Bath & Bristol Railway 2026

All aboard, dear runner! 🚂

You're on the platform, ready to board a rather original race! 🤪 Welcome to the Bath & Bristol Railway Run, a race in April, closely linked to the history of the train that connected Bath to Bristol 📍. Before you start, let us tell you a word in a Bath 🤫 tone: this race is Sooo British 💂 Ready? Let’s go! 👇.

Founded by the Romans in the first century AD, the city owes its name and fame to its natural hot springs, the only ones in the United Kingdom 🧖. Later, the elegant people of the Georgian era came here to "take the waters" 💦, chat about literature, and parade ✨. Today, it's your turn to perform, ready to train hard (pun intended 🚄) on an old railway line inaugurated in 1869 and closed in 1971, then brilliantly recycled by Sustrans between 1979 and 1986 to become the very first path of the National Cycle Network 🚴.

Have you boarded the train? Here we go! 📣 Next stop…your destination. Each race is named after a train ticket 🎫. Here's how it works: if you've opted for the 10 km, you'll have in possession a round-trip ticket for "Kelston Park from Bath" ↔️. For semi-marathon fans, the "Bitton Station Return Ticket" takes you to Bitton Station before turning back to Bath 🙃. Adventurous travelers board the "Bristol Temple Meads - Oneway Ticket for 25 km". No return here, it's a city-to-city ❌. You leave Bath, pass through Bitton Station, Warmley, and Mangotsfield, and plunge into the legendary Staple Hill Tunnel, 450 meters of Victorian darkness, wide (and lit, don't worry 🔦). A tunnel longer than the Two Tunnels? Absolutely 👍. When you come out, head to Bristol, passing by the intriguing Fish on its Nose, a fish sculpture standing upright…on its nose 👃. If you're traveling first class in endurance, your ticket carries a prestigious name 👑. The "Eastville Round-Trip" follows the same route to Eastville, before heading back to finish in Bath for a marathon. And for the true human locomotives, powered by black tea coal, there's the "Bristol Temple Meads Round-Trip". This 50 km is simply the 25 km twice! 2️⃣ No excuse for a missed connection, you have to finish! 😂 And because a good rail network also caters to families, the "2 km For Fun" allows the youngest and families to hop aboard for a short trip 👶.

Throughout the course, rest assured, the paths are clear, flat, carefully marked, and almost entirely made of asphalt 🛣️. And who knows, you might have the chance to taste scones, a pudding, or even a chicken pie 🐓 after your race. So, whether you're going for a one-way or a round-trip ticket, one thing is certain: you will remember the Bath & Bristol Railway Run 🧠. You're traveling through time on a legendary line, with the elegance of a gentleman (doubtful on that one…👀) and an old railroad worker who will say, seeing you cross the finish line:

“Right on time, mate” 🇬🇧