Sydney’s Best Training Locations

Visiting or being new to a city can make it difficult to find a good, traffic-free location for training. Strava is always a good place to start, but there’s still an element of local knowledge required to really appreciate the routes and segments you find. I’ve made the mistake of trusting the orange Strava line, only to find myself constantly stopping at traffic lights and dodging pedestrians. Sydney is a particularly challenging place to know where to go, as it’s not only hilly, but busy with humans and cars, plus many a park has the added annoyance of off-leash dog roaming freely. To make life a little easier for visitors and new residents of the harbour city, here’s a list of our favourite spots for a trot.

Centennial Park

The number one spot has to be Centennial Park. It’s a massive, green space that has a grassy perimeter trail around 5km long, an internal tarred pathway about 3.8km around, an inner grass loop of 3.5km and countless other spaces to add mileage via laps of lakes or ovals. You really are spoilt for choice here, with hills for repeats, ample bathrooms, water fountains and parking. Early mornings are the best time, but be mindful of the cyclists when crossing roads. For post run recovery there’s a couple cafes and it’s a short drive down to the beach for a refreshing swim. On Saturdays at 7am you can do the 5km Parkrun, which incidentally is one of the biggest in the country with up to 700 people taking part weekly.

Harbour Foreshore

If you want a scenic run with great views and gentle sea breezes, then head to the Glebe Foreshore Parks. From there you can either do a loop that passes the fish markets and then goes over the Anzac Bridge and back, or instead of turning to go over the bridge, stay on the water’s edge and pass through the wharves of Pyrmont, Darling Harbour, Barangaroo and Walsh Bay. You can continue under the Harbour Bridge and all the way around the Opera House, along the Botanic Gardens to Mrs Macquaries Chair and beyond. It’s one of the best long runs you can do, with ample bathrooms and drink stops along the way. For anyone new to Sydney, this run is a must!

The Bay Run

The Bay Run is a scenic, traffic free 7km loop. It’s fast and almost entirely flat (There’s a bridge with ramps either side that adds some incline). There’s a little bit of pedestrian traffic from people walking the loop, as well as some cyclists, but for the most part you can get around it without too many inconveniences. You can find parking at various points, depending on where you’re driving from, but the best spot is in front of Le Montage. You can add some hills by heading into the old hospital on the city side of the bay, and if you’re after a place for some speed reps, then the grass track at King George Park is the place for you.

Sydney Park

Located in the inner-west of the city, Sydney Park is an oasis amidst an urban jungle. The outside, footpath loop is just under 3km long and has a decent hill to get the heart pumping. Inside you’ll find footpaths that wind their way through the gardens, as well as a massive hill that’s perfect for repeats. For fast, flat intervals, head to Alan Davidson Oval. There are bathrooms in several spots, a café in the middle and parking all around. The only downside is that it can get busy with dog walkers from 5:30pm on weekdays and 8am weekends. On Saturday’s they have a Parkrun here at 8am and it’s a tough course!

Sydney University Camperdown

This is a bit of an unknown for most Sydney runners. Looking at a map you could be forgiven for thinking it’s going to be busy with cars and students. But in actual fact it’s pretty quiet. There are footpaths and quiet roads that are easily crossed without the need to stop for cars. You can stay inside the university grounds and do hilly laps, or head outside, past the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital and around Victoria Park to create a longer loop. The hills make it tough, but the varied scenery and stunning architecture in the campus make for a nice place to train. There are a couple of large ovals for those after a place to do intervals, hills for repeats and toilets throughout.