Sightrunning is a new craze in which you can pay for running tours in most of the major cities in the world.
What these offer are a very different view and experience of the city that you go to visit. With residents as tour guides, you’re not getting any commercial rubbish, you’re guaranteed personalised and local knowledge. You’ll most likely see parts of the city which you wouldn’t have visited or rather run through.
There are two main sites (that we know of), Go! Running Tours and City Running Tours. Let’s have a look at each.
First of all, Go! Cover 35 cities worldwide, spanning 22 countries. They have a handy world map you can look at, so you can choose your country of choice and then whittle it down by city.
The specifically state on their website that this is not a tour with a guide and a flag with long monologues, which can be found in guidebooks. Nor is it a training session for you to burn your fastest time.
This is a tour to provide real insight into a person’s local city and a chance to ask questions and engage in interaction.
So what kind of tours do they do?
Let’s look at a couple. Starting with the only one they do in the UK. There are four tours in Edinburgh, ranging in distances from 6K to 18K. Each offering a completely different view of the Scottish City.
The 6K costs £10 and the 18K is £20.
Most tours will include water supply, digital photos and the tour route. Some tours will provide nutrition (energy gels, snacks etc) and a t-shirt.
Let’s try another one, Barcelona for example. There are 12 tours in Barcelona, ranging from 6K to 25K. The 6K costs €49 whereas the 25K costs €155. Again, each tour includes either targeting very specific parts of Barcelona, or doing a huge XL tour.
In terms of time, the 6K takes 1hr 30mins while the 25K takes 3hr 45mins.
Go! Also provide running holidays, which include a hotel stay within the package, rail passes, breakfasts, dinners and transfers, depending on which package you choose. These obviously come in a lot more expensive.
City Running Tours reside strictly within the USA. Providing running tours in 16 cities across the nation. Out of comparison, Go! Only provide running tours in four cities across America.
The company tailor for all kinds of runners whether it be visiting runners, competitive runners or even beginner runners.
They also offer you the chance to personalise your tour, by adding and/or changing routes and attractions. 
Stops along the way encourage social interaction and inclusion as well as a cheeky pint to get the blood flowing.
Looking at tours in San Francisco, there are eight. Ranging from 5K to 6K and from $30 to $40. At a much shorter distance to some of the tours on Go! These offer a very specific insight to your selected city. The Golden Gate Bridge Run being one in San Francisco.
Upon looking through the other cities, the distances don’t usually venture over six miles and won’t take longer than two hours. Still allowing you to have plenty of free time for further exploration on your own.
Some tours will offer you the chance to stay with the group and either do local tours or possibly even go to the pub.
There you have it, sightrunning. If you’re jet setting this year this could well be for you.
Have you done sightrunning? Get in touch below and let us know what you think, we want to hear from you.
