New year, new you? A guide to the best running routes near Fallowfield

In my spare time I enjoy running, telling people I run, and making sure everyone around me knows I like to run. I imagine the bragging is where most of my enjoyment comes from, not the hard labour of putting one foot in front of the other for an hour and a half, and doing my laundry thrice a week.

I started running with the Couch to 5k app and have since influenced multiple (perhaps two) of my friends to sign up to it. In return for their newfound basic level of stamina, they’ve tolerated the frequency with which I bring up interval runs (walking between each km) and carb loading (eating toast right before bedtime).

This was in second year, when I lived on Landcross Road, and my ability left me limited to Platt Fields based routes and maybe even the occasional venture across to Birchfields Park. Final year has brought me to Withington and, as it turns out, there are several pavements in this area and I intend to run along every single one of them.

Run in loops around Old Moat Park

Old Moat is a marvel of urban design, in the sense that it was clearly designed by someone who had never set foot in a park.

Running this route means taking the pavement round the outside because the paths within the park don’t go round the edges and, regardless, are impossible to run along without dodging youths doing wheelies and children being arrested.

The circumference of the road around Old Moat is 600m, so a mere 35 laps and you’ve done a half marathon. Route is, however, predictably unenjoyable.

Fallowfield Loop

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I clicked my heels and jumped for joy the day I got lost on my walk home and discovered the Fallowfield Loop. It’s a hidden treasure, it’s a straight line, it’s mud-based: I’m sure some people would call it charming and earthy, but I call it not great for personal bests.

Still, if you are looking for a surface easy on the knees and a nice change of scenery, the Fallowfield Loop is a lovely slice of nature between Chorlton and Levenshulme.

Alexandra Park

Arguably the best Park Run in Manchester, Alexandra Park’s route is flat and the paths are wide enough for overtaking the fools who’ve shown up with prams and dogs.

It’s a bit out of the way: The nearest 111 stop is a 15 minute walk (or 13 minute run) away from the start line. But the park is pretty, unfamiliar enough to feel vaguely adventurous, and the final stretch to the finish line is a straight sprint.

Platt Fields Park Run

Platt Fields is big enough for you to accumulate some distance without being bored out of your mind. Plus, variety is the spice of life and running on three different types of terrain – path, gravel path, and kilometre-long puddle – certainly constitutes variety.

Every Saturday the park is home to the second best Park Run in Manchester, with 300 people marching through the mud and a guaranteed 10 per cent off at Haus afterwards.

Fletcher Moss Park Run

Fletcher Moss follows as the worst Park Run in Manchester. You expect to run around a beautiful botanical garden, but instead end up running laps around two nondescript fields, shoulder to shoulder with young professionals doing corporate bonding before brunch.

Past Hough End to Chorlton Park, round Southern Cemetery, down a bit, up through West Didsbury

This is the kind of route I like: Meandering, paved, unencumbered by the threat of bumping into course mates. Even better, it ends with the promise of an £8 croissant in West Didsbury.

Running here means discovering a new side to the city. Mention Chorlton Park, and people will assume you mean Chorlton Water Park. You can correct them and feel like you are the most well-travelled individual in all of Fallowfield, perhaps even the greater metropolitan area.

Down to Chorlton Water Park and along the Mersey

Crossing Princess Road is both a logistical necessity and a blessed excuse to stop for a breather. Once you reach the park you’re met with a downhill slope, clear paths and a perfect one-kilometre loop of the lake.

Sure, the river path back to Fletcher Moss is rocky. Yes, you’ll get home with twisted ankles, but it has a certain Wind in the Willows charm about it (if you imagine Ratty and Mole boating along to the bucolic hum of the M60).

Ladybarn Park

A simple, flat loop – fairly uninspiring but functional – and somehow positioned exactly one kilometre away from every single house in South Manchester. Convenient, which is arguably the highest compliment one can pay a running route.

Any route that goes along Kingsway

Straight, busy and mostly forgettable. Great if you want to zone out and accidentally run all the way to the Engineering building.