Covid hasn’t cancelled running! Check out these UK routes

As part of our 2021 blog, we want to bring you some of our favourite runs and races from around the world. For January, we have kept it to the UK, exploring a mix of races and sightseeing runs as we know we cannot travel at the moment. Check them out:

- London Sightseeing

- The Bacchus Marathon

- Brighton seafront

- Bushy Park, London

London Sightseeing

When you think of London, you think the river Thames, Big Ben, St Paul’s, the Royal parks…well this 18 mile (29km) sightseeing route takes all of those in. We recommend you use the River Thames as a guide to help you get the best of London. The famous river flows through the heart of the city and takes you on a tour of some of the most famous landmarks. Not only this, you will find lesser-known canals and peacefulness right in the heart of the capital.

For this run, start at the iconic Big Ben and run east along the Thames North Bank. You will take in views of the Shard, Tate Modern, Tower Bridge and St Paul’s. 

Once you reach Limehouse Basin, turn left and enjoy running along the Regents Canal. You will then skirt around Regents Park and arrive at the famous Little Venice. Want a break? This is a great place to grab a coffee. 

After this, run south on the pavements and find your way to Hyde Park where you can enjoy a pleasant run along the edge of the Serpentine. The final stretch takes you past Green Park, St James’s Park and Horse Guards Parade. From here, experience a sprint finish back to Big Ben. If you are lucky, the bells may even ring for you!

The Bacchus Marathon

Always had the Marathon Du Medoc as a bucket list race? Can’t travel to France in 2021 to race it? Look no further, we know how much the Brits like to drink, and we were sure somewhere would have created a British version, and they have!

The Bacchus marathon in Dorking offers 12 wine and food stations along the 26.2-mile loop, 6 along the half-marathon distance and 1 for the 5-mile event. Why not join thousands of runners in September in fancy dress and run through the Denbies Vineyard wine estate and into the adjacent National Trust land in the beautiful Surrey countryside. Who wouldn’t want to run through beautiful land, listening to the numerous bands whilst sampling wine along the way. 

Coopah Tip:

Don’t enjoy the wine too much as there is a cut off time of 2 hours 20 minutes for the first loop, which is 13.1 miles and you must finish the whole thing within 5 hours. We recommend racing the first 13.1 miles and then enjoying the second loop ;).

P.S. take public transport!

Brighton seafront

Missing the sea? Fancy some fish and chips by the ocean? Then Brighton is likely to be one of your go-to destinations! After a weekend of fish and chips and ice cream galore, you may fancy a run too.

With Brighton being just 1 hour south of London, we feel it is the perfect destination for a seaside run after all nothing beats fresh sea air! Did you know that the Starling Bird is famous for returning to their roosts each winter evening. From November to January, you may just get lucky and see hundreds of thousands of these birds roost on the city’s iconic piers.  

Wildlife, sea air and fish and chips, what more could brighten your spirits?

The route from Brighton pier to Hove Lagoon and back is a good 10km run and is well lit in the evening!

Bushy Park, London

Want to see how fast Mo Farah really is? Well, we have heard that a trip to Bushy Park could well mean spotting him during his training! We can’t promise, but a little birdy did mention this. We also believe this is a good place for a 5km PB after Joe Wicks managed to go 18:45 round here.

Did you also know that the world famous Park Run started at Bushy Park? Apparently, 13 apostles of Parkrun jogged around Bushy Park on 2 October 2004.  Parkrun tourism really is a thing now as Parkrun tourist travels around cities and even continents to tick off new courses. We believe that Bushy Park Run is the top of their to-do list. 

After all, it is the epicentre of a running revolution!

Visit Bushy Park on a Saturday morning to join 100’s of runners from all around the world and run anticlockwise around this famous route. You never know, you may even line up next to Mo!