- A new infographic from MoneySuperMarket finds the best cities in the UK for running, swimming, cycling, triathlons, and obstacle courses
- Manchester had the highest number of cycling events in 2016
- Coventry has the most options overall outside of the capital
Endurance sports are more popular than ever before, and in a new study, London has been found to be the location with the best options in endurance sport events across running, swimming, cycling, triathlons and obstacle courses, out of anywhere in the UK.
While the capital’s presence at the top of the list may not be a surprise due to its high population density and size, the next most popular city for endurance sports was Coventry, which had the highest number of triathlons nearby out of all the cities researched, as well as some of the lowest average costs to enter each of the events, making it an excellent choice for endurance sport lovers looking for a location outside of London.
Medal Winners
While a full breakdown of the study (including by-sport data) can be found on the graphic, the top 5 cities overall were:
- Greater London– London had the highest number of events in all sports save for triathlons, with its weakest point being a midrange score for obstacle courses or mud runs, like Tough Mudder.
- Coventry– Coventry had the highest number of triathlons at 30 events, beating London by one – but also having a significantly lower average cost at only £25.54, compared to London’s £40.20 and a national average of £47.75.
- Greater Manchester – Manchester scored highest individually for cycling events, with 136 in total – more than London (113 events), but at an average cost of £24, compared to London’s £9.65.
- Bath– Bath had the third most running events in the country, and scored fourth on triathlons and obstacle courses, with an average cost of £28.14 across all sports, compared to a national average of £28.14.
- Birmingham – Birmingham came fifth on swimming and triathlons, but only had 56 events overall, compared to London’s 356 and Manchester’s 175. Its average event cost was £28.69, slightly higher than the national average of £28.14.
Just Keep Swimming
While London was the city with the most major swimming events (18 annually), Peterborough was the second best option. It had 9 major events, 6.5 higher than the UK average, and a cost of £20, which was £1.49 lower than the national average cost.
Born to Run
London was once again the top city when it came to running events, with access to over 170 events and an average cost of £29.39 (compared to a national average of £27.55), but the next top location was Aberdeen – where the number of events was low, at only 4, but the average cost was £9.96, £17.58 lower than the average.
The most event-dense location outside of London was Portsmouth, with 34 events during 2016, and an average cost of £28.20.
Top Sports
For the rest of the study, as well as a map demonstrating the spread of sports across the country, have a look at the full graphic below.
