Going ahead this Saturday
No cancellation listed for Saturday 31 October.
Parkrun
Sandwell Valley parkrun
A free, fun, and friendly weekly 5k community event. Walk, jog, run, volunteer or spectate – it's up to you! Nearby Sunday 2k junior parkrun events for 4 to 14 year olds and their families can be found here.
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United Kingdom
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England
- 5 kilometres
- Sandwell Park Farm
Meeting point: 52.52153, -1.97579. The interactive map loads with JavaScript. Open the same point in OpenStreetMap.
Coordinates 52.52153, -1.97579.
The course
Course description
Starting at the path in the corner of the car park at the bottom of Lodge Hill within Sandwell Valley Country Park, you first cross the motorway bridge over the M5. Once over the bridge carry straight on towards the ruins of Sandwell Priory and past the well from which Sandwell gets its name. Go straight on past these monuments up a steady incline (can be quite muddy in this section). At the top of the incline turn left at the end, just before Park Lane. This takes you through park land for about 1km then turn left down the path towards stunning Swan Pool. Run anti-clockwise around Swan Pool. When you get to the cross-path at the south-western corner of Swan Pool take a left up another steady incline. At the top take a left and repeat the course as before until you come back to the cross-path at the south-western corner of Swan Pool (you should now have completed one and a half laps of Swan Pool). Instead of turning left like before, continue straight on. This will lead you to another steady incline. Continue to the top of the incline and then right, back over the motorway bridge and down to the finish line.
On the course
The course is 5k long. The course is at Sandwell Valley Country Park, West Bromwich. The course is run on a mixture of tarmac paths and trail paths. Some sections of the course may accumulate mud, leaves and puddles after rain. Dependent on availability, marshals will be at key sections of the course, or signs will be in place.
Please remember that the parkrun uses shared paths. For the continued success of the event, please give way to other park users. This won't hurt your time, it won't stop you from getting a PB and it will make sure everyone continues to enjoy the event.
Please, wherever possible walk, jog, cycle or use public transport when attending the event. If you do have to drive, please consider car-sharing to reduce our impact on both the environment and other park users. Please also watch out for other park users when arriving and leaving. Parking may be limited so try to arrive early.
Facilities
Please note that there are currently no toilet facilities available at Sandwell Valley Country Park.
More details
Public transport
The nearest Metro station is Kenrick Park (1.2 miles) and nearest railway stations are Smethwick Galton bridge (1.8 miles) and Sandwell and Dudley (2 miles).
The following buses stop on Lloyd Street (adjacent to Salters Lane) 45, 46 and 64. The best route into Sandwell Valley from here is through Dartmouth Park.
On foot
The Country Park lies in the heart of West Bromwich and can be found just off Junction 1 of the M5 motorway. It is just 10 minutes walk from West Bromwich town centre.
By road
If using SAT NAV use postcode B71 4BG. Once in Salters Lane head to the bottom of the road to the main car park. Car parking charges apply @ 40 pence per hour.
Coffee
Every week we grab a post-parkrun coffee: the Tea Rooms at the Sandwell Valley Visitor Centre. Please come and join us!
We're friendly
Every week we grab a post parkrun coffee at the Tea Rooms at the Sandwell Valley Visitor Centre - please come and join us!
Course safety
Sandwell Valley parkrun is a fun, free event organised by volunteers for the benefit of everyone. We wish to make the event as safe as possible, so participants, spectators and helpers are asked to take care about the following:
- Please be considerate to the park and other park users at all times.
- Children under the age of eleven must be accompanied (within arm's reach) throughout the event by a parent, guardian or appropriate adult of the parent's choice.
- Please arrive by foot, by pedal-power or by public transport if you can - your efforts help to reduce our impact on the park and the planet.
- We invite everyone to consider volunteering at parkrun. Your support helps your parkrun events remain sustainable and free for all in your community, and it’s also a wonderful way to improve your own health and happiness. Please visit the volunteer page for more information.
- Take care near roads and car parks – some vehicles drive very quickly. Please congregate away from the cars and be careful in particular if you have children. If you’re driving to the event, please drive carefully.
- Take care on uneven surfaces – whether on grass or on tarmac. Watch out for cyclists, other participants, pedestrians, children, dogs, wildlife, park animals, vehicles, park maintenance work, falling branches, bollards, posts and other obstacles around the course.
- Please ensure that you are fit enough to walk, jog, run 5k (3.1 miles) with us.
- If you see someone with a serious problem, please stop to help them out and get help as soon as possible.
- If you’re watching, keep clear of participants on the course, and look after any children and dogs you may have with you.
- It is not permitted to run with a pushchair and a dog at the same time.
- Lyme Disease is a bacterial infection spread to humans by infected ticks. Consider protecting yourself by wearing repellent when at parkrun events in grassy or wooded areas. See lymediseaseuk.com for further details.
- You are welcome to take part with one dog by your side, within reach at all times, on a short, handheld, non-extendable lead. The use of waist harnesses is prohibited. Please also see this Support Site entry for further details about parkrunning with dogs.
- parkrunners pushing buggies are welcome, but please take care of others around you and do your best to start at an appropriate place in the field for your pace.
We hope these tips help to ensure that Sandwell Valley parkrun is fun and safe for everyone.
Age grading
All parkrun events use Age Grading to help parkrunners compare results.
parkrun events use Age Grading to help parkrunners see progress and compare results.
For more information, please see our Support page.
Volunteering
All parkrun events are organised by volunteers - email sandwellvalley@parkrun.com to help.
Safeguarding
parkrun is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and adults at risk. For our full safeguarding processes and policies please see our Safeguarding Hub.
To report a safeguarding concern please email safeguarding@parkrun.com.
Event stats
- 364
- Events
- 10,424
- Finishers
- 45,900
- Finishes
- 867
- Volunteers
- 7,004
- Personal bests
- 824
- Groups
- 00:32:45
- Average finish time
Nearby parkruns
- Perry Hall parkrun Perry Hall Park · 4.3 km
- Brunswick Park parkrun Brunswick Park · 4.5 km
- Edgbaston Reservoir junior parkrun Edgbaston Reservoir · 5.4 km
- Edgbaston Reservoir parkrun Edgbaston Reservoir · 5.6 km
- Walsall Arboretum parkrun Walsall Arboretum · 7.3 km
- Woodgate Valley Country Park parkrun Woodgate Valley Country Park · 8.3 km
- Cannon Hill parkrun, Birmingham Cannon Hill, Birmingham · 9.2 km
- Cannon Hill junior parkrun, Birmingham Cannon Hill Park · 9.3 km
Challenges this parkrun helps with
- Alphabeteer Challenge Starts with S
- UK Postcode Areas Postcode area B
- Periodic Table Matches symbols: S, Se, Sr, Sn
Park5K is not affiliated with parkrun. - last updated 26 October 2026
Bushy parkrun