Where is it?
Kingsbury Water Park is near Sutton Coldfield, B76 0DY. The What 3 Words location is here. It is managed by Warwickshire County Council.
Parking is £4.50 for the day. You can only pay by card.
The nearest train station Coleshill Parkway is approximately 5 miles away
A preview video of the venue will shortly be available here
What’s a 6 hour event?
I’ve made a short video here to try to explain a little.
It is an event that enables all abilities of runner to run together (or hike/walk!). Ultimately you can run as many 5k laps as you wish in the time limit. You can run one lap in 20 minutes, pick up your medal, flapjack and beer and go home! Alternatively you can head out on your 15th lap at 14:55 and finish in 6:30 having covered over 50 miles! It’s completely up to you.
There is no pressure from us, but we’ll also see if you want one more lap! The format is great for people looking to run further than they’ve ever done before, do a long training run for future events or to enjoy a sociable event with your friends.
Course description
The route takes you around many of the pools of Kingsbury Water Park. The conditions underfoot are mixed with sections on grass, gravel tracks and a few very short sections on asphalt. the views are great and you’re guaranteed to see a plethora of wildfowl.
Ground conditions will depend very much on the weather at the time of the event. Kingsbury Water Park floods very easily and if there has been heavy rain the ground will be sodden. As always we’ll update runners closer to the event as to the exact conditions.
What does it cost?
We operate a tiered pricing approach. The earlier you enter, the cheaper the event but never ever will you pay a booking fee!
Before 27/08/2022 £32
After 27/08/2022 £37
How far is the race?
You decide! The 3.3 mile off-road loop means your race can be 5k or over 50k and anywhere in between. You decide how many laps you're going to do on the day within the 6-hour time limit. If you're looking to cover a marathon distance you'll need to complete 8 laps and a half marathon will be 4 laps.
Has the event been run before?
Yes! We had an incredibly successful event at Kingsbury Water Park in 2022. You can see a little video clip of it here.
I’m not that fussed by a medal, drink and flapjack…
In that case our partnership with Trees Not Tees may be of interest! When you sign up to this event you can select to have no finish line swag and instead we’ll donate the cost of this to Trees Not Tees who will plant a tree in their Scottish woodland on your behalf! You can find more info about this initiative here.
Is there a gpx of the route?
The route gpx can be found here. The route may be subject to last minute changes and there will be plenty of markings up on race day so you do not need to have this - but I know some of you like to anyway!
I’m unsure what to expect at a 6 hour event?
We’ve made some videos to try and help newcomers understand Big Bear Events and 6 hour events a little more here. We’ve got lots of videos on our You Tube channel that might help you see what we’re all about!
I still have questions…
Then why not join our Big Bear Events Facebook group and ask our ever so experienced runners in there or email us directly here. We want you to enter with the confidence you’ll have a great (if not tiring!) day so are happy to answer any question we’ve not covered off here.
