New Year’s Eve And New Year’s Day Runs

For those of you who would like to see to it that you’re doing what you love best in the New Year, there are a few runs out there that start at midnight, but most runs, especially in the northern hemisphere are held during the day on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day.

has a fun 5 km race which starts on the stroke of midnight. All participants receive champagne, beer, food and a $145 voucher for their choice of fitness class for 2015. If you don’t want to run, you can just buy a party ticket and you still get the goodie bag.

Melbourne has a fun run of either 8 km or 4 km which takes place in the Botanical Gardens. The New Year festivities will begin early for Melbourne runners as this is a morning run followed by a champagne breakfast.

Perth has an evening run on the 31^st December which is hosted by the Western Australian Marathon Club. There is a good old fashioned Aussie barbie after the run to see in the New Year.

Sydney is obviously far too busy hosting Australia’s New Year’s celebrations to have runs on New Year’s Eve.

The New York Road Runners start their celebrations with dancing at 10.00 p.m. and then at 11.59 p.m. the countdown begins and at precisely midnight nearly 5,000 runners set off for a gentle 4 mile run. Festivities continue after the race and non runners are more than welcome to join in the fun. Many clubs throughout the States have New Year’s Day runs so contact your local running club to see what’s on their calendar for 1^st January 2015.

The Barcelona San Silvestre 10 km is a well known New Year’s Eve race and begins just as the sun is setting. People from all over the world fly in to join a field of 4,500 runners and then celebrate the New Year in true Barcelona style. The San Silvestre needs to be booked well in advance but there is no reason why you can’t cheer on the runners and join in the party afterward.

You can enjoy the sights of Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens in London by joining in the 10km or 3km Brooks Serpentine New Year’s Day run. The 10km run starts at 11.00 a.m. and the 3km run at midday. The organisers of this race stress the need for safety at all times and do warn that tourists in particular “are likely to move (or suddenly stop!) in mysterious ways.” The organisers have banned the use of mobile phones and MP3 players. Perhaps wearing a reflective vest or reflective belt will demonstrate that you share the organisers concern for safety. Many running clubs in the UK have New Year’s Day races, so if you haven’t over indulged on New Year’s Eve, check with your local club to see what’s happening in your area.