5 of the best Bristol running routes

I've lived in Bristol aaaalllll my life (apart from a 3 year stint in Portsmouth, but I still came back whenever I could) and in my opinion it's the best place to live in the UK. No offence to anywhere else but COME ONNNNN, where else could you walk from an inner-city graffiti festival to a National Trust woodland in about 20 minutes?! NOWHERE (well, probably somewhere but for the point of this blog post I'm going to pretend Bristol is alone in this claim).

Image: visitbristol.co.uk

ANYWAY, when I was a young lass I lived in the 'historical market town' of Keynsham. Some people say this isn't part of Bristol because it costs at least £25 to get from Mbargos to home (via a very difficult negotiation to stop off at the Brislington McDonalds on the way...) but the postcode is BS31, so all you nay-sayers can piss off - we are just as much as part of Skins as you are.

I moved to Bedminster a couple of years ago and lived in a magical little flat with my best friend Nat. It was AMAZING - we were within walking distance of town, developed fake Bristolian accents and showed-off to our sheltered Keynsham friends, pretending that we knew what life was like in gritty inner-city Bristol (haha, we lived on North Street and it was so hipster, the real locals hated us).

Now I live in Frenchay which - until I met my boyfriend - was a mysterious part of Bristol that had a hospital, a bit of a university and surrounded by ring roads... e.g. very boring. ALAS I WAS MISTAKEN. Our part of Frenchay is quite cute and has opened my eyes to the whole Frampton Cotterell/Winterbourne/Coalpit Heath area (I think those three towns are essentially clones of eachother but there we go).

Me running, again

Being the running wanker that I am, I've OBVIOUSLY gone for at least 300 runs in each of these places and have discovered some lovely bits of Bristol along the way. It's always refreshing to find a new place to run as it means concentrating on not getting lost, rather than weighing up the choice between wetting yourself or squatting at the side of the road. Mmmmm.
 
Here are my 5 favourites:

Keynsham - Ring road loop: 6 miles: 
We're going to start with Keynsham because that's where I did the majority of my running when I was getting back to fitness. The thing with Keynsham is that it's kind of in the middle of everything - it's pretty much the halfway point between Bristol and Bath - and there isn't much leeway on where to go for scenic routes. This particular run is one of my mum's favourites, and we trust her because she's ran for England..

1. Starting in Keynsham High Street, run down the hill past the rugby club and up the other side to the ring road. 
2. Follow the footpath on the left-hand side, go roooound the bus route and take a right to the traffic lights. Cross here, follow the road round to the cycle path and then unfortunately it's about a mile and a half of gradual uphill...... Gross.  
3. Get to the top, feel like a hero, turn right down towards Longwell Green and run like hellllllllll until you get to the top of Willsbridge Hill. This is a DREAM as you can basically fall down it, it's that steep.  
4. A short, steep incline up the other side and back along the main road, past Londonderry Farm, past the old Cadbury's factory (RIP) and back round to your start point in the High Street.

Image: caneshum.co.uk

A very unscenic 6 mile run, but it's a loop so you have no choice but to finish. THANKS KEYNSHAM.

Bedminster - Coronation Road bridge run: 3 miles (ish):
When I lived with Motty our evenings together were sacred and we didn't like to leave each other alone for too long (we are very close friends hahah...). To get around this little issue, I started to run before work on easy days. While yes, it is utterly shit to set an alarm for 6am, when you've done your training for the day by 7am and have an evening of Gossip Girl ahead of you, it all feels worth it.

1. Starting at the top of North Street (near the little Tesco), run down towards the Tobacco Factory and take a right when you get to the bottom. 
2. Run along Coronation Road until you get to the first bridge (on your left). Run over the bridge, try not to slip on the absolutely SHOCKING surface that the council have put down and back down the steps on the other side. 
3. (If you are feeling particularly twatty you could run back up and down these steps and pretend your name is Rocky). 
4. Continue along Coronation Road toward The Louisiana.  
5. When you get to the pub turn around and face the AMAZINGGGG sun rise that has been behind you for the first half of the run. In the winter this used to cheer me up everyday, because I'm sad like that. 
6. Run back towards where you came from, but cross at the first bridge (on the left). 
7. Now you're on the home straight and you basically have to bash it out because it is SUUUCH a drag. 
8. Turn right onto North Street, realise how much of a hill it actually is, take a deep breath and sprint the shit out of the last 800m.

Image: flickr.com/photos/mathewroberts

Collapse outside front door until Natalie Mott opens it with a cup of tea and a glass of water in hand. DREAM.

