My Favourite Places to Run

It's a grey day in Cardiff (and it's June), I am supposed to be revising for the next few weeks for more exams, and I'm still not quite back to running properly after the Brecon Beacons Ultra. I went for a tester run yesterday, which was ok, but it might be another week of practising for old age, when my knees give up, by cycling for fitness (and barely for fun). Instead, I thought I'd list a few of the places that I would much rather be right now, running.


I've not been to the US or even any of the main European mountain ranges (though my bucket list is pretty much made up of races in these regions), so this list is probably a little different. Even so, I think these are some pretty great places to run! In no particular order...

1. Ilha Grande, Brazil

Ilha Grande is one of those places that runners dream about, even if they didn't know it yet. A small, tropical island about 3 hours from Rio, it has a network of 90km or so of trails pretty much circumnavigating the island (which means it is crying out for an FKT!) and the highest peak reaches up to almost 1000m-given the trail up starts at sea level, you almost have a VK race in the making there!

By basing yourself in the tiny village of Abraao, you have a great range of restaurants, hotels and bars to come back to, right on the beach. However, you can camp on the other beaches around the island, which you can get to by water taxi. Or running, obviously! The island is also great for a bit of cross training- mountain biking, swimming, kayaking, surfing and Stand-up paddle boarding. I had a great 10 days or so here, mixing up some brilliant trail running with beach time, followed by great food and caipirinhas in the evening. More than any place I've been to in the world, it's the place I want to go back to. 

2. Samaipata, Bolivia


I managed to spend 4 weeks in Brazil last summer during the world cup, and despite the obligatory drinking that comes with being party of the Barmy Army, I was still doing some decent running, inspired by the beaches and trails, as described above. I then went to Bolivia with wild ideas of some amazing runs on the Salt flats and in the mountains around La Paz. A combination of tape worms and stolen passports ate into our time and stomachs, meaning by the time I had just a few days left in the country, the best I'd managed was a few runs in smoggy cities and on the banks of the rivers in the Amazon Basin.

That all changed in Samaipata, though. It's a small town, only 3 hours or so from Santa Cruz's international airport, and home to quite a few expats. Set at an altitude of 1600-1800m (for reference: bit less than Iten, similar to Boulder) and with surrounding hills and roads rising another 1000m or so, the dusty roads and network of trails are great for exploring. We rented a villa just outside the town belonging to a lovely German couple, just up the road from an ice cream parlour, and I would follow the tracks up the hills until I was bored/tired, and then fly back down again. 15 minutes away by motorbike there's a set of waterfalls with peaks rising above them and a good set of trails, and there's also plenty of opportunity to rent guides and explore the surrounding mountains. It's not the Bolivia you picture before you go, and if you are used to altitude or have the time to acclimatise in La Paz and its surrounds (at 3500-4500m) then you really can get in some truly wild trekking, but I think what I liked about Samaipata is how unexpected it was. As an aside, the areas of Tarija and Tupiza in the south of the country are also great for running. Tupiza is like the wild west and Tarija is wine country.

3. Southern France

Obviously, the Alps would make most peoples list- Chamonix is a place that I have to go to soon! From my own experiences though, I spent a couple of weeks in a small village called Puivert, between Carcassonne and at the foothills of the Pyrenees, and loved it. It was at a time when I'd just finished my first triathlon (The Slateman in North Wales) and staying in a house a 2 minute walk to a swimming lake massively improved my open water swimming. There were also some great trails, though, with plenty of elevation. The days went something like this: morning open water swim, croissants and coffee, lunchtime swim/run, baguettes and coffee, evening run and swim, baguettes and wine/beer. My running came on massively here, as did my love of croissants, baguettes, coffee and wine.

4. Snowdonia, Wales

Right, enough prancing round in exotic locations in nice weather. Time for some grit. I can't and won't ignore the places where my running saw big improvements. Being based in Cardiff, and now that I have a car, I do get the chance to go and explore the Brecon Beacons. However, it was in Snowdonia last autumn on a university placement that I got my first chance to spend an extended period of time in the mountains. I was logging my biggest mileage and most elevation to date.

I think I did Snowdon's Llanberis path the first afternoon I was there (standard) but then moved onto better, if about 16 metres smaller, things, and I would say the Carneddau mountains provided me with my favourite and most memorable runs. The ascents are hard, the terrain is hard and the descents are hard. Proper mountain running.

5. Lake District

Obviously The Lakes has to make the list. I've been going to the Lakes since I was about 4 and Skiddaw was the first mountain I ever ran up . Even when I didn't run 'properly', I would run up Latrigg and look out across Derwent water, so that view over Keswick has to be one of my favourites. These days, it's a long trek from South Wales, but I was up there earlier this year for the Keswick Mountain Festival, and I'll be running the 3x3000 80k later this year, with a recce weekend planned before that. I always look forward to going back.

Also, BGR is obviously on the bucket list...one day.

An honourable mention has to go to my home in Yorkshire, but I think Yorkshire would be at the top of everyone's list, it's too much of an obvious choice! I think I'll write about that at some point in the future. In the next 12 months I will be going to East Africa and to Nepal, and I also have an eye on Tranvulcania 2016, so I'm pretty sure this list will lengthen!