I've noticed one of the most frequently asked questions on Facebook trail running pages is "does anyone have any routes/how do I find routes to run". Invariably a few of us will answer "get the OS map", but it's not necessarily that simple even if you know how to read a map.
The other day while I was out running I was thinking about how I devise my routes, based on a good many years of running solo, leading walks for the Ramblers etc.
So my 'getting started' tips for getting in the habit of working out your own routes are as follows:
Buy walking guidebooks
Routes you can walk are generally routes you can run, although walking guides tend towards fairly short routes. They're a starting point though.
Green diamonds are a runners best friend
The green dotted lines marked with diamond shapes on an OS 1:25k are the major longer distance routes: the Pennine Way, Offas Dike path, South West Coast path etc. These are well marked, clear paths you can use as a starting point for routes. Use a section of your local long distance path as the outbound or inbound leg of a route, or as a starting point for a route.
Enter races
You don't have to religiously stick to the race route. For the last 18 months I've been riffing on the Hebden LDWA event route, using it as a baseline and varying odd bits here and there, adding some mileage here, taking a new path there.
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| Out on the Calderdale Way, home on the towpath |
Yesterday I ran out along the Calderdale Way to Norland, and realised that a good return route to my home in Mytholmroyd would be the first 5 miles of last year's Calderdale Hike via Sowerby village.
Every bit of exploration helps you to understand the area and get a mental picture of how it fits together.
Link up particular locations
Work out how to get to a place (trig points/hill tops/villages), then the next, then the next. Those are your checkpoints (probably no cake though, unless you carry it with you or link together tea shops). Some classic challenge routes are just a group of hill tops/trig points linked together.
Explore a bit at a time
Unless you're running in wide open national park, you're going to be stringing together separate paths around farmland, settlements etc. If you work out a route with lots of minor paths you're going to be spending a lot of time peering at your map. That's great if you're training for better map reading skills, but if you're training for fitness or just want to run free, try to run a familiar or well waymarked route but add little variations, short sections with new paths. As the area becomes familiar you'll start to see opportunities to build routes by stringing together places you've explored, or add distance and ascent on the fly when you're running well.
Get your boots on
OK, I actually walk in fell/trail shoes, but you don't put so much pressure on yourself to move fast when walking. That gives you chance to notice the topology of the landscape and the local paths, and allows you more freedom to experiment and stand for ages reading the map without caring that your average pace is dropping.
There are lots of things that contribute to a 'good' route, and it can vary from person to person. If you can read a map but aren't sure how to get started constructing your own routes, these steps might help.
