North West England parkruns
The parkrun Regionnaire status used to be a major part of parkrun tourism. Changes in the parkrun website in 2019 removed the regions making it harder to track completion status. All is not lost though, as here’s the complete parkrun guide to what’s in and what’s out of the counties of North West England.
The North West of England is a diverse and heavily populated region of the UK, bounded to the west by the Irish Sea and to the east by the Pennines, serving as a major economic and cultural powerhouse in Northern England. The region is composed of five ceremonial counties: Cheshire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Lancashire, and Merseyside. Geographically, the North West is characterised by its dramatic transition from expansive urban areas to rugged upland terrain, most notably across the Lake District: a mountainous National Park spanning much of the length of Cumbria. It contains the prominent, sweeping ridges of the Forest of Bowland (predominantly in Lancashire) and the vast, scenic estuary of Morecambe Bay. Landscapes across the region are varied, ranging from the flat, agricultural expanse of the Cheshire Plain to the towering peaks of the Cumbrian fells and the rich, historic river valleys of the Mersey and the Irwell.
The administrative map of the North West underwent a significant transformation following the Local Government Act 1972, which came into effect in 1974. Prior to this, the region was defined by the ancient historic counties of Lancashire, Cheshire, Cumberland, and Westmorland. The 1974 reforms sought to modernise local government, particularly to address the sprawling urban growth around major industrial cities. This led to the creation of the metropolitan counties of Greater Manchester and Merseyside, which absorbed large, heavily populated swathes of historic Lancashire and Cheshire. Further north, the sparsely populated historic counties of Cumberland and Westmorland were merged, alongside the Furness area of Lancashire and a sliver of Yorkshire, to form the new county of Cumbria. These boundaries were later solidified for the purposes of appointing Lord-Lieutenants by the Lieutenancies Act 1997, firmly establishing the modern "ceremonial counties" we recognise today, even as the region's historic identities continue to hold deep cultural significance.
parkrun event numbers per county
There are currently 79 parkrun events in the counties of the North West England region.
Notes and exceptions.
Birkenhead and Brimstage were in historic Cheshire and are now in Merseyside.
All other Merseyside parkrun events were in the historic county of Lancashire.
Widnes was in historic Lancashire and is now in Cheshire.
Bramhall Park, Cheadle Hulme, Hyde, Marple, Sale Water, Woodbank and Wythenshawe were in historic Cheshire and are now in Greater Manchester.
Fletcher Moss was in historic Lancashire and is now in Greater Manchester but a small part of the course crosses into present-day Cheshire.
Barrow, Fell Foot and Ford were in historic Lancashire and are now in Cumbria.
Rothay Park was in historic Westmorland and is now in Cumbria.
All other Cumbria parkrun events were in the historic county of Cumberland.
Alexandra, Bolton, Burnage, Chadderton Hall, Clarence, Fletcher Moss, Haigh Woodland, Heaton Park, Kingsway Park Urmston, Oldham, Peel, Pennington Flash, Philips Park, South Manchester, Stamford Park, Stretford, Watergrove and Worsley Woods were in historic Lancashire and are now in Greater Manchester
Crosby, Croxteth Hall, Kew Woods, Knowsley, Princes, Southport, St Helens and Sutton Manor were in historic Lancashire and are now in Merseyside.
Warrington is in Cheshire but the route cuts through a small part of Lancashire.
Centre Vale straddles the border of historic Lancashire and Yorkshire but is currently fully in West Yorkshire.
The North West England Counties parkrun pages
Click on each of the images below to go to the page with details of the parkrun events for the county.
More parkrun posts
parkruns are free, weekly, community 5k events all around the world. I started in December 2012 and have been obsessive about it ever since. See my parkrun Collection page for details.
Featured and popular parkrun posts:
Completing all Lancashire parkruns
There are currently 14 parkrun events in the present-day county of Lancashire, of which I have not yet completed any. The first was Preston, which started on 12th May 2012 and the newest is Worden, which started on 14th October 2023. I’m not aware of a County Completion Name for Lancashire but let me know in the comments if you have one.
The present-day / ceremonial county of Lancashire is smaller than the historic county of the same name. Several Lancashire parkrun events fall into different historic and ceremonial counties:
Alexandra, Bolton, Burnage, Chadderton Hall, Clarence, Fletcher Moss, Haigh Woodland, Heaton Park, Kingsway Park Urmston, Oldham, Peel, Pennington Flash, Philips Park, South Manchester, Stamford Park, Stretford, Watergrove and Worsley Woods were in historic Lancashire and are now in Greater Manchester
Barrow, Fell Foot and Ford were in historic Lancashire and are now in Cumbria.
