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Commuters challenged to ditch rail travel and run to work instead

5th January 2014 Print
Running

This week commuters will be feeling the pinch of the New Year rail fare increases. National train fares have now increased by 2.8% on average, pushing the cost of some annual season tickets to more than £5,000 a year. London Transport fares will also see a rise of 3.1% on 19th January.

Sportsshoes.com is encouraging office workers to save their money and shed pounds by running or walking to work instead, whilst adding relatively little time to their commute. The average commuter travels 1266 miles a year, which is roughly 5.4 miles per working day. This means that a healthy commuter could jog or walk to work in just 42 minutes each way (travelling at 4mph), while an experienced runner could complete the journey in just 28 minutes. Usain Bolt could complete the journey in 6 minutes if he was able to sustain his 100 metre speed over 2.7 miles!

After the indulgence of Christmas, plenty of people are looking to cut back on excess in January, both in terms of calories consumed and money spent. New Year health resolutions often see gym numbers swell, with people hoping to shed their holiday weight but fitness centres are also seeing a rise in cost. Shadow Public Health minister Luciana Berger says: “There is a real risk that many people will be put off from keeping to their new year’s resolutions by soaring gym charges and David Cameron’s failure to tackle the cost-of-living crisis”.

Bearing in mind that only 1 in 4 gym-goers actually exercise regularly and bad habits kick in after a few weeks of good intentions, running to work can be a more achievable goal as it is a daily occurrence and there are fewer excuses not to. Regular running is proven to have a beneficial effect on health and wellbeing, promoting a healthy heart, boosting immunity and reducing stress levels. There are some great apps and websites which help plot running routes such as: WalkJogRun, MapMyRun and VIA.

SportsShoes has a great range of reasonably-priced kit which will make running to work more comfortable and is confident that commuters who switch from using public transport to running will soon notice the benefits to their health and their bank balance.

- Nike’s Hypershield range is wind and water resistant and uses light reflecting materials to keep runners safe and dark winter evenings.

- Ronhill Vizion’s 20 litre running backpack is large enough to hold smart work clothes and any other essentials but is also water resistant and comfortable to carry.

- For cold winter morning, the Complete Merino Wool collection provides insulation from the elements, without adding bulk.

All products available at SportsShoes.com

Join the discussion on #RUNTOWORK at twitter.com/sportsshoes_com

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Running