Training in Birmingham?

[andy]

Hey,
I'm now working in Birmingham Mon-Fri (Flying down weekly from Edinburgh) and was wondering if anyone in the birminham area can suggest good places to train that are easily accessible from the centre of birmingham (i have no car/bike)?
also, if there are any weekday events nearby (wednesday evenings for example..) could you let me know?

thanks in advance for any info

andy.

[eddie]

ha ha ha

[eddie]

andy i'll try and ring you later tonight

[*Carol*]

hahaha indeed!

you can try running around the inner-city parks like sutton park and handsworth park, but youd probably have a deathwish.

either that or find some orienteers to take you around

[Mrs H.]

Andy Hemsted is doing a night street league from his house during the first week in nov, and there's a couple more scheduled in the B'ham area during the season - not much I'm afraid. http://www.harlequins.org.uk/leagues_nsl.html

[brooner]

poor lad, i wondered what your msn name was all about and also why we'd yet to see you do any training here

[bendover]

why is it a death risk to run around sutton park?
if you are staying centrally then you can run on the canal towpaths during the day - aston park is probably the nearest park to run to via canals, but i wouldnt reccomend training on them during the evening.

cannon hill park isn't too far at all by bus from the town centre and is also good for training. its also mapped.

[*Carol*]

sorry suttons fine during the day but not when its full of teenagers in the evening. but yes cannon hill park is good, i totally missed that

[eddie]

i do have to admit that cannon hill park is the daddy of all parks

and on a brisk wednesday afternoon at half two with a shrill wind you can catch the might of the King Edward's School Cross Country Team decked in their oxford and cambridge blue running vests doing battle with the local urchins

ah the memories

and ah a certain Mr Ben Roberts being the Birmingham secondary schools cross country champion a fine effort indeed

[gg]

your welcome to drive/catch train out to warwick / cov and train with us

[UncleDickie]

I spent some time working in our Birmingham office (back in the day, when the petrol "crisis" was on, everyone driving very slowly). I was staying out on the Hagley Rd (west of city centre). I ran in a park just off the Hagley Rd, could it have been Warley Woods? It was fast underfoot, great for doing intervals, and there weren't too many scroats around.

Also, there's Lickey Hills and, a few miles out of town, Clent Hills.

[UncleDickie]

By the way - all of you who run in cities and city parks at this time of year... watch out for fireworks. I nearly got one on the eye last night - evil little prepubescent scroaty kids firing rockets horizontally across Potternewton Park at head height.

[samsonite]

he he

[Copepod]

Hi Andy
There's some nice running along the Grand Union Canal, south east of Birmingham city centre, expecially around Catherine de Barnes (a village, not a person) - I ran near there with my brother in law last weekend, although he drove his car. You could link the railway stations at Olton and Lapworth, which are each less than half a mile from the canal, on the Snowhill / Moor Street to Leamington Spa line. Otherwise, you could get a bike with all lights etc for less than £100 new. When I bought a tag-along bike for my neices in Cambridge, the assistant told me (I think I remember right) that Hawk is the local bugget bike chain, equivalent of Cycle King in East Anglia.
Good luck.

[ryeland of doom]

£6 will get you the train to sunny stafford, then the bus for 5 miles and hey presto you are on the chase.

The train to Hednesford is probably better, you are almost on the Chase there.

For hill stuff, The Lickey Hills are very handy.