Secret London Runs

Last night saw the conclusion of a week of tours through the spooky nooks and crannies of East London!

Thank you to everyone who joined Matt on Saturday, Sunday and Wednesday for another three installments of our Jack the Ripper 10k running tour 🏃‍♀️

If you missed out this time, we have another three dates coming up in October - take a look and book your spot now: https://shorturl.at/63IH6

Brb, baby came early 😱👶🥰

On Thursday we welcomed Magnus into our family, a little earlier than scheduled. We are smitten 🥰

As you may know, Secret London Runs is a family-run business, owned by Vanessa and Josh (Magnus' mum and dad). Which means that Magnus' first trip in his pram was, inevitably, to post a medal for Secret London Runs...

Last week we were in the middle of getting a few final things sorted so we could have some downtime from our little business when Magnus decided the world could wait for him no longer. So there are a few things outstanding on our to- do lists. But never fear....

We're still responding to emails/messages - just bear with us.

All upcoming guided in person running tours are going ahead, led by our fabulous guides. Please see our calendar for more info.

Our two GPS-guided tours, Run the Thames Bridges and Run the Ghost Tubes, are available for you to do at a time of your choice until the end of the year. We were hoping to launch a third GPS tour last week.. so watch this space 👀

Plans for September's SLR festival are well underway.

Please do get in touch with any questions, queries, or to book private running tours...

Meanwhile, you'll find us cuddling the most beautiful 4-day old in the world 🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰

🚨🚨 GPS AUDIO TOUR NEWS 🚨🚨

We are delighted to announce that we are extending the time limit to complete our Run the Thames Bridges and Run the Ghost Tubes audio tours.

Whether you have bought your entry already or not, you now have until 31st December 2025 to complete your half marathon or 10k! 📆🥳

Run the Thames Bridges and Run the Ghost Tubes are our new, unique audio tours. We guide you through either a half marathon or 10k route, with audio commentary and directions triggered by your location. Find out more and book your spot now - https://www.secretlondonruns.com/gps-audio-tours

London's Vegan Runners joined us last night for a fabulous, International Women's Day themed celebration of London's Power Women of the East End! 🏃‍♀️💪

We ran through 10km of inspirational tales from East London, discovering the hidden history of some of the capital's most incredible women. Thank you to everyone who joined us - we had a blast.

It's always a great night with the Vegan Runners - we can't wait for our next tour with you! 💚

We are open for private bookings, at a time and date of your choice. Email [email protected], and you can choose from any of our public tours for your running club, workplace or group of friends. Find out more here - https://www.secretlondonruns.com/private-running-tours .

8+ months pregnant 2019 vs now ➡️

Vanessa, founder of SLR here. I have been rather absent from the Secret London Runs world as we prepare for the birth of our second baby boy this month.

5 years ago, I was pregnant and it was fabulous. Until the very end, I was running, swimming and body pumping regularly. I was leading running tours for Secret London Runs until about four weeks before our son, Ezra, was born. The first 📷️is my last hurrah, leading a 5k street art tour in Shoreditch for some amazing humans.

Fast forward 5 years, it's been a very different experience. At 5 months, my hips/back gave up on running - the osteopath said crutches might be on the cards but thankfully not. My last tour for Secret London Runs seems like a distant dream. Swimming gives me motion sickness. I'm managing the odd walk and very light kettlebell workout at home, but a string of pregnancy-related illnesses/woes keeps interfering. 😤

I'm just about managing to keep up with my day job and endless maternity appointments, whilst my wonderful husband Josh holds the fort with Secret London Runs and at home.

It's easy to compare this pregnancy to the last one. And to look at all the incredibly active pregnant women that my Instagram algorithm seems to have tuned into and feel rather inadequate. And it can feel like I must have done something wrong this time round. "I wasn't as fit going into pregnancy, I haven't looked after myself enough..."

But the important lesson is that every pregnancy is different. There are probably many more women struggling through pregnancy and NOT posting about it on social media, compared to those posting their 38-week pregnancy workouts. So I thought it was important to add my experience this time round to the universe.

Ending on a positive - the last few months has meant lots of snuggles, reading and nature documentaries with my biggest baby, who is absolutely bursting to be a big brother. And I wouldn't change that for the world (second 📷️)

I'll be back and can't wait to run with you very soon (but not too soon 😉) 😍

As we bid farewell to the shortest month in the year, let's give it up for some of February's GPS audio tour finishers 🥳📆

A big well done to Adam and Guimas, who both completed GPS audio half marathons.

Adam Ran the Ghost Tubes with us on the 16th, discovering some of London's disused underground stations and hearing some spooky history while he ran 😱

Guimas Ran the Thames Bridges - completing it on the 18th and crossing 17 of London's iconic bridges along the way 🌉

Well done again! We hope to run with you both again soon. If you'd like to tackle one of our GPS audio tours, you can find out more and book your spot here - https://www.secretlondonruns.com/gps-audio-tours

Thanks to everyone who ran with us in February! Whether you were trotting your way through our S*x & Scandal 10k, gearing up for the big day on the Magic of the London Marathon, or tackling one of our GPS audio tours, we had a blast running with you this month 🥳

In March, we commemorate the 19th century Whitechapel murders with a series of running tours through the East End with Matt. There are a small number of tickets remaining for Wednesday 19th - book your spot here https://shorturl.at/QZi43

We also offer private running tours! 🏃‍♀️🏃 Choose from any of our routes and come on a bespoke tour for your workplace, running club or group on a date and time of your choice. Find out more here - https://www.secretlondonruns.com/private-running-tours

The Magic of the London Marathon was in the air on Sunday morning 🪄👟

On a unique training run, we guided a wonderful group through the history of the great race, taking in many of the landmarks from the London Marathon route along the way 🏃🏃‍♀️

Ronnie had a wonderful time running with you - thanks so much for joining us and best of luck to those of you running the London Marathon and London Landmarks Half this year 🤩

Take a look at our running tour line up for 2025 and book your spot now - https://www.secretlondonruns.com/calendar

The S*x & Scandal tour returned on Friday night! 💕

We celebrated Valentines night with a 10k romp through London's sauciest history, led by Sinead 🏃‍♀️🏃

Thanks to everyone who came along and joined us! We have a full program of spring and summer tours coming up, including Jack the Ripper, Pride, and Crime and Punishment. Find out more and book your spot now- https://www.secretlondonruns.com/calendar

New Jack the Ripper tour dates 🚨

Join us this autumn for a series of spooky tours of Whitechapel. We'll take you back to 19th century Victorian London for a twilight journey through the tragic events of 1888. Along the way, you'll learn the stories of the victims and explore the social history of the area.

Dates and paces below - all tours are open for booking now 🏃🏃‍♀️

Saturday 25th October at 5pm - gentler pace
Thursday 30th October at 6.30pm - sub 11 minute miles pace
Sunday 2nd November at 4pm - gentler pace

Book your spot now - https://shorturl.at/3Kt0r

Let's hear it for January's audio tour finishers 👏👏👏

Massive well done to Bruce - over from the U.S.A - who completed our 10k Run the Thames Bridges route ✈️

Congratulations also to Janine and Hazel, who completed our Run the Ghost Tubes half marathon and delighted us with some brilliant snaps from along the way 📷

Find out more and give one of our audio guided GPS tours a try here - https://www.secretlondonruns.com/gps-audio-tours

What have Secret London Runs got coming up this month?🥳

❤️😈S*x & Scandal 10k - Friday 14th February at 6.30pm
Celebrate Valentines Day with our naughtiest tour ever! Over a 10k route through Soho and St Pauls you will learn some of London's sauciest secret tales, with an optional glass of fizz in a Soho pub at the finish line.

🏃‍♀️🏃The Magic of the London Marathon - Sunday 16th February at 11am
Join our very own 'Marathon-gran' Ronnie, for a fact-filled training run that will immerse you in the past and present of the great race.

Find out more and book a running tour here - https://www.secretlondonruns.com/calendar

🌉👻👟🎧Our audio guided GPS tours are available to run on a date and time of your choice - simply choose your route, download the tour and make your way to the start location. Through your headphones, Vanessa and Josh will guide you through a half marathon or 10k route, explaining the hidden history of the areas that you run through.

