Dunedin lies on the south east of New Zealand’s South Island. Dunedin parkrun takes place in the Botanic Garden on the the northern edge of the city. Note that the Dunedin parkrun starts at 8 am in the summer (during daylight savings time) and 9 am in the winter.

Getting There

Dunedin Botanic Garden is served by buses  5, 6, 8, 10, 11 and 15. By car, the gardens are just off State Highway 1.

Parking

There is some free parking in the park and plenty of free parking in nearby streets. When we ran, we stayed in a pleasant hotel only 200 metres from the gardens, so were able to walk to the start in a couple of minutes.

Toilets

The start is next to the Croque-o-Dile cafe, which has toilets and also caters for your post run refreshments.

Course

The course consists of two loops of the lower garden, followed by two laps of the upper garden. Note the word upper – that means you have to go up.

Terrain

There terrain is a mixture of tarmac, trails and grass. The first two loops round the lower garden are on paved paths. The second two loops round the upper garden are on a combination of gravel and compacted earth trails and grass. Note that there are steps which you have to climb. Twice.

Difficulty

Dunedin prides itself on being New Zealand’s hardest parkrun. When I say prides itself, several people mentioned it at the start of the race. With a steep hill to negotiate twice, it has a total of 150 metres of elevation. It might not sound like much, but it’s nearly all in one short, steep section so it feels like more.

Fun Factor

The Botanic Garden is a great place for a run; you have the beauty of the gardens to take your mind off the fact that it’s hard work. Where else do you get to run through a rose garden, a water garden and a cedar grove? And the steep hill does, eventually, lead to an amazing view to admire while you try to catch your breath. We were made to feel very welcome by the local runners and we really enjoyed our visit to Dunedin.

Where we Stayed

When we ran, we stayed at Aria on Bank, a very pleasant hotel providing self contained units with bedrooms on a glass mezzanine overlooking a living room/kitchenette. The hotel only 200 metres from the gardens, so were able to walk to the gardens in a couple of minutes.

Nearby Attractions

Dunedin is a nice town with plenty to see and do, including a famous station and a good art gallery and museum (Toitū Otago Settlers Museum). The Botanic Garden is one of Dunedin’s top tourist attractions, so I recommend factoring in plenty of time so that you can enjoy the remaining areas of the garden after your run. Or stay nearby, then you can shower and come back and enjoy the rest of the garden when you’re not sweaty…

Dunedin is also a good base to explore the surrounding area of the Otago Peninsula and visit places like the Royal Albatross Centre and Larnach Castle. We visited Dunedin as part of a two week South Island road trip. To read more about what we got up to in Dunedin and elsewhere on South Island, click here.