If you told me a year ago that I’d be setting off at 6am to go and run intervals, I’d have laughed in your face. Not just laughed, properly belly-laughed like a cartoon character at the very idea. Yet here we are. Tuesday morning, bleary eyed, I found myself on the Glider to C.S. Lewis Square, jogging my warm-up mile into Victoria Park for a session that still feels strange to say out loud: 6 x 800 metres, plus the jog back to the Square for good measure.
The session itself was as grim as you’d expect, lungs screaming, legs heavy, commuters staring at me like I was an escaped zoo animal as I climbed back onto the Glider afterwards. But here’s the thing: halfway through that session it hit me that Victoria Park might just be the best place in Belfast for interval training, short of an actual running track.
So, is it? Let’s have a look.
A Natural Track in the City
Victoria Park isn’t just a patch of grass with a few paths. The main loop is a tidy circuit of about 1.6 kilometres, flat as a pancake, wrapping around the inner lake like a moat. If you squint, it’s practically a track. Only instead of lane one being hogged by a lad in spikes, you’re more likely to share the path with the odd dog walker or a fellow early riser doing their own session.
For those who like their intervals neat and measurable, it’s perfect: you can break it into 400s, 800s, or mile reps with ease. And unlike Ormeau, you’re not battling little undulating rises, and unlike Falls Park, you’re not slogging up a hill every few minutes. It’s a rare thing in Belfast parks, completely flat.
Not too Busy Never too Quiet
Because Victoria Park sits just that bit removed from the city centre, tucked in beside George Best Belfast City Airport, it never feels too crowded. You won’t get the bottlenecks of Botanic, nor the weekend swarms of Ormeau. Even on a busy day, it feels manageable. Early mornings? You’ll barely see a soul apart from other lunatics in lycra.
Accessibility helps too. If you’re a commuter, Sydenham train station is just next door. Roll off the train, jog into the park, and you’ve got yourself a ready-made training ground.
The Parkrun Effect
Ask anyone who’s run parkrun there and they’ll tell you: Victoria is one of the fastest courses in Northern Ireland, if not the island of Ireland. Flat, measured, quick. Plenty of PBs have been made on those paths, but it’s also been the stage for history.
In December 2023, Ciara Mageean broke the women’s parkrun world record there. Less than a year later, in November 2024, Nick Griggs followed suit by clocking the fastest men’s time ever recorded at parkrun, again, right in Victoria Park.
That same setup that makes it lightning-fast on a Saturday morning is what makes it so good for interval training midweek. Flat loops, no fuss, no climbs, just a course that invites speed.
It’s no surprise either that the Ulster and NI Relays take place there. If it’s good enough for PBs, world records, and top club racing, it’s good enough for your 800m reps.
Verdict: best in the city?
So, is Victoria Park the best place outside of a track in Belfast to do interval training? Personally, I think so. Unless you’re deliberately chasing hills, or you want the full lane-one experience with spikes and starting blocks, Victoria ticks just about every box.
Flat, accessible, measured, and not too crowded, it’s a runner’s dream without being overhyped. But the real truth is this: the best place for interval training is the place where you actually get them done. For a large number of Belfast runners, that still means Victoria Park.
And after surviving my 6 x 800s there, I’d say that’s as good a recommendation as you’re going to get.