Bedminster - Leigh Woods, Suspension Bridge, Portway: 7 (horrible but very pretty) miles
The crowning glory of Bristol is 100% the Suspension Bridge. I don't want to knock the architectural talents of old Isambard, but sometimes we do milk the bloody thing. Yes it's very impressive but what about THE APPLE?! That rusty boat has harboured years of cidered-up Bristolians and that's a much more impressive feat. Saying that, the Suspension Bridge is very lovely to run over on a sunny evening - picturesque and all that.

1. Again starting at the top of North Street, run down to the bottom, take a left past Ashton Gate stadium and then a right out onto the main road (heading towards the ring road thing - it may be a motorway?!? Driving isn't my strong point). 
2. Follow signs for Ashton Court (you have to go under an underpass - SO URBAN). Run PAST the entrance to Ashton Court and up a rather intimidating-looking hill. 
3. There's a little entrace to Leigh Woods where the pavement ends and THIS IS WHERE THE FUN STARTS!!! Run through the woods like Tarzan (or Jane, all equal here), sticking to the left. 
4. You'll get back to the road after about 5 minutes and if you follow it for another minute or so, you've only made it to the bloody Suspension Bridge. Beeeeautiful.
5. The views from up here are amazing and definitely worth a slow jog so that you can take it all in...  Cross over the bridge as if you're in New York, your name is Miranda and a short bald man named Steve is waiting for you at the other end (Sex & The City reference, sorry guys).
6. Run across the grass and turn LEFT onto the downhill section. Remember to admire the massive Clifton houses as you go about your business. 
7. Take a left at the crossroads and you'll find another hill that you can completely relax on, and down onto the Portway (left here, back towards beautiful Bedminster). 
8. Grit your teeth and really dig in along this section, the Portway is a horrible, horrible road to run along. As soon as you see signs for the CREATE centre you know you are close to home.  
9. Cross the road, run through the park and HALLELUJAAAAH! You're at the bottom of North Street and ready for that horrendous uphill sprint.

Stop at the Tesco Local on your way back and get yourself a triple Bounty and a box of fudge. YOU DESERVE IT.

Image: alexnail.com

Centre of Bristol - Park Street sprints: God knows on the distance but enough to make you vomit
From Bedminster it was quite quick to get to the centre of town (10-15 minute run) but obviously you can drive to Park Street and start from wherever. Do a little warm up jog because this hill is about to destroy you and to get going you'll need supple calves and a bright outlook on life.

1. Rather self-explanatory, but I used to start outside the Marriott at the bottom of Park Street and finish where the road started to flatten out, opposite Koh Thai Tapas.  
2. This is quite a long hill, so more about speed-endurance than a flat out sprint (corrr, I should be a coach). I found it was better to start off a biiiit slower and then really smash the section past Boston Tea Party, as this is where loads of people seem to hang around and it's always nice to look like an absolute machine in front of potential fans.
3. Each hill used to take me around 2.30-3.00 (I can't really remember but it felt like forever), I would jog back down afterwards and aim to repeat three times - I'd go for four if I was feeling reaaaaally good.
4. After the last hill, run back down the other side of the hill, past QEH School, into Millenium Square then homeward bound and back to North Street. 

Thank god I no longer live near Park Street.........

Image: bristolpound.org

Frenchay - Snuff Mills: as long as you fancy
As I said, I did not have high hopes that Frenchay would be a hub of running activity. But how mistaken I was! Our back garden drops onto one of the cutest little wooded areas in the whole of Bristol - Snuff Mills - and it's become one of my favourite places to run on a Sunday when I want to go for aaaages but am also happy to just amble along. Snuff Mills is a haven for Sunday morning strollers, and it's easy to see why. Loads of trees, a river running through it and a WATERFALL make it feel like you're a million miles away from the ever-growing roadworks of Bristol. It's somewhere you can get lost in your own thoughts and all that (sorry, that was a bit deep).

1. There isn't really a route for this, but if you start at the end with the little cafe (just down from the UWE Glenside Campus) then you can run aaaaalllll the way through the woods (across a little bridge and stream thing, SO CAAAAYUTE!) and come out at the bottom of Frenchay Hill. Run up this hill and take a left at the top to find yourself back in civilisation and onto the main road.  
2. Alternatively, after the cute little bridge and stream thing, you can turn right up the ridiculously steep hill (you can't miss it) and come out at the top of Vassals Park. It's such a peaceful place to run as long as you're careful to avoid the dogs, children and vast groups of Pokemon Hunters...

Image: wow247.com

I never really know how long I'm going to spend in Snuff Mills but it always goes really quickly and I ALWAYS come back absolutely covered in mud. Excellent practice for the cross-country season, if nothing else.

Clearly I haven't covered the whole of Bristol because it's bloody massive, but if anyone has any more suggestions of lavly little running routes in this great city then please HOLLAAAAA.