With marathon season over, June provides a chance for runners to embrace a new running challenge. Whether that’s a trail run, shorter distance or fell run, our selection has something for everyone.
Swansea Half Marathon
Swansea, 8 June
Enjoy a fast and flat closed-road event from the city to the sea, complete with beautiful views and noisy support. There’s definite PB potential on this out-and-back coastal route, so long as the wind is playing ball, and a friendly atmosphere is guaranteed. Little wonder it's proving so popular – since it started in 2014, the number of participants has more than doubled to over 5,000.
The One in the Park
Richmond Park, London, 1 June
The park in question here is Richmond, perhaps the best of all London’s Royal Parks. It’s complete with wild deer, ponds and, as you’ll find out on this half marathon, plenty of hills. If it’s a hot day, don’t spare the suncream as shade is in short supply in the park. Celebrate your achievement in one of the many fine pubs and restaurants in nearby Richmond-upon-Thames.
Night Sugar
Llanwenarth, Monmouthshire, 25 June
There are plenty of runners out there who have busy weekends and therefore can’t race as much as they’d like. Here’s a great little weekday evening race just for them: a romp up Pen-y-Fal, or Sugar Loaf, near Abergavenny. The route avoids any rocky sections (and therefore doesn’t go exactly to the trig point), making this a pretty good trail event for beginners – and, being on the quick side, also a good one for more experienced trail runners to push themselves a little harder.
Triffic Trail
Cockfosters, London, 22 June
There's lots to recommend this multi-terrain 10K run through the picturesque Trent County Park in London's northern outskirts. With no traffic to negotiate, you can concentrate purely on the running, which takes in a mixture of rolling meadows and ancient woodland that served as a royal hunting ground for nearly 400 years. It's impeccably organised, easily accessible by road or Tube, and the race also offers a 4.5K run for junior runners.
The Hopper 6&12 hr Looped Trail Race
Wolsingham, Durham, 21 June
This race organiser is one of the very few that takes much-needed active steps to take cars off the road. They encourage participants to ask for and offer car sharing opportunities, and there’s a raffle to reward the environmentally friendly car-sharers. The event itself is like a backyard ultra, just without the rigid timing and harsh DNF policy, so it is a good potential training event for the backyard-curious. With around 200m of elevation along the route in Hamsterly Forest, this event promises to be both beautiful and punishing.
Beyond LDN
Woolwich, London, 21 June
Those bloody Londoners have it all, don’t they? Their fancy restaurants and the Tube and all those world-class theatres and concert venues… but they don’t have trail running, do they? Eh? Well, yeah, actually they have that now too. The organisers have done remarkable work in finding 50K of trails to run in the capital, starting in Woolwich and culminating in Richmond Park, by linking basically every park along the way. There’s also a 25K option that starts in Upper Norwood.
Seven Hills of Edinburgh
Edinburgh, Midlothian, 15 June
There’s no defined route for this event, just seven hills speckled around the southern part of Edinburgh that need to be conquered. This easy-going approach is also reflected in the field of participants, which will include everything from super-speedy trail runners at the front, to normal runners in the middle, to doughty walkers further back. You’ll end up covering over 20km by the time you finish this event – make sure to bring orienteering skills and watch out when crossing all the roads in the way.
Isle of Skye Half Marathon
Portree, Inverness-shire, 14 June
Let’s be honest here. Anyone who has looked at a map of the UK wants to go to Skye. Even on a map it exudes an irresistible rugged mystery, but it’s quite a trek to get there from basically anywhere else. Is irresistible rugged mystery enough to justify the trip? Probably, but throw an outstanding half marathon with excellent organisation and an outstanding local atmosphere into the equation and it’s a no-brainer. Portree is the HQ for both the half and the 10K, but the half does significantly more exploring into the gorgeous – and hilly – Skye countryside on closed roads.
Worthing 10K
Worthing, Sussex, 8 June
Here’s your PB event for this month. The route for this 10K follows the pretty Worthing seafront, which is as flat as could be. There will also be pacers for 40, 45, 50, 55 and 60 minutes, giving almost everyone some reliable company on their big record-breaking effort. Of course, it won’t just be PB hunters running this race – it’s a really well-organised event in a lovely little town that is well-connected by public transport, so you’ll almost certainly be able to find an excuse to take part if you really want to.
Leeds 10K
Leeds, Yorkshire, June 15
Jane Tomlinson squeezed more into her short life than most of us could in 10lifetimes. She died from cancer in 2007 aged just 43, but before passing away she completed marathons, triathlons, multiple continent-wide cycles, wrote books, founded charities and much more. Those charities continue to raise millions thanks to her foresight in setting up events that would continue to do good long after her passing. The Leeds 10K is just one of those events, so as you take on this hugely popular city-centre 10K, you can rest assured that your entry fee will help one of the several charities associated with the event.
Rochdale Three-Day Event
Rochdale, Lancashire, June 13-15
Are you ready to commit to a weekend in Rochdale for these excellent three events? The first one, on the Friday evening, is a six-mile road race with a few hills. Then, on Saturday morning you’ll be off on a 9.3km multi-terrain adventure through the Naden Valley – and this one has more hills. Finally, on Sunday morning, the big one awaits you: the Knowl Hill Fell Race, a very tough 9.7km trail race that will have you slogging up hills on your hands and knees. It’s also possible to take part in just one or two of the events.
