REVEALED: The UK’s Most and Least Athletic Regions

The study found that Yorkshire & the Humber (14%), Scotland (15%) and South West (15%) were revealed to have the lowest proportion of runners who ran a few times a week. In comparison, nearly one-third of Londoners were pounding the pavement multiple times per week.

How often do you run? A few times a week
Yorkshire & the Humber 14%
Scotland 15%
South West 15%
East Midlands 18%
Wales 18%
South East 18%
North West 19%
Northern Ireland 20%
West Midlands 22%
East of England 22%
North East 25%
Greater London 27%

North East England (1%)Northern Ireland (2%) and South West England (2%) have the lowest number of daily runners, while Wales (6%), Scotland (5%) and Greater London (5%) have most consistent runners.

How often do you run? Every day
North East 1%
Northern Ireland 2%
South West 2%
West Midlands 3%
South East 3%
Yorkshire & the Humber 3%
East of England 4%
East Midlands 4%
North West 4%
Greater London 5%
Scotland 5%
Wales 6%

The UK’s Fastest & Slowest Runners 

The ASICS study also found that runners in the East Midlands and South East England are the speediest at just 12:08 and 12:40 per mile. Londoners and Northern Irish runners lagged behind significantly, coming in at over one minute and two minutes slower, respectively.

Region Avg mile time, mm:ss
East Midlands 12:08
South East 12:40
East of England 12:51
North East 12:52
South West 13:02
Wales 13:04
North West 13:24
Yorkshire and the Humber 13:30
Scotland 13:33
West Midlands 13:34
Greater London 13:42
Northern Ireland 14:42

Which Regions Run The Furthest?

Londoners and respondents in South East England register the longest runs in the country, the former clocking in an average of 11.6 miles every month – just 1.5 mile short of a half marathon and over one mile further than the following region. Conversely, those in South East England and Wales do the shortest runs, on average.

Region Avg miles per month
Greater London 11.6
South East 10.3
Northern Ireland 9.6
East of England 9.5
North West 9.4
East Midlands 9.4
West Midlands 9.2
Scotland 8.6
Yorkshire and the Humber 8.1
North East 7.8
Wales 7.4
South West 6.1

Discover How Far You Can Run In A Year

In addition, ASICS created a tool to allow you and your readers to discover just how far you could run in a year, and how you compare to other UK runners. You can explore the tool here.

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