Crosby, Croxteth Hall, Kew Woods, Knowsley, Princes, Southport, St Helens and Sutton Manor were in historic Lancashire and are now in Merseyside.
Widnes was in historic Lancashire and is now in Cheshire.
Warrington is in Cheshire but the route cuts through a small part of Lancashire.
Centre Vale straddles the border of historic Lancashire and Yorkshire and has the start line in Lancashire but the course is mostly in West Yorkshire.
Cuerden Valley was a parkrun event in Lancashire but has now been permanently cancelled.
Numbers exclude 2k Junior parkruns and any events that are not open to the general public such as prisons or armed forces facilities.
All of the Lancashire parkrun events …
Below are each of the Lancashire 5k parkrun events in alphabetical order. A few things to note:
The interactive maps below take you to the approximate location for the course, typically the centre of the park. See the course instructions in the parkrun page for each event for specific directions to the start.
Course maps and elevation profiles show the route at the time that I ran it and may have changed since then. See the Course page in the event’s page on parkrun.org.uk for the current course outline. Note that course outlines are from Garmin data during a specific run and may vary from the officially measured distance.
Please contact me if you spot an event that doesn’t have a course map and elevation profile and you would like to donate one from your own run. I’m also interested in maps and elevation profiles for courses that have changed or where there’s a regular alternative route (e.g. Horsham). I’ll need a GPX file from your run plus the date. I’ll include a credit for you and will donate £1 to parkrun.
Blackpool
I have not yet completed this event
Historic County: Lancashire
Present Day County: Lancashire
Inaugural: 4th February 2017
Links: Event Page, Course Page
Burnley
I have not yet completed this event
Historic County: Lancashire
Present Day County: Lancashire
Inaugural: 2nd June 2012
Links: Event Page, Course Page
Clitheroe Castle
I have not yet completed this event
Historic County: Lancashire
Present Day County: Lancashire
Inaugural: 19th May 2018
Links: Event Page, Course Page
Cuerden Valley
This parkrun event has been permanently cancelled. I did not complete this event before it was closed.
Historic County: Lancashire
Present Day County: Lancashire
Inaugural: August 10th 2013. Final event: #329 on March 14th 2020
Reason for cancellation: Due to financial struggles and a belief by the Cuerden Valley Trust that parkrun, a national organization, should contribute financially to the park's upkeep.
Replaced by: many of the core team moved to Worden
Links: Event Home Page
Fleetwood Promenade
I have not yet completed this event
Historic County: Lancashire
Present Day County: Lancashire
Inaugural: 4th August 2018
Links: Event Page, Course Page
Hyndburn
I have not yet completed this event
Historic County: Lancashire
Present Day County: Lancashire
Inaugural: 21st October 2017
Links: Event Page, Course Page
Lancaster
I have not yet completed this event
Historic County: Lancashire
Present Day County: Lancashire
Inaugural: 9th January 2016
Links: Event Page, Course Page
Lytham Hall
I have not yet completed this event
Historic County: Lancashire
Present Day County: Lancashire
Inaugural: 28th November 2015
Links: Event Page, Course Page
Morecambe Prom
I have not yet completed this event
Historic County: Lancashire
Present Day County: Lancashire
Links: Event Page, Course Page
Links: Morecambe Prom, Course
Ormskirk
I have not yet completed this event
Historic County: Lancashire
Present Day County: Lancashire
Inaugural: 29th March 2014
Links: Event Page, Course Page
Pendle
I have not yet completed this event
Historic County: Lancashire
Present Day County: Lancashire
Inaugural: 10th May 2014
Links: Event Page, Course Page
Preston
I have not yet completed this event
Historic County: Lancashire
Present Day County: Lancashire
Inaugural: 12th May 2012
Links: Event Page, Course Page
Tawd Valley
I have not yet completed this event
Historic County: Lancashire
Present Day County: Lancashire
Inaugural: 27th July 2019
Links: Event Page, Course Page
Witton
I have not yet completed this event
Historic County: Lancashire
Present Day County: Lancashire
Inaugural: 29th August 2015
Links: Event Page, Course Page
Worden
I have not yet completed this event
Historic County: Lancashire
Present Day County: Lancashire
Inaugural: 14th October 2023
Links: Event Page, Course Page
More parkrun posts
parkruns are free, weekly, community 5k events all around the world. I started in December 2012 and have been obsessive about it ever since. See my parkrun Collection page for details.
Featured and popular parkrun posts:
Completing all Cumbria parkruns
There are currently 17 parkrun events in the present-day county of Cumbria, of which I have completed 1. The first was Barrow, which started on 24th September 2011 and the newest is Cockermouth Greenway which started on 9th November 2024. The name for having completed all parkrun events in the county is “Done-bria”.
