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The Course

The course is 5000m (5K) long. This has been accurately measured by us with a professional measuring wheel. The course is in Hanley Park, Stoke-on-Trent, and run on a mixture of concrete paths and off-road surfaces (mainly grass). 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 temporary signs 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 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 is limited so try to arrive early.

Course Safety

The Hanley parkrun is a fun, free event organised by volunteers for the benefit of everyone. We wish to make the run as safe as possible, so runners, spectators and helpers are asked to take care about the following:

  • Please be considerate to the park and other park users at all times.
  • 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.
  • Please consider volunteering to help occasionally - this event survives only because of your generosity - please vist 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 run, please drive carefully even if you’re late!
  • When running, take care on uneven surfaces - whether on grass or on tarmac. Watch out for cyclists, other runners, pedestrians, children, deer, dogs, vehicles, park maintenance work, falling branches, bollards, posts and other obstacles around the course.
  • Runners with dogs are welcome, but please keep dogs on a short lead or harness and under control throughout the event.
  • Runners pushing buggies are also welcome, but please take extreme care of other runners around you. If possible start from the back of the field and try to keep to one side of the main body of runners.
  • Please make sure you’re fit enough to run 5k (3.1 miles). Health advice about running can be found at the excellent Runners' Medical Resource website.
  • Remember to warm up before the run.
  • If you see a runner with a serious problem, please stop to help them out and get help as soon as possible.
  • If you’re watching, keep clear of runners on the course, and look after any children and dogs you may have with you.
  • While rare, Lyme Disease is present in areas where deer live, and occasionally passed to human’s through infected ticks. See NHS Choices website for more about Lyme Disease, and how to deal with ticks.
  • This is a free training event, so all run and attend at their own risk.

We hope these tips help to ensure that Hanley parkrun is fun and safe for everyone.

Age Grading

All parkrun events use Age Grading to help athletes compare results.

Age Grading takes your time and uses the world record time for your sex and age group to produce a score (a percentage). This score allows you to compare your personal performance against other people's performances even though they might be a different age and a different sex to you - the higher the score the better the performance. The scores can also be compared across different run distances - to allow you to, for example, compare a 5km time against a marathon.

For more information, please see the Running For Fitness website.

Course Map


View Hanley parkrun in a larger map

Getting There

Location of Start

We start just inside the park from the Boughey Road entrance. There is a small car park at the Boughey Road entrance, with another small car park on The Parkway at the top of the park. The parkrun start location will be signposted from the College Road and Boughey Road entrances.

Getting There by Public Transport

By Bus: The 25 service runs between Newcastle and Hanley bus stations, with stops on College Road near to Hanley Park. The 23 and 23A also runs from Hanley bus station to College Road, and the 21, 21A and 101 have stops approximately 5 minutes walk away from the park.

By Train: Hanley Park is approximately 10 minutes walk away from Stoke-on-Trent train station. Turn left as you leave the station and take the first road on your right (College Road) which leads you past Staffordshire University. The park is a few hundred metres along the road.

 

Getting There on Foot

Hanley Park is a short walk away from the Stoke-on-Trent campus of Staffordshire University – use College Road to take you from the campus towards the park. If you are travelling from the city centre, use Broad Street and then turn left onto College Road, which will lead you to the top of Hanley park.

Getting There by Road

Hanley Park is close to the A500 Queensway. Follow signs towards Staffordshire University onto the A5006 Stoke Road. The park itself is then signposted with brown signs.

If you are travelling from further afield, the A500 can be accessed via either junction 15 or 16 on the M6. Please be aware that whilst car parking is free, it is very limited at the park itself. The streets near to the park often require residential permits.

Course Description

The start location is close to the Boughey Road entrance to the park.

The first kilometer of the course follows the main path around the lake, up to the hill over Cauldon canal, turning left to run past the pavilion and bandstand.

There’s then 2 laps following the main path around the top section of the park, going over Cauldon canal onto the bottom section and running around the lake to lead back up to the canal, leading to the pavilion.

The course finishes following the path down to the bandstand. There are two car parks on the route of the course, and in each case, the course follows the path as close as possible, staying on the grass to avoid cars.

Post Run Coffee

Every week, we finish the event with a coffee at Flavours café, which is a ten minute walk from the finish line. Flavours is on Leek Road, ST4 2BP - please join us if you can.