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#LetsMoveLondon

The Picture of Running in London

19th April 2018

With the London Marathon taking place this weekend, it’s hard not to be inspired when hearing some of the training endeavours of the 40,000+ participants taking part this year. They’ve braved the winter months, pounding the pavements in their fluorescent layers in the mornings before work, in their lunch hours, evenings and weekends and it’s all come down the race this Sunday.

But what does all this running mean for our city?

According to Active Lives data, 77.70% of Londoners take part in physical activity and sport at least twice each month (marginally higher than national average of 77.20%). A large proportion of those are runners, almost 19% of Londoners are in fact going out running at least twice a month – which compared to the percentage of people doing this nationally (15.40%) is considerably higher.

 

Furthermore, in comparison to a sample of other English cities, the number of city runners was topped only by Newcastle for with London harbouring a higher percentage of runners than Leeds, Birmingham and Greater Manchester.

So, when think you see a lot of runners while you’re walking around the city, you do – a massive 1,315,500 of them each month!

Want to get involved?

 

parkrun London

parkrun organise free, weekly, 5km timed runs around the world. They are open to everyone, free, and are safe and easy to take part in.

These events take place in pleasant parkland surroundings and we encourage people of every ability to take part; from those taking their first steps in running to Olympians; from juniors to those with more experience. Lucky for us, there’s 50 parkruns in London, so if you’re inspired by the marathon this weekend, or fancy just lacing up your trainers this Saturday morning, head along to one of the of the parks listed below!

Ally PallyBarkingBeckenham PlaceBecktonBedfont LakesBexleyBrockwellBromleyBurgessBushy ParkCanons ParkClapham CommonCrane ParkCrystal PalaceDulwichFinsbury ParkFulham PalaceGladstoneGreenwichGrovelandsGunnersburyHackney MarshesHampstead HeathHarrowHarrow LodgeHighbury FieldsHilly FieldsHoblingwellKingston LloydMile EndNorthala FieldsOak HillOld Deer ParkOrpingtonOsterleyPeckham RyePymmesRaphaelRichmond ParkRiddlesdownRoundshaw DownsSouth NorwoodSouthwarkTooting CommonValentinesVictoria DockWalthamstowWanstead FlatsWimbledon CommonWormwood Scrubs.

England Athletics club finder

If you’re looking to get into running more regularly, want to be part of a training group and maybe even compete, England Athletics have a fantastic club finder on their website that allows you to search for clubs in your area. There’s well over 100 clubs listed on there for London, so take a look and get started today!

Find a running club!

ABOUT LONDON SPORT

London Sport is a charity that exists to help ensure more Londoners live happier, healthier lives through access to sport and physical activity.
Supported by Sport England and the Mayor of London, London Sport collaborates with those that share our vision, running and supporting projects that help children, young people and the least active adults to embed sport and physical activity into their lives.

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