parkrun Tourists....come to Coventry parkrun!

Having run all but 2 of my parkruns at Coventry, I believe that now is the right time to tell you all about Coventry parkrun. I will try to give all potential parkrun tourists as much information about Coventry parkrun as I possibly can.

parkrun Tourists: Come and give Coventry parkrun a try - you know you want to!

Where is it?
War Memorial Park in Coventry.
Postcode: CV3 6PT
Follow the steady stream of runners from the main car park to the start line beside the tennis courts and cafe. About 5 minutes walk.
Click here for more information on War Memorial Park on the City Council website.

Travel
By train: The nearest rail station is Coventry Station, (London to Birmingham Line). 15 minutes walk along Warwick Road
For train times and tickets check here: National Rail Enquiries
Or here (often cheaper): TheTrainLine
By bus: Bus services 14, 15, X17 leave from Covenry city centre at regular intervals. Its less than a mile, so its not a long journey.
By car/bike: Coventry War Memorial Park is situated off the Coventry Ring Road, exit at Junction 6. Follow Warwick road (A429). The nearest car park for parkrun is on Kenilworth Road - signposted (Park and Ride).

Car parking
The main (park and ride) car park can be found along Kenilworth Road and has plenty of space for all parkrunners and other park visitors alike. Obviously though, if you can share lifts or make your way to the park on foot, so much the better.
There is another smaller car park off Leamington Road. And another off Coat of Arms Bridge Road. But neither of these are as close to the parkrun start line or have anything like the capacity of the main car park.

Links
parkrunfans Course description
Coventry parkrun Course page
Coventry parkrun News page
Coventry parkrun Latest results
Coventry parkrun on Facebook
Coventry parkrun on Twitter

Park Facilities
Cafes: There are two cafes in War Memorial park. The Pavillion café is immediately adjacent to the parkrun start/finish area and it is open 9am-5pm at the weekend (Monday- Friday 9am-4pm). The other is the Beechtree café which is located in the Visitor Centre about two thirds of the way around the parkrun course and is open 9am-4pm at the weekend (Monday - Friday 10am-4pm). Both are within 5 minutes walk from the main car park. Hot and cold drink, main meals and snacks are available at each.
Toilets: There are public toilets (male, female and disabled) at the buildings that house each of the two cafes. The toilets beside the parkrun start/finish area are always open well before the parkrun start.
There is also: a childrens' playground, a childrens' splash and play water feature (summer only), tennis (8 courts), putting, bowls, a scateboard park and many football pitches.

Tourist Information
Visit Coventry and Warwickshire

Where to Stay
If you are coming from a fair distance away, you may want to consider staying in Coventry on the Friday or Saturday night.
Hotels nearby:
Brittania Coventry, City Centre
Ibis Coventry, City Centre
Village Hotel Coventry
The Hylands Hotel Coventry - Probably the closest hotel
Ramada Hotel Coventry
Bed & Breakfast nearby:
Abbyrmar Guest House
Abigail Guest House
Spire View Guest House
There are plenty of others besides these.

Local Attractions
Coventry Transport Museum: Free Admission - Coventry is the birthplace of the British cycle and motor industry. The museum claims the largest collection of British Road Transport in the world. You can easily spend a few hours here.
The Herbert Art Gallery
Coventry Cathedral: The beautiful old Cathedral (badly damaged during World War II) and the new Cathedral beside it.
St Mary's Guildhall: A beautiful old building (built circa 1340). Located right beside the old Cathedral: Mary Queen of Scots stayed here when she spent two months detained in the city of Coventry during the winter of 1569.

History of the park
City Council website
Wikipedia

Coventry parkrun smashes the 5000 registrants barrier

I have just had a quick look at some parkrun stats and noticed that Coventry parkrun has broken through the 5000 registrants barrier this week.

See the Registrations This Week page.

Somehow another 40 people have registered this week. It always amazes me how parkrun continues to grow.

Random stat: On this statistic alone, this makes Coventry roughly the 17th largest parkrun.

The 5000 figure does go to show how many people are interested in parkrun in Coventry. But I wonder how many of those have never run a parkrun? I would guess around half.

Just imagine what would happen if they all turned up one week! Probably not this weekend though given the cold spell.

On that thought, this means that less than 8% of registrants turn up to run each week. I wonder why it's such a low percentage. Quite strange.

I suppose the fact that there is no need for commitment or regular attendance is yet another of the great attractions of parkrun to the masses of runners and occasional runners alike.