The present-day / ceremonial county of Cumbria replaced the historic counties of Cumberland and Westmorland and the Furness area of Lancashire.
Barrow, Fell Foot and Ford were in historic Lancashire and are now in Cumbria.
Rothay Park was in historic Westmorland and is now in Cumbria.
All other Cumbria parkrun events were in the historic county of Cumberland.
Numbers exclude 2k Junior parkruns and any events that are not open to the general public such as prisons or armed forces facilities.
All of the Cumbria parkrun events …
Below are each of the Cumbria 5k parkrun events in alphabetical order. A few things to note:
The interactive maps below take you to the approximate location for the course, typically the centre of the park. See the course instructions in the parkrun page for each event for specific directions to the start.
Course maps and elevation profiles show the route at the time that I ran it and may have changed since then. See the Course page in the event’s page on parkrun.org.uk for the current course outline. Note that course outlines are from Garmin data during a specific run and may vary from the officially measured distance.
Please contact me if you spot an event that doesn’t have a course map and elevation profile and you would like to donate one from your own run. I’m also interested in maps and elevation profiles for courses that have changed or where there’s a regular alternative route (e.g. Horsham). I’ll need a GPX file from your run plus the date. I’ll include a credit for you and will donate £1 to parkrun.
Barrow
I have not yet completed this event
Historic County: Lancashire
Ceremonial County: Cumbria
Inaugural: 24th September 2011
Links: Event Home Page, Course Page
Bower Park
I have not yet completed this event
Historic County: Cumberland
Ceremonial County: Cumbria
Inaugural: September 4th 2021
Links: Event Home Page, Course Page
Carlisle
I have not yet completed this event
Historic County: Cumberland
Ceremonial County: Cumbria
Inaugural: 19th January 2013
Links: Event Home Page, Course Page
Cockermouth Greenway
I have not yet completed this event
Historic County: Cumberland
Ceremonial County: Cumbria
Inaugural: 9th November 2024
Links: Event Home Page, Course Page
Fell Foot
I completed this event on: June 9th 2018 with a finish time of: 25:17
Historic County: Lancashire
Ceremonial County: Cumbria
Other routes touched (walk): Fell Foot Circular Heritage Trail
Inaugural: 18th October 2014
Links: Event Home Page, Course Page
Ford
I have not yet completed this event
Historic County: Lancashire
Ceremonial County: Cumbria
Inaugural: 11th August 2018
Links: Event Home Page, Course Page
Keswick
I have not yet completed this event
Historic County: Cumberland
Ceremonial County: Cumbria
Inaugural: 5th April 2014
Links: Event Home Page, Course Page
Maryport Prom
I have not yet completed this event
Historic County: Cumberland
Ceremonial County: Cumbria
Inaugural: 29th October 2022
Links: Event Home Page, Course Page
Millom
I have not yet completed this event
Historic County: Cumberland
Ceremonial County: Cumbria
Inaugural: 17th December 2016
Links: Event Home Page, Course Page
Muncaster Castle
I have not yet completed this event
Historic County: Cumberland
Ceremonial County: Cumbria
Inaugural: 16th September 2023
Links: Event Home Page, Course Page
Penrith
I have not yet completed this event
Historic County: Cumberland
Ceremonial County: Cumbria
Inaugural: 8th February 2014
Links: Event Home Page, Course Page
Rothay Park
I have not yet completed this event
Historic County: Westmorland
Ceremonial County: Cumbria
Inaugural: 25th January 2020
Links: Event Home Page, Course Page
Silloth Promenade
I have not yet completed this event
Historic County: Cumberland
Ceremonial County: Cumbria
Inaugural: [Date unconfirmed: please insert]
Links: Event Home Page, Course Page
Talkin Tarn Country Park
I have not yet completed this event
Historic County: Cumberland
Ceremonial County: Cumbria
Inaugural: [Date unconfirmed: please insert]
Links: Event Home Page, Course Page
Whinlatter Forest
I have not yet completed this event
Historic County: Cumberland
Ceremonial County: Cumbria
Inaugural: 13th January 2018
Links: Event Home Page, Course Page
Whitehaven
I have not yet completed this event
Historic County: Cumberland
Ceremonial County: Cumbria
Inaugural: 30th June 2018
Links: Event Home Page, Course Page
Workington
I have not yet completed this event
Historic County: Cumberland
Ceremonial County: Cumbria
Inaugural: 22nd June 2013
Links: Event Home Page, Course Page
More parkrun posts
parkruns are free, weekly, community 5k events all around the world. I started in December 2012 and have been obsessive about it ever since. See my parkrun Collection page for details.
Featured and popular parkrun posts: