Strava heat maps reveal most popular running routes in Cardiff – WalesOnline

By Staff 5 years ago

Strava heat maps reveal most popular running routes in Cardiff  WalesOnline

These are the locations and routes joggers return to again and again while being tracked by the running app.

These are the locations and routes joggers return to again and again while being tracked by the running app

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The Strava heat map shows exactly where joggers in Cardiff like to go the most (Image: Strava)

Every day of the week, joggers pound the streets of Cardiff, logging their training miles and tracking their races.

Thanks to the latest GPS watches and tracking apps, it is easier than ever to chart your progress over the weeks and months.

For most runners, that means uploading their run to Strava, an app which records how far they’ve gone and how fast they went.

When you combine every single run by every single runner ever recorded on Strava, you get an amazing insight into just where people choose to run over and over.

In Cardiff, the heat map of all those routes produces a distinctive map of the capital city. Unsurprisingly, the Taff Trail stands out clearly visible on the heat map.

The places that host Cardiff’s two parkruns also show up easily at Blackweir and Grangemoor. And while Roath Park doesn’t host a parkrun, it is clearly a popular destination for runners who seem to enjoy doing laps around the outside.

To the north of the city, enough runners have taken to the trails around Castell Coch to produce a distinctive pattern of paths through the woods and along the ridges.

We’ve put together a collection of images showing the heat maps for locations across Cardiff and a little bit beyond, using a map or in some cases just the trails left by the runners.

  1. A heat map of Cardiff

    The distinctive outline of Cardiff is clearly visible just by using the heat trails of runners

    (Image: Strava)1 of 8

  2. Park life

    Runners seem to like doing laps of Roath Park, which stands out clearly. You can see the UWIC running track to the east too

    2 of 8

  3. Cardiff Bay loops

    Thousands of feet have pounded around Cardiff Bay, which is also part of the Cardiff Half Marathon route

    3 of 8

  4. parkrun fun

    The distinctive three-pronged outline of Grangemoor parkrun, Cardiff’s second parkrun, produced by hundreds of runners every Saturday morning

    4 of 8

  5. Beside the seaside

    Can you guess where this is? It’s another parkrun route, this time on the seafront… Barry Island parkrun glows bright

    5 of 8

  6. Taff Trail

    A favourite for the long run training runs, the Taff Trail is a great place to get some miles in, and a popular one too! No need for a map

    6 of 8

  7. Off road explorations

    It seems like lots of runners head to Cefn Onn and onto the Rhymney Valley Ridgeway above, which rewards runners with fine views over Cardiff and the Severn Estuary

    7 of 8

  8. Hitting the trails around Castell Coch

    The woods around Castell Coch are the perfect place to get some off-road miles in and judging by the heat map, many do just that

    8 of 8

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