Rob McHarry Memorial Birchwood Park 5K

Thursday 28 May 2026 at 7:30pm

Come and run our fabulous 5K trail race.

It starts in Birchwood near the Scout hut and takes you around Birchwood Forest Park.

The route is largely traffic-free and is on parkland paths & trails.

The 5K race is run under UK Athletics Rules, UKA Race Licence applied for.  The minimum age for runners is 12 years old on race day.

View the 2025 results

How to enter

Entries for 2026 are now open. You can enter via the North Cheshire 5K Grand Prix page or at BookitZone https://bookitzone.com/julian_spencer/WYjFFX. You can run this race on its own or as part of the 5K series.

Please note that there is a race limit of 200.

Online entry

Please note all race numbers to be collected, numbers will not be posted out.

Entry on the day

Entry on the day will be available, subject to the race limit, at a £1 surcharge.

If you want to enter on the day, please try to arrive early as it can get very busy in Race HQ. 

Start time

The 5k race will start promptly at 7:30pm.

Facilities

Race HQ (including entries on the day) will be at the Birchwood Community High School (WA3 7PT, ///speedily.filed.epic) 

We are unable to offer facilities to store bags or valuables.

Car parking

Parking will be in the Birchwood Shopping Centre car park 1 (adjacent to The Peacock pub).  Please park only in marked spaces.

Please help secure the future of this race by parking responsibly.  Many thanks!

Please do NOT park in the following areas:

  • Near the race start on Warrington Road.
  • In the High School car park or the library car park.
  • On any local roads or pavements.  The road going past the School is a bus route and must be kept clear. 

Directions

Race HQ to Start

Race Route

The route has been measured by an accredited course measurer using currently approved procedures.

  1. Start on the cycle way on Warrington Road near Lowes Farm Subway, head North East and past the scout hut.
  2. Continue along Warrington road and turn Right and go on the path under Roberts Fold Subway, shortly before the end of Warrington road.
  3. Turn immediately left after going under the subway, running parallel with Birchwood Way.
  4. The path will bend right then left. Go over the footbridge.
  5. Keep on the path and turn Left at the posts to avoid getting to the road (Ordnance Avenue)
  6. Continue straight on and across the new ‘Buses Only’ road with barriers either side. DO NOT turn right shortly before Forest Park.
  7. Take the right fork to go past the Skate Park Entrance.
  8. Go diagonally across the 4 way path junction towards the Rangers hut.
  9. Follow the path keeping the field to your Left and past the Ranger hut on your Right.
  10. At the roundabout with the tree turn Right to retrace your route.
  11. Keep to the path and past the ‘Buses only’ road with barriers either side.
  12. Keep straight on the path and pass the subway to your right. Ensure you then keep straight. AVOID the path to your Left.
  13. Go over the footbridge and follow the path which bends Right.
  14. Turn Right to go under the subway.
  15. Turn Left after the subway onto Warrington Road.
  16. Straight on past the scout hut to your Left
  17. Finish just past the start point.

Refund policy

Entry fees are not refundable in the unlikely event of cancellation in exceptional circumstances (e.g. weather).

If you have entered the race and are unable to run for whatever reason, like most races we are unable to offer refunds.  Also, we are not able to defer your race entry to the following year.

However we do allow you to transfer your race entry to another runner.

Transfer Of Race Entries

Spectrum Striders will allow runners to transfer their race number to another runner provided they submit a completed entry form which is clearly marked:

“Transfer runner number XXXX from previous runner “

Please give as many details of the previous runner as possible; including “age on race day” and sex. We want to make absolutely sure we transfer the entry from the right person. The entry form for the new runner MUST be completed as normal with age, sex etc.

We would much prefer all changes to get to us before the closing date, but we will accept changes on the day at Race HQ.  If you want to do this, please arrive early!

We will not charge a transfer fee to do this unless we incur a cost. We want to see the right names against the runners in the results.

You can transfer your entry via the form HERE

Results

Race results are usually available to view at Race HQ after the prize presentation.  We aim to have results available to view on this web site on the evening of the race.

Prizes

We offer prizes to the first three finishers as well as to veteran categories.  Under normal circumstances, we aim to have the prize presentation after the race, so long as there are no major problems in producing the race results.

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