roast Coffee Co. caravan at Zillmere parkrun

A cute little coffee caravan, The Roaming Roast Coffee Co., was set up near the event when we visited.

Before you plan your entire morning around it, though, the official regular post-parkrun coffee spot is the North Star Soccer Club kiosk, so the caravan may not be there every week.

By the time I finished it was around 19°C with a light breeze — lovely on sweaty skin — but it was already noticeably warming up by 8:08am. I was very happy we'd started at 7:00.

Queensland parkrun, you've got this one right.

The Best Part? The Volunteers

The volunteers were absolutely lovely as always.

I ended up chatting with the Run Director about everything from toilets and cancellations to attendance and, naturally, people like me turning up because we want a Z.

They told me Zillmere would normally see around 40–50 participants, so our 95 finishers made this a much bigger morning than usual.

I asked whether they still get many alphabet tourists coming specifically for the Z. They used to get more, but plenty of parkrunners have already finished their alphabet.

Show-offs. 😂

My response was basically:

I've been doing parkrun for ten years and I'm only just getting around to mine.

Their answer was that everybody does parkrun differently.

Fair.

And they're completely right.

One Important Tip If You're Travelling For Your Z

If you're travelling any real distance specifically to collect the Z, check the official Zillmere parkrun page or socials before you leave home.

I learnt this one the hard way.

The first time I tried to do Zillmere, I turned up only to discover the event had been cancelled because of the weather. So this time, I checked their Facebook page the night before to make sure we weren't about to repeat that little adventure. 😂

The Run Director told me the event can also be cancelled because of ground conditions or when another event is using the soccer fields.

If you're local, an unexpected cancellation is annoying. If you've travelled halfway across Queensland because you're a grown adult collecting letters of the alphabet...

That's going to sting a little more. 😂

Check before you drive.

Part of the Zillmere parkrun route runs alongside the railway line near Zillmere Station. — Train travelling beside the Zillmere parkrun course in Brisbane

So, Is Zillmere Worth The Trip?

If you're chasing your parkrun alphabet and need the Z?

Absolutely.

You've got parking, toilets right near the start, a train station within walking distance, a flat course and, based on our morning there, a genuinely lovely group of volunteers.

Would I have found myself at O'Callaghan Park at 7:00 on a Saturday morning if I wasn't chasing a Z?

Probably not.

And that's half the fun of parkrun tourism.

A slightly ridiculous alphabet challenge keeps taking me to places I otherwise wouldn't have gone, meeting people I otherwise wouldn't have met and giving me another reason to get out the door on a Saturday morning.

After ten years of parkrun, I can finally say it:

Z collected. ✅ 199 done ✅

Next stop: 200.

Keep Chasing Life 🧡