LAST year 1.4million people ran or jogged next to the canal on average twice a week, according to new towpath figures compiled for the Canal & River Trust ahead of this Sunday’s TCS London Marathon.
As 50,000 competitors prepare to take to the streets of the capital the trust’s waterways and operational assets around Docklands take centre stage. These include the historic West India Dock Impounding Station, passed by the marathon route twice at the northern end of the Isle of Dogs and which for nearly a century has maintained water levels in and around what is now Canary Wharf by drawing in water from the River Thames.
CRT has three runners in Sunday’s marathon, each raising sponsorship money to help maintain and keep alive the charity’s living waterways heritage.
Regional director Ros Daniels said: “We wish them and all of the competitors the very best of luck.
“The London Marathon is not only a wonderful showcase for some of the waterways we look after, but it’s a reminder of how important our 2000 miles of towpaths are for communities across the country.”
The research showed that 1,466,236 runners nationwide made more than 137 million visits to their local trust waterway to clock up training miles in the 12 months to March 2024. Runners and joggers accounted for roughly one in five of the 858million individual visits to the canal network (21%). Other popular forms of exercise included cycling (17%) and dog walking (29%).
PHOTO: CANAL & RIVER TRUST
