Londoners urged to run their city in Shelter’s new Urban Rush event

Londoners are being challenged to take on their city in Shelter’s Urban Rush – a new and unique running event in support of the housing and homelessness charity.

Taking place on Sunday 2nd October, Urban Rush will see over 300 runners limbering up on the start line at Queen Elizabeth Park in Stratford before they embark on a 15 mile urban adventure across London’s legendary landscape.

Shelter, which turns 50 this year, is calling on fitness addicts and running novices alike to sign up and help to raise over £80,000 to fight bad housing and homelessness. With a family losing their home every 21 minutes in London – this money will be vital to the charity’s work helping homeless families in the capital.

The charity has also developed a set of training routes to give runners a taste for the urban adventure, including racing the number 88 bus from Clapham, a tour of the East End’s canals, and a discovery run across Hampstead Heath.

Urban Rush will give participants a rare opportunity to discover some of the city’s hidden gems, while also taking in London’s most famous landmarks. The route takes runners on a journey through the East End and right across central London, cutting across the Thames several times, before reaching the finish line in Putney.

Lawrence Orr, Head of Challenge Events at Shelter, said: “It’s easy to get bogged down in a daily routine in the city, never venturing far from where you live or work. Urban Rush offers a chance to see London in a whole new light – as a city ready to be explored.

“For fifty years, Shelter has been here to fight bad housing and homelessness but we’ve still got a long way to go. All the funds raised by Urban Rush will help us to be there until everyone has a place to call home.”