Bath & Bristol Railway October

All aboard, dear runner ! 🚂

You’re standing on the platform, ready to embark on a race that’s as original as it gets! 🤪 Welcome to the Bath & Bristol Railway Run, a race in October, closely tied to the history of the train that used to connect Bath to Bristol 📍. Before the start, let us tell you a word in a hushed tone Bath 🤫 : this race is Sooo British 💂 Ready? Let’s go! 👇.

Founded by the Romans in the first century AD, the town owes its name and fame to its natural hot springs, the only ones in the United Kingdom 🧖. Later, the elegant folk of the “Georgian era” would come to soak, chat literature and parade ✨. Today, it’s your turn to perform, ready to train hard (no pun intended 🚄) on a former railway line inaugurated in 1869 and closed in 1971, then brilliantly repurposed by Sustrans between 1979 and 1986 to become the very first path of the National Cycle Network 🚴.

You’ve hopped aboard the train? Here we go! 📣 Next stop…your destination. Each race carries the name of a train ticket 🎫. Here’s how it works: if you choose the 10 km, you’ll have in your possession a return ticket for "Kelston Park from Bath" ↔️. For the semi-marathon enthusiasts, the "Bitton Station Ticket return" takes you to the Bitton railway station before turning back to Bath 🙃. For the braver travelers, you hop aboard the "Bristol Temple Meads - Return ticket for 25 km". No return here, it’s a city-to-city thing ❌. You leave Bath, pass through the Bitton station, Warmley and Mangotsfield and plunge into the legendary Staple Hill Tunnel, 450 meters of Victorian gloom, wide (and lit, you’re welcome 🔦). A tunnel longer than the Two Tunnels? Absolutely 👍. When you emerge, head toward Bristol, passing by the intriguing Fish on its Nose, a sculpture depicting a fish 🐟 standing upright…on its nose 👃. If you’re traveling in first class of endurance, then your ticket bears a prestigious name 👑. The "Eastville go – return" will take you along the same route to Eastville, before turning back and returning to Bath to complete a marathon. And for the true locomotive enthusiasts, those who run on black tea coal, there is the "Bristol Temple Meads go – return". This 50 km is simply the 25 km twice ! 2️⃣ No excuse for a missed connection, you must finish! 😂 And because a good rail network also thinks of families, the "2 km For Fun" allows younger participants and families to hop on for a short ride 👶.

Throughout the route, relax: the tracks are clear, flat, well-marked and almost entirely paved with asphalt 🛣️. And who knows, you might get a taste of some sconesa puddingor a chicken pie 🐓 after your race. So, whether you’re going for a one-way or a return ticket, one thing’s for sure: you’ll remember the Bath & Bristol Railway Run 🧠. You’ll travel back in time on a legendary line, with the elegance of a gentleman (we’re a bit unsure about that…👀) and a veteran rail worker who’ll greet you as you cross the finish line saying:

“Right on time, mate” 🇬🇧