We headed to Cannon Hill parkrun for event 666. When I say we, it was just myself and my husband. Finally completing a 666 event. Originally I had wanted to head to Forest of Dean, but broke my foot! Next I planned Leamington’s 666, but my husband was ill and I really don’t like driving!
Cannon Hill Park, near Edgbaston Stadium, Birmingham, West Midlands, B12 9QH
About Event 666
Cannon Hill parkrun is really scenic. However, I didn’t take any of it in on the run! Thank you to the Birmingham Swifts Running Club for their takeover today. They are a free, LGBTQ+ running group open to everyone no matter the ability, age, sexuality or gender.
Pride flags and capes everywhere. Additionally the briefing mentioned all about Pride and how parkrun was inclusive of everyone. Birmingham Pride is next weekend.
Furthermore, they even provided pacers.
Facilities at Cannon Hill parkrun
Firstly I was aware that there wasn’t any open toilets available before parkrun. The toilets are open at the MAC at 9am, and also the Tea Rooms for paying customers. Actually to be honest we just headed straight for the nearest McDonald’s.
There are two car parks mentioned on the Cannon Hill parkrun page. These are MAC car park (B12 9QH) and the Russell Road (B13 8RD) car park. You can pay by phone or cash and it is recommended to have both options available.
Additionally there is the Queens Ride South Car Park. This is £2.50 up to 2 hours. However, charges do not apply to Blue Badge Holders.
Course at Cannon Hill parkrun
Note that Cannon Hill parkrun is a no dogs course and it’s not suitable for double pushchairs.
First head to the Bandstand. That’s is where the briefings take place and then move on to the path for the start. Really it’s ONE lap! But for explanations they call it three – because it’s in 3 parts, and bits cross over themselves.
Follow
Starting with an anti-clockwise direction to the Tea Rooms. Of course you can read the description on the Cannon Hill parkrun page, but honestly follow the people in front. Having done it and looked at my Strava I still couldn’t explain it! Also obviously they do describe it in the first timers briefing.
What I will say is that it isn’t FLAT! Pretty sure it was described as a flat fast course with a bit of an incline at the end. Yes there’s a hill at the end – but it isn’t the only place!
Keep Right
There is an out-and-back as part of the course and therefore we were told to keep right. At one point I was right but the tail walker and participants were on my side! At least they were all on one side so I could go round them!
Finishing
So when you’re near the end and you’ve run up a hill then please keep in mind that this is probably not the slight incline they refer to! I took a photo at the bottom but it doesn’t do it justice. As you go up it you can see the cones to guide you to the finish. This felt like it went on for forever.
Once you pass the finish you will be asked to stay in order. The finish funnel was really long, bending back on itself. At other parkruns we have been to, they utilise more than one funnel so this was quite something else. All very well organised.
Scanned
Finally you are scanned behind the Bandstand and you pop your number in the pot with the corresponding number of your finish position.
Stats at Cannon Hill parkrun Event 666
- There were 910 participants. 485 males, 362 females and 63 unknown. A fantastic 49 people doing their very first parkrun! Plus a further 83 tourists with their first visit to Cannon Hill parkrun.
- Times ranged between 17:34 and 1:03:00. With 566 people crossing in 30 minutes or less.
- Thanks to 56 hi-vis heroes.
- 164 PBs.
- Well done to first finisher Martin who also had the highest age grading.
Over 60s at Cannon Hill parkrun Event 666
There were 98 over 60s at Cannon Hill parkrun event 666. Making up just under 11% of all participants. 35 of whom achieved a time of sub 30. Therefore, accounting for just over 5 ½% of sub 30 participants.
Males
There were 56 males over the age of 60 participating at Cannon Hill parkrun event 666. 32 of whom achieved it in sub 30.
- 23 VM60-64 – 19 sub 30
- 14 VM65-69 – 8 sub 30
- 7 VM70-74 – 3 sub 30
- 7 VM75-79 – 2 of whom finished in sub 30
- 2 VM80-84
- 3 VM85-89
Females
There were 42 females over the age of 60 participating at Cannon Hill parkrun event 666. 3 of whom achieved it in sub 30.
- 17 VW60-64 – 2 of which were sub 30
- 16 VW65-69 – with 1 sub 30
- 7 VW70-74
- 2 VW75-79
Student at Cannon Hill parkrun Event 666
Cannon Hill parkrun is near to Birmingham University so I was interested to look at the average student age range too.
Average University Age Range
The average university age range will be between 18 and 24. Therefore I looked at the figures for these participants. A total of 165 people took part in this age range. Making up over 18% of all those taking part in an active capacity.
120 of whom finished in sub 30. Making up over 21% of sub 30 finishers and that just under 73% of people in this age range finished in less than 30 minutes.
University Age males
There were 75 males in these age categories, making up just over 8% of all participants. With 64 of them doing so in sub 30 – which is also just over 11% of all sub 30 participants and just over 85% of all participants in this category.
- 14 SM18-19 – 3 sub 20 and a further 10 (13 total) sub 30
- 61 SM20-24 – 9 sub 20 and an additional 42 (total 51) sub 30
University Age Females
There were 90 females in these age categories, making up just under 10% of all participants. With 56 of them doing so in sub 30 – which is also just under 10% of all sub 30 participants and just over 62% of all participants in this category.
- 12 SW18-19 9 sub 30
- 78 SW20-24 – 47 sub 30
Under 18s
I have included the under 18s too just for comparison reasons. There were 48 under 18s with 31 achieving sub 30.
Males Under 18
There were 38 males under 18. 26 of whom finished in under 30 minutes.
- 9 JM10 (obviously they need to run with an adult) – 5 sub 30
- 17 JM11-14 – 14 sub 30
- 12 JM15-17 – 1 sub 20 and a further 6 (7 total) sub 30
Females Under 18s
There were 10 under 18s with half (5) achieving sub 30.
- Just 2 JW10 (again with an adult).
- 3 JW11-14 – all 3 sub 30
- 5 JW15-17 – 1 sub 20 and another sub 30 (total obviously 2 sub 30)
Total Stats for Under 25 Year Olds at Cannon Hill parkrun Event 666
Under 25s made up 213 participants – which was just under 23 ½ % of total participants. There were 151 sub 30s by under 25s – meaning that just under 71% of under 25s were finished in 30 minutes or less. Plus they made up over 26 ½ % of all sub 30 runners.
Males
113 participants were males under 25. Meaning that they form just under 12 ½ % of all participants. 90 of them did so in a time of sub 30. Thus making up just under 16% of all sub 30 runners.
Females
100 participants were females under 25. Meaning that they form just under 11% of all participants. 61 of them did so in a time of sub 30. Also making up under 11% of all sub 30 runners.
Other Nearby parkruns that we have completed:
Oaklands(3.6m), Brueton(6.5m), Babbs Mill(7m), Brunswick Park(8.5m), Walsall Arboretum(9.7m)
Wow! 910 participants is huge! I remember it being a busy one when I ran it, but didn’t think there were that many people. Maybe I’ve just forgotten, because I also remember it being flat apart from that last hill to the finish line!
There is definitely a higher proportion of young adults than there is at a lot of parkruns. It’s good to see them getting out early and getting active. (We ran Worcester Pitchcroft at the weekend and there also seemed to be a higher proportion of young adults there than at our home parkrun.)