How do you find new running routes?

[turnerbird]

Hi everyone. I’d love to hear how you discover new running routes? I’ve been relying on tips from local friends but wondered if there’s a cool app or resource that I might be missing...especially when I’m on holiday and would like to run somewhere new. I just love changing up the scenery, the best part of running! Thanks!

[Denovo]

This might help:

mapmyrun.com/gb/

[Megatoothster Graduate]

If you subscribe to Strava, their website has extensive runs mapped for all over the UK, and in fact the world. 👍

[Denovo in reply to Megatoothster]

Where do you find the routes on Strava? I am a premium member but have never seen any routes apart from runs done by my friends there and the city guides, which are only for very few places.

[junkeye in reply to Denovo]

Try the segment explorer for the home page - I can find multiple runs for the location that I run in regularly

strava.com/segments/search

[Denovo in reply to junkeye]

Ah, OK. Most of the segments round here seem to be very short stretches of less (sometimes much less) than a mile, which people use to practice sprints.

[UnfitNoMore Graduate in reply to Denovo]

Another way is to search for your town in clubs section. There you’ll find local running clubs (no!) and probably the local parkrun group. Join the parkrun and you’ll see all their runs and can use a route when you find one you fancy. If you join anything but parkrun, be careful it’s not a cycling group, those guys go LONG!

PS if you have a parkrun account you can link it to your Strava. Then you can practice the parkrun course and they show up on your parkrun profile as a ghost run.

[Megatoothster Graduate]

If you go to Strava.com/routes/new and then click on the segment explorer in the left menu it shows saved segments.

[Denovo in reply to Megatoothster]

Just diddy little segments where I live

[Megatoothster Graduate]

You could also try the routebot app (£1.99).

[shakdang Graduate]

I usually just open google maps, switch to "walking" as transport mode and drag the markers around until it gives me my desired distance in a loop.

To get a better idea of scenery or to see if there are any hazards, I use street view.

So far this method has worked great for me, in fact, just this weekend, it helped find a walking path that I never knew existed 5 minutes from my house.

[turnerbird Graduate]

What brilliant advice everyone, thank you. I’m already signed up to MapMyRun but hadn’t explored the routes. Everyone keeps telling me Strava is best so I might have to join that too. Going to have a play and nerd out tonight, thanks!

[Hidden]

I use a thing called mapometer on my laptop to work out how long runs will be. It is tricky finding just the right length.

[Foz4star]

I use an app called Footpath to work out runs.

You can draw a route and it calculates the path and distance, also can show elevation.

I think the free version allows export of runs too.