Races in public parks

No need to take a plane or even a car to find this kind of route: a large urban park is often just a few metro stops away, making it the most democratic running ground there is, from the Sunday jogger to the seasoned marathoner.

In Paris, the 10 km du Bois de Boulogne runs through a site steeped in history: this former hunting ground of the kings of France, turned into a vast public park in the 19th century under the impetus of Napoleon III and Baron Haussmann, now stretches over more than 800 hectares between lakes and woodlands. The Boulogne-Billancourt Half Marathon, which also takes the lanes of the Bois before running alongside the Longchamp racecourse, completes this lush Parisian offering just a stone’s throw from the capital.

The sensations specific to this type of race come from the constant contrast between landscaped nature and an urban skyline 🏙️. You run under a dense canopy, sheltered from the sun, until a gap in the trees suddenly reveals the surrounding skyscrapers. This visual game of hide-and-seek, typical of great city parks, doesn’t exist in any other race format.

In the United States, it’s hard to find anything more emblematic than Central Park. The Central Park Half Marathon has its runners loop through this park designed as early as 1858 by landscape architects Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux, the first major public park laid out in an American city and completed after sixteen years of work. The New York Marathon finishes there every year, in one of the most iconic finishes in the running world, as does the New York Half Marathon organized by the New York Road Runners.

The conditions and specific features of these races vary widely depending on how the park is laid out. Some offer wide, paved paths that are smooth and fast; others, wilder, impose dirt tracks that almost feel like trail running in the middle of the city. The surface, shade, and the presence of Sunday strollers are all factors to anticipate.

Still in the United States, the “Keep Austin Weird - Summer Run", in Austin, Texas, cultivates the city’s offbeat and festive spirit in a green setting, while the San Francisco Marathon alternates urban parks and bay views. The Run for Mental Health races in San Francisco and San Antonio focus on friendly routes in the heart of urban nature, committed to a good cause.

Across the Channel, head to London for the Royal Parks Half, which winds through Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens, two of the most famous royal gardens in the world. Hyde Park, a former hunting ground of Henry VIII, only opened its gates to the general public in 1637, nearly four centuries of history covered in barely 21 km, between immense lawns and the banks of the Serpentine lake.

What stands out, moving from one continent to another through these examples, is the shared social role of all these parks: originally designed as green refuges for ever more numerous city dwellers, they have become, over time, full-fledged stages for running. The same space that once welcomed the nobility in carriages now sees thousands of bib-wearing runners stream past.

After the effort comes the reward, usually just around the corner 🥐. A croissant on a terrace near the Bois de Boulogne, a New York bagel on the way out of Central Park, an afternoon tea not far from Hyde Park 🍵: each park has its own way of extending the green interlude, even once the finish line has been crossed 🏁.

Want to keep that urban vibe, but without necessarily having greenery around? Head to city races 🏘️, to keep pounding the asphalt of the world’s greatest metropolises.