Choose from our Run the Thames Bridges or Run the Ghost Tubes routes - find out more and book here - https://www.secretlondonruns.com/gps-audio-tours

We also offer all our running tours privately for your workplace, running club or group of friends. Find out more below, or email [email protected] for more information on our availability - https://www.secretlondonruns.com/private-running-tours

Sunday morning saw our first tour of 2025, as Sinead led a private group on our S*x & Scandal 10k 😲

They ran through St Pauls and Soho, learning some of London's filthiest history along the way. Thanks so much to everyone who came along and ran with us 🏃‍♀️

S*x & Scandal returns next month, for a very special Valentines Day tour ❤️ Come and join us on Friday 14th February - book your spot now https://shorturl.at/5pTWB

The Secret London Runs Festival returns for 2025! 🥳

Nine months from today, the Secret London Runs community will descend on London for our biggest event of the year - The fifth annual Secret London Runs festival!

Join us on the 20th September 2025 for a day of running and walking tours, treasure hunts and socials - runners and walkers of all abilities and paces are welcome at this very special event 😍

The Secret London Runs Day Festival 2025 will include:

👟A series of running and walking tours of London throughout the day
🚶🏻🚶🏼‍♀️Walking options at every activity slot
🏞️Optional SLR parkrun takeover (running tours will be available at the same time)
🐧A treasure hunt "dash" using Team Magpie's app
🍻🍷Saturday night Pub Quiz and closing ceremony

So excited to see lots of you there! 🙌

Find out more and book your spot now - https://www.secretlondonruns.com/festival

Throwback to this time last year when we were nipping off to run 13 miles every week to test out our Run the Thames Bridges half marathon 😯🏃🏃‍♀️

We're ready to launch a BRAND NEW audio guided half marathon, to follow up our Run the Thames Bridges and Run the Ghost Tubes routes from last year 🥳Look out for an announcement in the next few days!

Find out more about our existing audio guided tours - now open for booking https://www.secretlondonruns.com/gps-audio-tours

Last few Jack the Ripper tickets 🚨🚨🚨

Our 10k Jack the Ripper running tours in March are selling out fast - we are down to our last few tickets and one date is sold out! Book on now to avoid missing out.

Saturday 15th March (gentler pace) - SOLD OUT
Sunday 16th March (sub 11 minute minute miles) - LAST FEW TICKETS
Wednesday 19th March (gentler pace) - LAST FEW TICKETS

Book your spot now - https://shorturl.at/bayKJ

What do we do every year on the 4th January at Secret London Runs? 🤔

We spend the whole day checking out London's Christmas lights of course! 🎄💕🤶

For those of you who don't know us, we're the owners of Secret London Runs. You may have seen Josh leading Christmas lights tours last year in Chelsea and Mayfair.

Vanessa took a break from tours at the end of 2024 as she prepares for the birth of a new baby in March - she spent November and December finding inspiration for new Christmas lights routes for 2025.

So on the 4th January, as the rest of the world starts to forget about Christmas, we were diligently testing out a brand new Classic 10k Christmas lights tour, as well as a new Christmas lights half marathon route for 2025.

It might not have been exactly what we fancied doing, but once we got into the swing of it, we had a merry merry time.

We are now taking private bookings for Christmas lights (and other themed tours of London) for 2025 and the calendar is filling up! 🗓️ Pop us a DM or email [email protected] for more info.

Public Christmas lights tours will be announced in August - if you can handle waiting till then 😬🙏

Private tours with Secret London Runs in 2025 👟🎽😍

Did you know that you can book a private running tour with us for your running club, workplace or group of friends?

Choose from any our themed running tours, on a date and time of your choice. Or choose a part of London that you'd like to run through, and we can create a bespoke sightseeing tour for your group.

Our themed running tours include Pride, Black History, Craft Beer, Gin, Women's History and much much more 🏳️‍🌈🏃🏽‍♂️🍻

We're starting to book private groups in for 2025 now - email [email protected] for more info 📧