Running the Tube « The Next Challenge

Running the Tube

Over the course of 2010, I will be running the length of every Tube Line in London with my friend Laura Tomlinson. Read more and follow our progress below (or donate to the British Lung Foundation here).

Join us for the next run!

Our next Tube run is an “open event”. That means you can come and run some or all of it with us. Just turn up with an A-Z and some running gear and look out for the yellow shirts.

Bakerloo Line
Sunday 28th March
Departing Elephant & Castle station at 10.30am
Distance is 15-20 miles but you can just run as much or as little as you want because we’ll never be far from an Underground Station

GPS Tracks and Stats:

Circle Line – January 10th – 15 miles, 3 hours
Hammersmith & City – January 24th – 22 miles, 4 hours
Victoria Line – January 31st – 15 miles – 3.5 hours
East London Line – February 10th – ~7 miles – 1.5 hours
Northern Line – February 28th – 29 miles – 5.5 hours

Tube Stations visited: 103 out of 270

Miles of track covered: 68 out of ~250

(Actual miles run overland: 88)

Boroughs visited: 19 out of 32

How?

Let’s use the Victoria Line as our example. I”ll “touch-in” with my Oyster card at Brixton then turn around and run back up the steps to the street. Then I’ll run to every Victoria Line Tube stop on my way overland to Walthamstow Central where I’ll lean over the barriers and “touch-out” so I’ve got a record of the journey. That’ll be around 19 miles.

There are 12 Tube lines and I’ll spread them out over the year.

Why?

To explore London – The Tube’s a fantastic method of transport but by travelling underground you miss out on all of the wonderful places that the tunnels connect. Running overland combines a great bit of exercise with the opportunity to explore some new areas and build new memories for the familiar ones.
For an adventure – It’s easy to get stuck into the routines of daily life, especially in a big city like London. I’m using one of it’s great icons as an excuse to embrace my surroundings, do something new, exciting and challenging and live life as a bit of an adventure. (This is part of my campaign to get people having an adventure everyday)
To raise money for the British Lung Foundation – The idea for this challenge came from Laura Tomlinson who is doing all of the runs with me. Laura lost her granddad to asbestosis in May 2009 and so the British Lung Foundation is a natural choice for us to support. You can read more and donate here.