With nearly all our local parkruns cancelled due to the flooding in Worcester we were excited to take the opportunity to travel a little further afield and pay a visit to Cannock Chase parkrun.
Not only another location visited but also adding a 2nd ‘C’ to my Pirate challenge and ticking off another run for the 2024 challenge at my running club – oh and I almost forgot, my 50th parkrun YAY!
Cannock Chase parkrun
We got a little bit lost following the postcode as our sat nav wanted to take us down some tracks which were gated off. I have added the what3words location below which is more accurate for a couple of different parking options.
There are plenty of different areas to park in and most of it is free some areas can get a bit muddy though if you choose not to park in the main carpark.
What3words location for main car park: ///messy.merge.crew – If you have people coming with you who would like to cheer you on, if you park around ///showed.wished.radiating you will pass them twice on your way round.
First timers briefing
Nick gave the first timers brief today (Which I almost missed because it was sooooo busy and I didn’t hear them announce it!) Thankfully he was stood on a bit of a hill and I spotted him over the crowds.
He explained the route and the mentioned the new water features along the way and even had time to pose for a photo for me.
The Run Directors did the usual pre run announcements (althoough I didn’t hear a word of it and missed whether I even got a milestone mention – boo!) and we got ready to run.
Cannock Chase parkrun course
The route is a smaller lap clockwise followed by a slightly larger lap also clockwise, the smaller lap is around 2km someone mentioned there are parkrun distance markers along the way but I only spotted one at 4km (although I was too busy watching out for puddles to notice much else!)
The atmosphere was buzzing and I don’t think I have ever seen a start line with so many people in milestone tshirts which was just so great to see!
The volunteers clapped and cheered us across the start line which was lovely and off we went!
The start was a bit congested just due to the sheer amount of people but it quickly spread out when we were round the first couple of corners and onto the 1st smaller lap of the course.
Puddle Jumping Championships
To keep you on your toes and ensure you are paying attention, puddles were in ample supply around the course thanks to the recent downpours.
But the question is… are you a go round them or a go through them type of runner? For me it was go round it, otherwise I may have ended up swimming in some of those deeper ones!
There was a slight diversion on the course across this field for this corner due to the previously mentioned recently installed water feature. Thankfully the rain stayed away today not further adding to it.
The course runs through Cannock Chase with a few smaller slopes and hills along the way but make sure you save some energy for the final 0.5km which is a slightly steeper downhill followed up a short steeper uphill to the finish!
Overall it is a beautiful parkrun, slightly tougher than some of the others I have done recently (although we are spoilt with the perfectly flat Pitchcroft on our doorstep!) The course would be suitable for running buggies although a little bumpy in places.
The volunteers were friendly and welcoming and we can’t wait to visit again.
Parking and Facilities
As I said above there are several parking areas available. Toilets are available by the cafe (which is where the finish funnel is and not too far from the start) there was a bit of a queue for the ladies so do arrive in good time if you have a bit of travel beforehand. We arrived at 8.35am and that was plenty of time.
You’ll also find a lovely big play area for your smaller cheerleaders while they wait for you (with a responsible adult of course!)
Cannock Chase Visitor Centre Café
The post run cafe is very conveniently located right by the finish funnel.
Serving a range of hot and cold drinks and snacks (although no Victoria Sponge cake which was disappointing!) but very reasonably priced a hot drink and tray bake slice was only £3.60.
The staff were lovely and friendly but make sure you have a card or phone to pay as they no longer accept cash payments.
Cannock Chase parkrun Stats for event #288
Today 381 people took part including 29 juniors. 23 people took part for the first time. A whopping 47 people set a New Personal Best and 62 took part at Cannock Chase for the first time.
Congratulations to George (JM15-17) who was the first finisher with a time of 18:17, age grading of 76.12% and a new personal best! Well done George!
Congratulations to Dave with the highest (non junior) age grading of the day with a massive 75.48% and Ann being the highest graded female with 75.08%.
Cannock Chase parkrun milestones
Well done to…
All the Juniors who completed todays 5km parkrun : Emily, Zoey, Poppie, Bethany, Lola, Ava, Evanne, Joseph, Toby, Jude, Brandon, Oscar, Archie, Bradley, Jaxon, Ethan, Finley H, Noah, Finey T, Tyler-Jay, Noah, Oliver, Daniel, Henry, Lewis, Ryan, Sam, Otto, George
Jaxon and Adrian who attended their 25th event
Louise and I who attended their 50th event
Marie who attended their 100th event
Peter who attended their 150th event
Paul who attended their 250th event
Thank you to this weeks volunteers
Thank you to all the volunteers who gave up their Saturday morning to make Cannock Chase parkrun possible
Alan JEAVANS – Amy HALE – Andrew BUTTERWORTH – Anne MASON – Brian LANGSTON – Christine JONES – David MATTHEWS – David POYNTON – David SYKES – Donna SYKES – Ellen WILLIAMS – Emma POYNTON – Emyr THOMAS – Gail DOUGHTY – Gemma STANAWAY – Geoff TYLER – George BRIZELL – Glyn PEERS – Hayley MACKIN – Jack ROCHE – Jamie NORGROVE – Joseph SYKES – Keith STONEMAN – Luke CRESSWELL – Marie JAMES-WARD – Martin BRIZELL – Martin HAINES – Matthew JOHNSTON – Melissa CROWLEY – Meloney ELLIS – Nicholas PARTRIDGE – Nick DOUGHTY – Nicky JONES – Noah CONDON – Paul Brendon SCULLION – Paul GARBETT – Peter FINAZZI – Phil SAWYER – Raynor STOCK-LYNCH – Richard MOORE – Sally COX – Sara REES – Sarah RICHARDSON – Steve FRYER – Thomas LAND – Wendy SHERRATT – Yvonne PEERS
And just one final shout out to these 2 who not only looked fantastic but ran the whole Cannock Chase parkrun in full costume to raise money for Great Ormond Street Hospital – you can find out more about their fundraising on their Just Giving page and feel free to support them if you can!
ChrissyJ xx
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