We went to Sutton Park parkrun and ran as sharks as part of their 7th birthday celebrations. If there was any doubt whether the appeal of parkrun was down to the community that would have been well and truly squashed at this fab event! Really reinforcing why I love parkrun tourism.
When parkrun tourist legends Iain and Ann Hall shared their plans to attend I decided that we would join them. What a wonderful turn out of parkrun tourist icons there was too! Best of all it was fancy dress – and even my husband dressed up as a pink shark!!
Sutton Park, Boldmere Gate, Monmouth Drive, Sutton Coldfield, B73 6LH
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Facilities at Sutton Park parkrun
Sutton Park parkrun offers free parking. Plus not only are there toilets available in the Scouts Café for use before and after the run. As a bonus there are ladies’ sanitary products in their first aid kit (if you know, shark!!) If you need to access them whilst at parkrun then just let one of the team know, where they’ll be happy to help discreetly!
Note that there are many entrance points into Sutton Park that are accessible on foot, with some gates will be over 4k to the starting point at Boldmere Gate. Plus there is also free parking at Wyndley Leisure Centre, B73 6EB (800m to the start) where there are also toilets and showers should you opt to go for a parkswim!
Sutton Park parkrun Course
Luckily the course is one lap. This was good because for the most part we could not see very much. Also it turns out I don’t fit adult-size inflatables very well and would most likely have been better off with a child’s!
The start and finish are in the same place with an ice-cream van half way round! This was one of the reasons people were attending as Manda Jones was doing her “flake” (99) parkrun – and what better way to celebrate!
It’s 95% on path with the rest on trail or grass. It is undulating – but dressing up as a shark gives you more than enough of an excuse to stop and take a walk!
Experience of Sutton Park parkrun Birthday
On the 16th August 2025 Sutton Park parkrun celebrated its 7th birthday with their annual fancy dress event.
Costumes included sharks, a King and Queen, Prince, Mr Presley & his twin, Minions, Pirates of the Caribbean, Ozzy Osbourne, dinosaur, ninjas and much more! Even Run Director Emma appeared resplendent in a full unicorn outfit.
But not least there were 43 superheroes who helped made the event run smoothly.
Running Late
For some reason we were running later than usual. By the time we pulled into the carpark we couldn’t see people in costumes and so our teen left his in the car. But it was only a short walk before we could see lots of people dressed up. Oh it was instantly so much fun!
Greeted by the Halls, then my husband and I got into our Shark costumes. There was a lot of fun taking pictures with the Sutton Park parkrun sign. People actually do jump over it – I thought it was edited on like that!
Again for some reason I was slightly late getting to the first timers briefing. However, Mark warned me to watch my footing – especially the holes in the grounds at the start.
The Shark Run itself
My husband stayed with me and we started at the back. After a very hot sweaty first km my husband suggested sticking my head out and zipping it back up. He’d seen a dinosaur do this. This helped a lot!
Tmi but it was so hot in the costumes that sweat actually dripped through them! It gave me a new found respect to those doing marathons in full get up!
Getting Faster
But needless to say we started to overtake people! I ended up walking a lot and my husband waited for me. The photographer wasn’t at the end but on a hill just before it. We stopped and zipped up for photos. However, I then got too hot and unzipped to run as fast as I could. Whereas my husband finished in full zipped up shark!
It was so great to be dressed as a shark and it seemed to give pleasure to so many people. With children coming up to be photographed with me and I even hugged a stranger in a dinosaur costume!!
Notable Mentions
It was good to see old friends and make new ones. Including actually meeting people I had seen in the parkrun community online. As well as seeing the Halls again, I got to meet Manda, the pink lady Cheryl Leadbeater and Sage of Boomerang fame who we saw at Bushy parkrun’s 999th event with her dog Milo. Not forgetting my new dinosaur friend who I had hugging photos with!
Also I got to meet 60 year old Mark Sinclair, from my favourite Dudley parkrun. He has been running parkruns and races dressed as Prince; whilst raising money for Prostate Cancer UK.
Sutton Park parkrun Event 286 Stats
Sutton Park parkrun gave really detailed stats – including best age categories and how many athletes were in each of those categories.
- There were 480 participants
- 262 males, 189 females and 29 unknown.
- 373 (83%) were returning to Sutton Park parkrun.
- 67 (15%) were parkrunners touring at Sutton Park parkrun for their first time (Dudley, Cannon Hill, Telford, Stockton on Tees, Wellingborough, Newbury and many other places).
- An impressive 11 (2%) were doing their very first ever parkrun.
- 12 runners celebrated milestones – official or otherwise.
Finish Times
Times ranged between 17:27-1:12:01. With first lady finishing in 17:58! (SW20-24). She also had the highest age grade of 82.37%. In fact the top 10 age gradings were all over 73.11%. Plus it was also her milestone 50th event.
There were 244 finishers in sub 30. The average finish time was 32:42. With the average male time of 29:59 and average female time of 36:28. I finished just ahead of my husband (he let his costume blow up properly and ran to the end like it) in 34m 56s.
A speedy course with the top 10 males coming in within sub 20 minutes. Likewise, the top 10 females came in within sub 25 (but actually it was just over 24).
Other parkruns nearby we have done:
Walsall Arboretum parkrun (5.5m); Babbs Mill parkrun (6.3m); Oaklands parkrun (6.5m); Brunswick parkrun (6.9m) and Cannon Hill parkrun (7.7m).
Visit these other bloggers who cover parkrun: Sarah at Mum of Three World, Jackie at Never Imitate and Chrissy at It’s Me Chrissy J
This does look like great fun. Your photos are brilliant.
Thanks as ever for the mention.