Trail running

Fall in love with the freedom of trail running

Whether you’re looking for a new weekend route or training for you next ultra-marathon, the South West Coast Path has it all. Challenging ascents, varied terrain and breath-taking views are the norm on this 630 mile playground. So, what are you waiting for?

Find a route

We have over 600 routes just waiting for you to explore. They sit under our ‘Walk Finder’ (click Walks in the top navigation bar) but don't worry, they’re great for running too! To find a route, simply type in the nearest town or village where you want to run and hit the search button. This will pull up all the routes within the radius you've slelected, with routes graded from ‘Easy’ to ‘Challenging’ depending on what kind of run you’re after. You can then hit ‘Print an OS Map version’ to produce a PDF with all the information you need for your run. This includes:

• Difficulty rating and terrain description
• Start point (including postcode)
• Finish Point
• Length (miles/kilometres)
• Summary of the route
• Public transport links
• Nearest car park
• Nearest toilets
• Nearest refreshments

Fastest Known Time

Did you know, the fastest known time (FKT) for running all 630 miles of the National Trail is just over 10 days. Yes, you heard right! This incredible feat was achieved by ultra-runner Kristian Morgan in September 2020. The first solo female record was also set in 2021. Click the button below to find out more about the SWCP FKT's.

Do it for charity

 The South West Coast Path is home to some of the most iconic and challenging trail running events in the country. The Jurassic Coast 100, The Grizzly, The Exmoor Coast 55…we could go on. If you’re feeling up to the challenge, why not sign up to one of these amazing events and raise money to look after the very trail you’re running on. To find out more about how you can fundraise for us, visit our Challenge page.

Leave a light footprint

 We’re passionate about caring for the Coast Path and that means being aware of the impact users have on trails. Particularly, large scale activities like trail running events. Events help make experiencing the freedom and beauty of our Path easy and fun for people of all ages and backgrounds, but the increased footfall makes our job harder. That’s why we’ve introduced the Coast Path Friendly scheme. We work with lots of trail running event organisers who are part of Coast Path Friendly, which means £1 of your race registration fee goes straight back to helping maintain the trail you’re running on. Look out for our Coast Path Friendly badge when registering for an event and be safe in the knowledge that you’ll be leaving a light footprint on the Path.