MUSA COOKSTOWN

The MUSA Parkrun is around CAFRE's Loughry College campus on wide Tarmac roads (closed to traffic), which is perfect for pushing a jogger.  There are no obvious hazards to negotiate in terms of bollards, narrow gates etc. but there are plenty of hills and a few speed ramps - neither of which caused us any particular problems. The course entails 3 laps of a pleasant route around the college buildings and grounds so you always feel close to others irrespective of what lap you are on. The initial downhill is fantastic but happened too early in the run for us to have enough space to whizz down it - something that we fixed by the time we came to it again on laps 2 and 3!! Inevitably, such a cracking downhill means you will have to push back uphill, and there were certainly a couple of up & downs around the route but the excellent surface means that this is a fast, fun course even with the hills.  The encouragement from volunteers was super, as always - I think it might be the most noisy Parkrun I've ever been at! - and many of the other runners had a quick word or positive remark for us too which made us feel very welcome. There is plenty of parking at MUSA (start point and run director's brief is up a hill directly above the carpark) and toilets are within the MUSA pavilion.  The Parkrun team uses in a portacabin just beyond the MUSA building for scanning barcodes and for refreshments after the run. I think there was a step into this and it was a conventional doorway so it may not be accessible for joggers / chairs. This was our fastest time on the 6 courses that we have done so far and it was a really enjoyable run.

team kerr